The Poetry of Science: Effects of Using Poetry in a Middle School ELD Science Classroom
Research Question(s): What happens when English Language Learners write, illustrate, and share Cinquain poetry based on science concepts?
Research Activities: The study was conducted in a middle school of 906 students in Northern California. The students involved were 7th and 8th graders in a SEI science class. The class contained fifteen students, all English Language Learners, with average CELDT scores of 2. The study focused on six students: a male and a female each, of high, middle, and low academic performance. The intervention occurred over six weeks and had three trials. After students were taught and quizzed on the science content and vocabulary, they were assigned a vocabulary word that would be the subject of their Cinquain poetry session. Each of three poetry sessions lasted three days, during which students wrote and illustrated their poems, and shared them in small groups. Afterward, students retook the quiz given prior to the poetry session. Data taken included pre and post quizzes, poem final drafts, student surveys about helpfulness of vocabulary strategies, and observations of student engagement. Students showed improvement between the pre and post quiz in each of the three trials by 13.6%, 7.8%, and 4.3% respectively. However, the intervention was not successful for all students. Conclusions gathered were (1) students were engaged during the three aspects of the poetry session, (2) students felt that all aspects of the poetry sessions were helpful for learning new vocabulary, and (3) poetry sessions were an effective tool for learning science vocabulary.
Grade Level: Seventh and Eighth Grade
Data Collection Methods: Teacher-made assessments, student work, surveys-attitude, and observations-student engagement
Project Descriptors: Middle, Science, ELL, Student engagement, Vocabulary Development
