Every Day is Earth Day (and you need a good poem in your pocket to build STEAM connections)
- Diane Schnoor
- Apr 16
- 4 min read
How do we connect multicultural picture books with STEAM to help children engage in active discovery and enthusiastic learning across the curriculum? Here’s a current list of 10 picture books/poetry you can pair for engaged Earth Day learning every day (plus a bonus combo):
A Universe of Rainbows Esenwine/Christoph) is a brand new poetry anthology that blends short poems and scientific fun facts on everything from moonbows to rainbow nebula. Pairs beautifully as an introduction to all sorts of science content (colors, habitats, water, plants, animals, rocks, stars). Here’s a link to an Adventures in Learning podcast interview with anthology editor Matt Forrest Esenwine, PLUS your chance to win a copy of the book (subscribe and send me an email to enter by 4/19/25). | |
Great Gusts: Winds of the World and the Science Behind Them (Crowder/Benedict/Le) introduces you to 14 winds of the world from Antarctica’s Katabatic winds to British Columbia’s Squamish winds. Pairs beautifully with content about weather, winds, and geography. Lends itself to adopting a wind for further research and creative writing/presentations. Here’s a link to an Adventures in Learning podcast interview with author Megan Benedict. | |
The Last Straw: Kids vs. Plastics (Hood/Engel) is a new favorite of mine. This collection of nonfiction poems highlights our growing plastic problem as well as the young activists who are standing up and speaking out for change. Poems are paired with short scientific facts and bright illustrations to make a complex topic kid-friendly. This would be a great launching place for STEAM challenges, career explorations, and practical problem-solving. Also lends itself to habitats, geography, and biomes — as well as opportunities to research and communicate (and respond with poetry). | |
Welcome to the Wonder House (Dotlich/Heard/Freedman) is a beautiful book of poems where our world is explored through such lenses as the room of curiosity, room of creatures, room of science, room of time. Our planet is seen as a wonder house filled with beauty and possibility. This would make a beautiful launching point for creative writing and art exploring how students view the planet, which rooms they would highlight in the wonder house and why. Here’s a link to the Adventures in Learning podcast with illustrator Deborah Freedman. There’s also a blog post with links to share with your students. | |
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World (Hood) mixes poetry, short bios, and beautiful artwork to tell the stories of women who made an impact, including Mary Anning, Maya Lin, Angela Zhang, and Mae Jemison. This is a great model to pair with science and STEM phenomenon, as well as to use as a prompt for students’ own research and communication efforts. Some podcast episodes that pair well with this include Lydia Denton, Dr. Kimberly Galvez, and Nina Chhita. | |
Girls on the Rise and Change Sings (Gorman) both bring poetry and connectiion to your Earth Day celebrations and lessons. Poet laureate Amanda Gorman offers hope and a roadmap for building empathetic connections in these gorgeous picture books. Use them as a spark for your next STEAM challenge or problem-based learning experience. Pairs well with this blog post about fostering global citizens or with this free Earth Day, Every Day lesson that I am sharing with you. | |
Home (de la Peña/Long) is a beautiful, lyrical picture book that connects well this month as we consider the planet we call HOME. The illustrations are gorgeous and the text offers jumping off points for writing, research, and art extensions about what makes a home special. Here’s a link to the Adventures in Learning podcast episode featuring author Matt de la Peña and to a blog post with links you can use. | |
Poetry Prompts: All Sorts of Ways to Start a Poem and Smile Out Loud: 25 Happy Poems (Coelho) features laugh out loud funny poems that you can pair with your science content all year long, plus poem starters for encouraging your students to write and perform poems. A must for anyone who gets anxious when the word poetry comes up. |
BONUS COMBO: What’s better than one novel in verse book about cute otters (and the scientists at the Monterray Aquarium working to help them)? A companion picture book! Check out Katherine Applegate’s Odder and Odder: An Otter’s Story (Picture Book out 4/29). She’s been on the podcast twice before and is about to break the record with a third appearance to talk about otters on 4/23. |
If you want to connect, please sign up to receive my newsletter here. In addition to contributing to Steve’s amazing workshops, I also offer such online courses as Beyond Ever After Fairy Tale STEAM; Earth Day, Every Day (K-4); and Joyful Play, Connected Learning (fun hands-on learning for the second half of the year). I am also currently booking keynote speaking, professional development workshops, student worksops, and curriculum coaching events for 2025-26.
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