I’m not in the classroom on Thursday, so no stories of poetry with my students today. But yesterday we did have quite an experience in the science lab.  You might remember that a week ago I wrote a post about grunion, our special little southern California fish.  Well yesterday…sure enough, we had the opportunity to replicate the motion of the ocean and hatch tiny transparent grunion right in front of our eyes!

A spoonful of sand (that we hoped were laden with grunion eggs) in a glass baby food jar, some ocean water til almost full, twist the lid on, and then some gentle swirling or shaking…and voila!  We noticed the eyes first, and then my students’ eyes  opened wide.  The wonder was apparent on their faces…and in their squeals of delight.  Our science teacher promised she would take these babies back to their home at the end of the day.  It was such fun hatching these very special fish, and getting a close-up view of nature in action. I suspect my students will remember this experience for a very long time!

And for Day 4 of National Poetry Month, a Tanka:

Grunion

Laid in midnight sand

rocking waves hatch fish babies

new eyes view the world

peering through briny water

can the babies hear the squeals?

©Douillard

I wonder if any of my students wrote grunion poems today.