Cloud Mythology

This is a creative writing activity that answers the questions: where did the first cloud come from? Why did it come? What happened when it came? Why are there so many clouds now?

The answers should be imaginative and not about science.

Think about what early man might have thought when he saw his first cloud. Where would he have thought the cloud had come from? What would he think the cloud was for?

Write answers in story form to explain the existence of clouds.

Cloud Haiku

What do these clouds look like?

Here's an easy formula for a cloud haiku that teaches about simile:

Like ____ ____ ____ ____ (4 more syllables, total of 5)
Like ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ (6 more syllables, total of 7)
Passing, fluffy cloud (total of 5; the 2 adjectives can be changed to others with 4 syllables)

This formula can be changed easily for a metaphor poem.

Examples:

Like fish in the sea
Like celestial bulldozers
Passing, fluffy clouds

A scurrying cat
Hiding in ether bushes
Become a lone cloud

Reading Cloud Poems

I'd like to share one of my own cloud poems here:

Craggy
Where I touched my first cloud
Standing in a meadow of
Wild flowers and long yellow grasses
At the very top of my climb
I was there to pick blueberries
With my grandmother and my brother
I was taking a break
From the searing heat

It surprised me
Drifting slowly
Out of place
A cloud in a meadow
Moving toward me
And I stood still
And let it pass through me
Like a spirit
Cool and lovely
Exhilarating

I closed my eyes
Held my breath
And felt it
Surround me
Touch me
And then it had gone

That day I became a cloud chaser

Here are some links to better known cloud poems:

• A Curious Cloud Surprised the Sky by Emily Dickinson
• I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth
• Low-Anchored Cloud by Henry David Thoreau
• The Cloud by Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Roaming Cloud by Rabindranath Tagore
• Clouds and Waves by Rabindranath Tagore
• To a Cloud by William Cullen Bryant
• Cloud Dancers by Jade Buehler

Cloud List Poem

This is a class activity that involves metaphor, poetry, and imagination.

1. Show the class a picture of a cloud.
2. Ask students to write down three things that the cloud looks like.
3. Go around the room asking each student for one of his or her answers.
4. As each student gives an answer, write it down on a new line, so the class creates a list poem.
5. Write "A cloud" as the last line. (Variations: "passing cloud," "fluffy cloud," etc.)
   
6. Read the completed poem out loud.

Here's an example of what a Cloud List Poem might look like:

A dancing bear
Two cotton balls
A puppy
A videogame character
A leaping lamb
Rocks
A turtle whose head is out of its shell
Ice cream scoops
A passing cloud

Creative Clouds

It's fun to figure out what a passing cloud looks like.

This week's activities bring that enjoyable past time into the classroom.

I think the above clouds look like at least two critters. But what are they? And what are they doing?

That's something for your students to discover!

And here's how:

1. Make copies of cloud pictures so each student has one.
2. Ask students to draw what they see in the clouds onto the cloud pictures. (You can demonstrate by projecting the clouds photo onto a whiteboard. Draw eyes, limbs, tails, whatever you see in the clouds over the projected image.)
3. Now, ask students to describe what is happening in their picture. Ask what happened before and after the captured moment.
4. Have students write stories about their cloud critters.

Here's an example of what can be done with the picture above:


Of course there are less friendly looking options too. ;-)

It will be fun to share what everyone sees, because there are absolutely no wrong answers when it comes to cloud creativity. :-)