Spiders are six-legged, air-breathing arthropods. The largest order of arachnids, most have fangs that inject venom and spinnerets that spin silk. Other than Antarctica, spiders are found throughout the world.

Read the science poetry book for children, then learn more at the websites:

SPI-KU: A CLUTTER OF SHORT VERSE ON EIGHT LEGS written by Leslie Bulion and illustrated by Robert Meganck combines poetry and science for an engaging exploration of spiders. This richly illustrated work contained over a dozen, two-page explorations of these fascinating arthropods. Each spread focuses on a different topic and includes poem(s) along with useful information and realistic illustrations. Haiku, tanka, doditsu, and cinquain are just a few of the poetic forms used in the text. The book concludes with a glossary, notes about poetic form, activities, and additional information.

Use the following websites to jumpstart spider poetry writing ideas.

SPIDERS from Cornell University provide learning resources about spider biology. To learn more, go to https://blogs.cornell.edu/spiders/.

SPIDERS: SILK AND FANGS from San Diego Zoo Kids is an attractive infographic introducing students to spiders. To view the infographic, go to https://bit.ly/3cPuuBx. To read a more in-depth page, go to https://bit.ly/2OsqSMu.

ARC courtesy of Peachtree. ( )