Welcome to our Nature Journaling Blog!
Growing Connections through Nature Journaling, is a blog designed for individuals who want to work on their own nature journaling skills and professionals who want to bring more place-based investigations, observation skills and environmental literacy into their classrooms.
This blog will include activity ideas for the classroom, poetry, writing prompts, workshop announcements, drawing tips and exercises, and lesson plans from alumni of our summer teacher training institutes Integrating Nature Journals Across the Curriculum and Nature Writing for the Classroom.
For more information contact Betsy Stacey, Summer Educator Institute Coordinator and Author of the "Growing Connections" Blog:
Phone: 603-835-2430, Email: betsystacey@gmail.com or visit the Teacher Training section of our website.
I know that we are all looking toward spring this time of year, but when I woke up this morning and saw my lawn crisscrossed by opossum, skunk, and house cat tracks I was reminded of one of my favorite journaling activities. There are actually so many wonderful prompts you can do related to wildlife tracks, but this one always rises to the top for me. I have the students draw a track of a specific wild animal, preferably life size, and then I also have them draw a scene that shows those tracks moving across a landscape. I then have them write a "point of view" piece that puts them into the voice of that animal. This ability to feel what it is like to be a wild animal is a key component of wildlife tracking and great practice for writing with specific and evocative language. As far as spring goes, by the time I was driving home from work I saw a flock of 50 or more robins, so don't worry, we are headed in the right direction!
I have recently started receiving email notifications from Mary Holland's blog called "Naturally Curious" it is a great way to get updates about what is happening in nature in New England. I definitely recommend this blog for anyone who wants to be inspired to notice the details of the changing seasons. To get to the blog, visit http://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/author/naturallycuriouswithmaryholland/ Mary Holland says on her website, "I am a Vermont naturalist, photographer, columnist and author, and I have had an abiding passion for natural history all my life."
PEER Associates recently finished an evaluation of the Nature Writing and Nature Journaling teacher trainings that The Nature Museum has been offering since 2006. To see a summary of the results click on the link, TNM Select Findings vfinal.pdf, for a full report, email betsystacey@gmail.com.
The Nature Writing for the Classroom course will be June 29-July1st at Loch Lyme Lodge in Lyme, NH http://www.lochlymelodge.com/
and Nature Journaling will be at The Old Tavern in Grafton, VT http://oldtavern.com/ again on July 27-29th.
All of the snow heaping up outside my window reminds me of an activity that I did with 5th graders that we all really enjoyed. I went to the hardware store and collected a large number of paint chips that represented all of the varieties of "White" paint. When I first got to the classroom, we looked outside and discussed all the different colors that snow can be. We talked about how, if we were to paint a picture of it, we would use a variety of colors. We also talked about simile and metaphor. Then the paint chips are handed out and I asked the students to include a paint name from the paint chip in each line that they wrote describing snow or ice, or a winter landscape.
One of the reasons that I like to teach writing is that it gives us the opportunity to teach a love of words. One way to get students to savor each word is to make up a list of their favorite words. I like to base this list not so much on what the word means, but on how the word sounds. These lists can be used later for help with poetry ideas and other writing assignments, but I like how it helps students to value words, to notice them, and to focus on each word individually. I have a list on my refrigerator right now, and the first word I put on there was "licorice". What will be the first word on your favorite words list?
Nature Journaling allows educators and students alike to be more observant about the world around them. Thanksgiving reminds us to be thankful for all the little things in nature that we may not notice unless we take the time to write about them or to draw them. The Thanksgiving season is a wonderful time to make a list of things we are thankful for in nature. Really encourage students to be specific. The list that you generate could easily become a poem.
A few photos from a wonderful week!
During the August "Nature Journaling Across the Curriculum" course I was introduced to a poetry writing prompt that I think is really great. Thanks to Wendy Harty from Bellows Falls, VT for bringing this activity to my attention. The activity, "Listen to the Sea" is from a book called "Painting the Sky: Writing Poetry with Children" by Shelley Tucker. See below for link about the book.
http://www.amazon.com/Painting-Sky-Writing-Children-Resource/dp/1596470127
