Springtime on the Path; Curriculum Connection

A big thank you to Russ Schipper for adding two bluebird houses to our backyard!  His knowledge and enthusiasm in teaching us about birds and his donations to the path are a generous addition to the education here at North Shore.  Thank you Russ!  This upcoming quarter, my students will be studying organisms in science.  The big idea with this unit is to discover how plants and animals adapt to their environment and to examine the characteristics of those different environments.  Why do different plants and animals grow and live in different places?  This is a great question for our backyard study.  Within the four acres in our school backyard, we have grassland, woodland and wetland.  Our path meanders through the different environments and for those of us who wander it, we get a peek into those natural surroundings and the plants and animals that have adapted there.  I can't wait to take my students out next week and listen to the frogs in the wetlands and see if the ferns have started growing underneath the trees.  No doubt there will be a variety of insects and other small creatures enjoying the warmth of spring in all the different areas. 

There are lots of ways to learn.  As we study the brain one thing is clear, knowledge is based on making connections.  We learn by connecting what we know to what we want to learn.  Students who love music, can connect new knowledge to sounds and tunes.  Students who love drawing, can connect new knowledge to art.  Students who love to move, can connect learning in hands-on study.  The Liberty Hyde Bailey Interpretive Garden Path has the potential to connect with students in a variety of ways that the classroom cannot always provide.  It's a place of beauty that can ignite the artist.  It's a place of amazing sounds (birds and crickets, frogs and toads) that can connect the auditory learning.  It's a place to move and explore, that can connect to those active learners.  Building connections in the brain, makes learning fun, but also makes students smarter.  It builds on what we know. 

My students had the opportunity to read poetry at Foundry Hall, our local theater.  Foundry Hall has generously let us use their wonderful facility for several years now, as my students celebrate poetry.  We filled the theater and ran out of programs.  Thank you Andru Bemis and Foundry Hall!  At any rate, some of our poetry was inspired by what we learned and what we observed on our path.  What is writing, if not an outcome of the world that surrounds us?

I Am Bluebird

By Makaelee 

I feel the wind on my feathers as I fly

I observe the kids playing outside

I wonder why the leaves change in the fall

I taste birdseed from the feeder

I dream of dancing on the clouds

I sing my cheerful song

I am Bluebird

Ice Crystals

By Zander

(a Haiku)

Frozen drops of rain

Sparkling white and fluffy

Then water beneath my feet

We have big plans for the Liberty Hyde Bailey Interpretive Garden Path.  Our goal is to make it an outdoor learning center that inspires students and teachers.  We will be getting together to plan and make goals for the future development of this project after spring break.  Details will follow in the days ahead.  Everyone is invited and chocolate is generally provided!  I hope to see you there!