Our Garden of Bulbs

"The garden made by ones own hands is always the best garden, because it is a part of oneself.  A garden made by another may interest, but it is another person's individuality.  A poor garden of one's own is better than a good garden in which one may not dig."  L.H.Bailey, 1900

Measuring crocus

Taking Field Notes

What fun we had checking out the bulbs we planted this fall!  Today we went out with our Bulb Journal and examined our plots.  Each pair of students worked in an assigned square of ground.  We recorded what we planted and in what area of the raised bed so that today we could have the good pleasure of checking out our plantings!  The crocuses were blooming and the daffodils were up and not yet blooming.  It was the perfect time to examine the leaf differences and observe the crocus flowers.  Students charted the date, weather (air temperature, wind direction and speed and cloud cover), the height of their plants and noted color, leaf and flower form.  What fun!  We can't wait to come back in a week or so and see what has become of the daffodil plants! 

Poetry Night

On the evening of February 13th, my class read original poetry on stage at our local theater, Foundry Hall.  Sometimes, when the stars align, nature study becomes poetry.  Below are a few photos and some of the poems that were shared.  Twenty-seven of our twenty-eight students attended the event with slightly over 200 people encouraging us!  After the readings, students were on hand to autograph their published poems.  It was a lovely evening.  A big thanks to the wonderful people at Foundry Hall for sponsoring this event!



Linus reading his poem
 

I Am Autumn

By Jada

 

I feel colder air coming.

I smell pumpkin pie people are making.

I wonder why children jump in my leaves.

I see geese flying south.

I feel the grass dying.

I am Autumn.

I Am Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

By Kalin

 

I am small

I suck the nectar from flowers.

I spend my winter in Mexico.

I love the sweet smell of woodlands.

I love the summer days.

I am the bright color of roses.

I have greens of all kinds.

I am Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.





Donyea Reading

Ruben Autographing

Winter Fun!

Dan Keto, Kalamazoo Nature Center, and my class

Off to check out the trails in winter

This winter has included lots of outdoor fun and exploration at North Shore Elementary School!  Every fourth grade class went out snowshoeing with Dan Keto from the Kalamazoo Nature Center (funded by our local Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum).  He gave us a quick lesson on the relative size of the earth compared to the sun (upper photo) and the reason for the seasons.  He also taught us several animal and plant adaptations for survival in the depth of winter.  Students had the added fun of learning how to walk in snowshoes while checking out the backyard woods in the winter!

The following week, my class had the great privilege of birding with Russ Schipper, from the Kalamazoo Audubon Society.  Russ came to our class earlier this year and taught us all sort of cool facts about birds.  We have been studying them on and off all year in preparation for the annual Backyard Bird Count through Cornell University.  Students went out in small groups and listened and identified birds with Russ.  We submitted our findings online to Cornell University.  Learning about birds has included nonfiction reading, charting and math skills and it has sparked a great deal of interest in our fine feathered friends!

A big thank you to Russ, Dan and the Museum!  No doubt Liberty Hyde Bailey is smiling down on these fun and educational projects!

Snow Day on the Trail

"The winter is the best season of the four because there is more mystery in it.  Things are hidden; yet there is a new and strange spirit in the air.  There are strange bird-calls in the depths of the still, white woods.  There are strange marks in the new fallen snow.  There are soft noises when the snow drops from the trees. . . We speak of winter as bare, but this is only a contrast with summer.  In the summer all things are familiar and close; the depths are covered.  The view restricted.  We see things near by.  In the winter things are uncovered.  Old objects have new forms. . . Even when the snow lies deep on the earth the ground-line carries the eye into strange distances.  You look far down into the heart of the woods.  You feel the strength and resoluteness of the framework of the trees.  You see the corners and angles of the rocks.  You discover the trail that was lost in the summer.  You look clear through the weedy tangle.  You find new knot-holes in the tree-trunks.  You penetrate to the very depths.  You analyze, and gain insight."  --Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Nature Study Idea, 1904

 



Outdoor Classroom

Fur Tree Standing Strong

Fern Garden Under Snow

Today, we have a reprieve from the classroom.  A Snow Day!  The temperature outside is 7 degrees, with a wind chill of -9 degrees.  I went out to fill the bird feeders and poke around the trails in snowshoes.  It was beautiful and quiet.  The form and feel of winter is a study in angles and stillness.  The bare branches of trees, bushes and plants show their structural anatomy as they brace against the wind and snow.  All living things no doubt are seeking shelter from the cold.  The only signs of moving life were animal prints in the snow.  Surviving winter in West Michigan requires some amazing adaptations for plants and animals.  Even us humans need to be hearty and willing to preserve to appreciate this winter wonderland.  In a couple of weeks (weather permitting) the fourth grade students at North Shore Elementary will be spending an hour with outdoor expert and enthusiast, Dan Keto, from Kalamazoo Nature Center.  The Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum is sponsoring this educational and fun event.  We will be walking in snowshoes through our backyard nature trails looking for signs of life and learning about animal survival skills and winter habitats.  It's our winter nature-study!  I look forward to sharing the beauty of winter with Dan and our students and updating this blog with photos of this outdoor winter adventure in the near future!

  "The lesson is that our interest in the out-of-doors should be a perennial current that overflows from the fountain that lies deep within us.  This interest is colored and modified by every passing season, but fundamentally it is beyond time and place.  Winter or no winter, it matter not; the fields lie beyond."   --Liberty Hyde Bailey,  The Nature-Study Idea, 1904        

Learning Gets Hands-On

Planting Bulbs in a raised bed

Liberty Hyde Bailey comes to visit

Outdoor Classroom!



Sitting in our new outdoor classroom!

A Nature Break

Sometimes it's nice just to take a break outside after a long test.

We are in the thick of MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program) this week.  After a long morning of math "meaping," we are enjoying a break outdoors on our wetland overlook.  Sometimes it's just good to take a break outside without any study at all, just plain rejuvenation.

One of my favorite quotes from Liberty Hyde Bailey comes from his book entitled The Nature-Study Idea, 1905.  He is answering the question, What may be the results of Nature-Study?  I love his answer:

"Its legitimate result is education--the developing of mental power, the opening of the eyes and the mind, the civilizing of the individual.  As with all education, its central purpose is to make the individual happy; for happiness is nothing more nor less than pleasant and efficient thinking.  It is often said that the ignorant man may be as happy as the educated man.  Relatively, this is true; absolutely, it is not.  A ten-foot well is not so deep as a twenty-foot well; and although the ten-foot well may be full to the brim, it holds only half as much water as the other."

Sometimes, in these high-stakes testing times, I think we forget that ultimately learning is a joy and "an opening of the eyes and mind."  And teaching the joy of learning and the happiness of thinking is our goal as educators.  Happy teaching and learning to all of us outdoor learning enthusiasts!