Helping students own their reading and writing through silence

This clip brings us into the outdoor classroom referred to in my previous blog. Scroll down to read how Suzanne, a primary teacher has helped her students own their reading and writing through silence.

Helping students own their reading and writing through silence

In this blog entry, I thank primary teacher, Suzanne Pohl for her insight. I lean heavily on her writing , a piece titled "Silent Space Between." (assignment written for UNH graduate course- italicized words are quotes from Suzanne's paper)
    Our students are bombarded with prompts and worksheets that take them away from their own thinking and choice. Suzanne acknowledges that the "influence of technology has given us well-wired students who often experience a sense of individual disconnect from the real world." She asks that we provide silent space between the structures of the teaching day for slowing down. She provides these silent times by taking her students to the outdoor classroom she created behind her school.

My video clip today brings us there on a crisp New England fall day.  (Technical difficulties are preventing the video from uploading... I will keep trying!)

Suzanne believes silence is a gift; one worth bestowing upon our students and ourselves. Silence is essential for discovering our own sense of being.

(from Silent Space Between)

    As architects and designers of time, we can create moments of silence helping to establish a balance between our inner and outer worlds.  By providing silence and stillness, we foster and draw upon the imagination and creativity of our students. We need to allow unstructured time for imagining, questioning, and reflecting.

....the first fifteen minutes outdoors are spent in unstructured time and silence. Options include finding a special place for alone time; the setting becomes a literary studio with students moving about choosing to read, write in a journal, or sketch.

This setting gives students a sense of wonder and fosters their choices for selections of further reading and writing pieces as an extension of this time spent in nature. Suzanne agrees with what she read in  Sense of Wonder (McDonough and Heard, Stenhouse, 2009) that researching and writing about the natural world was easier for her students to begin with and often made for more creative non-fiction.

    Her students brainstorm items found in the natural world that they want to sketch and then write about during their crafting sessions. She prepared blank journals with an area of focus written on the front: snakes, rocks, water, sunlight, birds, clouds, trees, smells, colors, movenment, and even Fibonacci numbers! Students choose their focus journal and enjoy reading entries written by their classmates before adding their own questions, insights, and connections.

Something to think about:

• How do provide silence for your students?
• Is there a natural setting in your area where students can find a special place to foster their sense of wonder about the natural world?
• Is there a quiet space in your classroom where students can sit and wonder - perhaps a seat by the window with a special journal for recording observations of the sky, birds, trees, etc.?

Other literary activities for a natural setting:

Suzanne's second graders took a preposition walk along the path through the outdoor classroom. She had prepared "tree cookies," slices (approx. 2-3 inches thick) of birch branches upon which the students had written a preposition with a permanent marker. The students creatively placed the cookies under the bush, along the path, between the trees, next to bridge...

Here are examples of the preposition poems the students wrote that demonstrate an integration of math, earth science, art, physical activity, and a bit of whimsy!

Behind

One behind the other,

Standing in a row

All in a position,

One, two, three.

First is Sam,

Jack comes second,

Third is me!

Beneath

Low beneath the trees

Wet snow upon my back

Never sunny in this spot,

In February.

Trees making shade

All around me.

Under

Under the bridge

Holding on

So I won't fall in!

Under the snow,

Water and ice.

Creatures hibernating,

Waiting for spring.

   

    The focus journals change with the seasons. These journals are similar in concept to interest journals. They belong to the class and not to individual students. The journals are stored in a basket and students choose the one they want to write in that day. Student entries create an anthology of writing and sketching over time, an opportunity for students to share their thinking.

    Students have written guides to accompany their sketches, and researched various indidenous plants and vegetation. Poems and stories are brought along to the woods to be read aloud and performed.

         

                  They return each time to the "canvas provided by nature; a place of silence."

"We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn."  Thoreau

Follow up reading suggestions:

To Understand by Ellin Oliver Keene (Heinemann)

Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie (Storey Publishing)

Sense of Wonder by Jennifer McDonough and Georgia Heard (Stenhouse)

Moon Journals by Joni Chancer (Heinemann)

NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing

NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing

Writing Assessment: A Position Statement

Writing Assessment: A Position Statement