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Students used the iMovie trailer to create this short film.

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Walking a line in Wyboston Lakes in winter

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Walking a line in Wyboston Lakes in winter

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(every 20 steps)
A frozen puddle.
A spiral in a frozen puddle.
Bicycle tracks in the mud.
Cold pale blue sky.
Frost on brances like crystals.
Ice on every blade of grass.
Molehills pepper the field.
Ice melting.
A pigeon feather dropped from the sky.
Irregular paving randomly strewn around.
Leaves outlines by the white of frost.
22/01/17
Jean Edwards

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Fungus brought to life!

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Jo's winter description, inspired by Richard Long

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Jo's winter description, inspired by Richard Long

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Task: take 20 steps, stop and write down an observation / feeling / something heard etc...
Inspired by the work of Richard Long.

A swirling icy pattern in a frozen puddle.
Emerald green brambles cascading over crispy, brown bracken.
Feathery grasses swaying in the breeze.
Frost crystals look magical.
The crunch of hard, frosty ground beneath my feet.
Mounds of earth protruding like small volcanos.
The sun shines brightly down onto the softening ground.
Feet sink in the soft, undulating grass.
Lake, still and frozen.
Robins flutter past inquisatively
Path draws nearer.
Ground like a dried desert.
Stopped counting steps to catch up with
Group.
Squelching of freshly defrosted mud underfoot.
The river flows calmly, taking a lone stick on a journey.
Fingers numb with cold.
Bluetits chatter in the branches overhead.
Reached the point I once saw a fox. Will I see him again?
Destination has been reached. Gloves back on.

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This word was quite a challenge in the depths of winter - lots of hunting for tiny signs of life amid the frost. PicCollage app used to present this collection.

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The winter frost was perfect for taking photos today's (22nd January). The app PicCollage was used to present this range of images.

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Although it was the middle of winter the sun was so bright - the ideal day to collect these photos representing 'light'. The app PicCollage was used to present them.

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Here's a link to the sticky eyes we used this morning! You can also buy more robust eyes at the Early Centre and in craft shops.

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sticky black and white eyes on a roll /1000 stickers

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STICKY BLACK AND WHITE EYES ON A ROLL /1000 STICKERS

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Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy STICKY BLACK AND WHITE EYES ON A ROLL /1000 STICKERS at Amazon UK.

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Pictures to explore and represent the word 'hidden'. This led to an exploration of the word and how it could be conveyed visually. The pophotos were presented using the PicCollage app.

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Chatterpix and Chatterpix Kids apps for iphone and ipad

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To inspire writing form the point of view of something outdoors - stone, leaf, doorknob, spade, tree trunk

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some photos of eyes on things outside to inspire story writing from unusual points of view

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some photos of little people outdoors to inspire story writing

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picture ideas

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useful resources and ideas here

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Learn more about how we inspire children to become Nature Detectives and encourage a lifelong love of trees, woods and wildlife.

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Richard Long records his walks using words. At this link you can see this one and more examples.

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ideas pack from Woodland Trust Scotland

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An example to use to model your own trail on (maybe make yours less like a worksheet)

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Our literacy sessions use the beauiful Fulham Palace gardens as inspiration.

Booking is essential for all sessions.

Literacy Trail FREE
KS2
Follow our free literacy trail around the Palace's gardens. Available all year! Booking is essential.

Creative Writing and Story Workshops in the Walled Garden
KS2 and KS3
Using the special environment of the Walled Garden as a creative space, these workshops draw on nature and the senses to inspire writing, story making and sharing. The workshops are for underachieving and/or under-confident students and others, including gifted and talented students, who would benefit from space to write and share in small groups of 8-10 students. Facilitated by Christine Hollywood, who runs the Write To Be Me project for schools, shown to boost attainment, confidence and wellbeing through writing activities and group-work.
Individual workshops and 6 week courses available. 2 hour workshops cost £70. Please call 07773 379 526 for more details, course rates and to book a workshop. For more information about Christine Hollywood and the Write To Be Me project for schools, please click here.

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Our literacy sessions use the beauiful Fulham Palace gardens as inspiration. Booking is essential for all sessions. Organise a school visit Literacy Trail FREE KS2 Follow our free literacy trail around the Palace's gardens. Available all year! Booking is essential. Click here to download the KS2 Literacy Trail.

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Use ideas as a basis for writing trails

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The main focus of my research is finding the best ways to connect people with nature, because it's good for nature's and human wellbeing. As the interest in our connection to nature is relatively recent, most of the previous research has been aimed at understanding its benefits - for example, we now know a connection to nature predicts wellbeing to a similar extent as established factors such as income and education. Research on the types of activity that best increase nature connection is now emerging, and this post focuses 'Getting to know nature' by Bruni and colleagues - published a few weeks ago in Environmental Education Research. The paper evaluates the effects of three activities on children's nature connectedness. These activities were part of a ' Get to Know Nature ' program.

One study of three in the paper focussed on a 45-minute outdoor nature trail using an activity map that directed visitors to clues in order to find impression stations where the children created rubbings of plants and animals - I've done several of these with my children. The trails were designed to provide time in nature while learning about the environment. Children were rewarded for completing all the clue solutions. The impact of this on the connection to nature of 35 school children was evaluated using the Implicit Association Test, completed pre and post trail on the same day. Analysis showed no increase in connection to nature.

A second study considered a 30-minute 'virtual hike' where children explored trails online looking for various plants and animals. Once located, video and audio provided information about the species. 50 children took part and connection to nature was measured using the Implicit Association Test immediately before and after. Analysis showed no increase in connection to nature.

A third study in the paper considered a 'Creative Arts Contest' where children were encouraged to gain inspiration from nature-based sources and incorporate them into a variety of artistic projects, from writing and photography, to painting, drawing and sculpture. The time spent in nature varied, but was many hours over a month and submissions were entered into a contest for publication in a calendar. The specific nature experiences and time involved over the month long project were not recorded, but the submissions included 67 artworks, 61 written pieces and 36 photos. Bruni and colleagues evaluated the impact of this on the connection to nature of 178 school children, measured again using the Implicit Association Test. Connection to nature was measured before the project and one month later immediately after submission. There was no follow-up to test for sustained changes. The changes in connection to nature scores were significantly higher for children who submitted an artwork, compared to those who did not. The results suggest that active participation and the creation of artworks increased children's connection to nature.

So, overall, the results suggest that being outdoors, learning about the environment, being distracted by clues and pursuing marked stations on a nature trail is not a great pathway to increased connection to nature. Likewise a computer-based educational hike learning about animals and plants isn't either. Engaging with nature through the arts however did increase children's connection to nature, although owing to the design we don't know if both writing and producing artworks led to this (we've found writing '3 good things in nature' each day works for adults and are currently doing a follow-up study with children).

These results fit nicely our own research findings that have found that a connection to nature isn't related to knowledge of nature, rather it comes through finding meaning in nature; experiencing emotions in nature such as happiness and wonder; having compassion for nature; making contact with nature and appreciating nature's beauty. When creating nature-based artwork we must make contact with nature, find and express emotion and find meaning - which can bring about compassion for nature.

As noted in my previous blog post, Gregory Bateson saw remedies for disconnection from nature in the arts and aesthetics, with conscious purpose (as found in nature trails) separating us from nature.

Nature trails are a good way of getting children (and their parent's) out into nature, but the message is to think carefully how they promote, or hinder contact with nature. Rather than conveying knowledge and hunting clues make the perception of nature central - signpost joy and wonder; emotion and beauty; and experiencing nature with the senses. Rather than finding a series of marker stations, find other reasons to pause and engage the senses with nature, and provide places to reflect.

Bruni, C. M., Winter, P. L., Schultz, P. W., Omoto, A. M., & Tabanico, J. J. (2015). Getting to know nature: evaluating the effects of the Get to Know Program on children's connectedness with nature. Environmental Education Research, 1-20.

About Miles

Applied psychologist researching our connection with nature and ways to improve it. Good for nature, good for you.

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Connecting Children with Nature: By Nature Trails and Learning or through Art?

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The main focus of my research is finding the best ways to connect people with nature, because it's good for nature's and human wellbeing. As the interest in our connection to nature is relatively recent, most of the previous research has been aimed at understanding its benefits - for example, we now know a connection...

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Artist Slinkachu using tiny people to set up scenes in the environment. Setting up scenes like this outdoors can inspire writing - beginning, middle or end or children could set up scenes for each other to write about. Browse his website and blog for ideas.

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Little People - a tiny street art project

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Tuesday 6th September 2016, at 4pm GMT, sees the release of my new mini print Shore Line. Andipa gallery and continues my exploration of natural environments within urban settings, the theme of my last solo show Miniaturesque.

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Wild Writing - slides JE

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descriptive writing idea by Herb Broda (2014)

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poetry writing activity from The Stenhouse Blog

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This week's Quick Tip comes from Herbert Broda's 2007 book Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning: Using the Outdoors as an Instructional Tool, K-8. The book just received the Environmental Education Council of Ohio's Publication Award. The award was presented to Herb at the organization's annual meeting and is given to a publication that has made a significant contribution to the public understanding of an environmental issue.

The outdoors can serve as both venue and content as students use spoken, written, and visual language. Because the outdoors pulls at the senses, the schoolyard can provide fantastic raw material for description!

The outdoors can provide great inspiration for writing poetry. Because the outdoors stimulates thinking in so many directions, students don't have a problem fi nding substance for poetry writing. A very effective introduction to poetry is the "See What I Found" formula poem. This is one of those activities that has been around for many years, but I have no idea who may have "invented" it. Although this may not fit a technical description of poetry, it certainly emphasizes the aesthetic qualities of language and coaxes the use of descriptive words. The structure of this five-line poem is very simple:

First line: See what I found?
Second line: (name of object)
Third line: (adjectives and/or descriptive phrase)
Fourth line: (tell where you found it)
Fifth line: (make a comment or question about it)

See what I found?
A butterfly
Flitting and glowing in the sunlight.
It's resting on a flower.
I wonder how long it will stay?

There are many ways to do this poetry activity. Sometimes I will have students find an object in nature that is no larger than a thumbnail. They bring the object to the outdoor teaching area and write the "See What I Found" poem. They always, then, return the natural items back to the original locations.

Another variation is to have kids take their clipboards or lapboards and find something interesting without removing it from its setting. This can be another one of those activities that can focus on either the macro or micro aspects of the schoolyard. You can have students find a special spot and then write about something no more than 3 feet away from them. Or you can have them sit on the grass and write about something they see in the distance. I really like this option since it does not disturb the environment, and makes it possible to utilize an animal or large object in the poem. It's also great to see kids enjoying the outdoors, observing and writing.

The previously described Tale of the Tape activity (Chapter 4), in which students generate a listing of adjectives and descriptive phrases for a natural object, makes a wonderful precursor to the "See What I Found" poem. One teacher includes Tale of the Tape as an introduction to the use of the thesaurus.

The schoolyard can provide a magnificent setting for many traditional language arts activities. For example, Pam Tempest takes advantage of the Florida sunshine by frequently taking her students outside for reading. Sometimes she reads a story aloud to students outside and other times the schoolyard is used for sustained silent reading. Sometimes Pam has a small group of students who borrow a quilt and sit outside of her classroom windows on the lawn and read.

An Ohio teacher achieves a change of pace and place by taking students outside to write poetry on the sidewalk with colorful chalk. The novel setting and unconventional writing tools spur the creative juices, with nature often providing a creative writing prompt.

Since the outdoors is so conducive to reading or writing, it is well worth the effort to create an outdoor seating area. As a bonus, an outdoor courtyard or other type of outdoor seating area can also serve as a location for performance. Language arts standards emphasize that students should be able to use spoken, written, and visual language to communicate for different purposes. In the outdoors, those purposes might include describing evidence of an environmental problem found on the school site and then researching the problem, gathering data, and proposing solutions. Or it might include describing one's own feelings and responses to the outdoors.

Entry Filed under: Quick Tip Tuesday

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This week's Quick Tip comes from Herbert Broda's 2007 book Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning: Using the Outdoors as an Instructional Tool, K-8. The book just received the Environmental Education Council of Ohio's Publication Award. The award was presented to Herb at the organization's annual meeting and is given to a publication that has made a significant contribution to the public understanding of an environmental issue.

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Creative star

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Celtic tradition to inspire writing wishes from Creative Star

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Ideas for designing literacy based trials from Creative Star

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Ideas from Creative Star about children understanding and making metaphors

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Ideas from Creative Star about the practicalities of writing outdoors.