Writing About Nature

Teaching Strategies

Vocabulary

In nature journaling the students will be exposed to a large amount of new vocabulary. In order to prepare them, before delving into each week of journaling I will use a Knowledge Rating Scale to conduct a knowledge rating of the significant vocabulary for the week. I will use a rating scale that is Spanish to English since the students will be journaling in Spanish. Students will be given a list of words related to the nature focus of the week such as line, color, shape, form or texture, taste, and sound. They will be asked to rate how well they know each one. Rating scales help students activate prior knowledge and make them aware of the new vocabulary, exposing them to it before engaging it in context. Having students identify the vocabulary terms with which they are unfamiliar helps the teacher to be able to better prepare them to engage with the information needed for journaling. The students will be better prepared to focus and write about and/or sketch what they are observing in nature. In using formative assessments like rating scales, the teacher is better able to assess the students’ prior knowledge. The Knowledge Rating Scale is a graphic organizer that contains each new vocabulary term in Spanish for that week’s journaling focus. The rating categories included are “Have No Clue,” “Have Seen It or Heard It,” “I Think It Means,” “Know It Well,” and “Definition.”

Before beginning the act of journaling each week, the needed vocabulary will be pre-taught. This will be done to help the students express what they are observing and ensure that they understand the discussions that we are having as a class about what they have observed, especially when unfamiliar and new vocabulary is being used.  For the actual vocabulary instruction, the students will use a different graphic organizer to write the term in Spanish, the definition/meaning in English, and a sentence in Spanish using the term or draw an example. The vocabulary chart will be revisited throughout the unit as students refine their understanding of the vocabulary.³⁶

Modeling

The teaching strategy of modeling demonstrates to the students what is expected of them. Through explicit teacher modeling, the teacher provides students with a clear example of a skill or strategy. The teacher provides a framework to guide students by describing the skill or strategy, clearly describing features of the strategy or steps in performing the skill, chunking the skill into learnable parts, modeling using a variety of techniques, engaging students in learning through expressing enthusiasm, keeping a steady pace, asking good questions, and checking for student understanding. The teacher makes sure to clearly describe the concept, and then models the desired outcome by using visual, auditory, tactile, and/or kinesthetic instructional techniques while thinking aloud. The teacher can provide examples and non-examples (work that does not meet expectations) to show students the expectations and stop frequently to get student input or ask questions. This technique of modeling provides high levels of student-teacher interaction.³⁷ With teacher modeling, the students have a better understanding of the thought processes required for completing a task.

Realia

Realia is a term for concrete objects, real things, that are used in teaching to build vocabulary and background knowledge. It provides experiences on which to build along with providing opportunities for students to engage all of their senses in learning. Realia allows the student to feel, hear, see, smell, and even taste the object that is being investigated. If the actual object in unavailable then a replica of that object can be used such as a model, illustration, or photograph. The further away from the actual object the replica, greater is the risk of some loss of sensory information that would be helpful in comprehension.³⁸

Nature Journaling

Natural journaling is an interdisciplinary approach that engages learners of any age in intently observing the wonders of nature. As previously discussed, this practice develops observations skills, supports visual literacy and critical thinking skills, nurtures a connection to the outdoors, and encourages creative expression.

When journaling about nature, the journaler includes numbers, pictures and words to record observations, information, and ideas on paper.  Journal entries can focus on documenting any aspect of nature from a tree outside the window to flowers in a garden, from birds in the back yard to a squirrel on the playground, from houseplant to an apple in a fruit bowl. As we learned in seminar, entries may include questions about concepts or ideas and personal reflection.

Intentionality is key to nature journaling, including numbers, writing and drawing in journal entries. Significant patterns may be revealed when using numbers in entries which may lead to an entirely new set of observations. Writing helps in organizing thoughts as they are written on the page. Drawing leads to purposeful observation and improved memory. Recording all of this information on a journal page creates a rich, and engaging learning experience.