Writing About Nature

Teaching Strategies

Nested Language Development Supports

The nested language supports in this unit include scaffolds like, structured nature journaling, familial interviews, and targeting readings to build language comprehension skills to use in their final writing project. For instance, students can listen to older students’ immigrant stories and gain insights into their own essay writing.  Additionally, ELD students will gain essential listening and reporting skills conducting a family interview. The interview process will help them build a framework of memories and connection to their native land and scaffold a similar story line for their personal use. Nature readings will expose scholars to different perspectives, writing styles and methods to create their own literary work of art.

In Tulsa Public Schools, there is a strong focus on meeting the rigorous expectations and goals set by WIDA State Standards for English Language Learners. The unit front-loads students with relevant background and examples to better understand complete ideas. My strategies will include encompassing many of these standards, using selected readings, interviewing, sit-spot journaling, and using core language found in “juicy sentences” within the readings.  

Exemplar Works

Through the exploration of example student “Moving Stories,” my goal is to forge significant connections between individuals’ memories and the profound effects of their respective journeys.  By delving into these texts, we seek to unravel the intricate tapestry of experiences that shape each student’s unique identity. The stories and insights shared in these readings act as a mirror, reflecting on common but diverse threads that bind us together, yet make us distinctly who we are.  Within the richness found within student exemplar readings the unit aims to foster empathy, understanding and appreciation for the interplay between personal memories and the transformative power of life’s journeys.¹⁰

Journaling

One of this unit’s scaffolding strategies is to use nature journaling in pre-writing to support students in producing a culminating project, a narrative essay. By engaging in nature journaling and reflection, students will develop a deeper connection with the natural world and awareness of similar experiences.

By adopting this approach, students can acquire valuable insights and perceptions through journaling in a focused manner. The use of sentence stem prompts will help them complete their nature journals. The method proves effective on multiple levels as it helps students enhance their focus, heighten awareness of their emotions, and establish connections between their current experiences and memories.  By journaling with the guidance of directed daily nature-focused sentence stems, they gradually expand awareness of universal commonalities in the natural world. Reflectively, they will contemplate the significance of their personal migration story, nature in their homeland and how it relates to their hometown. Additionally, they become conscious of their home “identity,” fostering insightful reflections about how they belong to both worlds now.

Familial Interviews

Incorporating interviews in the curriculum enables students to safely gather information and deepen their self-awareness. By documenting and structuring another person’s respective journey through purposeful listening and awareness, students learn aspects in the art of storytelling. Encouraging students to act as reporters and pursue their own curiosity makes the process engaging, leading to valuable insights into their own history and cultivating respect for the challenges and resilience associated with migration. Through familial interviews, students humanize their experiences and gain a firsthand understanding of the human cost involved in migration. Dr Anna Bryson from the University of Oxford emphasizes the significance of such interviews in connecting with the voices and stories of interviewees¹¹

Selected Readings Highlighting Key Contextual Sentences

This curriculum unit employs a diverse selection of poems and prose to resonate cross-culturally with English Language Development students. Differentiated reading strategies are used to enhance literacy skills and foster connections with the students. The unit emphasizes logical connections by exploring patterns in nature described by authors, encouraging students to internalize a common experience. Key contextual elements from readings are discussed as a group, allowing for multiple perspectives and ideas to emerge from their conversations.

Another focus of the unit is on extracting “juicy sentences” from complex texts. These rich and descriptive sentences not only improve vocabulary and comprehension but also provide valuable context clues for better understanding the text, as found in research by M. J. Schleppegrell and documented in “The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective.”¹² I will use the example, in Wordsworth’s “A Night-Piece”: “Followed by multitudes of stars, that small, and bright, and sharp along the gloomy vault drive as she drives. How fast they wheel away! Yet vanish not.”¹³ In this poem students will have exposure to well-crafted and engaging sentences which can encourage them to practice speaking and writing with more descriptive language.

Vocabulary acquisition has been shown to be crucial for language development and academic success, as studied by W. E. Nagy and R. C. Anderson in “How Many Words Are There in Printed School English?” Moreover, this unit’s context-based learning approach enhances reading comprehension and language understanding, building on ideas presented in Nagy and Anderson’s research.¹⁴

By analyzing “juicy sentences,” ELD students can gain insights into English syntax. Engaging with such sentences can boost language fluency, making the language learning process more enjoyable and effective, as studied by S. Krashen in “Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition.”¹⁵  

In our Native American unit readings, there is a context-rich example in Tapahonso’s poem, “This Is How They Were Placed for Us,” which will help students expand language describing the time of day. The poem states: “She wears mornings of white shell, she wears midday light of turquoise. She wears evenings abalone, the light of the moon. She wears nights of jet black.” This poetic excerpt gives the reader a sense of wonder about how beautiful the landscape appears over time and the depth of meaning it holds for its people.¹⁶

Cultural relevance is also incorporated into the unit by selecting or adapting contextually pertinent references that resonate with ELD students. This practice fosters a sense of belonging and engagement. The use of socially relevant content aligns with the principles of culturally responsive teaching as studied by R. C. Gardner researched in “Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and Motivation.”¹⁷

In conclusion, the integration of nested language supports in the curriculum offers various advantages for ELD students, including vocabulary enrichment, improved comprehension, increased language fluency, higher motivation, cultural relevance, and improved confidence. Through this approach, students can develop a deeper appreciation for literature and language while cultivating essential skills for their academic and personal growth.

Narrative Writing

Narrative writing not only helps students process traumatic experiences, but it also enhances their English language development skills. Students will develop the art of crafting a story about themselves with a plot and setting, taking readers on a journey filled with conflict, resolution, and emotional engagement. We will use imagination, structure, and literary devices to create a captivating narrative that explores themes, entertains, and leaves a lasting impact on the reader.

Anya Kamenetz’s research paper states, “Experiments going back to the 1980s have shown that ‘therapeutic’ or ‘expressive’ writing can reduce depression, increase productivity, and even cut down on visits to the doctor.” “The act of writing is more powerful than people think," Jordan Peterson says. “Most people grapple at some time or another with free-floating anxiety that saps energy and increases stress. Through written reflection, you may realize that a certain unpleasant feeling ties back to, say, a difficult interaction with your mother. That type of insight, research has shown, can help locate, ground, and resolve the emotion and the associated stress.”¹⁸

In conclusion, by having students reflect on important moments in their past, identify key personal motivations, and then proceed to edit, read, and record a personal narrative, they will have an opportunity to build English language development skills. This, in turn, can significantly improve personal awareness and insights.

Pedagogical Theory

The teaching philosophy in this unit is characterized by a balanced and diverse approach. It incorporates proven methods, various readings, group activities, student-led discussions, and inquiry, as well as firsthand learning opportunities. The unit spans 4 to 5 weeks and can be easily adapted and utilized by different educators. The aim is to promote critical thinking and create a safe and positive learning experience for students, addressing identity development issues in an age-appropriate and holistic manner. Overall, this unit strives to empower ELD students through engaging and impactful learning experiences, incorporating nature, language, and cultural relevance to foster their growth and confidence in their language abilities.