“The Rock” and “Magicland” Two hundred feet from the school began “The Rock,” a huge outcrop of Precambrian Shield with its typical hollows of grasses, mosses, junipers, and Jack Pines. A variety of ani- mals resided there such as American Red Squirrels, Snow- shoe Hares, and Red Foxes. This became one of the main teaching areas. On many excursions, we ventured out here where the warm, relaxed conditions allowed for conversa- tions around topics that were bothering the children. On the north side was a fairly large region of poplar trees,
shrubs, and ferns growing among scattered large boulders. This was Magicland and the children loved it. In the spring, it was very interesting as one could see
through the area where the children were running and chas- ing each other along the many little paths around these boul- ders. As the spring progressed, the bushes gradually filled in all the spaces, except for these paths. Soon, under shady pop- lar trees, the brush formed low canopies over the well-trav- elled trails. It wasn’t long before all you could see were little treed entrances, about four feet high, leading into Magi- cland. You could hear squealing children, but you couldn’t see them. Once in a while, a little one would come out of one opening, and vanish into an adjacent one. It was their private little world. It was only when the bell rang did the tunnels disgorge their precious inhabitants. To appreciate the intricacy and wonderment of Magi-
cland, one had to bend over and follow a trail. I remember going in, sitting down somewhere out of the way, and watch- ing “the ants” zipping along the tunnels. In there, time had a way of standing still. When school resumed in the fall, it wasn’t long before Magicland was re-established. I often think of Magicland and “the ants.”
The Straw Routine A typical language development lesson
Part 1: Observations • The class goes outside where, in the tall-grass area, each student selects a piece of grass (straw).
• Different aspects of the straw are discussed with no description ignored or scoffed at by anyone.
• Sometimes in the excitement, a child is asked to “hold that word” or it is jotted down to be used later.
• Leading questions are asked, and all answers are accepted. This is particularly important. A useful guiding question could be, what can we say about our straws?
“Long” could lead to “tall and high.”
“Skinny” could lead to “thin, narrow, slender, slim.” “Dry” could lead to “crunchy, cracklie, feels flakie.” “Break” could lead to “snap, brittle, breaks easily.” “Smells like hay, like straw, like grass.”
“It looks yellow, tan, brownish, yellowy.” “Tastes like...”
The goal is to extrapolate on the initial words, meaning teacher creativity is important. It is also essential to record the words so that once the conversation is pretty well exhausted, pupils return to the classroom and use the words in a chart story.
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Dog-day Cicada What really is a “bug”?
The term “bug” is so commonly used as a catch-all term for invertebrates that its easy to forget that it actually rep- resents a specific group of insects. True Bugs comprise the order Hemiptera, which includes such familiar members as cicadas, aphids, spittlebugs, leafhoppers, and stink bugs, to name just a few.
Part 2: The chart story The words are written in a chart story. Descriptions of the straw are reviewed. These words become sight or reading words. Repetition of the descriptions reinforces the lan- guage. Such impromptu lessons become the best occasions that spur language development. It should be noted that this lesson can be easily adapted
by substituting a piece of grass for a rock, some moss, a twig, new grass, sand, a pine cone, pussy willow, a berry, a fly, a Wood Tick, different types of leaves, pieces of bark, etc. With this age group, “bugs” can be a real blast!
Graham Ducker is a retired Principal and Kindergarten teacher who published a memoir book Don’t Wake The Teacher in 2004. He has two poetry books: Observations of Heart and Mind, and Where Warm Hearts Blend. He also published two picture books and two instructional books in 2011.
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