Bluebonnets Arrive

March 31, 2010
Dear Mr. Painter,
What child is not excited about spring, as well as their educator?
If a child is to keep alive their inborn sense of wonder, they need the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with them the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. - Rachel Carson
This educator, along with her class, waited with anticipation for the "surprise plant" that we had informed our parents about with our weekly newsletter. We were rewarded on Monday for our patience. The surprise plant acknowledged us and assured us that our predictions were correct. Texas is full of blessings in the spring. Her first blessing, before gracing the wide prairies, visited us in our immediate surroundings.
Yes, the bluebonnet arrived, more beautiful than ever because of the cries of joy heard by 1C above the honking horns on Mockingbird Lane. "She is the most beautiful flower I have ever seen"!, said Marlee. I, as an educator, love and cherish this glorious innocence. You need not ask why I teach. My student's voices remind me daily. Stonewall is busy with Special Events, but we always have the time to relish our immediate oasis, Stonewall Gardens.
Can't wait to see you,
1C
(photos - Barbara Uskovich)
(photos: bluebonnet bud, bluebonnet blooming)

Spring Flowers

The days are getting longer and warmer,and life in the garden is beginning to respond. The Mexican plum and red bud trees are in full bloom. So are the red oaks though it's hard to see the blossoms without a good hand lens. We spent a good part of this week comparing the flowers,discussing their reproductive parts and how pollination takes place. Colorful,fragrant blooms require a live pollinator, while the small,drab colored oaks are wind pollinated. We discussed how the wind blown pollen was the cause of our allergic reactions. The pollen that is so large and heavy that it needs an animal to move it around doesn't easily get in our eyes and noses. We are looking forward to investigating all the flowers of spring and their pollinators.
(photos: Barbara Uskovich)

Chickens!

Dear Mr. Painter,
I have been with Dallas ISD for 22 years and I realize that
Stonewall is an amazing community because we have a principal that is on board with diversity concerning our curriculum. Her expertise acknowledges that we must "keep-up" with our students by exciting and engaging them with new experiences.
For years, with the acceptance of Mrs. Henderson and the assistance of Mr. Pittillo, we have hatched chicken, quail, duck, & geese, just to name a few. This is a success story! How do I know this besides first hand knowledge? Recently I was in a kinder classroom during a parent interaction and one mother said, "I know, do not bump the incubator, the eggs are delicate". She whispered to me that she remembered when she was a little girl hatching chickens in her classroom. (It was a fond memory!) She was delighted that she and her son would be able to share this experience.
Whether it is parent/child or teacher/student, collectively we achieve a similar goal:
allowing children to have real adventures , natural experiences, and developing empathy with animal life cycles that will promote ethical behaviors related to our environment.
For several weeks I have received written and verbal expressions relating to the student's excitement about our classroom lessons with the recent enrollment of Mrs. Fletcher and Ebenezer. We have illustrated, measured, and written about these two very different characters. We have also read, researched, and retained valuable knowledge that will sustain future lessons.
David Sobel, noted author, wrote, "Animals play a significant role in the evolution of children's care about the natural world and in THEIR own emotional development".
We can not say today what Stonewall's role in each individual life may culminate, but we should as a community nurture their adventures.
Barbara Uskovich
(photos: Barbara Uskovich)

Stonewall Gardens/Lewis & Clark

Dear Mr. Painter,
The day after the garden workday I was working on my lesson plans at home. My class was currently involved with a study about Lewis & Clark. They were extraordinary naturalists, keen observers, and they painstakingly mapped the trail. I remembered that you had cut back the prickly pear cactus in our garden and it happened to be one of the plants documented in the Lewis & Clark journals. What a prime opportunity to connect our garden to their historical event. I collected the cactus, distributed one to each student, and proceeded with a sensory lesson. Each student measured their piece, illustrated, and as a group completed a 5 Senses graphic organizer. Then the true experiment: eating, needless to say this is a class that is up for any challenge. Almost everyone agreed that the taste was acceptable, with flavors ranging from: sweet, tart, fresh, cucumber, pear, & one kiwi.
This one classroom lesson exemplifies a statement from David Sobel's book Childhood and Nature, " A diagnostic feature of a good classroom is being able to walk in and see something happening that you've never seen before; the intersection of children's concerns and interests, and the teacher's passion".
I feel fortunate that we have in our possession a natural environment where children have the opportunity to experience a true friendship with nature.
Mrs. Uskovich
(photos: Barbara Uskovich)

Signs of Spring

The week started out cool and rainy. I was beginning to wonder if the ground was ever going to dry out enough to finish planting our potatoes and onions. But Monday was the last of the rain-for the week at least. All classes finished planting, the fourth graders who normally come out on Mondays, came out today to plant. They were so glad they did because today was the perfect day to be outside, 70 degrees at 3PM and cloudless skies.

Sure signs of Spring observed this week were birds carrying nesting material, and the Mexican plum tree with swollen white flower buds. I predict full bloom next week, and the red bud trees shortly after.

While observing the burr oak next to my portable, Mrs.Cantu noticed a strange growth on the tree's stem. We cut it open and found what we thought was a small round seed. On further observation we found a small larva inside. It was white and only a couple of millimeters long. A wasp I'm told, but unsure of the species. There were hundreds of them on the tree. What effect do these small insects have on the burr oak?

Classes have been observing chicks they hatched in the classroom. Mr Pittillo bought a small coop that the chicks could be in outside on the grass. Chicks are hatched so students can get a glimpes of at least one stage in the life cycle of a very important bird to humans. Chickens and their eggs have been a part of the diet humans (and other animals) as long as we can remember. How chickens and other meat animals are raised is now a very controversial subject. For centuries animals were raised on small farms,in small herds and flocks foraging on the natural landscape, this diet supplemented with cultivated hay and grains. Often the animals bedded down in buildings adjacent to the homes of their owners. Now the norm is that these animals are raised in large containment buildings and never see the natural light of day, or set foot on real ground. Their diet is strictly controlled, no free choice at nature's table.

The questions I posed to students this week were, "should we know where our meat food comes from and how it is raised? What sort of life should these animals live? What constitutes for them a "good" life? Should we be intimate with these animals as we are with our domesticated pets?" Should we have a chicken coupe on campus? Could raising chickens help us learn to care about the lives of at least one animal our whole society depends on so much?
(photos: Barbara Uskovich)