Hands On, Plugged In: Life on the Prairie
Go to Happenings or Spring/Summer Events.
Please read the Status Report on the Prairie
for detailed project proceedings (also in MSWord
format).
Happenings
Meeting with Monticello public school staff - December 12, 2002
Details
A BIG THANK YOU to all the Monticello teachers who met with Walt Robinson and Sharon Irish on December 12, 2002.
In Attendence: Eric Hillman (Monticello Curriculum Coordinator), Belinda Beccue (Monticello art teacher, 5th-8th grades), Georgiean Benson; Monticello 6th grade science teacher), Debbie Cassels (from Grand Prairie Friends), Walt Robinson (UIUC) and Sharon Irish (UIUC).
One of the teachers, Belinda attended the Teaching Science with Art workshop at Allerton in the spring of 2002 and already knew about the Prairie Readers' Theatre and Mike Jeffords work, as well as that of Carie Nixon. Belinda also brought examples of handmade books that her students had created using plants and other natural objects, combined with cultural history. The books used drawing, printing with inked objects, writing, and mounting of grasses and other plants. Belinda and Georgiean have worked together on various units. Belinda mentioned various grants that she has been involved with through the Department of Natural Resources and others Ecosystem Partnership Grant, School Habitat Workshop, Earth Partners, and Ag in the Classroom. DNR even helps plant plants in schoolyards.
Monticello is building a new school, scheduled to open next fall. They are shifting toward a middle school model. Georgiean thought that the "Living on the Prairie" project would be a good way to encourage further curricular integration. Fifth grade curriculum covers ecosystems, usually with a visit to Allerton; sixth grade covers plants and astronomy, as well as geologic time, paper technology, magnets and motors. Georgiean uses inquiry kits to teach geologic time. She liked the idea of integrating Cahokia into some units, since the curriculum also includes archeology and astronomy. Another idea was to use Edgar Lee Masters' river series poems in classes.
Debbie Cassels an ecologist, now working for information systems at the U of I had questions about using digital cameras and composer to create a "scrapbook" of prairie images. Debbie also told us about Bob Vaiden who works for the Natural History Survey who does a dramatic presentation of ancient "Illinois" when it was an ocean here. He would be a good resource to tap. Debbie also had the idea of creating herbariums in the classrooms.
We discussed a mini-plant ID workshop for teachers to help them identify 10-12 prairie plants in different seasons. Then Walt suggested we think about how to push learners the next step from identifying plants to asking larger questions about adaptation, survival and human impact. This led to some interesting discussion about plants that will grow around the construction of the new school and why some plants will thrive and others will not.
Belinda said it was helpful at the Teaching Science with Art workshop that the teachers paired up one science and one art teacher to prepare and present. They met on 3 Saturdays. This workshop focused on cooperative learning, multimedia arts, history and science. Belinda was also interested in architect Cheryl Morgan's poster of the flora and fauna of the Upper Cahaba River in Alabama as a model of something that could be produced for the Sangamon. Other resources for local history that were mentioned include: the archives at the Monticello Library, the Monticello Historical Society, the Piatt Co. Museum, and a published history of Piatt Co.