This video is used to introduce seventh and eighth grade students to their Outdoor Journal Writing Project. The students are required to keep a journal for three months in which they write about their thoughts, feelings, ideas, moods, and experiences that they have when outside their houses. I encourage them to focus on the warmth of the sun, the brightness of the moon, and the vastness of the night sky. I also ask them to listen to the birds sing, to the wind rushing through the trees, and to water flowing or waves breaking. I encourage them to stop, sit down and focus on the natural beauty that surrounds us, as well as the minor details, such as ants moving at their own pace, and to the colors of small, delicate flowers. It is up to them to decide on what to write about, but these are just a few of the suggestions I will make. I explain to the students that they are to write freely and not to worry about misspelled words, grammatical errors or incomplete sentences. I push them more and tell them to draw pictures, create diagrams, write poems, or even use a camera to take pictures, which are to be put into their journals along with comments made on why they took the time to take the photographs. They are not graded on how they write, but on what they write and how often. I elaborate on how the options are limitless in regards to where they will go to write in their journals. I tell them that they can go into their backyards, to the parks and beaches, or even into the grass fields during lunch break at school. I expand on this and tell them that while they are waiting for the school bus, and they take the time to notice, that they will see, hear, and feel more than they usually do because they are inwardly pushing their senses. Lastly, the goal of this Outdoor Writing Journal Project is to open up the hearts and minds of the students so that they can recognize the growth of a relationship between them and the natural world. I want them to also be aware that they are part of our natural world, and that they too can help keep the world cleaner and a better place for our children, our children’s children, and even us today. Even more, during this semester, we will study the effects of air and water pollution, overuse of natural resources, and recycling have on earth’s natural environments. |