Afternoon Thunderstorm

The sun was shining, thunder clapped loudly and suddenly, and large, heavy raindrops fell from the sky. When rain and sun mix, there might be a rainbow nearby!

This rainbow appeared low to the ground. It started in a neighbor's front yard across the street and arched over another neighbor's house. I ran through the house to the back windows to see where it ended.

On Facebook, I saw reports of people all over town seeing rainbows-- over a Walmart parking lot-- in another neighborhood in front of towering pine trees. With the angle of the afternoon sunlight, I suspected there were many, many rainbows all over the city depending on the vantage point of the seer. I wondered if there was one right over our home waiting to be seen by another neighbor looking out of her front window and down the street.

School is officially out for the children, and I only have today left to wrap things up in the library and with my teaching colleagues. I am looking forward to a slower pace of life not over scheduled with homework and school projects. I can't wait to read, knit, quilt, garden, cook, explore, walk, write, sit by the pool, organize and clean out. For me, and I suspect for other teachers, the beginning of summer break is a better resolution time than the new year. I am taking stock, refueling, and preparing for the next academic year and all of the challenges and opportunities it will bring.

On the Kitchen Table

I was staging a photo shoot of some recent, mindless knitting projects (still waiting to be finished and severed from their balls), and I realized that the items on the kitchen table were a perfect representation of our lives right now: work, homework, meals, and a little knitting, playing, or reading. I haven't been blogging much lately because May is so busy with end of school activities both for work and for my own children. My portable knitting has followed me here and there for in between times, before times, and after times. The photos below reveal what I cropped out of the frame above.

This seed-stitch washcloth was started back at the end of April for my trip to Chicago. Notice that subsequent washcloths took on a basket weave stitch and bright colors to remind me of the coming summer. The seed-stitch felt a little slow, but the basket weave keeps me going-- just one more section. The gray cat appears on the kitchen table any time and every time it looks like people are about to be around-- homework, breakfast, blogging, photo shoot, dinner, etc.

"Am I in the way?" the furry beast asks. "Why don't you rub that spot behind my ears while you do your work. I'll try very hard not to chew that pencil, but remember I'm just a cat."

Science homework: "Ready to Eat: Omnivores, Carnivores, and Herbivores."

Cat, computer, knitting, homework, book (Gregor and Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins), and Maxis Dragonoid: now it's time to clear it all off and set the table for supper. What are we having? Better figure that out. . .

Young Photographers and Authors

During the last four weeks of literature connection class, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at St. Therese Catholic School started their own Fibonacci accordion book project. Mrs. Tartleton and I took classes outside on the school grounds on Wednesday with five digital cameras. In April, Sarah Campbell, Lynn Tarleton, and I field tested the project involving book-making, photography, and poetry with third graders at the school (photo below). Sarah and I developed the arts integrated project as an extension of her new book, Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature, to meet a variety of objectives in math, science, language arts, and visual arts.

Only 5 weeks after the third graders took their photos, the school yard looked very different. Wednesday was unseasonably warm at 90 degrees and sunny. The leaves on the trees were large and thick unlike the just budding leaves of April. More varieties of wildflowers dotted the landscape while many of the blooming shrubs had already lost their spring colors.

The grass around the ditch which separates the playground from a meadow area was lush and varied with pink bindweed, wild garlic, and elephant ear-like plants. One boy spotted tadpoles in the ditch! Sycamore balls decorated the ground near the back of the church. The third grade class had exchanged their pansies for marigolds in their garden box, and they had hung pine-cone bird feeders from the tree outside their classroom. Several classes had flower pots of seed-growing projects lined-up outside their classroom doors.

The young photographers captured it all! They were enthusiastic, eager, and engaged-- dispositions which are sometimes hard to encourage during the last weeks of school. This is the perfect project with which to end the school year, and I hope that it will provide some good background experience and knowledge for both students and teachers to create a seasonal field guide, using this model, to our school yard during 2010-2011. It is so rewarding to share my growing interests in photography and environmental concerns with students who are excited to try out something new along with me.

For the Birds

About a week ago, I pulled into the parking lot of St. Therese Catholic School and saw these two, large birds of prey sitting at the top of a bare tree. It was only 7:30 am, and the carpool line was in full swing. I wanted to get a closer look, so I grabbed my camera, the only magnification available to me at the time, and waded out into the wet grass. Parents and students trying to beat the tardy bell probably said to each other, "What in the world is Mrs. Owen doing out there?"

I wished for a pair of binoculars, and I made a mental note to myself: keep a bag with binoculars and other field gear in the car for moments like this. The birds were spectacular. What were they? Some kind of hawks, I think. A student told me they were "chicken hawks." My enlarged photos are still not good enough for me to identify them. One flew off to a tree line as I approached, but I was able to watch them for at least 15 minutes. I could hear one calling to the other. The grassy fields around the school must provide numerous prey for the birds. I wonder where their nest might be?

At the IRA conference in Chicago, my favorite session and one of the most meaningful experiences of the week was a symposium of authors, photographers, and illustrators who have been recognized by the Green Earth Book Award. Lynne Cherry, Melissa Stewart, Higgins Bond, Nic Bishop, Sy Montgomery, and Henry Cole spoke eloquently about their childhoods, their work, and their passion for our natural world and environmental concerns.

During her portion of the symposium, Sy Montgomery shared a Buddhist proverb that applied to her own life: When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. For Ms. Montgomery, the main teachers in her life have been the animals she has known through research for her books. She and Nic Bishop shared about their forthcoming book about the kakapo parrot in a series by Houghton Mifflin called Scientists in the Field. I am anxiously awaiting the release of this book about a remarkable bird living on a razor's edge and the amazing people working to save it.

Other birds need saving closer to home. Upon my return from Chicago, I am learning about how devastating the recent BP oil gush in the Gulf of Mexico has become. It seems to be a "worst case scenario" in a part of the country that has already suffered so much-- only three hours from where I live. The images on the news and online of people, birds, and other wildlife that are already being affected by the suffocating oil are "teachers" for me, and I hope for others, about the fragile circumstances in which we live our lives.

My Nest

I have been away from home-- even flying like a bird through the skies-- for several days. It was a wonderful trip to the International Reading Association's annual convention in Chicago with a good friend (who has already been posting photos about it here). I am glad to be back at home in my nest in Jackson with my family and friends, pets, and students. I hope to write more about the conference soon.

Jennifer, a blogging friend, knitter, mom, and many other things, wrote a lovely piece about my blog and our friendship. Her words are lengths of the most beautiful yarn imaginable weaving into my "nest." Thank you, Jennifer, for reminding me about the intersections and the daily choices made at those intersections.

The nest photo was taken before I left for Chicago, and I carried the image with me during the trip away. It had been in a large sticker bush along the fence row that we pruned down to the ground. Some pair of birds is probably not happy, but I hope they were able to start over again in time for their eggs.

Ground Level Fib Poems

The following photos and poems were written by third grade students at St. Therese Catholic School. Read more about the project here and check out their flower Fib poems from yesterday. Most of these poems were inspired by photographs taken at ground level. There are more spring flowers of the wild variety, but there is also a photo of a crawdad hole that C. R. identifies as a snake hole. Either way, it is worth reading and seeing! The exception to "ground level photos" is B. L.'s humorous poem/photo of red berries in a category of its own. I can testify from experience that B. L.'s personality matches his poem!

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Fibonacci by V. B.

buds
dark
nice things
rain forest
purple white sunshine
fairy tale land with white flowers

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Fibonacci Poem by S. C.

green
blue
yellow
beautiful
I love bright flowers
I love nature, trees, birds, and grass.

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All About Flowers by K. C.

buds
leaves
so bright
beautiful
as the midnight sky
God's creation is in full bloom.

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Fibonacci Poem by C. R.

snake
hole
brownish
hiding in
a secret, dark spot;
giant, brownish, scary snake hole!

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Fibo What?

Brown
Red
Berry.
Beautiful.
Looks good to eat it.
I want to cook and eat it bad.

Flower Fib Poetry

This group of poems and photographs by third grade students at St. Therese Catholic School focuses on flowers in full bloom. See yesterday's post for more information about this arts integrated project. Happy Earth Day!

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Fib Poem by C. B.

Pink
green
flowers
bursting high
happy, loving thoughts.
It's spring time in the world around.

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Fibonacci by A. N.

Small
blooms
pansies
bright, green leaves
beautiful purple
shining pollen on the flowers.

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Fibonacci Poem by C. L.

Pink
white
pretty
tall, green grass
reaching for the sun
drinking water from down below.

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Fibonacci Poem by T. H.

White
green
flowers
growing nice
like a tear of sky
shining in the sky like a bird.

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Flowers by L.B.

Cute
green
purple
beautiful
purple as my church dress.
The yellow pollen peeking out.

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Come back on Friday for 5 more student Fib poems and photographs.