Starting Nature Journals with Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe
In the novel Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, the main character Cricket recalls the times she spent in the woods with her father. He had taught her outdoor skills, such as how to build a fire and how to identify trees. He kept a book in the tree house full of information about nature and living off the land. Students can use Daddy’s book as inspiration to start a nature journal for recording their own thoughts and discoveries.
Nature journaling helps students get to know their natural surroundings. Sometimes it’s hard to care about something when you don’t know much about it. When students learn about nature, they may be more motivated to help take care of it.
Lesson Created By: SamanthaBell, Jo Watson Hackl
Essential Question
How does journaling affect the way someone views their natural environment?
Grade(s):
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Subject(s):
Recommended Technology:
Computers for researching wildlife found
Other Instructional Materials or Notes:
Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe by Jo Hackl, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden, notebooks for journaling, pencils, pens, markers, colored pencils, watercolors, field guides
Lesson Progression
Introduction Activity
Take the students to a natural area outside, such as a field or a place with trees. Instruct the students to just sit, look, and listen without talking for five minutes. When the time is up, ask the students what they saw or heard. Then have the students try it again. Ask the students if they noticed more the second time. Why or why not?
Mini Lesson
- Check out a copy of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden from your local library. Read some selections out loud to the class, showing them the illustrations as you go.
2. As a class, have the students answer the following questions:
- What kind of book is this?
- In what ways is it like a diary?
- In what ways is it different from a diary you might keep?
- What sort of person wrote in this book?
- Who would find this book useful?
Main Lesson
1. In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, we find out Cricket’s daddy loved spending time with her outdoors. He even kept a book in the treehouse full of information. Tell the students they are going to keep a similar book called a nature journal. Like Daddy’s book, their nature journals will be a place where they keep information they learn about the outdoors.
2, Provide each student with a nature journal. These may be drawing pads, composition notebooks, or even a regular spiral notebook. Spiral-bound books are easier to lay flat; books with unlined pages may be easier to draw in. If using regular notebooks, students can draw on unlined paper and later glue the pictures into their notebooks.
3. Explain the purpose of a nature journal: to record the thoughts, feelings, ideas, and observations about the natural world. Nature journals help people connect with the outdoors by getting to know their natural surroundings.
4. Explain the different ways people use nature journals:
- For collecting scientific data. For example, it can include an on-going record of a specific location and how that location changes through the seasons. A journal might contain information such as where and when to look for particular wildflowers or birds.
- To preserve memories by recording outdoor experiences.
5. Provide students with pens, pencils, markers, colored pencils, and/or watercolors. Take the students outside again. Instruct them to turn to the first page in their journal. Have them record the date, time, place, and weather at the top of the page.
6. Instruct the students to observe and listen as they did at the beginning of class. Have them draw something they see and write down what they hear. They can also include descriptions, thoughts, and feelings about what they experience. Does the object remind them of a song or a funny poem? Students may include these as well.
7. Return to the classroom. Ask the students to share what they found.
8. Instruct the students to choose one type of wildlife they found to research. Students may use individual computers to do research online, or they may look for the information in field guides. Students should include some of these facts in their journals. For example, if the students saw a robin, they can do research to find out more about robins. Then they write some of this information on the pages about the robin.
Closing Activity
Each student shares one thing they learned with the class.
Extensions:
1. Continue nature journaling as a class on a regular basis, such as weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly.
2. Collect and press leaves or flowers to add to the journals. Be sure to identify them with the field guides.
3. Create leaf rubbings to add to the journal by placing the leaf under a sheet of paper and rubbing over it with the side of a crayon or pencil.
4. Observe how the natural environment changes through different seasons.
5. In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, Daddy’s book contained information about edible plants. As a class, find out what plants in your area are edible.
Standards
- Ecology: Interactions of Living Systems and the Environment
- Life Science: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- De.CR Creating - I can conceive and develop new design ideas and work.
Assessments
Students’ journal entries include accurate scientific data.
