Connected Learning Content-Area Literacy Teaching Writing

Bare Bones: Place-Based Teaching Through the Stories of Agate Fossil Beds National Monument—Part 5 of The Nebraska Experience

By Robert Brooke
Back to Opening the Walls of the Classroom and the Boundaries of the Park

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Part five of The Nebraska Experience gives an outline of the initial work between the Nebraska Writing Project and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and examines the rich place-based teaching that occurred in this partnership. Our guests describe how they developed the paleontological, geological, and early history of the plains stories from this park into a series of workshops designed for teachers.

The goal of this partnership was to create place-based workshops which:

  • immersed teachers directly in the experience of the park,
  • provided writing experiences that both enriched the park experience and were recreatable in the classroom,
  • and met the teacher as a writer and an educator.

Teacher-participants join the podcast to share how the workshop series evolved and impacted them as place-based writers and educators.

Guests

  • Diana Weis, 5th Grade Teacher, Millard Cather Elementary School
  • Alvis Mar, Lead Park Ranger, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
  • Jan Knispel, Teacher, Midplains Community College
  • Tess Sykes, Henry Doorly Zoo School, Papillon
  • Brenda Larabee, 10-12 Teacher, Stuart High School
This post is part of the Opening the Walls of the Classroom and the Boundaries of the Park collection.
Notes:

Image: Teacher writing on Agate bluff (Agate Writer)
Photo credit: Diana Weis

Image: Bones Notebook
Photo credit: Diana Weis

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