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

Download | Subscribe: Apple / Android / Spotify

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
Notes:

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

Image: Bones Notebook
Photo credit: Diana Weis

Up next

Content type
The Power of Argument
By National Writing Project
Content type
Science in the Park
By National Writing Project
Content type
Intersections Of Poetry, Prose, and Place: A Visit with Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
This special NWP Radio episode features work related to Write Out, a program of the National Writing Project and the National Park Service. It features the poet-Ranger team of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument: Alabama State Poet Laureate Ashley Jones, Magic City Festival Earth Poet Nabila Lovelace, and Park Ranger Kat Gardiner.
Read more