Literacy in the Landscape

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Literacy in the Landscape

• The following pages outline some of the
  different ways that the natural world can
  inspire literacy. It also includes examples of
  work by visiting school groups and teachers on
  training days at Chelsea Physic Garden.
• Literacy refers to the ability to read and
  write, to understand and use language
  proficiently.
• The Landscape can be defined as ones
  environment human-built, perfectly natural and
  whatever lies between.
• The first page shows an overview of this
  subject, the others aim to expand upon it.

Michael Holland - Chelsea Physic Garden, U.K.
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Literacy in the Landscape links
Historical and (ethno)botanical stories
Story
Nature diary
Legend
Non-fiction
Fiction
Myth
Reportage style
Structured
Poetry
Uses of different word types
Free
Here are some of the different strands of
literacy. Many of them have links to other
curriculum areas such as History, Geography, Art,
Music, Design and Technology, Science and
Numeracy. Those marked are elaborated upon in
the following pages.
Picture a word
Other
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Nature diaries
Developing observational skills
Developing an appreciation of the natural world
and its diversity
Using different styles of language
Use of local green spaces
Awareness of seasons and other processes
Provides data for further studies
Different presentation styles
Links to numeracy
History link
Art ICT
Geography
Citizenship
Science
Nature diaries can be a simple written record of
events or perhaps more complex with
illustrations, audio and even video entries to
document natural phenomena. Important
information includes location, date, time,
weather, the event itself and any other
comments. Examples of diary ideas Bird table
observation, Metamorphosis, seed germination and
subsequent growth, seasonal changes, astronomical
and meteorological events.
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Poetry inspired by nature
Haiku - A 3 line Japanese poem Numbers of
syllables in each line are 5,7,5 a total of 17
syllables.
Acrostic - where either the first letters or last
letters of each line spell out a word.
Literacy is- Expressing it into
words, In some sort of way.
Tall plants, Reaching to the sky, Ever
changing, Each one different - Shading us
below.
Spreading up and out, Casting shade onto
the ground - Leaves rustling in wind.
Freeform -these are poems without any particular
constraints.
Rhymes - examples are not needed if your garden
is well weeded.
Before he went to school he could read
the bark of trees, leaf
veins, sea shell
convolutions, footprints,
and the touch of fingers now he goes to school,
and he can only read words. Jennifer
Farley
Here are some types of poems which can be useful
when expressing aspects of the natural world.
More examples can be found elsewhere in this
display.
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Different word types
Nouns Different regional names for the same
plant meanings of Latin names parts of a plant,
place names and their origins habitat names
names of colours.
Verbs growing, flowering, gardening,
photosynthesising, germinating, adapting,
climbing, evolving, raining, sprouting.
Alliteration - the complex creeper carefully
climbs across crevices and cracks small
Saussurea seedlings slowly sprout sideways,
seeking solstice sunshine.
Similes As tall as a tree As rough as bark as
light as a feather, as fragile as a seedling.
Adjectives A long, green, spiny, shiny, thick,
weathered, fragrant, medicinal, mottled,
asymmetrical, narrow, old leaf.
Synonyms Wet-damp-dank-sodden-soggy-waterlogged-h
umid- soaking
Spiky-barbed-bristly-thorny-spiny-brambly
Of course, these are just some examples.
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THE DAILY SUNSHINE
Issue 1, Tuesday 1st October 2002
FLY SLIPS TO STICKY DEATH IN NASTY NECTAR MIX UP
One minute she was there, the next she had
gone, explained a distraught Ben Blowfly -friend
of the deceased - yesterday at the scene of the
sad event on a London kitchen windowsill. These
pitcher plants are a menace to us all we hope to
stamp out these pernicious pests, exclaimed
Officer Grub of Ants Hill Accident Prevention
Station. Experts believe that these
insectivorous plants are
By Sarracenia Spider responsible for as many as
400,000,000 missing invertebrates worldwide
annually. It is thought that the plants (of
which there are many types, mostly growing in
damp places) lure our fellow insects by offering
stupefying, narcotic nectar, causing them to lose
their footing on the already slippery sides of
these specially adapted leaves. Turn to page 2,
col. 3
Picture of the Pitcher of doom
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Stories
Based upon historical events, e.g plant hunters,
voyages
Based upon objects collected around the garden
Written about special places and journeys in the
garden
Differentiate between story, legend and myth
Incorporate as many words from your nature word
bank into your stories as possible
Reading from books
Adapt existing stories
Stories are a wonderful way of bringing any
subject to life. They tap into our imaginations
and entwine the different strands of Literacy,
whether we are readers or the writers
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Ways of presenting Literacy work
Paper cones
Books
Trails
Pictures
Word line/word bank
Audio
Computer/ web pages
Film
Verbally
Other
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Picture a word
O
D
F
O
B
W
E
This is a useful visual way of writing words and
terms associated with nature.