Springtime
Inspirations
with
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
Welcome to
Springtime Inspirations!
I am pleased that you are participating, and hope that
this will be a useful and interesting experience for you.
I would like everyone to post self-introductions.
Please tell us
who you are, where you teach, what you teach and who
you teach. What are your interests and background?
What else would you like the group to know?
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
My introduction
Warm regards from beautiful Poland,
My name is Grazyna, I'm a Teacher Trainer and
ELT Consultant for Southern Poland, happy to
be with you here, share ideas, gain experience
and learn a lot
Atb
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
Freelance Teacher Trainer, EuroCALL NatRep for Poland
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Frappr maps
my map
• Please get your own map and make your
own profile
http://www.frappr.com/
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Spring fever
Does spring fever have your students all
a-buzz?
Use their boundless energy to help them
learn about the bees and the flowers and
the seeds
Bring spring into your classroom and your
curriculum.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Green and greener
Each year, toward the end of March, Earth and the
sun conspire to bring spring to Earth's Northern
Hemisphere. The season's specific
characteristics vary from region to region. For
some, the final frost is months past. For others,
it's still months away. Some places become
green. Others become greener. The essential
elements of the season, however, are universal.
In every country, in every city, in every pond and
forest and yard, life is beginning again.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
The legends
"Long ago, Summer, a beautiful woman with long brown
hair crowned with flowers and arms filled with blossoms,
defeated Winter and used her special power to awaken
Earth. The grass grew green and the snow ran down the
rivers, carrying away the dead leaves. Old Winter wept to
see his power taken away. Summer said, "Now that I
have proved I am more powerful than you, I give you all
the country to the far north for your own, and there I
shall never disturb you. Six months of every year you
may reign as before. During the other six months, I will
come back from the South and rule the land."
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Task
Find and tell or write other legends and
folktales that explain the changing seasons
Share the legends with your mates
Observe similarities of the springtime
legends
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Science and art
Make a weather station
Miami Museum of Science
Help students follow the directions at
Making a Weather Station, and then invite
them to use the tools they make to learn
about the weather. Encourage students to
record the weather information in their
journals.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Health
Learn about plants
Help students learn about the parts of plants
as they make an online
Plant-Parts Salad
If possible, arrange students into five
groups and ask each group to bring real
plant parts to class, including seeds, roots,
leaves, stems, and flowers. Then make
your own Plant-Parts Salad.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Bird-watchers
Invite students to become bird-watchers at
home or school. Have them record how
many of each kind of bird they see.
Students can use The Great Backyard Bird
Count: Bird Identification Guide to
identify the birds and their sounds.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Arts and craft
Build a bird feeder
Invite students to visit Backyard Birding to learn
about different kinds of bird feeders and bird
food and the birds that are attracted to them.
Arrange students into groups, and help each group
build a different kind of bird feeder.
Place the feeders outside the classroom and
encourage students to record the kinds of birds
that are attracted to their feeders.
Have students make a chart showing the
information for each feeder.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Writing
Write a poem
Encourage students to learn about
butterflies at
The Butterfly and Moth Life Cycle
Then ask each student to write a poem about
butterflies or moths.
Encourage students to illustrate their
poems.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Fun and games
Invite students of all ages
to play the games on the
National Wildlife Federation Games Page.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Research and reporting
As a follow-up to the previous activity, ask each
student to research one of the animals whose
tracks they found and to write a report about it.
Encourage students to read Spring Peepers, a
report by a third-grade student, for ideas on the
kinds of things they might include in their
reports.
Have students illustrate their reports and then
combine the sketches, reports, and animal
drawings into a classroom field guide.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Art
Design a habitat
Encourage each student to select an animal
or insect that might be seen in spring.
Ask students to research their animals to
learn where they live, what they eat, how
they bear their young, and so on.
Then have each student create a diorama of
the animal's habitat.
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
a willingness to learn
(and not only the content subject)
is a key quality
of any teacher
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007
Have a nice springtime
Thank you
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
Freelance Teacher Trainer, EuroCALL NatRep for Poland
ict@wom.edu.pl
ALL PHOTOES BY THE AUTHOR©
Grazyna Studzinska-Cavour
RODNiIP WOM 2007