project learning tree

I spent the day today at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens

enrolled in a Project Learning Tree workshop. 

The weather could not have been more perfect. 

A brisk, delightfully sunny November day.

We learned different strategies for
teaching about tree identification,

and other aspects of environmental education
for kids grades K-8.
  I had never noticed a Witch Hazel Tree,

nor had I known about the blight of the American Chestnut.

I learned ways to identify trees in winter
by examining twigs and buds. 

And,
did you know?...

 A white pine has needles in clusters of five (W-H-I-T-E)

red pine needles in clusters of two,

(two ways to say "red," the color, and read (as in a book)) 

and pitch pine needles in clusters of three.

(The PITCH... then, 1-2-3 strikes you're out!)

We also participated in a Poet-TREE lesson.
 I learned a new type of poem...
A
~ windspark ~
has 5 lines with this pattern:
I dreamed
I was...(something or someone)
where
an action
and how 
...and I wrote one of my own.

 I dreamed

I was a flowering maple

In a tidy, manicured garden

Tossing crimson leaves into the air

Like a child.

Are you inspired
to take a

nature walk
or to
 write a poem

of

 your

 own?