When I worked on my Master's in Education, we experienced a "Sense of Place" project, which occurred mostly through our coursework on technology. We went into our neighborhoods and took videos set to music we'd edit together; we made maps and made interactive experiences theoretical students could visit. We became aware of setting and connections to our environment, and I ended up going into St. Paul's F. Scott Fitzgerald neighborhood, where I photographed the houses that meant something to him, took a video of a tree rustling in the wind in the fall.
The house in which we stayed in Maine had a small pile of local books, and while I brought a tote full of books from home, we also sifted through these. We were lucky in the children's bedroom: six double-beds all lined up Madeline-style, so the oldest cousin, James, would read a book to the group, and then my husband and I went into our typical reading routine: a simul-read, one of us with one child and the other with the other and then swap.
This was one I read a few times with my daughter, who is always hungry for animal-books and generally happy with whatever we select.
This one would be a nice addition to a Children's House. It invites a lot of conversation: I am one with this particular element of this landscape, and here are a few descriptions of it. It could also serve as a nice model for a project the students create for their own environments--each child could make a page that is At One With Your School or Your Town or Your Specific Classroom.
I am in the last week of this summer's training, and I'd like to say that very soon, I will be at one with my bed.
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