A Patchwork of Places and Poetry

Sue Crean's 2nd Grade
Huckleberry Hill Elementary School
Brookfield, CT

 

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Click to see White Memorial

White Memorial
Conservation Center

Litchfield , CT


Our journey started with a field trip to White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield, CT on a beautiful October morning. The day before the children brainstormed things they might see, hear, feel or smell (tasting was out!). For the trip they were put in groups by sense and the chaperones were charged with recording the describing words the children used for the things they experienced with their senses that day. Upon our return, we slowly created our poems, thoughtfully, one sense at a time.

Once the poems were completed we enlisted the help of one of our talented moms, who read The Quiltmaker’s Gift to the children and instructed them in making their quilt. The children were able to choose their own color combinations and stencils to best reflect their poem.

They did a fabulous job on all counts and the end product is something we are all proud of! Special thanks to all our helpers!

Quilt Books (others available for further reading!!)

The Quiltmaker’s Gift by  Jeff Brumbeau,
Gail De Marcken (Illustrator)

Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts
by Anna Grossnickle Hines

Luka’s Quilt by Georgia Guback


OUR QUILT

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Quilt blocks up close ...

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A lonely owl turns his head in his cage
A berry smooth, round and red
Frogs splashing in the water
Sweet winter berries on a cool day
Anxious to go on
A caterpillar fuzzy orange and black
An acorn hard and rough
A beaver splash in the pond
The fresh cold air
It was fun!


The bumpy cold ground
Beautiful birds chirping
Good fresh air
on a beautiful day
The best!
Exploding cattails in a pond

Some cattails
Moss, moss so smooth
Leaves were crunchy
Some flowers were smooth, some bumpy
Fresh good air in the woods


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savannahsquare1.jpg (9701 bytes)Exploding cattails at the pond
The berries were smooth and red
The bird's soft music
The cold crisp fresh air of a fall day
Fun and exciting!

By Savannah

 

 

Spiky grass covered with a beautiful blanket of leaves
A spiky rough pinecone that fell on the ground
Colorful leaves crunching under my feet
The cool, crisp fresh air of a fall October morning
A wonderful October field trip!

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A lonely owl that was injured
in a cage
Grass that was wet, gooey, slimy
The leaves crunching
under my feet
The flowers that were sweet and sticky
Anxious and excited!
A black owl sitting on
a stick
A tree that fell on the pond
A bee buzz
My food and it looked good
So fun!

By Noelle
A scary owl turning his head
A flower and it smelled like a strawberry
A bird singing a song
A flower that smelled like garlic
Awesome!
Some cattails
Moss, moss so smooth
Leaves were crunchy
Some flowers were smooth, some bumpy
Fresh good air in the woods
A lot of cattails just like hotdogs at the beach
Soft cold cattails
People talking out loud
Air fresh and good cold air
Really exciting!

By Kristen
Exploding cattails in a pond
The bumpy cold ground
Beautiful birds chirping
Good fresh air on a beautiful day
The best!
An injured owl that had a paralyzed wing
Gooey algae that felt slimy
Thunder from an airplane
Sweet leaves that smelled like maple

By Aidan
A beaver jumping out of the pond
Algae in the pond felt funny
Birds chirping
Sweet winter berries
The best time I ever had!

By Andrew
Big blackish blue bird
A fuzzy caterpillar on me
A bee buzzing in the tree
Sweet leaves on a pretty day
It was touchy inside!
Squirrels scampering all around
A prickly dry burr
Mr. Green talking to us about the animals
A sweet, nectary flower on a cool fall morning
Anxiously exciting!!
Fuzzy black and orange caterpillar
Smooth and bumpy and soft flowers
Birds sing beautiful music out of their mouths
Flowers sweet, nectary, stinky, indescribable, bad
Happy because I went to White Memorial
Black eyes staring at me
Soft flowers
Leaves crunching under my feet
Indescribable bad leaves
Exciting!

By Yale

Big eyed brown feathery owl
Red berries are smooth
The leaves crunch, crackle under my feet
The cool crisp fresh air
of a fall day
So fun!
A hissing snake
Wiggly worms
A hopping grasshopper that chirped
A stinky lake that
had algae in it
Sick when I touched the worms
Bee wings yellow and black
A fuzzy caterpillar
A bird chirping
The fresh warm air
Exciting!
Bee wings, yellow and black
Leaves yellow, orange
Bird's elegant music
Leaves that smelled
like cotton candy
Exciting!

Black birds flying in the sky
A soft leaf in the woods
Crunching sounds from my feet
Pretty flowers in the woods
Exciting things at White Memorial
The bumpy cold ground
Beautiful birds chirping
Good fresh air
on a beautiful day
The best!
Exploding cattails in a pond
Standards:

Students will compose a piece of writing based on ideas generated through a variety of ways (writing, drawing, talking, webbing, listing, brainstorming)

Students will read, view and listen to a variety of children’s literature and react to it in a variety of ways.

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