The Platte River Basin is such a place--one that is beautiful, subtle, profound, and worthy of our attention. If this watershed and places like it are to be preserved and respected, it must become a priority to teach younger generations about it, to help them gain a sense of allegiance with it.
Therefore, this page presents a pedagogical unit for the secondary language arts classroom. The unit aims to build reading and writing skills while also fostering awareness of and advocacy for issues affecting the Platte Basin watershed. The unit has these objectives, several of which are in line with Nebraska's state ELA standards:
Students will:
- Read and construct meaning while examining a variety of texts, including poetry, personal narrative, and expository essays. (LA 12.1.6)
- Build understanding of and appreciation for place; in this case, the Platte Basin watershed.
- Use sensory detail to craft a descriptive personal narrative. (LA 12.2.2)
- Think critically about and advocate for an environmental issue affecting the Platte Basin watershed.
- Build research skills, including locating, evaluating, and applying outside sources to compose a persuasive expository essay. (LA 12.3.3, LA 12.4.1)
- Utilize the writing process to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish their original writing. (LA 12.2.1 from Nebraska State ELA Standards)
- Correctly format writing using MLA style.
A general overview of the unit is as follows:
This unit will begin by fostering place-consciousness and
appreciation. A place-conscious approach to education “teaches the practice of
civic involvement,” according to Dr. Robert Brooke’s 2003 book Rural Voices: Place-Conscious Education and
the Teaching of Writing (5). And
after all, the aim of modern educators must be higher than that of simply
imparting the skills of their respective disciplines. As Sarah Robbins asserts in Writing America: Classroom Literacy and
Public Engagement, “Finding productive,
ethical teaching practices that promote civic participation…is one of the needs educators must address in our new century” (12).
Students will begin this unit and
place-consciousness building by discussing their perceptions, as well as those
of other Nebraskans and outsiders, of Nebraska itself. Likely, discussion
themes will arise that paint Nebraska as “flyover country” that has little to
offer in the way of aesthetic stimulation or value. To counter these views,
students will read Nebraska poet Don Welch’s “Advice from a Provincial” (available
on Platte Basin Timelapse website). Discussion and analysis of this poem will
encourage students to notice what is beautiful and worthy of appreciation,
attention, and conservation in Nebraska.
To
follow up on this theme, students will then read Loren Eiseley’s essay “The
Flow of the River” from his 1946 book The
Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and
Nature. Through this text, students will come to understand the value of
embodied, physical exploration of a place as well as become familiar with the
Platte River, the place around which this unit’s writing projects revolve. Through
discussion and written reflection, students will think critically about
Eiseley’s work and the significance of his physical and sensuous exploration of
the Platte in de-centering the human experience, in turning readers’ attention
away from how humans can use or benefit from the Platte and instead toward its
natural roles and features. This de-centering will not only push students in
their thinking but will aim for a higher purpose: to foster student awareness of
and investment in environmental issues that directly affect their home state.
In her 2014 book Deep Map Country:
Literary Cartography of the Great Plains, Dr. Susan Naramore Maher states,
“Humans, driven by complex motives, have yet to figure out how to avoid
short-term thinking and solutions that negatively affect future generations’
resources and environmental health” (134). This is the kind of thinking this
unit aims to counter and inspire action against.
Following these readings, an ideal
next step in the unit will be a field visit to the Platte itself. Depending on
a school’s location and schedule, several options are readily available for
coordinating such a visit, and these resources are linked at the bottom of this page. On such a field trip, students will be asked to
emulate Eiseley and Welch by sensuously exploring the area of the Platte being
visited and taking field notes abundant with sensory details. Upon returning to
the classroom, students will compose a narrative essay describing their visit
to and physical exploration of the Platte (handout detailing the assignment
description is linked at the bottom of the page). These essays will be taken through the
writing process of drafting, conferencing, editing, and revising before being
submitted to their instructor.
The focus of the unit will then
shift toward advocacy and research-based writing. Students will read online essays
from Nebraska writers advocating for various environmental issues affecting the
Platte River Basin. These include “Bringing the Magic Back to the Platte” by
Les Line, an essay which not only references Eiseley’s “The Flow of the River”
extensively, but one that discusses issues such as irrigation, crane habitat,
conservation, and protection of the Platte. Students will also read Betty
Sayers’ “CNPPID Invites Birds ‘Rest Your Wings’” which also discusses wildlife
and watershed protection and conservation. In reading and discussing these
essays, students will begin to think critically about various environmental issues
plaguing the Platte River Basin. Students will also explore the stories on the
Platte Basin Timelapse website in order to gain a sense of further Platte Basin
issues and then select one that is of interest to them to research.
Once topics have been selected,
students will extensively research their chosen Platte Basin issues using both
print and web sources available to them in their schools and communities. When
research has been conducted, students will craft a persuasive essay advocating
for conservation, protection, awareness, etc. regarding their chosen Platte
River Basin topic (handout detailing assignment description is linked at the bottom of the page). These essays will also be taken through the writing process of
drafting, conferencing, revising, and editing before being submitted to
students’ instructors.
One overarching objective of this
unit is to not only raise watershed consciousness and build reading and writing
skills, but to create an authentic learning experience by establishing a
connection between classroom work and real issues affecting students’ home
state. This connection between what is done in the classroom and issues that
affect places that are relevant to students’ lives as Nebraskans creates a
learning experience that is meaningful. As Thomas Hothem states in his article
“Suburban Studies and College Writing: Applying Ecocomposition” published in Pedagogy, “The more our inquiries
reflect students’ lives, the more forthcoming they are with their ideas, the
more included they feel in the production of knowledge, and the more
comfortable they are with exploring their positions as writers and thinkers”
(41).
A more detailed daily breakdown of the unit is as follows:
Day 1: Introduction to Place Appreciation
- Discuss perceptions of Nebraska (students’ own, those of other Nebraskans, those of outsiders)
- Read and discuss Don Welch’s poem “Advice from a Provincial”
- Write and reflect: What is the speaker’s message in this poem? How does this poem reinforce or contradict your own views of Nebraska?
Day 2: Embodied Experience of Place
- Read and discuss Loren Eiseley’s essay “The Flow of the River”
- Write and reflect: How does Eiseley’s essay help us think about the Platte from an environmentalist perspective?
Day 3: Embodied Experience Continued
- Continue discussing Eiseley’s “The Flow of the River” and the de-centering of the human experience with/uses for the Platte
- Prepare for Platte River visit
Day 4: Embodied Experience Continued
- Platte River visit
- Take detailed and sensory field notes as the Platte is explored physically
Day 5: Narrative Writing
- Discuss descriptive narrative essay requirements
- Begin writing process
Days 6-8: Narrative Writing Process Continued
- Continue drafting
- Conference over rough drafts with peers and instructor
- Revise and edit essays
Day 9: Building Watershed Consciousness
- Submit descriptive narratives
- Read and discuss Les Line’s essay “Bringing the Magic Back to the Platte”
- Write and reflect: What issues affecting the Platte River did you learn more about through Line’s essay?
Day 10: Watershed Consciousness Continued
- Read and discuss Betty Sayers’s essay “CNPPID Invites Birds ‘Rest Your Wings’”
- Write and reflect: What Platte River issues are beginning to interest you and why?
Day 11: Watershed Consciousness Continued
- Explore Platte Basin Timelapse website to learn further about environmental issues affecting the Platte
- For homework, select an issue affecting the Platte River Basin as the basis for a persuasive research essay
Day 12: Building Research Skills
- Discuss persuasive research essay assignment description
- Present “Research Reminders and Tips” slideshow from Purdue OWL to discuss and practice research skills
Days 13-15: Research Days
- Utilize web and library resources to gather information for essays
- Begin writing process
Days 16-19: Persuasive Essay Writing
- Draft, conference, revise, and edit essays
Day 20: Synthesis
- Present essays in roundtable discussion and submit
Purdue OWL Website for MLA Guide and Research Reminders and Tips presentation
Greenway Foundation, Nebraska Crane Festival, Lower Platte South, or South Platte Park Websites for field trip coordination
Les Line's "Bringing the Magic Back to the Platte"
Betty Sayers's "CNPPID Invites Birds 'Rest Your Wings'"
