River of Words


Site Map | Analytical Essay on Myths | Wisdom of Faith questionnaire | River of Words/Watershed Trip | River of Words Gallery | Quotes | WordList | Co-Teachers - Doug and Melissa | Gallery

E-Mail Doug at mrdoug@aznet.net or Melissa at mjmckinstry@earthlink.net

"For each home ground we need new maps, living maps, stories and poems, photographs and paintings, essays and songs. We need to know where we are, so that we may dwell in our place with a full heart." - Scott Russell Sanders
Assignment Rationale: to know our own home ground, to know available tools and how to use them, to recognize the interaction of our home ground and available tools, to find answers and see connections, to deal with complexity and not be overwhelmed
Kickoff Piece(s): demos on: literal, figurative, social/historical defining; the show not tell (figurative language) of poetry; Power Point technology and design; trips to various points in the San Diego watershed

Why Myth? What is Myth? - http://www.freenet.msp.mn.us/org/mythos/mythos.www/WHYMYTH.HTML

Joseph Campbell's Ten Commandments for Reading Mythology - http://www.freenet.msp.mn.us/org/mythos/mythos.www/TENCOM.HTML

The World of Religion According to Huston Smith -
http://www.mojones.com/mother_jones/ND97/snell.html

Questionnaire to accompany the video The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith "Hinduisim and Buddhism" A Bill Moyers Special, 1996


Essential Ingredients: in a group of two or fewer students, you will create and present a synthesis of your understanding of our watershed issues using art and design, technology, writing, geometry, physics, and history. This synthesis will be an oral presentation using Power Point. It should demonstrate your understanding on a number of different levels: literal, metaphorical, and contextual. The rubric below lists the essential ingredients; the guidelines for the abstract and bibliography will be given and practiced together.

River of Words Environmental Poetry and Art Contest - http://www.irn.org/row/index.shtml - An international contest designed to nurture respect and understanding of the natural world by encouraging children to learn their "ecological address" and to describe through poetry and art their own "place in space."


Steps of Creative Process:

Concept Development (research, notes, brainstorming [graphic organizers], sketching, pre-writing)

Draft Phase (organize research and create coherent product) Ready for Response

Revision and Editing Phase (further develop and refine, get more response, proofread)

Final (tight and as perfect as possible within the timeline and parameters of assignment) Ready for Assessment


Rubric: (scored Outstanding, Significant, Moderate Achievement)

Your presentation shows achievement in application of:

an interest-grabbing title

byline (clear identification of creators)

1 scale drawing

2 or more maps

5 or more images (in addition to drawing and maps)

5 or more poems/quotes from fiction or nonfiction

bibliography following given guidelines

abstract following given guidelines

overall editing of language

overall care in design and technology

overall accuracy of facts and figures

multiple levels of understanding (lit., meta., context.)

oral presentation skills


Site Map | Analytical Essay on Myths | Wisdom of Faith questionnaire | River of Words/Watershed Trip | River of Words Gallery | Quotes | WordList | Co-Teachers - Doug and Melissa | Gallery

E-Mail Doug at mrdoug@aznet.net or Melissa at mjmckinstry@earthlink.net