I Felt Annie There

A few weeks ago I wished for a lever as I blogged about our team’s experience during a weeklong nature trip.  The culmination of that week was a lesson on songwriting where we analyzed some of the songs we’ve learned in the classroom this year.  We then set out to a quiet pine grove to reflect on our week in nature with the intention of writing a tribute song to the late Annie Mason, a nature lover whose family created the organization “Annie’s Big Nature Lesson” that provided us this experience. 

After a few hours of puzzling lyrics from 42 kids and a few parents and finding a melody that worked, we had a song that the team learned in no time…probably because they each felt ownership for the work and the shared experience.  There was such beauty in watching this creative process, but more in watching our students revel in the outcome of their work. 
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That ownership is authentic learning, but it gets better!  A parent in our classroom is a journalist for public radio and was able to record us singing in the classroom, then we found that our village has a recording studio (Epiphany Sound Productions) that graciously invited us for a session there.  Needless to say, our small song lesson turned into quite a technology project that I think will stick with these kids as long as their nature week.  The kids’ song and lyrics are on this slideshow.  If you see one of our kids, honor their deep thinking and great singing!

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6 Responses to I Felt Annie There

  1. joe sutterlin says:

    Tears and a swelling heart ! What a treasure this third-grade class has had this year! Creative, sensitive, scientific, musical – wow ! Let’s hope this remains not just a good memory, but a stimulus for their continuing exploration of life and their future education.

  2. James says:

    Walt,
    I tried to download the song and lyrics from the link on the blog and it would not connect. Can you send me the link seperately?
    James

  3. lyn Sutterlin says:

    Oh, my Soul and Body ! It seems as though the endless “car singing” of Girl Scout and Church Camp Songs DID come to fruition! “Annie’s Song” is as good as the James Galway Flute melody by the same name! The children’s ideas are poetry at its best; their voices capture the innocent wonder of Last Child in the Woods; the gifted guitar accompanist seems to know children’s nuances to the core of their young beings…Thanks be for a school community who sees that its children learn to listen, to see and to interpret…They shall be successful and resourceful ALLtheir lives!
    Great Work, Walt!

  4. Dottie Snyder says:

    Couldn’t bring up the song here at school either, but heard it at a staff meeting and thought it was great! You and Mrs. Brown do such wonderful, creative, educational things in your classroom. You will be missed next year! Dottie

  5. CSteele says:

    You filled up their senses….excellent job, JD.