The Mighty Dandelion
More than just a weed
Hello everyone and special thank you to my new subscribers! I am so glad that you all are here. š
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For our 2nd resource, a quick tale. If you are in a hurry, you can also skip down to the bottom.
I had a tough teaching partner my first year in the classroom. She once told me since I was a new teacher she didnāt care about my opinion. š So, as you can guess, I didnāt bother saying much around her! During an early exchange, she told me I was in charge of teaching all the fourth graders about native plants so I better get ready. I thought to myself, āOh, [insert expletive].ā But, I kept that to myself, smiled, and walked away in fear.
Plants have always been a learning edge for me. Raised by two very urban mid-westerners, I had a very city existence growing up. We did not ski, camp, hike, or pick berries. We took the bus. Went to museums. Walked on paved pathways next to the water. My dad had a green thumb and was an expert at house plants and gardening, having done a lot of yard work when he was young for his mother who was an avid gardener. But, I never experienced him talking to me about tree identification and properties of plants around here (although, later in life I learned he knew a lot). So, I could tell you, for example, that was a tomato plant and what it needed to grow. But get me to identify a particular pine tree or what was special about it? Forget it.
(Donāt worry ā the students were okay that year. I studied up!)
Zoom forward to last week when I got a pretty terrible back to school letter (content wise), this time for my daughter. Besides breaking to its audience that the school would be really overcrowded and was being staffed for 200 fewer students than the actual headcount, it also outlined an extensive schedule change. This change included taking time from lunch to dedicate to social emotional learning (SEL). My daughter has been lamenting ever since and is especially upset about losing time to SEL with her teachers and classmates, who still feel like strangers. I donāt blame her. SEL can feel pretty forced, which has been her experience. But, I also know how great SEL can be.
Which, brings me back to plants.
During my last year teaching in Olympia, using grant funds, we were able to partner with a community-based organization called Garden Raided Bounty (GRuB). They are amazing. As we were planning together, GRuB folx asked about doing āPlant of the Monthā workshops with the teacher candidates and we agreed. Some of you subscribing to this newsletter experienced these workshops! For me, after being beat up by teaching through the pandemic and working in a broken place that seemed intent on breaking me too, the plant teachings were nothing short of healing. And, I have thought to myself more than once that I wish my own daughter could have the workshops we were doing with GRuB.
So with that, I have created a little plant SEL teaching resource I wish she could experience that hopefully will be helpful to all of you. With GRuB, we were taught about the Wild Rose in September but I know there are readers out there who may be like me during my first year of teaching regarding plant knowledge. So, I thought we would start with a plant many of us have familiarity with. The Dandelion.
My first experience with dandelions included being told they were weeds, being in charge of pulling them out of grass, using them to make flower chains, and blowing away their delicate seeds while making a wish. What were yours?
It was not until my Italian-American grandmother stayed with us for a few months when I was eight and we sat down to eat some salad she had prepared that I knew you could even eat dandelion leaves! I was amazed when she told me. As I continued to learn about dandelions through the years, I would reflect on how I saw them grow out of the smallest crack in cement. What strength! What tenacity! I later learned their medicinal qualities from our teachers at GRuB.
We were taught that the dandelion is a good reminder āthat gifts are sometimes āweedsā found right under our feet. We too can rise up from difficulty and become medicineā (from Emma Johnson (Cowlitz) and Elise Krohn).
From our plant teachings we learned that dandelions are problem solversā¦ and that can be an important skill at the beginning of a school year. I have always had a hard time in September when school begins (and also semester/quarter changes) and have recognized this in my students over the years. I see it in my daughter, too.
I think about the dandelion growing in the crack of our cement stairs and wonder what lesson about problem solving it has to teach me when Iām facing those feelings? What can my daughter learn from the dandelion to help her as she begins the new school year? How does what I thought I knew about dandelions and what I know now challenge how I feel about first perceptions and initial learning? There is a lot.
So with that ā I present you with the next pictorial ā The Mighty Dandelion.
Thank you for being here and if you use this, let me know how it goes!
Similarly to the Billy Frank, Jr. pictorial, this is a Project GLAD style pictorial. You often draw these lightly in pencil before teaching about the topic, and as you teach content to the students, record what you share on the anchor chart with ink/color. I put in as much content as possible but you could easily edit this down if you were working with primary grades or were limited with time. Pairing it with a chance to observe dandelions (maybe near the school) or bringing in samples for students to hold and examine would be great to do.
A dandelion poem called No Pretending by Robert Froman in his book, Street Poems.
In addition to the pictorial, you could also introduce the poem No Pretending by Robert Froman before teaching about the dandelion.
Have students read it and do a bit of a turn and talk. What do they think? After learning more about the dandelion, ask students what words and descriptions they would use instead? What would their own shape poems look and/or sound like?
I was also thinking about pairing the pictorial with a reflection. It could be a journal you keep for SEL or even a half sheet a paper where students focus on three questions:
What did you know about dandelions? (pre pictorial)
What do you know about dandelions now? (post pictorial)
What lessons do you think the dandelion can teach you? / or / What lessons will you take forward from the dandelion?
I am thinking about doing a pictorial about Rachel Corrie, the peace activist from Olympia, Washington. If you have any requests or ideas, please let me know! I was not going to post again until October. (I was trying to get two resources out for āSeptemberā before most of you start with students.) But, I might try another one for mid-September, then move to 2x a month starting in October. Any preferences or requests?
Resources
To create the dandelion pictorial, I utilized these two websites.
Plant of the Month: Dandelion! From Emma Johnson (Cowlitz) and Elise Krohn, GRUB
DandelionāAn Autumn Reflection By Elise Krohn, GRuB
To learn more, I recommend attending one of GRuBās wonderful workshops (some are available online/asynchronously) and purchasing their wonderful text, written with the Indian Treatment Center and the Seattle Indian Health Board called Plant Teachings for Growing Social-Emotional SkillsĀ
Check out the GRuB store for more materials and webinars.
Other sources:
Native Plant Guide from King County
Landscape and Native Plants from The Burke Museum
Consultation regarding cultural knowledge with the Duwamish Tribe
Native Plant Directory from the Washington Native Plant Society