No Student Left Indoors: Creating a Field Guide to Your Schoolyard (Take a Walk series) [Spiral-bound]

Jane Kirkland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007 | Series: Take a Walk series

No Student Left Indoors is your opportunity to learn and teach about our planet by helping your students to create a field guide to your schoolyard. Whether you're a nature buff or nature-phobe, a literary genius or writing impaired, artistically talented or one who can't draw a straight line with a ruler, and teaching gift or challenged students in an urban, suburban, or rural school—you'll wonder why you didn't think of this before.

You'll learn:

• Who can participate in and benefit from a schoolyard study
• What those benefits are
• Where to look for nature in your schoolyard
• When to conduct your studies
• How to teach students to discover, observe, and record the nature in your schoolyard
• Why everyone is talking about No Student Left Indoors

This is a project for a class, grade, or entire school. It can be a long-term project based on inquiry, investigation, and hands-on learning, The project connects science, language arts, history, creative arts, and technology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Help[s] educators to guide their students in the exploration and study of the plants and animals of their schoolyards. There is no greater investment we can make in our natural world than to plant the seed of knowledge."  —David Mizejewski, National Wildlife Federation naturalist, author, and host, Animal Planet

"This is a worthwhile investment for the elementary/middle school science classroom."  —National Science Teachers Association (NSTA.org)

"Highly adaptable to different regions and ages, this is an outstanding resource filled with excellent activities, resources, and information. Very detailed, it includes excerpts from teachers and experts. This guide is worth every penny!"  —Connect Magazine for Teachers by Synergy Learning

About the Author

Jane Kirkland is a naturalist and photographer whose work has been featured on National Public Radio and Animal Planet TV, and in such magazines as Family Circle, Green Teacher, Parenting, and Parents. She is the author of the Take a Walk series.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 178 pages
• Publisher: Stillwater Publishing (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970975457
• ISBN-13: 978-0970975454
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,058,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jane Kirkland was a bestselling computer book author when, during a grocery shopping trip, saw a Bald Eagle soaring over the grocery store parking lot. That sighting changed her life and today she is an award-winning nature book author. Jane and her books encourage children, their families and educators to "Take a minute to be in it(tm)" - in nature- each and every day. She is the recipient of the National Arbor Day Foundation's Education Award, two Teacher's Choice Awards, a Writer's Magazine Book Award, and her books have been finalists in Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year, and USA BookNews Best Books. Jane has been featured on Animal Planet, PBS, and Comcast's CN8 TV and is a regular guest on WXPN's Kids Corner radio program in Philadelphia. She is a popular keynote speaker at national conferences on children and nature and visits schools, colleges and universities throughout North America.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a great resource! October 23, 2007

By D. Newcomer

Format:Spiral-bound

No Student Left Indoors: Creating a Field Guide to Your Schoolyard is one of the most extensive, user-friendly, comprehensive resources I've seen. The Field Guide Project is really only one aspect of this teaching tool. There is a wealth of information to help a teacher "experience" nature with his/her students. I am in awe of the research, time and talent the author has put into providing what teachers need. And if something isn't in the book, she tells us where to find it! I can pick this book up, open to any page and become engrossed!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Schoolyard Nature Education January 8, 2008

By Matthew W. Sorrick

Format:Spiral-bound

No Student Left Indoors is a wonderfully organized resource for teachers to utilize the schoolyard as a classroom to explore nature. Research suggests that students, particularly in early grades, need frequent nature experiences that are relevant to their lives, especially if we want our students to grow into an adult who considers the environment a valuable resource. Additionally, schoolyard nature explorations are hands-on, inquiry-based and age-appropriate.

I have been working with teachers, students and schools for many years to encourage them to maximize their use of school grounds. This resource manual is by far the best I have seen for doing this. It outlines appropriate explorations for students that help them to understand the world around them, not an abstract environment such as the rainforest. The Field Guide Project that is the focus of the manual involves students are involved in making observations, asking questions, researching, measuring, communicating findings and many other important process skills. Additional resources are provided for teachers to extend outdoor experiences. The key achievement of this book is that it integrates well into teachers' existing curriculum. I plan to utilize this book and its wealth of activities and ideas in many of my schoolyard and teacher professional development programs.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very cool experience! June 17, 2008

By Amy Baer

Format:Spiral-bound

I have this book & most of the other books by Jane Kirkland. I took a workshop with her as a presenter- it was fantastic! With this new guide, I was able to have my students create a field guide to the wildlife that they are able to find in our school district. Our kids think that they we don't have many species around here, they sure learned that there is more out there than they thought! This book was crucial to the success (& the initial idea) of the field guide project!