Learning from the Land

Brian "Fox" Ellis is an internationally renowned storyteller, author, educator, and naturalist. He is the author of 15 books, including the critically acclaimed children's picture book The Web at Dragonfly Pond.

• Preface to the New EditionPreface to the First EditionTelling the Stories of the LandAcknowledgmentsIntroduction?The Ballad of Rusty and Nancy: A Trilogy of Creation and the Mineral CyclesComments to the TeacherThe Ballad of Rusty and NancyFollow-Up Ideas for "The Ballad of Rusty and Nancy"Discussion Topics: Compare and Contrast,The Circular Storytelling Game,Exploring the Effects of Our Behavior: Monitoring Waste,Social Action and Citizenship,?Walter the Water Molecule, by Brian "Fox" Ellis and Garth GilchristComments to the TeacherWalter the Water MoleculeFollow-Up Ideas for "Walter the Water Molecule"Discussion Topic,Correlating Maps and Diagrams,The Circular Storytelling Game,How Much of Me Is Water?,How Much of This Is Water?,Evaporation,The Water Cycle,?The Web: Lessons in the Web of LifeComments to the TeacherThe WebFollow-Up Ideas for "The Web"Discussion Topics,Adventures in the Web of Life,Making a Food Web,Where Have All the Predators Gone?,Where Does Our Food Come From? The Story of Nachos,Dragonflies and Water Quality,Take Your Students Fishing!,?The Song of Life Sings in Us All: Creating an Animal Action Poem and Skit that Celebrates the Web of LifeComments to the TeacherThe Song of Life Sings in Us AllFollow-Up Ideas for "The Song of Life"Student-Led Drama,Take an Old Song and Make It New,Making a Simple Food Web,Explore the Song of Life in Your Backyard!,?The Rattlesnake that Tamed a Boy: A Tall Science TaleComments to the TeacherThe Rattlesnake that Tamed a Boy: A Tall Science TaleFollow-Up ideas for "The Rattlesnake that Tamed a Boy"Discussion Topics,Discerning the Facts,The Liar's Game,Bring a Snake to School,Telling Tales Tall and True,Telling Tales Tall and True (handout),?Counsel of CrowsComments to the TeacherCounsel of CrowsFollow-Up Ideas for "Counsel of Crows"Discussion Topics,Porque (What-For) Stories: Folktales as a Source of Scientific Wisdom,How the Red Fox Earned His Bushy Tail,Plans for My Porque Story,Animal Wisdom,Listening to the Voice of Nature,Native American Tales: Placing Stories in their Eco-Regions,Student Storytelling,Turtle Island Tales,?A Night on the Hunt: Wildlife StoriesComments to the TeacherA Night on the HuntFollow-Up Ideas for "A Night on the Hunt"Discussion Topics,Writing and Telling the Story of Wildlife,Wild Animal Observation,Say It with Pictographs,Guessing-Game Poems,Wild Adventures in Your Backyard—YOU Can Be A Wildlife Researcher!,?The Salmon and the Stream: A Story of Animal Migration by Garth GilchristComments to the TeacherThe Salmon and the StreamFollow-Up Ideas for "The Salmon and the Stream"Discussion Topic,Migration Route Map Study,Writing a Migration Story,Animal Migration Map,Animal Migrations,?The Seed: A Story of Seasonal AdaptationComments to the TeacherThe SeedAutumn,Winter,Spring,Summer,Autumn,Follow-Up Ideas for "The Seed"Discussion Topic,Tracking the Seasons,Growing a Prairie,Sorting Seeds,Art Ideas,Write Your Own Story of the Seasons,?Bare Stone: A Lesson in Geology and the Successional Stages in the Colonization of a RockComments to the TeacherBare StoneFollow-Up Ideas for "Bare Stone"Discussion Topics,A Walk through Successional Stages,Comparing Spores and Seeds,Bare Pavement,?"The Ohio" by John James Audubon: In the Wake of Early NaturalistsComments to the Teacher"The Ohio" by John James AudubonFollow-Up Ideas for "The Ohio"Discussion Topics,Lessons from the Journals of Early Explorers,Stepping Into Character,Reading the Landscape of America: Poetry as a Walk through Time,Index