ABSTRACT
Observation is a habit of mind that can be applied both to nature study and to writing, yet the connection between the two is rarely made explicit for students. To present the benefits of exploring this overlap, the authors report on a “language power” lesson that introduces students to two key ideas: observation is a powerful tool for learning and thinking in many contexts, and language – like subjects in nature – is something we can approach with a stance of curiosity and wonder. Students move from curiosity about and observation of plants in the schoolyard to observation of sentence elements such as word choice, punctuation, and syntax. Observation at the local scale of sentences reveals the many stylistic and rhetorical choices available to writers. Rhetorical grammar, with an emphasis on curiosity and agency, can be an authentic component of a place-based approach to teaching writing, which similarly values student agency and working at a local scale.
