by W.E.B. DuBois Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil is an autobiography by W.E.B. DuBois which weaves togethers essays, personal anecdotes, and spiritual reflection to consider the question of labor and race in the United States. In the particular passage, DuBois reflects on the beauty of Bar Harbor, ME (a national park that was often … More Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil
By Rachel Carson Silent Spring is a a non-fiction book of environmental science written by Rachel Carson. It combined rigorous research with a powerful narrative writing style to reveal the impacts of un-checked pesticides on humans and the environment. Her book hit a nerve with the American public, inspired an environmental movement, and may have … More Silent Spring
By Carolyn Lucey When I think about my student’s best writing in the past, whether narrative or analytical, poetry or prose, I’ve noticed one common thread: the writing was almost always produced in relationship or response to a mentor text, though I didn’t have the language for the pedagogical practice at the time. I think … More Writer’s Workshop Model
By Carolyn Lucey This catalog of mentor texts was initially born out of my desire to explore essential questions that I, myself, am interested in: What is the relationship between humans and the natural world? How can we write about the natural world in ways that are evocative, immerse us in particular places and times, … More Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Practice
By Rahawa Haile In this essay from Outside Magazine, Rahawa Haile reflects on the experience of hiking the Appalachian trail as a queer black woman. Her essay covers questions of race and politics, as well as evocatively describing her own rich relationship to the natural world. It’s the spring of 2016, and I’m ten miles … More Going It Alone
By Annie Dillard An American author, Dillard writes in the tradition of Thoreau and other early naturalists. Her best known narrative non-fiction work, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, won the Pullitzer Prize. In this piece she performs a true “essay” — that is, a meandering exploration that pulls together disparate ideas, and invites new questions. A … More Living Like Weasels
By Mary Oliver Her contemplative poetry often focused on the quiet, everyday occurrences of the natural world, from bears to streams to hummingbirds. In this poem, nature takes on an almost chapel-like quality as a place to reflect, feel love, and connect with something larger than ones-self. You do not have to be good.You do … More Wild Geese
By Dorianne Laux An American poet, Laux often looks at questions of contemporary motherhood, womanhood, work, and life. In this poem, she takes our everyday surroundings (streetlights, a leaf on the ground) and uses them to connect her reader to a feeling of transcendental wonder at the scope of the universe and our insignificance. That … More Third Rock from the Sun
By Maya C Popova. A contemporary poet, (she is a teacher at NYC’s own Nightingale-Bamford school!) Popova weaves together stories that are deeply embedded in our culture (like the Bible story of Noah and the Ark) with questions that trouble our modern society. By taking on the nameless voice of Noah’s wife, she thinks about … More Letter to Noah’s Wife
Jamaica Kincaid, a novel An Antiguan-American novelist, essayist, and gardener. Jamaica Kincaid’s writing often asks questions about identity, home, colonialism, racism, class, and coming-of-age. In See Now and Then Kincaid write about a mixed-race couple in New England, and all the many layers of memory, musings, and knowings that happen between people. The writing itself … More See Now and Then
GREEN & GROW 