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CURRENT & UPCOMING EVENTS!!


As Above, So Below:
Reflection in the Art and Poetry of Children
from the River of Words Collection

February 10 - April 11, 2010
Lindsay Wildlife Museum
Walnut Creek, California


Personal Reflection
John Dixon, age 17
Hollister, California
2006 River of Words Grand Prize


An exhibition of over 50 paintings and poems from children around the world that examines the universal fascination with the phenomenon of reflection. Seeing objects, including our own selves, shining back at us from ponds, puddles and other surfaces, gives us not only a fresh perspective, but new ways to understand ourselves in relation to the world.

In reflections you see your face, for example, on the surface while simultaneously looking "through" your surface self to the depths below. Reflection in its myriad forms, including reflection as introspection, will delight visitors in this unique and extraordinary exhibition.

For more information, please visit www.wildlife-museum.org,
or call 925-935-1978.

 


River of Words Workshop

February 27, 2010
9:00a - 4:00p
Children's Discovery Museum
San Jose, California

This workshop is designed especially for you!
Revitalize your teaching by revitalizing yourself!

The River of Words (ROW) workshop provides K-12 educators (classroom teachers and other non-formal educators) with ideas and inspiration for integrating nature exploration and the arts into core subject areas like science and math, social studies, and language arts.

  • Explore creek ecology and the natural and cultural history of the area's watershed, combined with a study of the "art of creeks" and the "language of landscape"
  • Learn to inspire nature-based art and poetry
  • Learn about your watershed and bioregion
  • Make and take your own journal
  • Explore new resources, from videos to books and websites
  • Inspire and spark students' imagination and sense of wonder

Included:

  • A 270-page "Watershed Explorers Educators' Guide" (K-12) designed to build multiple literacies and to help students develop an informed "sense of place."
  • Children's Discovery Museum's BioSITE (Students Investigating Their Environment) Environmental Science Curriculum for High School-Elementary Service Learning Program.

Facilitated by Pamela Michael, ROW executive director and co-founder.

Registration Fee: $65

Please RSVP by 2/1/2010 to Sandy Derby: 408.298-5437 x261, sderby@cdm.org.

Retreat · Reflect · Revitalize

 


Sustainability Education:
Connecting Art, Science, and Design

August 16-18, 2010
8:30a - 4:30p
David Brower Center
Berkeley, California

How can we help students understand nature? And how can understanding nature help us design more sustainable societies?

This three-day seminar explores these vital questions at the intersection of art, science, and design. It's no accident that many great scientists have been great artists. Art and science are powerful, complementary means of visualizing and communicating an understanding of nature.

The seminar will explore a range of approaches and techniques for improving science education by using art and for combining art and science to help students better express their relationship with the natural world.

Some of today's most exciting advances in design are grounded in recognizing nature as model and mentor. Seminar participants will explore design as a form of critical thinking as well as expression and creativity and investigate strategies for applying bio-inspired design to student projects.

The seminar will be led by a distinguished faculty of educators, artists, and staff to be chosen from leading institutions, including the Center for Ecoliteracy, California Academy of Sciences, de Young Museum, Biomimicry Guild, and River of Words. They will engage participants in hands-on experiences using the arts to deepen understanding of the natural world.

The seminar will be offered at the David Brower Center, Berkeley's stunning new LEED-certified home for environmental and social activism.

The seminar will be held August 16-18, 2010. Breakfast and lunch will be served on all three days. Art supplies and materials will also be provided.

Registration Fee: $450

Register online at Brown Paper Tickets.

For more information, please visit www.ecoliteracy.org, or email seminars@ecoliteracy.org.

 


River of Words
Teaching Poetry to Young People

Milkweed Editions and River of Words have created a free, downloadable teaching guide to help teachers and students learn to write great poetry.

Written by Louisiana master teachers Harriet Maher and Connie MacDonald (2006 River of Words Teacher of the Year), this full-color, 75-page guide, which uses the River of Words anthology River of Words: Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things as a text, will help students get beyond pre-conceived notions about poetry, inhibitions and fears, excessive reliance on rhyme, and the thorny host of other impediments to creativity and expression that a poetry assignment often invokes.

Connie and Harriet have created a fun, investigatory, challenging set of classroom activities that we hope will help you to inspire your students to explore both their "inner" worlds and the complicated, endlessly fascinating "outer" world around them.

Download it now!

 

 


River of Words
Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things

Edited by Pamela Michael
with an Introduction by Robert Hass

In bookstores now!

 

Featuring children's poems and works of art from the River of Words annual contests over the past ten years, this delightful anthology showcases the work of children seeking to explore, appreciate, and protect the watersheds in which they live. A remarkable confluence of K-12 curriculum, children's literature, environmentalism, poetry and art, this enchanting volume speaks to the creative spirit in all of us.

Released April 1, 2008, the anthology is now available in local bookstores and in the River of Words online store!

www.milkweed.org

 

 


 

 


 

Works of Heart: Building Village Through the Arts
edited by Lynne Elizabeth and Suzanne Young

Citizen artists revitalize place, celebrate culture and inspire social change in this book of exemplary community–based arts projects.

Includes an article by ROW Executive Director Pamela Michaels and ROW 2003 Teacher of the Year Alicia Hokanson and numerous beautiful ROW images! For sale in our store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frederica von Stade Sings Brubeck’s River of Words’ Poems

Singing “River of Song” is always a special event as the poetry was written by children and the piece was conceived for children so it has a great significance. Plus, who can resist the beautiful and touching melodies of Chris Brubeck, his imagination, his humor and his affection not just for music but the whole human race!

                        —Frederica von Stade

In 2002, a friend of River of Words, Paul Strasburg, gave Chris a copy of the River of Words annual anthology, The Natural World as Viewed by Young People. Brubeck had been commissioned to write a piece for Frederica von Stade and was casting about for inspiration and lyrics suitable for the song suite he was composing. The resulting River of Song, features a libretto containing five River of Words’ young poets: Shawna Eiermann (12), Kevin Brown (5), Alice Goldfuss (12), Stefani Galik (8), and John Keogh (13), as well as ee cummings.  !!!

Composer, trombonist, bassist, pianist, singer, guitarist and all around musical bon vivant is one of the most talented members of the Brubeck family. As a composer, Chris represents all that is fascinating about Americana: the diversity, the spirit—part Copland, part Ellington, part wide open spaces, and part New Orleans.

http://www.brubeckmusic.com

Frederica von Stade, described by the New York Times as “one of America’s finest artists and singers.” One of the music world’s most beloved figures, the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for over three decades.

http://www.fredericavonstade.com

While part of River of Words’ mission is to give young people an avenue for expression and a voice, we never imagined that voice would be Frederica von Stade’s. Our thanks to Mr. Brubeck and Ms. von Stade for expanding the reach and depth of our young poets’ work beyond our wildest dreams.

Convergence CD (Koch Classics) contains:

Convergence (2001)
The Journey
Reminiscence in Blues
La Grande Parade du Funk

Performed by Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Paul Freeman, conductor

River of Song (2002)
Water
The Storm is Coming
Moon Song
Goldfish
The River
maggie and millie and molly and may

performed by Tassajara Symphony
Sara Jobim, conductor
Frederica von Stade, mezzo soprano
Rachel Luxon, soprano

Prague Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra (2004)
The Return of the Prince
Song of the Mountains
Dance of the Neocons

Performed by Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Paul Freeman, conductor
Chris Brubeck, bass trombone

To order Convergence, visit the River of Words online Store or your local record store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RIVER OF WORDS INCLUDED IN NEW PUBLICATION—

Ecological Literacy:

Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World

Edited by Center for Ecoliteracy senior editor Michael K. Stone
and executive director Zenobia Barlow

This book presents the Center's conceptual foundations, from ancient wisdom to contemporary science. It chronicles some of the most exciting work that the Center has supported over the last decade, diverse projects (including River of Words) that have creatively put those concepts into practice. Authors include Wendell Berry, Alice Waters, David W. Orr, Fritjof Capra, River of Words co-founder Pamela Michael, Donella Meadows, and (ROW board member) Malcolm Margolin. Ecological Literacy is the third volume in the Bioneers Book Series published by Sierra Club Books and distributed by University of California Press. $16.95, 279 pages. Available in October, 2005.

 

 

                 

                                 


River of Words Opens Children's Art Gallery
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA….Over one hundred people joined us on November 13, 2003 to celebrate the opening of our new gallery, Young at Art. Board chair and cofounder Robert Hass read several poems from our annual anthology of children’s poetry to the assembled guests, gathered in the grand (but funky) lobby of our building, a ninety-year old former mattress factory.

Come visit the gallery whenever you are in the Berkeley area!
2547 8th Street, Studio 13B- near the corner of 8th and Dwight
Hours:
By chance or by appointment

It's always a good idea to call before you come to make sure someone will be here to receive you!
(510) 548-POEM (7636)

 

 

 

 
 
 
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