Well, I certainly intended to update the site more than once a month! Maybe that’s hoping for too much ;). It’s February now, and as Pa astutely observed to Laura, “There’s only this month, then February is a short month, and March will be spring.” In other words, spring is right around the corner! It’s a regular Chinook outside my door in the last week, with temperatures kissing 60 degrees and snow melting away as fast as it can. So far, this winter has been colder than average in eastern Nebraska, but a little warm weather to end February could nudge us back toward normal. The winter has not been too intrusive this year.
I’ve made little new progress on my research, as I’ve been putting together a dissertation proposal to explain to everyone what I’ve done so far. Things should get rolling in the next couple of months, though. One of my specific goals in the next couple of months is to get in touch with teachers to talk curriculum. I’d like their input into creating lesson plans that connect the English lesson of reading LIW books, and the history lesson of her story, with the science concepts of weather and climate. The Laura books are a great way to introduce weather to children… Laura was a descriptive and rather accurate observer in her books!
I will be presenting an overview of the Long Winter to a group of mainly climate scientists in Des Moines, Iowa, in the first week of March, at the Climate Prediction Application Science Workshop. I am hoping to show them how communicating about weather and climate through a story like Laura’s can get new audiences interested in our sciences!
Also, I’ll be making an appearance as a guest on the blog radio show “Trundlebedtales”, with Sarah Uthoff: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/trundlebedtales
Stay in touch!
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Hi! I came over from Beyond Little House and I think this blog is a great idea. I can’t wait to read more.
I think my favorite weather event is from On the Banks of Plum Creek and it finally rains after a long hot dry spell. I don’t know why, but I love to read that chapter.
I just happened across this blog tonight when I was telling a fellow LIW fan about your research. I knew you were working on the PhD and I knew you were presenting around the region about “The Long Winter” but didn’t realize you were able combine the two! I’m wow-ed beyond belief!!!
I certainly plan to keep in tune with the blog as you get further into your program! Kudos to you for having the creativity to combine two things you love! You’re an inspiration 🙂
-Patricia Vollmer
You are too kind, Patricia! I’m still pretty geeked that I get to put together such different areas of study!
Oh yeah, I was replying to this particular comment because that scene from On the Banks of Plum Creek is also one of my favorites too 🙂
Hello!
I am thrilled to see your blog. My name is Michelle Martin and I am the Executive Historical Director of Little House on the Prairie Museum, Inc. in Kansas. We are the historic location of the family when they lived in Kansas. What a great idea for a blog. I can tell you that at our site the wind blows constantly! It can be calm in town but on the prairie we are windy a great deal of the time. I am also a photographer and have a passion for severe weather photography so I hope we can work together. If I am able to capture any unusual/severe weather shots at the site I will pass them along! Hope your research is fruitful! If our site can be of any help just let me know.
Hello, Michelle! Indeed, I do have a project goal that involves the home sites and information that I would like to help provide. Please stay tuned and I’ll post about it in the near future! In the meantime, I’d certainly be interested in any weather pictures at the Laura sites. (Do you get any smoke from the annual burning of the Flint Hills?) Looking forward to being in touch!
I can’t wait to read more! My two favorite things are weather and Laura Ingalls Wilder:-) My favorite weather event in the LH books is when Almanzo and Laura outrun the tornadoes in THGY…
I have a really cool tidbit about those tornadoes (I always loved that scene, as well!). I’ll post it later… perhaps when it’s “tornado season”!
I can’t wait to find out more!!!!
As a pre-k through lower el. educator and a recent graduate, I want to say congratulations on your proposed lesson plans that overlap areas of study into a larger study and tie-in of many areas of learning. You can throw math into the lessons along with everything else, since you are dealing with weather facts and data. Current scientifically based research and data show this is how children learn best. Let me know if I can do anything to help.
Love,
Mom
Moms know best! Math fits right in with the lessons of weather data, and it’s a good idea to make that connection, as well. If you have any sources on that research about how children learn, I’d love it if you could send them to me (an email would be fine). Thank you!
Love your blog and wish you all the best on your dissertation proposal. I am a teacher and former college professor. I have used the LH books in the classroom and have given many presentations over the years. I’d be glad to help in any way with your project.
Dr. Laura
Thank you, Dr. Laura! I might take you up on that — I am interested in how you have used the LH books in the classroom. Keep an eye out for an email off-blog!
Barb, I am thrilled for your new blog and topic. Your focus on the Weather and Little House books couldn’t be more timely or perfect for teachers integrating literature with other core subjects. That’s what reading – and the teaching of reading – is all about. I look forward to learning more from your blog and meteorological expertise!
I look forward to lots of good stuff from you! In particular I am now anticipating the tidbit on the tornado/cyclone from THGY. (I hope you will explain to us the difference, and which it truly was. I have always wondered about it.) Good luck and lots of fun in your researching!