Study Leaves: Lesson 1 - Identify Leaf Types

Leaf varieties by Marco Almbauer.

       Leaves  show  an  almost  infinite  variety  both  of  structure  and  of  shape. They  are  the  breathing  organs  of  the  plant,  and  by  their  aid  the  plant  makes organic  material  from  its inorganic  food.  When  all  the  parts  are  present  a leaf  consists  of  a  blade,  a  leaf-stalk,  and  a sheath  with  stipules.  In  outline  the  blade  shows  every  imaginable  geometric  form  and  is described accordingly.  Those  with  a  notched  instead  of  a  narrow  base  are  described  as heart shaped  (cordate),  kidney-shaped  (reniform),  eared  (auriculate),  arrow-shaped  ( sagittate ),  and spear-shaped  (hastate).  When  the  leaf  is  joined  to the  stalk  by  some  portion  of  its  under surface,  and  not  by  its  bottom  edge,  it is  said  to  be  shield-shaped  (peltate).  Leaves  are  also described  according to  the  character  of  their  top  (apex)  and  of  their  bottom  (base).  If  the blade is  undivided  it  is  said  to  be  entire ;  if  there  be  slight  indentations  on  the margin  the blade is  said  to  be  crenate,  serrate,  or  dentate ;  if  the  indentations  are  considerable  it  is  called incised,  and  if  the  indentations  go  more deeply  still  into  the  green  surface  so  that  the  blade  is divided  into  several parts  it  is  said  to  be  lobed  or  partite.

• This is the first lesson; the second lesson about how leaves function is here. 

Required for Observation: A  number  of  leaves,  of  different  forms - some simple  and  some  compound.  The  leaves  selected  should  also exhibit  different  kinds  of  surface  (rough,  smooth,  hairy,  bright, &c.),  and  a  variety  of  edges  (toothed,  saw-like,  crenate,  spiny,  &c.). The  following  common  leaves  would  make  a  good  selection to collect and show in the classroom: laurel,  nasturtium,  oak,  lilac,  elm,  cuckoo-pint,  dandelion,  horse-chestnut,  rose,  primrose,  wallflower,  iris,  willow,  ground -ivy, ivy,  fir.

Method of Student Observation: 

•  A  typical  leaf,  such  as  that  of  the elm,  lime,  or  beech,  should  be  given to  each  child,  who  should  be  encouraged  to  observe  and  describe  it.
• The  wallflower  leaf  may  be  chosen to  illustrate  the  sessile  leaves,  and  a rose  leaf  to  illustrate  the  compound.
• For  the  observation  a  great  variety  of  leaves should  be  used;  and  each  leaf  should be  examined  and  described  separately  by  the  children.
  

How to Grade Study Notes For Student Journals: Every student will need a journal to write in weekly for this online nature study series. Teacher will assign the weekly content in advance.

• Make sure the facts are: written in complete sentences, the first word of each sentence capitalized, and a period should be included at the end of each sentence.
• Spell check your vocabulary and write the words correctly.
• Dress up your journal entries with student clip art, drawings of your own in color or in black and white.
• Student may also include photographs of their own taking for extra credit.

Look for the following facts about leaves inside of student journals. Assign a point value to the quality of the content.

• General  Description  of  a  Leaf - A  leaf  generally  consists  of  a  stalk ( petiole )  and  a  blade.  The  midrib, running  through  the  center  of  the leaf,  is  usually  continuous  with  the stalk;  and  veins  branch  out  from  it.  Some  leaves  have  no  stalk,  but  sit on  the  stem.  They  are  termed  sessile  leaves. When  a  leaf  is  divided  into  two or  more  parts,  each  of  which  has  its own  stalk,  it  is  called  a  compound leaf. 
• Form  and  Surface  of  Leaves. -Leaves  exhibit  a  great  variety  of form  and  surface. The  principal  forms  are: circular (orbicular),  oval,  ovate,  heart-shaped (cordate),  arrow-shaped  (sagittate), lance-like  (lanceolate),  oblong,  rhomboid,  linear  (long  and  narrow),  angular,  hand-shaped  (palmate),  fingerlike  (digitate). The  edges  may  be  plain,  toothed,
  saw-like  (serrate),  scalloped  (crenate), spiny,  or  deeply  and  irregularly notched. The tip  of  the  leaf  may  be  sharp (acute)  or  blunt  (obtuse).  The  surfaoe,  rough,  smooth,  hairy,  shiny.  

Video at Youtube for Students to Watch:

1. Differences between simple and compound leafs by Kids Cloud - Leaf identified as Palmate versus Pinnate
2. Leaf identified as Phyllotaxy: 5 forms: Alternate, Opposite, Decussate, Whorled and Spiral by sci-ology
3. Learn to recognize different types of leaf shapes by Nature Clearly - basic shapes: elliptic, oval, ovate, oblong, lanceolate, obvovate, linear, reniform, lunate, fiabellate, fan-shaped, subulate, pandurate, pelfate, spathulate, hastate, sagitate, needle shape
4. How are leaf Edges different, Margins: entire, toothed, lobed, ciliate, crenate, dentate, denticulate, doubly serrate, serrate, serrulate, sinuate, spiny, undulate by Compredend & Converse
5. The Longer Tree Identified Lesson Video by Christian Libdan
6. Angie Patterson discusses the identification of trees by looking at leaves by Black Rock Forest
7. Adaxial Surface verses Abaxial Leaf Surface - distinguish the surfaces by Bio Hub

Graphic Organizers To Make: For  the  illustration  of  this  part  of the  lesson  a  great  variety  of  leaves should be used; and  each  leaf  should be  examined  and  described  separately  by  the children.
        Drawings should  also  be  made  of  all  the  principal  forms. After  the  leaves  have  all  been described separately and labeled, they  may  be classified additionally by any of the five following attributes. Choose just one from the five categories for a graphic organizer.

1. according to Palmate or Pinnate - simple and compound
2. according to form or Basic Shapes
3. according to their Edges or Margins
4. Adaxial versus Abaxial according to their surfaces
5. according to Phyllotaxy - growing point of a shoot
   

The leaf art lessons located on my blog here that may be completed for this assignment:

• Create Fall Leaf Patterns - 4th -6th Grade
• Tear and Paste Falling Leaves - preschool
• Craft a Fall Landscape Using Leaf Rubbings - 1rst, 2nd, and 3rd Grade
• Paint, cut and paste a leafy river scene - 1rst, 2nd and 3rd Grade
  

Extended Learning Content: 

• Why Leaves Change Color - article, one of many recommend during seasonal/camp learning at my doll blog
  
• Poison ivy leaves on Looking Glass Lake - part of the story adventures of a nurse paper doll
  

Free Student Clip Art: Clip art may be printed from a home computer, a classroom computer or from a computer at a library and/or a local printing service provider. This may be done from multiple locations as needed because our education blog is online and available to the general public.

Kinds of leaves in the clip art: ground ivy, ivy, dandelion, fir, iris, oak, horse chestnut, elm,
 lilac, laurel, nasturtium, and cuckoo-pint.

Echo

 Echo

I  SOMETIMES  wonder  where  he  lives.
This  Echo  that  I  never  see.
I  hear  his  voice  now  in  the  hedge,
Then  down  behind  the  willow  tree.

And  when  I  call,  "Oh,  please  come  out,'
"Come  out,"  he  always  quick  replies.
Hello,  hello,"  again  I  say;
"Hello,  hello,"  he  softly  cries.

He  must  be  jolly,  Echo  must;
For  when  I  laugh,  "Ho,  ho,  ho,  ho,"
Like  any  other  friendly  boy,
He  answers  me  with  "Ho,  ho,  ho."

I  think  perhaps  he'd  like  to  play;
I  know  some  splendid  things  to  do.
He  must  be  lonely  hiding  there;
I  wouldn't  like  it.    Now,  would  you?

Easter Bells

Vintage postcard of Easter egg "bells" among the pussy willow.

EASTER BELLS

Hear the church bells ringing,
Telling of God's love,
Little children singing,
Of our God above.

Each bell tells this message,
''Jesus Christ arose,
No more is He in the grave,
He's triumphed o'er His foes. 

 

The Easter bunnies are never late,
At sunrise, they come through the gate.

Vintage coloring from the 1950s of children and Easter bunnies.

Easter Index/ Previous Page / Next Page

"Easter Greetings" for all God's creatures...

"A Joyful Easter" with deer and pussy willow.

EASTER GREETING
We welcome each one today,
And hope each heart is brimful of love,
And although I'm quite small to have much to say,
I can speak of my Father above,

For Jesus has died on the cross,
And has risen for you and for me,
So this is the greeting we give everyone,
For from darkness we've all been set free. 

       Here is a Springtime puzzle for you to solve. Shade in all the sections with a dot to reveal the hidden picture below.

Here is a little puzzle for kids. Print and shade for answer.

Easter Index / Previous Page / Next Page

The Easter Joy by Margaret E. Sangster

Lily of the valley blooms in early spring.

       One day at noon during the latter part of Lent, in a cold winter, I found myself in the neighborhood of a church on Broadway, New York, where through open doors a stream of people were passing in to a little service. The invitation to leave the throng and bustle of the street and spend a quiet half-hour in a worshiping assembly could not be resisted, and entering, I found myself one of a large congregation among whom were many men, and young and old women of all ranks, from ladies richly and fashionably attired to women whose clothing marked them as toilers, some of them very poor. It was a pleasant experience to join this sanctuary throng, and as I left the church, comforted and helped by the song, the prayers, the little sermon and the watchword chosen from the Bible, I felt glad that Christians are more and more inclining their hearts to keep with special attention the services of Lent.
       I could not agree with an editorial which I read shortly after, in one of the daily papers, in which severe reflections were made on the declining piety of the Church of today. We live in a material age; an age of fierce business competition; a time when men struggle to amass money, when the contrasts between rich and poor are more sharply drawn than of old, when the besetting sin of the day is to bring matters to the test of human reason rather than to go in faith to the mercy seat and accept what God gives us there. But I remember the text of that day: "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me? " I see pressing in with insistent energy upon the Church a great and increasing throng of young men and women, student volunteers, who are ready and willing to give themselves to serve the Lord in any land where he may want them. I am aware that there is a large and increasing army of men and women who quietly read their Bibles and earnestly pray, and I do not believe that the Church is losing its hold upon the world, nor that Christ is deserting his own people.
       After the forty days of Lent comes the dawn of the Easter morning. Once more with flowers and hymns of praise we enter our holy places; once more we hear sounding over every open grave, and hushing every rebellious thought in our hearts and soothing every grief, the words of him who still says to every one of us, "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live." Because our blessed Captain tasted death for every one of us, and himself took on his pale lips its utmost bitterness, the cup which the death angel holds to our lips is filled with the sweetness and flavor of everlasting life. This is the great joy of Easter. More and more, as we go on traveling the pilgrim road, we are conscious that it is but a road leading to another and an endless home. Along the road there are beautiful surprises. Friendship is ours, and domestic bliss; the dear love of kindred; the sweetness of companionship; the delight of standing shoulder to shoulder with comrades; the glory of service. But this is not our rest, and we are going on to that place where the beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him and where they go no more out forever.
       Somehow Easter always carries with it more of heaven than any other of the great anniversaries of the Christian year. In its first bright dawn the heavens were opened and the angels came down to comfort the weeping women and the disciples, mourning their Lord at the sepulcher, with those ecstatic words, "He is not here; he is risen!" It is more than fancy, it is a precious fact, that the angels still come back to console the mourner, to strengthen the doubting, and to give Christ's own people the blessed assurance that he is with them still.
       The festival of Easter comes to us at a propitious time, for lo, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come; and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Winter, with its rigor and cold, its ice and frost and inclement blasts, its tempests on land and sea, is an emblem of warfare; its silence and sternness ally it to grief. Spring comes dancing and fluttering in with flowers and music and the blithe step of childhood. Her signs are evident before she is really here herself. First come the bluebirds, harbingers of a host; a little later there will be wrens and robins and orioles, and all the troop which make the woods musical and build sociably around our country homes.
       Then the flowers will come. Happy are they who shall watch their whole procession, from the pussy- willow in March to the last blue gentian in October. We decorate our churches at Easter with the finest spoils of the hot-house — lilies, roses, palms, azaleas ; nothing is too costly, nothing too lavish to be brought to the sanctuary or carried to the cemetery. Friend sends to friend the fragrant bouquet or the growing plant with the same tender significance which is evinced in the Christmas gifts, which carry from one heart to another a sweet message of love.
       But God is giving us the Easter flowers in little hidden nooks in the forests, down by the corners of fences, in the sheltered places on the edges of the brook, and there we find the violet, the arbutus and other delicate blossoms which lead the van for the great army of nature's efflorescence. The first flowers are more delicately tinted and of shyer look and more ephemeral fragrance than those which come later. They are the Easter flowers. Later on we shall have millions of blossoms and more birds than we can count: now in the garden and the field we have enough to remind us that the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the time of the singing of birds is come.
       If any of us have been grieving over our own lack, over our sinful departure from God or over the loss of dear ones, let us at Easter forget the past, put our hand in that of our risen Lord, accept the sweetness of his voice and the gladness of his presence as he comes into our homes, and say, thankfully, as we hear his " Peace be unto you:" "Lord, we are thine at this Easter time; we give ourselves to thee in a fullness which we have never known before. We are thine. Thine to use as thou wilt; thine to fill with blessing; thine to own. Take us, Lord, and so possess us with thyself that our waste places shall be glad, and the wilderness of our lives shall blossom as the rose." Such a prayer will find its way upward, and return to us in wonderful answers of blessing from the Lord.

Easter Index/ Previous Page/ Next Page

Grandparent's Day Index

Grandparent's Day is frequently celebrated in early learning
centers and kindergartens across the United States. It is a day
for young students to give their grandparents a tour of their
school environment.

       Grandparents are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. In cases where parents are unwilling or unable to provide adequate care for their children (e.g., death of the parents), grandparents often take on the role of primary caregivers. Even when this is not the case, and particularly in traditional cultures, grandparents often have a direct and clear role in relation to the raising, care and nurture of children. Grandparents are second-degree relatives and share 25% genetic overlap.

       National Grandparents Day is a secular holiday celebrated in the United States of America and the United Kingdom since 1978 and officially recognized in a number of countries on various days of the year, either as one holiday or sometimes as a separate Grandmothers' Day and Grandfathers' Day. It is celebrated on the first Sunday following Labor Day, September 10th. in the United States.
      During the week that follows September 10th, young children often spend time with their grandparents at school. Because the holiday falls at the beginning of the school year, there is little time for their teachers to plan elaborate shows or exhibits. So it has become a customary time for sharing the daily routines of young school children with their older visitors.
       Craft or reading activities emphasizing family are often planned in advance by the school sponsor or PTO for these holiday visits.

Crafts for Grandparents Day:

• My Family Tree Craft for Grandparent's Day
• The "Love" Canvas - How to with hand and foot prints of child
• Potted Plant with children's photo flowers
• Grandma's "Tweet" Hearts - kid's footprint canvas
  

Little Louise and Her Grandmother,
Frances Cordelia McDowell.

Poems About Grandmothers by Lillie Gilliland McDowell:

1. When Grandma Sews
2. Grandma's Aprons
3. Cuddle Time
4. Grandma's Errands
5. Grandma's Little Girl
6. Herb Tea
7. Tea at Grandma's
8. When Grandma Knits
9. A "Blue" Story
10. Christmas Secrets
11. Dancing Dolls
12. Heigh-ho. 'Tis Her Way!
13. Girls Will Be Girls
14. When Grandma Comfys Me
15. Out At Grandma's
16. My Grandma's Getting Old, They Say
17. Fellow Feeling
18. What Kind of Grandma Do You Like?
19. Grandma's Stories
20. A Tea Party
21. When Grandma Loses Her Specs
22. G-R-A-N-D-M-A
23. Contrast
24. I'll Be Your Valentine
25. Two Proverbs
26. The Old Sampler
27. When Grandma Tucks Me In
28. A Pertinent Question
29. The Way Out
30. The Old And The New
31. When Grandma Was a Little Girl
32. Counting The Baby's Toes
33. Grandma's Young Days
34. Grandma's Hygiene
35. Grandma's Prayer
36. Loneliness
37. When Grandma Punished Me
38. Grandma's Lullaby
39. The Old Willow Basket
40. Retrospect
41. Grandmother's Garden
    

More Poets Write About Grandparents:

1. For Grandma
2. Grandpa
3. Grandpa's Glasses
4. To a Grandmother

A collection of letters written by a grandparents to grandchildren. I have edited some of these and updated spelling. Use them in a literacy unit or read them aloud for fun. (Letters by children telling Valentine stories here.)

1. A letter about a new dog...
2. "The Doll Party" letter from grandpa
3. A letter from Grandpa about Easter eggs and ducks 
4. The donkey and the dog pull a cart... 
5. Disc and The Cats Now Eat Together! 
6. A letter about Grandpa's childhood

Grandparents Online:

• thespruce: Sharing books with long-distance grandchildren 
• GRAND magazine - free online magazine for grandparents
• Christian Grandparenting Network

The Old Willow Basket

The Old Willow Basket

O, poets have sung of the old oaken bucket.
Like-wise of the bootjack that hung on the wall.
My lyre I'm attuning to sing of a treasure
To my humble notion surpassing them all.
I speak of the basket my Grandmother cherished.
And gladly I offer this tribute of praise
To the dear willow basket, quaint willow basket.
The old willow basket of Grandmother's days.

At home it held proudly her mending and knitting.
Her great balls of worsted and gay colored yarns.
Her needles and thread, and her latest quilt piecing.
And even the stockings awaiting her darns.
In short, a receptacle, useful and handy,
Revealing her neat and industrious ways,
Was that blessed old basket, that queer old basket.
That old willow basket of Grandmother's days.

When calling she came how we hurried to meet her !
With whoops of delight the old basket we'd hail.
We knew that a store there of lovely surprises
Its uplifted lid would reveal without fail,
O, still I can smell the rare odors that greeted
Our senses from sweet-meats and apples in store
In that old willow basket, rare willow basket.
Entrancing old basket that Grandmother bore.

But now she is gone, as an heir-loom it's left us,
A cherished reminder of old-fashioned days.
O me! while we praise, admire and adore them,
I fear we've not copied her dear, thrifty ways.
But close in our memory fore'er we'll enshrine it,
Our voices forever in homage we'll raise
To that dear willow basket, precious old basket
That hallowed old basket of Grandmother's days.

Irish Lullaby

Irish Lullaby

I'd rock my own sweet childie to rest in a cradle of 

gold on a bough of the willow,

To the shoheen ho of the wind of the west and the

lulla lo of the soft sea billow.

Sleep, baby dear,

Sleep without fear,

Mother is here beside your pillow.

I'd put my own sweet childie to sleep in a silver boat

on the beautiful river,

Where a shoheen whisper the white cascades, and a

lulla lo the green flags shiver.

Sleep, baby dear,

Sleep without fear,

Mother is here with you for ever.

Lulla lo! to the rise and fall of mother's bosom 'tis

sleep has bound you,

And O, my child, what cosier nest for rosier rest could

love have found you?

Sleep, baby dear,

Sleep without fear,

Mother's two arms are clasped around you.

Another Irish lullaby "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral"

Rainy Day Paper Dolls

      It seems like only yesterday when my now eighteen year old was cutting her own 'rainy day' paper family from old J. C. Penny catalogs. I was rummaging through a set of children's books in our bookcase and what do you think a found? An entire catalog family fluttering about from the pages. I picked them up and felt tears form in my eyes. How I miss my children's childhood innocence. I hope that many of my readers here will make just as many happy memories with their little ones on rainy days, printing, coloring and cutting away.

Winnie the Wonder Cuts, The H. C. of L.

      "I'm lonely," said Winnie, one wet autumn day. "This staying indoors is not much fun. I've dressed all my dollies a thousand times o'er. To do it again would be such a bore!" Just then she heard voices, though no one was seen. They seemed to proceed from a new magazine. A newspaper loudly its many leaves fluttered; a catalog also, she thought, gently muttered. "Here's 'Papa' and 'Mamma' and Johnny and Ned, and Agnes and Alice and Baby and Fred! Imprisoned we are, and will be for years, unless you'll release us, with skill and with shears." "I'll do it!" cried Winnie--and then, not in vain, she fell to her cutting with might and with main. "Papa" was an ad of some ready-made clothes, and "Mamma" was wearing some beautiful hose. While Baby and Agnes and Alice and Fred, young Johnny and Edward (the last with a sled) were easy to find if you knew where, in a catalog given to "best" children's wear. "Oh, lovely!" cried Winnie in accents of glee. "I've got, all at once, such a fine family! They'll want many things so I mustn't be stopping. The rest of the morning I'll spend on their shopping." So she got them some suits, all ready to wear, and raincoats and hats and wavy false hair, and chairs made of willow and brass beds and tables, and lampshades and candlesticks, toy dogs and sables. She found them a bathroom with fixtures complete, and elegant shoes for each pair of feet, pianos which sounded the mellowest tones, and beautiful, diamond disked new graphophones. She bought Chinese lilies, in nice shallow bowls, and stockings all filmy, without any holes. She got for them drinking cups, autos and collars--but she spent not a dime, nor even her dollars! Thought all she procured in a manner so rash, she managed to lose not a bit of her cash. The rain it kept on and just wouldn't stop, but Winnie was dampened by never a drop. "This shopping by scissors is certainly wise, and I'm glad that the merchants 'most all advertise. Their talk of 'cut prices' is perfectly true. I cut both the price and the article, too. My paper dolls now have all that they need, and the morning has passed with the pleasantest speed. And the best of it all is no rent need they pay. In the leaves of a book I'll just tuck them away!" from an old New York Tribune

More Related Content: Just a few charming paper characters for you to collect:

• A small gentleman owl paper doll
• The catalog dolls here, here and here
• Polly Pratt Paper Dolls and their wardrobes intact
• Queen Holden paper dolls
• Make a 1930s Face paper toy
• frog mommy