Thunder Mist and Wagon Wheels

Image from jsorbieus on flickr

When I first read the following poem, by Hilda Conkling, I immediately envisioned something like the picture above.  And then I thought this might be a fun exercise in visualization. If you are a fan of Nature Walks - Charlotte Mason Style, this might be a fun "picture-painting" (scroll down at link) extension activity. This activity would also be great for reinforcing "focus and listening" skills:

Read the poem aloud, pause, read it a few more times, then have student(s) illustrate their own mental scenes:

Another weather exercise, (probably best for fourth grade up) this one from Intermediate Language Lessons, Book 2, includes dictation and composition (click to enlarge):

Shrinking Wheels? Dangerous Tires?

From the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center:

All four wheels had iron "tires" to protect the wooden rims, and they were likewise constructed of hardwoods to resist shrinkage. Nonetheless, many emigrants took to soaking their wagon wheels in rivers and springs overnight, as it was not unheard of for the dry air to shrink the wood so much that the iron tires would roll right off the wheels during the day.

If you really want to challenge students, you might ask them to pretend they are living during the time of Henry Ward Beecher, and set their composition, "A Wet Season" as if they were writing it during that same time period.

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Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.   ~Henry Ward Beecher - 1887