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EXCEL Students Learn to Whistle With Grass

EXCEL Students Learn to Whistle With Grass   thumbnail101928

Taking an unexpected opportunity in the midst of poetry exploration, students in Islip’s EXCEL program for the academically gifted recently learned how to whistle with a blade of grass.

Before delving into a poetry lesson which included reading poetry excerpts outdoors and stretching students’ creative muscles with a writing activity, EXCEL Program Coordinator Julia Johnson gave the students time to close their eyes, focus on their breathing, run their fingers through the grass and take a moment to feel connected to the natural world around them. For the writing activity, the students were asked to create a list of “10 Things I Know to Be True,” and one student noted that they could whistle with a blade of grass.

“I grabbed the ‘teachable moment’ and asked them to raise their hands if they want to learn how to do this, and so it happened,” said Johnson. “It wasn’t planned, which is what made it so priceless.”