Jeff Rennicke - Conserve School

Connecting language and landscape

Jeff Rennicke, an English teacher at Conserve School in Land O’ Lakes, Wis., wants his students to understand and experience the connection between language and landscape. Prior to becoming a teacher, he was a full-time freelance writer for 22 years, writing 10 books and contributing to more than 300 magazine articles in publications such as National Geographic Traveler, Backpacker and other adventure and travel magazines.

Rennicke emphasizes that nature isn’t limited to national parks and weekend getaways. It is everywhere, all the time. Likewise, the incorporation of English and the environment isn’t limited to certain books or authors.

Rennicke has students study the same stories they normally would, but include discussions of how nature affects the characters in ways such as their worldview and survival. They also discuss how nature is more than a backdrop; it can be integral to a plot, even its own character. While reading Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, the class discusses the ocean and its role as a main character. Other examples include the wind in Willa Cather’s "O Pioneers" and the river in Ernest Hemingway’s "Big Two-Hearted River."

Teachers can also still cover many of the great authors, but shift their focus to environmental writing. John Steinbeck is a staple in most high school English classes. While there are many Steinbeck titles to choose from, Rennicke has his students read "Travels with Charley," which details Steinbeck’s ventures through the American landscape with a standard poodle.

Rennicke also seeks to have students experience what authors write about.

He picks the coldest day of the year to read Jack London’s "To Build a Fire." He warns his class to bundle up for the next day because they will be taking a field trip. On that field trip, he leads the students through the wilderness surrounding their school while reading the book.

When they reach the part of the story where London describes how to build a fire, he has the students follow the instructions and build a fire. They read on as they enjoy the comfort of the fire. At the part in the story where the fire is put out by falling snow from a tree, Rennicke dumps snow on their fire, extinguishing it. As the students gaze at him in awe and disappointment, they experience what the character in the story experienced at that event. From cold noses to freezing fingers, London’s words come to life as the students experience what the character experiences.

Rennicke’s class reads John Muir’s "My First Summer in the Sierra" while in a tree. That way, when Muir describes riding a tree, the students can actually feel what Muir was conveying in his writing. In this way, they experience directly how the language connects with the landscape.

Knowing that not all teachers have access to the land or privileges that his school does, Rennicke emphasizes that nature is everywhere. Nature doesn’t have to be a large wilderness area, it could be something as simple as the rain.

For more information on incorporating these subject areas, Rennicke recommends visiting the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) at http://www.asle.org/.