Can I tell you how excited I am to try out this strategy? To me a field trip was getting on a bus and visiting a museum or park. This chapter opened my eyes to other possibilities and I'm excited to try them!
Chapter 3 of this book highlights the use of field trips as a strategy to enhance learning throughout the year. I love that field trips give the kiddos an authentic experience that requires they use critical thinking skills to solve problems and approach information.
Each year we are lucky enough to take a field trip or two to different places in our community to enhance units we are studying in our classroom. I'm now realizing how many other ways I can use this strategy in our own school or on the school grounds.
How I'm Already Using This
Perfect timing for this chapter because this week we had staff from a local nature preserve come to our classroom to help us plant seeds. Over the next three months we will take care of these seeds as they grow into lupine plants. I love that the kids take responsibility for the plants and we use this as a jumping off point for our plant unit.
My Firsties will be responsible for watering the plants and we'll be journaling about the changes we see. I'm excited to have the kids discuss, write about, and draw the changes we see. Another great way to add strategies 1 and 2 into our daily routines!
In May we will take a trip to the nature preserve where we will plant the plants so the larvae of the butterflies that live at the preserve will have something to eat in the spring months. At the preserve we will also do a short hike and will even get to do a scavenger hunt inside the discovery center!
I love the idea of changing the scenery and bringing the class outside to conduct discussions. Any kind of change is great to enhance learning. I was also thinking about using this during a writing workshop lesson related to the seasons. Experiencing the seasons while you write about them would help students add details to their writing. Probably only good for the fall or spring months, but perhaps a mild winter day could work as well!
Walking around the school or school grounds to find shapes during a shape unit is a fun way to apply geometry to the real world. Naming shapes on a paper has its place but seeing shapes in the real world is so much better!
I also love the idea of taking a walk and creating math problems to go with what you see while on the walk. This is a great way to make problem solving a real skill applied to things that happen in the real world.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. Head back to Mrs. Wills Kindgeraten for some wonderful ideas!
What I Want to Try
I love the idea of changing the scenery and bringing the class outside to conduct discussions. Any kind of change is great to enhance learning. I was also thinking about using this during a writing workshop lesson related to the seasons. Experiencing the seasons while you write about them would help students add details to their writing. Probably only good for the fall or spring months, but perhaps a mild winter day could work as well!
Walking around the school or school grounds to find shapes during a shape unit is a fun way to apply geometry to the real world. Naming shapes on a paper has its place but seeing shapes in the real world is so much better!
I also love the idea of taking a walk and creating math problems to go with what you see while on the walk. This is a great way to make problem solving a real skill applied to things that happen in the real world.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. Head back to Mrs. Wills Kindgeraten for some wonderful ideas!
What I took from this chapter is just how important and valuable it is to change our students' scenery. We all knew this - but just reading in this context brought it to the forefront of my thinking - gotta love that!
ReplyDeleteHolly
Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade
Can't wait for the weather to get a bit nicer... so many ways to get out of the classroom!
DeleteI am so impressed that your kiddos are going to have to keep up with those plants on their own. I have to confess that my room get zeroooo sunlight so I have to put them in the art room...and I may have to be the one to water them #failing. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a green thumb at all... I think my kiddos will do a much better job taking care of our plants!
DeleteI also love that this chapter gave us a great reminder that field trips don't have to be getting on a bus and traveling somewhere!! There is so much learning that can be done right in front of you! We love going on schoolyard walks with our kids and now it makes me want to call it a mini field trip! I think the kids would love that!
ReplyDeleterecipeforteaching
We're starting a plant unit in a few weeks and I'd love to do a walk around our school grounds to look for different kinds of plants!
DeleteI love your idea for a planting field trip! Our school grounds need a little TLC in the spring. I think I will try something like that this year. A walk for inspiration for problem-solving is something we can do now! Thanks for sharing JD!
ReplyDeleteCreative Lesson Cafe
I can't wait to do the walk once the weather get nicer... it's been a long winter!
DeleteHi JD,
ReplyDeleteYour plants experience sounds wonderful! Really cool that they get to take the plants and plant them later. Reminds me of my daughter's kindergarten class getting to plant pumpkin seeds in the spring at our local pumpkin farm. They labeled their seed. When we went as a family in the fall to pick our pumpkin we visited her pumpkin. She was really excited! I think you could take them out during the winter but maybe not write outside in the winter. Have them do all their observing and let them go inside to write. There is something about the "quiet" of winter. Great post!
Joya :)
How sweet that she got to see the pumpkin she planted... I'm sure that was so exciting. I agree... as long as we go out for recess we could do a quick walk for inspiration and then go inside to do our writing!
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