On Monday we spent our first afternoon in the woods. Before venturing to our outdoor classroom, we revisited expectations from our conversation the previous week;
We enter the woods quietly, as it is the home of animals.
We observe living creatures carefully, but don't pick them up.
We explore and play with sticks, but keep sticks pointed down.
We take care of our own needs and work together to take care of our natural space.
The children helped to carry bins of materials for the kitchen space, paper and pencils for observation and nature drawing, white lanterns to hang from the trees in our gathering space, and a list of choices for the afternoon. Upon entering our classroom, we walked the perimeter, discussing the different areas to play in and explore.
Similar to Choice within our classroom, I shared with children a list of choices for our time in our outdoor classroom - building large or small structures, working in the kitchen, using pencil and paper for nature drawing, or engaging in dramatic play. The pencil and paper were quickly scooped up, as the artists and scientists gathered in small clusters on the moss covered rocks. A handful of Kindergarteners transformed into Ninjas as they skipped, jumped, and darted through the trees - their Ninja script encouraged the release of movement and energy. Many children chose to build, downed branches were balanced against a tree to create a fort, while some children used sticks to help define our gathering space! It was a warm, joyful, and engaging afternoon. Sandy and I had the opportunity to listen and observe, to engage and step back, to be present amongst the trees with the children. At the end of our time in the woods, I invited the builders to share their fort with their peers. They carefully explained how they made their structure stay up by first balancing larger sticks against the tree. I wonder if the Ninja script will continue into next week's outdoor classroom? Is there something developmentally intriguing about a Ninja? This was a similar script to last year's Kindergarten class! Many children asked for additional art explorations. I plan to bring a large piece for nature weaving into the woods, encouraging children to work together while using natural materials as their medium. When choices and ideas come from the children and scaffolded or encouraged by the teacher, the engagement and learning is meaningful and rich.
Kindergarteners use paper and pencil to draw the rocks, sticks, and pinecones covering the forest floor. IM builds a small fairy house and then draws her structure - her idea will be an invitation for our next Monday afternoon in the woods; building fairy houses. The Choices will come from the children's interests and developing theories and questions about the natural world.
AM uses sticks to help define our gathering space.
OC and AR work together to balance the largest sticks against the tree, the strong foundation for their fort. DM walks past and declines an invitation to build, he is preparing to engage in the Ninja play happening throughout our classroom.
On Tuesday morning I used our morning message as an invitation for an additional reflection from the woods. The children drew or wrote about something they saw in the woods and added their work to our message. The following day I posted their work along with my invitation in our classroom, surrounded by pictures from our experience. The Kindergarteners referenced and talked about the images and their reflections all week long!
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