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Welcome 5
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0-1: A Welcome Note from Victoria 30 minLecture1.1
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0-2: Good Things to Know 30 minLecture1.2
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0-3: Why Literacy Outdoors? 30 minLecture1.3
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0-4: Ideas to Kick Start Your Literacy Garden 30 minLecture1.4
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0-5: Supply List for Reading, Writing, Listening, and Talking Outdoors 30 minLecture1.5
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Module 1: Gardens that Feed 5
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1-1: Welcome to The Gardens that Feed 30 minLecture2.1
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1-2: Gather Seeds of Inspiration 30 minLecture2.2
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1-3: Plant Literacy Ideas 30 minLecture2.3
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1-4: Grow Literacy Activities 30 minLecture2.4
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1-5: Harvest Curriculum-on-the-Go Kits 30 minLecture2.5
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Module 2: Gardens as Outdoor Learning Stations that Inspire Themes 5
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2-1: Welcome to Gardens as Outdoor Learning Stations that Inspire Themes 30 minLecture3.1
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2-2: Gather Seeds of Inspiration 30 minLecture3.2
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2-3: Plant Literacy Ideas 30 minLecture3.3
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2-4: Grow Literacy Activities 30 minLecture3.4
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2-5: Harvest Literacy Curriculum Kits 30 minLecture3.5
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Module 3: Gardens that Attract Wildlife 5
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3-1: Welcome The Gardens that Attract Wildlife 30 minLecture4.1
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3-2: Gather Seeds of Inspiration 30 minLecture4.2
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3-3: Plant Literacy Ideas 30 minLecture4.3
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3-4: Grow Literacy Activities 30 minLecture4.4
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3-5: Harvest Literacy Curriculum Kits 30 minLecture4.5
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Module 4: Gardens for Beauty and Art 5
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4-1: Welcome to The Gardens for Beauty and Art 30 minLecture5.1
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4-2: Gather Seeds of Inspiration 30 minLecture5.2
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4-3: Plant Ideas 30 minLecture5.3
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4-4: Grow Activities 30 minLecture5.4
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4-5: Harvest Curriculum Kits 30 minLecture5.5
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51 Comments
There’s a lot we can do with this book! Each of the animals featured could be its own theme. The children could even make their own books–just use different shapes to make the animals (ovals for the bodies, circles for heads, rectangles for the legs, etc.)
For reading–read the book outdoors by a real log.
Share nature field guides to find the animals listed in the book.
Investigate the animals in the book to find out what they look like at different
times of the year, what they eat, if they hibernate, if they live in your area.
Ranger Rick, Jr. magazines are an awesome resource for the kids to look through
For Writing– Write in nature journals what the kids found out about the animals from above.
On chart paper, show the kids how to draw the animals using different shapes for
the body parts.
Create their own versions of the animals using play-doh and set up a log museum
with signs indicating what the animals are and what they are doing.
Draw a real log along with animals the kids find around and under it.
For listening–Listen to a nature CD of forest critters.
Listen while others tell about their museum animals and then ask questions.
Gather around a real log and talk/listen to each other about how the log feels,
the weight, how it got there, the animals that may be under this log.
For talking– Share with each other about the museums.
Investigate worms. Use four senses to share info with others.
How did the log come to where the kids found it?
Share excitement about the nature field guides and magazines.
Oh my goodness….I love this book and love all the ideas you have come up with. Your depth and detail are fantastic. Keep up the great work.
Our children have picked up insects at our back yard the last Summer.And they got lay down them on leaves and cared them so nice.They gets so curious when they see insects. Then in this moment we talked about it and it was a good time.It is about it that l love spring and Summer because the kids enjoy much the outdoor experiences.
Reading – This book is all about each insect that has live inside a log. The insects and animals that they have are beetle, red eft, bluegill (sunfish), red-winged blackbird, painted turtle, frog, tadpole, muskrat. arthropods, a garter snake, and chipmunk
Listening – This book tells about each insect and animal with a description about each one of them. The description talks about what they are in real life.
Book Inspiration – What’s Under a Log by Anne Hunter
Writing – Make a log with sticks and put anything on it and we can pretend they are bugs or animals that lives in the log.
Talking – How can a beetle to a sow bug can turn into a millipede from over a log?
Fabulous ideas! Great work!
As we are in a suburban area, it’s much trickier to do, but it would be nice to be able to take a field trip to a natural park, or just someplace more quiet where such listening activities are possible.
Yes!!!
I would add pictures of habitats in the classroom and then in the sensory table add items to make there own so when they go outside they can look for the same materials and make their own.
Awesome!
I think with this part I would definitely have these be a hands on activity for my students and I. I would implement like a scavenger hunt involving looking underneath looks or rocks outside. I would make it simple enough for my preschoolers by having groups broken up with a teacher to look underneath the logs and have them look for worms bugs etc.
Great ideas. so simple, but such big impact!
We like the idea of sitting and listening to nature and the children learning how to identify a few species of birds and different animals in are area. We feel this will help connect the children to nature on a deeper level by learning local animals and learning how to sit and be still. Also identifying different bugs they find under logs will make it more fun for them to want to learn about what they find.
Terrific!
The children can use these books to explore nature. The books could be read and then they can go outside and see how the book relates to outside.
Now that we have access to our playground and taking ur course has shown me great ideas to implement the classroom outdoors. I know that the recess is kids free play time outdoors but giving them a spark of imagination and implementing literature and science nature .
I am thrilled this Master Class has helped you with thinking differently about your new outdoor space.
Writing: Draw a bug or animal that you have found under a log/rock
Listening: Do bugs make sounds? Lets listen and see. (Maybe play a CD of crickets as well)
Talking: Share your favorite bug with the class and tell us what sound you think they make!
You have wonderfully creative ideas.
I love the idea of focusing on listening. Sometimes you need to be patient in order to hear certain sounds in nature and this is also a great tool for my preschoolers. Nowadays they all have phones or tablets put in their hands whenever they have to wait. No one simply can just “be” as they wait, they seek an alternative form of entertainment while waiting. Slowing the children down and focusing in on listening and waiting is so important. It also helps them appreciate their surroundings while showing them there’s even more around you if you simply take the time to slow down and focus on it.
I could not agree with you more. This is one of the reasons why I do this work. We are all addicted to our phones and major disconnect is happening.
Doing a worksheet like this in addition to hands on gathering would be great for a lot of age groups in our program.
Extension ideas that could be used could include; looking under rocks and comparing the two. Another fun idea may include creating a “log” in the sensory table for the children to explore and placing it the sensory table (with teacher approved materials) or even creating a classroom snack such as; ants on a log.
That would be really cool! Let me know how it goes.
I think walking in trails in the forest and observing different animals, decomposition and habitats that may be in the trails would be a great activity. Having a log of both drawing what the observed and writing down what they observed would help them learn. If we did a project of recreating their favorite part of the nature walk in art they could use their log to help them.
Your ideas are fabulous! Keep them coming!
using sticks to draw in the sand and dirt.
watching and listening to the birds.
🙂
we have talked about getting a log for our outdoor play yard can’t wait
🙂 Yea!
Just like the other idea web I would extend this activity to have the children draw what they hear, draw what they see, and then draw what they feel. These kind of sensory activities can be very therapeutic and calming to students of all ages.
🙂
For better understanding of habitat, the children could draw out what their habitat looks like, or that of another animal.
Wonderful!
I recently purchased a book all about different kinds of bugs for my infants, and if I can get them to focus long enough, some enjoy flipping through the pages, pointing at different bugs, and listening to me identify them!
Fun! Always a challenge with our littles…but worth introducing them to different things
great ideas
Listening: Listen to audio of sounds different bugs make. Play a guessing game to match different bugs to different sounds.
Writing: practice writing the names and letters for different bugs. Sound out the names and draw pictures to go with the names.
Reading: reading books about different types of bugs, what they do for the environment. Such as bees with pollination. How to be nice to bugs and respect nature.
Talking: Name different types of bugs. Talk about what colors they are, what sounds they make, where we find them
Great reflections!
I would love to see the kids learn how to sustain an outdoor space so that it may support a good number of creatures
That is a great idea. Any ideas of how you would do this? Think about your steps and go for it!
Great!
Just have the kids sit and try to listen to the sounds that they hear around them and ask them what they hear. Have them examine the bugs and insects that they have found under the observation log and ask them what they see, maybe list some differences between the different bugs.
Putting rocks or logs in my small garden for the daycare. I do have big rocks in other parts but unfortunately my outdoor space is only one area I’m allowed to bring the kids. So, we will have to put some closer for the kids.
Safety is a big concern, Liabilities
We really enjoy the bird sounds, I have a cockatiel in the house and when we are outside we talk about how the birds all sound different. The seagulls the crows the geese and the bird inside named Tucker.
We have a lot of challenges with our children outside…they’re constantly eating things!! crab apples, rocks, sticks! It’s so hard to teach our children things when we’re trying to prevent them from swallowing rocks!
Would make a classroom book about what lives under a log Have children share ideas and then go out for a walk to explore
Listening- identify birds by their call, name all the sounds we can hear, locate what is making the sound.
Writing- drawing different birds, writing what we think the sounds sound like
Drawing in the soil with sticks
Talking- describing the sounds we hear. How are some bird calls similar others different?
What do you think makes that sound? Can you nake that sound?
Can you get the bird to answer you?
I am so blessed our center is not afraid of letting kids explore nature.
Fantabulous! 🙂
One of the issues that I bump up against frequently in my program is the problem with liability. I wasn’t kidding earlier when I said that we have large boulders on one of our playgrounds that the children are not allowed to go near, much less climb on. Nature and natural features are something that is often seen as a danger. Victoria, you may know who Johanna Booth-Miner is? She directs a school located a ways up in New Hampshire that is very nature based, and she is fond of saying Keep children as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible. She is quite the advocate for getting kids out in nature and learning how to take appropriate risks. But while my program may support this idea in principle, there is a much different mindset when it comes to practice. Here’s an example: all of our preschool classrooms will be going on a field trip to a farm within the next month, where they have tapped a maple tree and will offer a taste of the sap to each child. We have had to get a signed permission form for each child that clearly states whether or not the child can taste the sap. Not syrup; sap. When challenged, our director shrugs and says it’s necessary in these times. I think about taking my class on a trip to walk in a forest area, where the children would be encouraged to get off the designated pathways and go look at nature up close, and I think, What if something happens? What if they go to turn over a log and a swarm of bees flies out and… or a frightened chipmunk attacks? I never used to think this way! I was the last teacher to succumb to the dictate that nobody goes on the rocks on the playground. I had my kids climbing on those rocks (under my supervision, of course) while other teachers shook their heads and murmured how I was going to get in trouble. I miss the good old days when nature was a friend!!
Patricia, I have heard this type of story over and over again and it fuels me to dig deeper into why we have become so fearful of Nature? The worry about liability has crippled us to become sedentary and unfortunately gives us permission not to allow children to take risks. This is where I believe we need to take a step back and ask ourselves, “What CAN we do?” Slowly changing the mindset that “these are the times we live in” is possible. Your stories show the real challenges of reconnecting children with nature. This is part of your Outdoor Classroom story. Take a breath and try something new. Choose your tree. Create a gathering place. Add an observation log. Make a few signs, Plant a butterfly garden…and before you know it, you will have created the foundation for an outdoor classroom. You will be amazed at how Nature will take care of the rest.