"The Forest Kindergartens"

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Inspired by our trip to Mountsberg yesterday, we wanted to let the children have even more time to explore nature and engage in some outdoor learning in the forest.  We decided to go on a short walk to the forest behind St. Ignatius Catholic School down the street.

We began the lesson by talking to the children about the trip yesterday.  What did they like or not like about the trip?  What was the same or different about their outdoor learning on the trip and our outdoor learning at school?  Did they like being in the forest?  What materials did they find there?  Did they want to go back?

The main differences we noticed as a group were that in the forest there are way more sticks, and you can use those sticks to make cool structures, like the one Jayden built at Mountsberg.  In our yard, we don't have those kinds of materials.  We asked the children if they would like to get some branches, sticks, and logs, and the response was an overwhelming YES!

We then told the children that we could go on an adventure right then to find some big sticks and branches.  They were very excited as we set out on our short walk.  We made it to St. Ignatius fairly quickly, and only had to take a few steps into the forest behind the school to find a magical place for our students to play and learn.

After we let the children explore and have some play time, we let them select something to bring back to school with them.  Each student had the option to bring a stick or a larger branch with them.  Some children chose to work together to bring larger branches, and some were happy with sticks.  Everyone was excited about having sticks at school to build forts.
Finally, after we returned and had some time to reflect on our walk, Mrs. Piquette printed out some of the pictures she had taken.  The students were happy to see themselves in the pictures, and encouraged to write about their experience using invented spelling.  This was done at the teacher table, in small groups.  Some of the captions the children wrote were:

"I am collecting sticks"

"I am climbing"

"I am on the fort"

"I am touching the sticks and branches"

We all came back together in a group to share our writing and our experiences.  We ended the lesson by creating a collaborative writing piece to retell what happened on our forest adventure.  The children called it "The Forest Kindergartens."  We hope you enjoy it!

The Forest Kindergartens

One sunny, warm day, Kindergarten A went for a walk to the forest.  When we went to the forest, we saw lots of forts.  We saw lots of ants.  We saw lots of butterflies.  We saw lots of branches.  We picked the branches up and brought them to the school so we can play with them.

When we were at the forest, we noticed there was a pond there.  We saw lots of trees and lots of leaves.  We had a lot of fun and we want to go back again.  We want to go even farther and look around and see if we can find any more forts, sticks, and branches and logs to bring back.  Maybe we could see more cool things.

Curriculum Connections

Social Development

• 1.2 Demonstrate the ability to take turns in activities and discussions
• 2.1 Use a variety of simple strategies to solve social problems

Emotional Development

• 1.3 Express their thoughts and share experiences
• 2.2 Demonstrate a willingness to try new activities and to adapt to new situations
• 2.5 Interact cooperatively with others in classroom events and activities
• 3.2 Recognize places and buildings within their community, both natural and human-made, and talk about their functions

Language

• 1.2 Listen and respond to others for a variety of purposes and in a variety of contexts
• 1.4 Follow and provide one- and two-step directions in different contexts
• 1.5 Use language in various contexts to connect new experiences with what they already know
• 1.6  Use language to talk about their thinking, to reflect, and to solve problems
• 1.8  Ask questions for a variety of purposes and in different contexts
• 1.9  Describe personal experiences, using vocabulary and details appropriate to the situation
• 1.10  Orally retell simple events and simple familiar stories in proper sequence
• 4.3  Write simple messages, using a combination of pictures, symbols, knowledge of the correspondence between letters and sounds, and familiar words
• 4.6  Communicate ideas about personal experiences and/or familiar stories, and experiment with personal voice in their writing

Science

• 1.1  Ask questions about and describe some natural occurrences, using their own observations and representations
• 1.3  Explore patterns in the natural and built environment
• 2.3  Select and use materials to carry out their own explorations
• 2.4  Communicate results and findings from individual and group investigations
• 3.1  Identify similarities and differences between local environments
• 3.3  Identify ways in which they can care for and show respect for the environment
• 4.4  Select and use tools, equipment, and materials to construct things using the design process