Tag Archives: Literacy

Our Outdoor Learning Journey Part 7

In Primary 5 we have been learning more about newspaper reports and what is included in them. We have been learning about the terms eye witness account, reporter, direct quotes, indirect quotes and opposing opinions so we took our learning outside and planned, recorded and reviewed news reports of our own based around finding a dino egg in the school grounds. We all got involved and had different roles to play in the news report. We then gave some positive feedback to other groups after watching their recordings. For maths we had to solve a problem methodically. We had to create as many different natural faces and record them but the main aim of the challenge was to have a method of changing the face to a new one without getting confused or repeating a face we had already created. We set ourselves a success criteria to work from in order to show how successful we had been in the task. In the afternoon we took our learning outside again and used the loose parts play equipment in the park to find solutions to small challenges we set ourselves. Each group had a different challenge to solve with a pile of given resources. The groups solved the challenges in different ways and we learned the importance of communication and cooperation to ensure we were all understanding each other. It was a great day of learning.

Our Outdoor Learning Journey Part 4

P3 seem much further down the outdoor learning journey.  Having worked outdoors last session we immediately organise a time in the week where we can do this again, we will be outside for almost 1.5 hours, giving us more time to practise and develop our skills.  This year I am linking each piece or block of learning to a book or books.

We started with the story ‘Tidy’ by Emily Gravett.  This allowed us to have a discussion about the importance of being tidy while also discussing the importance of various seasonal happenings e.g leaf litter and falling seeds.

We mapped out garden area and Primary 3 came up with a list of ideas of things they would like to do and be able to play while outside.  We began to action our plans and decided we needed some signs.  Bringing in sandpaper and pieces of wood was the first venture into ‘risky’ activities and the children rose to the challenge.  A risk assessment was completed, complete with additions due to COVID-19, goggles and gardening gloves were donned and the children rubbed down pieces of an old fence to use as panels for garden signs.  The signs have since been designed and painted using Posca Pens.  Primary 3 this term have created some great woven shapes and have begun planting up the tyres.  We have plans to lay down membrane over our garden area, spread our stones and create an outdoor kitchen and shop where the children can engage in role play.

 

Our Outdoor Learning Journey Part 3

Returning to Woodlands after lockdown I am not surprised to see our somewhat overgrown garden area.

Outdoor learning is about to begin in P1, P2 and P3 in August.  Due to Covid restrictions we cannot have parent helpers which is a huge loss as it is beneficial in many ways but that is a story for another post.  It is difficult to socially distance from young children who are excited about their learning and wish to share their progress.  Government guidance tells us the risk of catching COVID is reduced when outside, therefore being outdoors is a great place to work with the children.

P1 and P2 children will start where P2 were back in January, learning the rules and boundaries of where we can go and what we can do within our area.  They will explore nature, learn to work together, share and use natural resources safely, respect the environment and work responsibly. We have approx 45 minutes outside so will begin our lessons with whole class activities.

P3 seem much further down the learning journey.  Having worked outdoors last session we immediately organise a time in the week where we can do this again, we will be outside for almost 1.5 hours, giving us more time to practise and develop our skills.  This year I am linking each piece or block of learning to a book or books.

Primary 1 – Looking at colours and shapes in the natural world, we developed our fine motor skills, we learned how to work together and understand that if someone finds a leaf that we really like, there might be another, similar one nearby.  We discovered that a walk in the rain can be fun and discovered that we can manipulate shapes to become something else, we used our imagination lots and learned that you can find every colour of the rainbow in nature when you look really closely.

Primary 2 – Looking at sticks.  It was very important that the children understood safety in this topic.  It is so easy to hurt someone accidentally with a stick.

We started with a story about Stanley’s Stick and used our imaginations every week within this topic.  The children were learning to keep themselves and others safe when using sticks, to behave responsibly and follow the rules and to respect the environment and put any items they used away at the end of the session.  We finished the topic with the story of Stick Man and the children were able to make their very own Stick Man which they then took home.  I was delighted when the children took their Stick friend on an adventure around our garden, sometimes tucking him into bed, having him climb a tree, make a friend, their ideas were endless.