Today we finished work on the den. L was the leader and thoroughly enjoyed being in charge of seating and roof repairs.

D learned a new way to move heavy logs by up-ending them and allowing them to fall down. I was surprised by how quickly he got the hang of this.

I have noticed that our pupils with autism enjoy the opportunity to be left alone and just wander around. Today N and D both had a marvelous ten minutes chatting to themselves and messing about with sticks.

Last Thursday was quite wet and the children realised that their ‘best’ den wasn’t big enough for everyone and so not everyone could escape from the rain. They hatched a plan to build  a new, bigger den on more even ground and that is what we began today.

Den building is a great way to practise team-building skills and A became the unofficial leader. Even though he can’t speak, A was using hand clapping and noises to keep everyone motivated- it was a delight to see! A finds academic work very challenging but is always the most confident pupil when we are outside. My next challenge is to help him understand that we have to stay in one place when we play ‘Hide and Seek’!

The first post for my new-look blog!

This time round I work as a teacher of ASN and ASFL so things are very different. I have created a profile for each of the pupils in our department which includes initial observations about;

• Their personal skills ( based on the Moray Skills Framework)
• Their sensory sensitivities
• Their usual types of play- referring to the 16 types of play identified by Bob Hughes and fully explained by Play Scotland in their toolkit.

As well as general information about their strengths, interests, difficulties etc.

From now on our outdoor learning will focus on building personal skills, play work and mini child-led IDL projects.

Yesterday we went out to play and encouraged the two pupils who were with us to try different types of play.  We all had a great time. D (ASD) normally simply chooses to play by himself with a stick but by the end he had chased, pretended to be a lion, helped build a bridge, joined in with a throwing game, played puddle-jumping and made many attempts to balance on things.

A is unable to speak but had successfully used new signs to ask D to help him build a bridge. A loves chasing games but his peers don’t usually want to join in. Today we all played and A was just delighted!

The children have previously written character descriptions and today they built homes for their characters and then described these homes. It was  a bitterly cold day so we didn’t linger too long with clipboards and pens. Ultimately we were trying to think of suitable similes and metaphors – metaphors very tricky! My favourite simile likened the soil to chocolate cake. Most of the dens were child-sized but this one was very cute!

I asked the children to make a picture with five woodland items in, eg pine cones and sticks. They then had to draw a plan of their picture. I swapped the plans and they had to try to find the matching picture. The children soon realised that their plans needed to be accurate, to scale and somehow show which way up they should go. I sent them off again to make pictures and  plans with only 5 pine cones in. This was much harder and only one group drew a plan which was accurate enough to match to the picture. Sadly no-one had thought to draw ‘this way up ‘ arrows etc! Good talking point. In the end we were able to identify the important features of a map and we then played a human knot game. Behaviour tricky today – lots going on in lots of lives.

Today we built on our understanding of scale to make a scale diagram of the planets.  I used an online calculator and found out how big the planets should be if the sun is 3m. The children made the planets and I then explained how far away they would be from each other using known landmarks- see below. We went over it again back in school and looked at the places on the map.

Today we also worked with compasses – the children worked in pairs to write a ‘treasure map – set of directions’ for another pair. At all times the children had to be orientated north. This went well except no-one ended up where expected because we hadn’t set a measurement – we just used ‘paces’.

Today I showed the children a map of the woods ( Forestry commission) and we discussed that a map is a birds-eye view and everything is much smaller than in real life. I explained that this means the map is ‘drawn to scale’ then showed them the two different types of OS map; 1:25 000 and 1:50 000. 2cm = 1km and 4cm = 1km. The children understood that there would be more detail on the map where 4cm = 1km. I then asked them to make a simple house on the ground with sticks. We re-grouped and I asked them to make another but twice as big- I showed how to use a stick as a measuring tool etc. We toured the houses and I tested them to make sure that the bigger ones were twice as big – sometimes the smaller house was 1/3 the size of the larger one etc.

For the last challenge the children had to make a house 1/2 the size of the original house. We toured these and the children understood that the larger house was 4x bigger than the smaller on. In the end they could explain that they were learning about scale etc.

18th January

In class I introduced the children to the eat-well plate and briefly went over each section. We re-capped this in the woods and the children then went off in their groups to make a representation on the ground. This was  a great activity and by the end everyone could answer all sorts of questions about the plate etc.

Meanwhile, I lit a fire. It would have been inappropriate to toast marshmallows so we toasted mushrooms, which I had never done before. You need to dip the mushroom in oil and then hold it over a flame – not the embers which is what we tried. Better luck next time!

We couldn’t go to the woods today because we didn’t have enough helpers. We stayed at school instead and spent the morning outside- initially learning about inheritance and why we aren’t identical to our brothers and sisters. To explain this we used lolly pop sticks as chromosomes and re-created a classic lesson which usually involves play dough and pipe- cleaners. We will be sharing our learning with another class soon and then with other teachers in moray as part of the science CPD.

The children ‘bred’ creatures using information gained from the chromosomes of mum ( bike shelter) and dad ( near bin!). Each pair bred a slightly different creature -hurrah!! Here are Tina an Bob – brother and sister 🙂

Today we acted out the story of Christmas and then built sleighs for Santa. We discussed success criteria (hold sacks and Santa, have space for reindeer etc) and I allowed the children to choose who they worked with. The groups worked very well and came up with extra sleigh features such as steering and a rocket booster. In the end we played several rounds of the camouflage game.

Behaviour was quite challenging today – someone was upset and someone else went off to hide. yikes! All fine in the end.

For the warm up we stood in a circle and I lead the children in a mime – getting dressed up to play in the snow. Some of the children were very reluctant and embarrassed. After that I asked volunteers to mime putting on an item of clothing and everyone else had to guess – step by step everyone became more confident. I hadn’t done any drama with this class before! Finally we chose three characters ( Bob the banana eater, Postman Pat and Merangia ( film character?!)). Each group had to decide who would be who and then complete a story. The story began with them walking through the woods when a tree fell down – what happened next.

After about 5 minutes the groups still looked quite chaotic – some still arguing about who would be who and what would happen. After about 10 minutes everyone was engrossed. After about 15 minutes I blew my whistle and we visited each group. The audience had to guess what was going on and comment on any particularly skilled acting. After that we played running around games as it was freezing although this week everyone had loads more clothes on!

Back in class we referred to the bench marks and ASG skills list and identified all the skills we had use. I conclude that we should do more drama 🙂

Today we went to the woods in the snow/ rain and it was very cold! The children were prepared but not prepared enough! Many were warm but some were very cold. When we returned to school we talked about the lessons we had learned eg wet gloves keep you warm so don’t take them off, keep your head dry, wear lots of layers etc.  The children used templates to show what clothes they had warn and what they would wear next week- very valuable. we are going to fair test the effect of wet gloves as an insulater.

No photo today – my hands were too chilly”!

We began by sharing our knowledge of fractions and I then demonstrated that one whole – 2 halves etc. The children understood that fractions of a shape need to be the same size etc and I challenged them to build a fraction wall. The children knew that they couldn’t measure anything and would need  to estimate. In the end we toured each group and  I feel that we are ready to march on with written work back in class.

Quite a lot of challenging behaviour today so I sat with a group of children to discuss this issue whilst the rest had fun playing a final game. I think this was quite effective.

In class I went through the 6 concepts of computational thinking (see course on ‘Gateway ‘ / new ICT E’s & O’s). Today we recalled them and then focused on algorithms. I made a very simple ‘assault course’ which required someone to walk forwards 3 steps, take a half turn to the right etc. I explained that my instructions were an algorithm – very much like a computer code. Each group then went off with a clipboard and devised their own courses and codes. They tried the codes out in their own groups and we then swapped the groups around so that they could try each others codes. Part way through I gathered the children to discuss any problems that they were having – these essentially came down to the size of a ‘step’ etc. At this point I introduced the ‘Key approaches’ to computational thinking (tinkering, creating, de-bugging (computer programmers spend half of their time de-bugging), persevering and collaborating). In the end we discussed what we had learned etc.

This was  a very successful lesson and a great way to introduce children to coding and algorithms 🙂

We re-enacted the story of Rama and Sita then re-told it to check for understanding etc. We then discussed how Hindus celebrate Diwali and I asked the groups to build a structure to house a candle lamp – it could house them too if they wished. The children thought the den should be dark and keep out the wind. In the end the children ate their snacks around the lamps and came up with a fab list of words to describe how the candle made them feel. I explained that all religions use light as part of their celebrations, to ward off evil and to aid contemplation and prayer.

We began by observing the onset of autumn and I asked the children to collect a rainbow of leaves. We then sat in a circle and discussed similes before I sent each group a way with clipboards to collect more similes. In the end we gathered in a circle and had to try to guess what the similes were describing. The children made great progress 🙂

We re-capped on gravity and different types of forces then I challenged the groups to build a bridge which should be strong enough to hold my rucksack and hopefully tall enough for my rucksack to pass underneath. One team was quite dysfunctional and all but two teams had a clear idea of how to proceed. Back in class we discussed all the different skills we had used using the ASG framework – great!

Everyone built a beam bridge and understood the different forces at play. They had to suggest how to make the bridges strong enough for me – one was!

20th September

Today we re-capped on the basic structure of an atom and then I asked the children to pretend to be an atom on an ice cube- all stuck together and still. I pretended to heat up the ice cube and the children behaved like atoms in cold water, hotter water and steam ie walking, faster and then jumping up and down ( no room to run!). we discussed the states of the water then I lit a fire and we heated an ice cube- the water boiled and condensed on the glass lid. we re-capped on the atoms and toasted marshmallows. Oh, also discussed the fire triangle. And it was rainy!

Today I gave the children 4m lengths of string which had been marked at 1m intervals and tied in a knot- when stretched out on the ground they form a metre square.  I formed a square and showed them how to arrange everything within the square into a pictogram. We then thought about the two different areas of the woods that we go to – one deciduous and one evergreen. I asked the children if they thought there would be more things to sort out in the evergreen side than the deciduous side and they mostly thought there would be. So, we hypothesised that the variety and type of things  on the woodland floor would depend on the type of trees.

well, we managed but the children were wild today – full moon?! Some groups made a great job and we noticed that there were pine cones on both sides even though there were no pine trees in the deciduous woods. Squirrels perhaps…

In the end I asked the groups to make their materials into pictures and we toured them.

We have been learning about forces and gravity so today I asked the groups to use what they know to build a tall tower. We discussed the success criteria and ‘compression’ and ‘tension’. I began by balancing a stick on my finger in order to explain the ‘centre of gravity’ .

The groups tackled the task with gusto and, as I thought, several groups took a ‘Jenga’ approach but some tried forcing vertical posts into the ground or simply piling up pine -cones etc. Half way through the session we toured all the towers to discuss the different strategies etc . The groups then went back and worked to improve their towers. Two groups started again.

We were especially proud of one group which has three children with ASN , all of whom lack resilience. Their tower collapsed several times but with encouragement from the person working with them they were keen to ‘try again’ etc. Oh we were proud of them!

My new class is fantastic! Like every class there are some challenging individuals but as a whole they responded very well to our routines; come dressed in woods clothes, line up with same walking partner, take a snack etc. I asked the children to build dens in order to practise team work and to see if the ‘woods trios’ would be successful. In the end I only changed one group around and everyone was happy! Long may this last 🙂

Today we gathered at the entrance to the woods and I we discussed the difference between the pine trees and the deciduous trees. I then handed out ‘nature Detective’ tree ID wheels and sheets and asked the groups to find and identify as many different tree leaves as they could. The children did very well and with help and re-visits, each group ended up with: Ash, Rowan, Elder, Oak, Holly, Birch, Sycamore and Beech. I asked children in turn to hold up  a leaf and say what it was and then as a group I asked them to show me their oak leaf etc.

Next I pulled out a laminated Carroll diagram and we discussed what it was for. I then showed everyone how to sort four leaves using two criteria before using this to write a key. Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera! All groups managed to sort four leaves but only one wrote a key. We had some interesting discussions about whether we could use leaf size as a sorting criteria.

An example of two sets of criteria;

Single leaf / composite leaf

smooth edges / toothed edges

In the end we played  a blindfold game; one person is blindfolded and the other two in the group spin him round before leading him to feel a tree. The blindfolded person is then lead back to the place where they started, the blindfold is removed and they have to identify the that they had visited etc. Good fun.

Today we quickly re-capped on the 6 main world religions and what we thought all the places of worship would have in common – quiet, a place to pray, a holy book etc. I then gave each group a fact file (PPT print out) with some information about each religion and the relevant place of worship. The groups went away to build the places of worship and in the end we all travelled around to view them and each group shared what they had learned. Most groups did very well and our Buddha was fab!

Back in class we will look at the PPT again – one religion at a time with a relevant film. This was a great way to learn today 🙂

Today we learned about energy cycles. First we discussed what ‘energy’ is then I  explained that Newton ( we remembered that he thought of gravity etc) said that energy is never lost, it just changes to a different form. I showed the children a set of cards which depict an energy chain;

sun ( heat and light ) > grass > cow eats grass as fuel and grows > we eat meat > we have energy to play/ movement > we emit heat > plants use heat to grow etc.

We discussed different chains involving fossil fuels then the children made a barrier/ collected fuel and we set a fire. I lit the fire using a flint and steel and whilst I was doing that the children went off to make pictures of energy chains on the ground. Once the fire was going well I left someone in charge and we went to view the chains. Everyone had depicted the same chain so after viewing a few I set a challenge. The children had to work with a their poster partner to make a chain that depicted the energy cycle of the fuel they have been researching e.g. renewable and non- renewable energy sources. These pictures were much better and the discussion far more valuable.

We then toasted marshmallows and discussed the energy chain for the fire. I had used porridge as  my fuel so that I could use the striker to make heat energy etc.

After toasting the marshmallows the children just wanted to sit/ lie in the sun around the fire so we made up a nonsense story.

Back in class I asked the children to draw a picture showing the fire energy cycle.

Today I challenged the children to build a cube and calculate its surface area. They were also asked to build a structure to demonstrate their understanding of all the 2D and 3D terms we have been using.

Building the cube proved very tricky and for some the warm sunshine was a huge distraction! In the end every group managed to build a cube or cuboid. I had wanted the more able mathematician in each group to explain to their peers how to calculate SA but in the end they needed  a wee bit of support as we had only begun to learn about this yesterday.

We toured each group and compared surface areas. As we now go to the woods in the morning ( no longer able to have an early lunch) we have our snack in the woods before we leave. I find that the children associate snack with messing around time so we need to think of some rules for this time next week.

Today we I took a selection of 3D shapes with us and we re-capped on their names and features. We also recalled the terms used to describe them. I then gave each group a list of shape names and terminology and asked them to ‘show’ what they meant. String was available and I thought the challenge was quite hard but the children were, as ever, very resourceful! One group had done very little work last week so this week I specified exactly where they should work and this seemed to make a hug difference.

In the end we toured each ‘museum’ and I was very impressed! We discussed which shapes were the trickiest to build ( cubes / cuboids) and which the easiest -anything with triangles in. From this we remembered that triangles are the strongest shape etc.

This morning we had been learning about all the different ways to describe the properties of 2D shapes and this afternoon we re-capped on them then I gave each a group a set of about 20 terms and shape names. The groups had to find a way to explain and show each word and most groups did really well. We finished by touring each group and we explored the fact that some shapes can have a whole list of properties – eg a rhombus  is a parallelogram and a regular rhombus is a square etc. I was really pleased with the afternoon and next time I need to prepare some challenge cards too.

To finish I described the properties of some mystery shapes and the children spotted my ‘deliberate’ (!) mistakes!!

We sat in a circle and listened to the sounds of the wood then I read extracts from three books – all woodland setting descriptions. We then all suggested ways to describe a pine comb – lots about! I allowed the children to work alone or with a chosen partner to go off and describe the woods – all senses using similes, adjectives and hopefully metaphors. In the end we gathered together and shared some examples – my favourite was  a description of the birch trees. Emily said they were like ‘oreo sticks’ !

We discussed that sound is made by vibrations and then made a wave using a long length of rope – one end was a noise ( drum skin vibrating) and the other an ear. I played  a small musical box in the air and then on a log – it was much louder through the wood and we discussed why. We remembered when we re-enacted solids, liquids and gases and this helped the children understand that atoms are much farther apart in gases than solid so it is easier for a wave to pass through a solid and amplify than in air .

To finish I challenged the groups to make a musical instrument that they could play ‘Happy Birthday’ on. We discussed why different bits of wood sound different etc and then the children played tunes and we had to guess what they were – very tricky!!

Today we discussed / re-capped on gravity.  I explained that  we measure gravitational pull using Newtons and 1N=1Kg . We call the gravitational pull of something its ‘weight’. We re-capped on the ‘centre of gravity’ and then I showed the children some spring balances. Each group went away to find a selection of 5 things of different weight and we used the balances to weigh them and then arrange the objects in order. In reality only some children were very interested and these children placed their objects in order and labelled them using small sticks. We finished by discussing density and the children gave examples of materials which were very dense etc

As it is world book day tomorrow we finished by creating stories. Each group acted out a story about a vampire and we then toured them – one group was the beginning, the next the middle etc. It was chaos but fun chaos and certainly very imaginative!

Today we visited a different area of the woods and I again asked the children to measure the learning area. This time I encouraged each group to think of the space as a composite shape – rectangles and triangles etc. Some groups drew very complicated shapes and I helped them to re-draw them to make the calculations easier.

There seemed to be more silly behaviour today and I suspect that is because we were repeating / building on an activity we had already done. Perhaps something to avoid. I was very pleased with the maths though.

In the end I asked the groups to find the tree with the biggest circumference / girth. There wasn’t enough string for everyone so I asked them to ‘bring their measurement back’. The children came back with arms outstretched and hands joined etc.

Today I told the children that I thought our new area in the woods might be smaller than our original site and I asked them to go and sit down in their groups and work out how we could measure the two sites. I took trundle wheels, metre sticks, string, calculators and clip boards with squared paper on.

After a few minutes I gathered the children again and they suggested that we could measure a single length, the perimeter and the area. They identified that we needed to define the ‘boundaries’ of our area and children took it in turns to walk the boundary and we agreed on a common theme. I persuaded them to think of the site as a square/ rectangle, we haven’t learnt how to find the area of a circle!

I sent the children away again to decide exactly how they would measure the site and then they set to work. There weren’t enough trundle wheels so one group ( the most supported) just used string to measure the perimeter and then measured the string with metre sticks.

One group  decided that the area was actually made up of squares, rectangles and triangles. BA  explained to the others how to calculate  the area of these shapes and they drew a detailed diagram and set about finding  the required measurements.

We discussed that there was no need to measure in cm ( and even mm!) as our measurements were very approximate.

One group used a tally chart to help them keep track of the trundle wheel ticks (EW).

Most groups found the area of a square space. Two groups measured the perimeter then divided that by 4 to find a square edge measurement which they then used to calculate the area. I drew a few pictures to remind them that shapes of the same area perimeter can have different areas etc.

I challenged early finishers to find the tree with the biggest girth – we all estimated and the answer was surprising ( 2.5m).

I asked the children to think about what they will do differently next time and most had a clearer idea about how to proceed. I will try to find another trundle wheel.

1st February

This week the children learned how to use metaphors so we went along to the woods to practise our describing skills. Each group had to go to find a special place and describe it using similes, metaphors and adjectives. We fed back and others had to try to guess what was being described. We repeated the process three times and each time the metaphors became more inventive. My favourite was  a description of a muddy puddle as ‘ a liquid mirror’.

Today we went to find somewhere new to call home! The place where we normally go has become very busy so we wanted to find an area where no-one else would go. I had sussed the woods out in the holidays and the children were pleased with the new area. We discussed hazards etc then they went off to explore – they all wore high viz jackets and had to be able to see me from wherever they were. Later they explored a new area and in the end the groups chose a site to build a den. Each time I called the children back we discussed the new things they had found and seen and compared the new area to where we used to go. We finished by building dens – to be continued!

It was too windy for the woods so we went to the park and explored wind! I challenged the groups to find the windiest place in the park – we discussed how to measure the wind.  With some encouragement the children decided to use tissues and estimate the angle of the blown tissue- ranging from 0-90 degrees. The windiest place was on a hill.

We also experienced the effect of air resistance by running down the hill with our coats open or done up 🙂

Today I challenged the children to build Santa’s sleigh – it had to slide over snow, seat Santa, hold sacks and have some extras such as   a mechanism for firing presents onto rooftops. Some of the children were not happy – they thought this challenge was too hard!! The results were, as ever, great. My favourite sleigh had a built up back and looked very dramatic. Another had a substantial catapult that doubled as a bench….

Today I challenged the children to build cantilever bridges – I first explained what I meant and then off they went. I didn’t know if the challenge was even possible but it was and most of the groups managed -some groups even made a bridge strong enough to support  a child. The children quickly learned that if they counter-balanced the lever with more wood etc it would hold more before toppling.

Today we re-capped on centre of gravity and our successes last week. This week we moved to a more mixed area of the woodland which was far nicer 🙂 We discussed what we knew about forces then I asked two people to make a human arch – pressing against each other – to demonstrate compression. The children then touched toes, held hands and lent back to demonstrate tension.

I challenged the groups to build an overhanging structure then we toured the groups and tested the overhangs by hanging my first aid kit or water bottle from the furthest point. We discussed forces and improvements then each group went away to make the improvements.

This was  successful activity – everyone  worked out how to balance the overhang with something heavier. The most successful group used rocks and logs!

We began by re-capping on what gravity is and then explored the idea of balancing  a stick on your finger. The balance point is called the centre of gravity because both sides have balanced forces. I asked the children to balance their own stick then offered a stick with blue-tack at one end. Everyone understood that the stick would balance better if the gum was at the bottom/ heavy end. I the challenged everyone to make a structure which is wider at the bottom and as tall as possible.

After 15 minutes we visited everyone’s towers and commented on what was a good strategy and how the towers could be improved. The children then had 5 minutes to make improvements.

Many different strategies eg, overlapping sticks, infill with pine cones / needles, parallel sticks which were larger at the base, tripod arrangement. One boy used mud as a sort of cement!

A very cold day. Another time it would be fun to fair test the structures.

Today I lit a fire to heat water in order to demonstrate evaporation and condensation ( glass lid). We re-capped what we had learned in class yesterday and the children made transient art pictures of the cycle- some were 3D!! In the end we toasted marshmallows – I offered a prize of extra marshmallows to the best picture which worked well!

This year the Sikh and Hindu Diwali celebrations fall on October 30th. I read the children the Sikh story then we re-enacted the story of ‘Rama and Sita’ which forms the basis of the Hindu celebrations. Afterwards the children went to their dens and we lit tea-lights in jam jars- our own festival of lights. The children enjoyed using the matches but it took so long that some lights were out before we had finished. In the end we gathered the lamps together and talked about how the lights made us feel – reflective, calm etc.

This afternoon I challenged the groups to make ‘angle museums’ – they needed to show different sized angles and for extra points, identify those that are acute, obtuse, reflex, straight and right etc. Many of the groups did well and this activity helped to consolidate their morning learning which had mainly involved battling with protractors. Protractors were used in the afternoon but the children mainly made sensible estimations. I was very pleased with the discussions that we had about the different types of angles.

I also heated up water in my Kelly kettle to cook couscous – we have been comparing Scotland with South Africa and cooking couscous on a fire was as close as we could get to traditional African cooking. We discussed food miles etc and compared the food types with the vegetables that we had grown ourselves to make soup.

Behaviour not great today – I will re-jig the groups now that someone has left.

Last week we gave directions using terms like clockwise and 180 degrees etc. This week each pair was given a compass and asked to direct another pair, who also had a compass. I had hoped we would progress onto bearings but simple compass points was challenging enough as the children had to learn to keep the compass facing North.

We began by playing a directions game – children were in pairs and one was blindfolded. The non-blindfolded person had to give the blindfolded person directions to find some ‘treasure’. We used clockwise/anticlockwise and angles. The activity worked well and was very entertaining to watch!

In trios the children made pictures using sticks- minimum of 8. We then discussed scale and I asked them to  use their estimation skills to create a scaled version of their picture – half the size. The next challenge was to make a picture either a quarter or double the original size – each group ended up with a set of three pictures. Lastly we used rulers ( wooden ones with no  mm on) to draw a scale picture of one of the pictures on the ground. The children measured the original picture then drew one half the size- they had to decide which of their three pictures to use. I was very pleased with all of the activities and everyone understood what to do. One group had more of a challenge because their  picture was huge so they had to decide on a different scale – they quartered the original measurements. Interestingly the  activity showed that some children don’t know how to halve odd numbers so I shall tackle that in class very soon! If I was to do this again I might create a huge picture and we could explore the idea of  a  1:10 scale.

The children worked in their trios to build great dens. I was keen for the trios to bond because these are the groups that the children will be working with all year. I was impressed by the team work and reassured that I had chosen good combinations of children. The children were absolutely delighted with themselves – I have rarely seen them feel such a huge sense of achievement !

We conducted the OPAL worm and soil survey today in Quarrel Woods but didn’t find a single worm – even after adding the mustard water to encourage deep-living worms to come up to the surface! We did test the soil however and each group assessed the type of soil, smell, colour and PH.

Behaviour wasn’t great- we had to work in 3 large groups so plenty of opportunity for messing around. I was able to reconsider my plans for working trios and it was a good way to observe children in the woods who haven’t learned there before.

Next week we are going to undertake a soil survey as part of a citizen science project. To prepare for this we spent the afternoon looking for worms and identifying them using a key. We found some whoppers and generated all sorts of questions which the films we had watched just didn’t address!

In the woods today we played a great game to help us understand the changes that can occur in a food chain. Both P5 classes were there at the same time today.  It was a very wet day but no-one cared- even though we were out all morning 🙂

First we re-capped on the key labels of a food chain and acted out a simple woodland chain. Then most children were labelled as leaves but 8 children wore a high-viz vest and they were caterpillars.The caterpillars walked around ‘eating’ leaves – once a leaf had been eaten they had to join hands with the caterpillars to form a chain.Eventually the caterpillars ate all the leaves and we discussed what would happen to the caterpillars etc.

We repeated the game but introduced 4 birds to eat the caterpillars. Once a caterpillar had been eaten their whole chain had to sit down. Again we discussed what would happen once all the caterpillars had been eaten – who would die out etc.

After that we were joined by Angus Dixon who had bought along 50 oak saplings for us to plant. The children worked in groups of 3 or 4 to plant the trees – there was some great team work and some groups really rose to the challenge.

Today we walked across to the Cathedral to learn all about its medieval past. Last week we cycled to Spynie Palace with the other P5 class – again it is a site with great medieval history. Our tour guide was the same at both places and the children enjoyed the whole experience. Great!

We had an open afternoon so were unable to visit the woods. Instead we stayed on site and the children practised giving and using 4-figure grid references.

Each trio ( made up of someone who was competent at handling grid refs), plus two, was given a set of 6 pieces of coloured card and a laminated map of the school front garden- a relatively small area with plenty of features. The map was made from an orienteering map and I had drawn on a grid and scale. The groups had to draw a picture on each piece of card then hide them and list the grid references. Early finishers had to hide an extra card somewhere extra tricky. Another group then had to use  the grid refs to find the cards and write down the pictures in the correct order.

The activity went  well and even though there were many mistakes it was all very good practice. In the end the groups had to go and see if any of their cards were left then we had a wee play with compasses.

Next time I would ask children to double check their references before swapping them over.

Today we went on a tour of all the Medieval sites of Elgin -our Janny lent us several books and from that we found out that Elgin is a very interesting place! We started on Lady Hill – site of Elgin Castle, and finished at the Pansport arch. Pansport being one of the gateways into the cathedral chanonry. I would like to have taken the children for a nosey down some of the closes but it was  a busy day in Elgin and the children were very excited. Braco’s close, near the museum, was much quieter and definitely worth a peek. We had the usual amount of time for the ‘tour’ but a little longer would have been great.

As part of our work on adaptation and extinction etc we went to Elgin Museum to look at the fossils which had been found in the quarries in Quarrel wood during the 19th C. One particular quarry, Cuttie’s Hillock, was the home of the Elginia Mirabillis  fossils so we decided to go there. The walk was twice as far as normal so we went in the morning and took snacks. I was very impressed with the children who didn’t complain about being tired – I think we walked about 5 miles which was a very long way for most of them.

We explored the quarries and then wrote similes to describe them as part of our work on setting descriptions and story telling.

I found it hard to impose health and safety limitations as I just wanted to allow the children the freedom to play, explore and experience risk. It was with regret that I reigned them in!

I found out, at the very last minute, that our volunteer was unable to come with us and there was no-one else available. So we stayed in the school grounds and..

looked for signs of spring

Made a stick picture of a creature which would be perfectly adapted to live in our school during building works- goggles, short etc. We also made a picture of a dinosaur and discussed why it became extinct ( it only eat ice-cream apparently!). We then looked for plant adaptations.

Made quadrants on the ground using 4 sticks ( approx. 30cm long) and counted how many different things we could see. This proved to be fascinating – we found newly germinated seeds and several different types of plants and lichen. One square had 12 different things in and we were able to wonder why some squares contained completely different things to others in different areas.

Made transient art pictures

Examined the lichen on the wall – there was more orange lichen on the road side and more moss on the shady side. Two walls were different.

Someone ran into school to fetch magnifying glasses and that made things even more interesting.

Searched for something interesting – discussion.

The children came up with all sorts of suggestion to answer my questions – it went surprisingly well!

Today we acted out the story of Easter and discussed values and feelings along the way. I then challenged the children to act out what they thought would happen over the next few days – fascinating!

Each of the seven groups came up with different scenarios! One group thought Jesus would seek revenge and kill the people who had crucified him but when we discussed this most children agreed that Jesus would never kill anyone else- he would always make good choices. Another group thought Judas would try to kill Jesus again and others thought Judas would kidnap Mary first and then kill Jesus. Lots of very interesting discussion.

After that we held an egg hunt – I asked the children to find a partner and then number themselves 1 and 2. The 1’s had to go and hide and egg in one area and the 2’s went somewhere else. We then all re-gathered and the 2’s went to the 1 area and vice versa. In the end there were a few people who hadn’t found and egg so everyone was asked to go back to see if the egg they had hidden was still there and if it was they needed to stand next to it. Somehow or other one egg went missing so our classroom assistant gave up her egg to the child who didn’t have one. Everyone was happy but next time I must take extra eggs!

Today we re-visited our adopted trees and noted the first signs of spring etc. It was lovely to stand in silence for a minute and listen to the birds.

Last week we were visited by an artist we had met at Moray College – Morag Smith. The children had helped Morag to roll out plastecine for a  project she was doing and we had discussed what ‘art’ was. In the end the children decided art was something you liked. So today I asked them to go and make some art besides their adopted trees ,…

This week I challenged the children to build a ramp for a toy car- we discussed some success criteria and the children decided that a longer ramp would be better. Once again there were several different approaches but this week they were all more practical and the children had a much better understanding of what would and wouldn’t be possible. In the end they said they had learned to solve problems and be resilient – many of the groups had to try new ideas when the first one didn’t work. This week I allowed the children to work with whoever they wanted because I am trying to select children to accompany me to a STEM event. Behaviour wasn’t as good which helped me appreciate just how worthwhile it is to choose the groups myself.

Today’s challenge was to build a tower using sticks and twigs. I specified the maximum length of  a stick – about 1m- and simply said they could use any method they liked to build the tallest tower they could. After about half an hour we toured each group to discuss what made each design strong / what could improve it. The children then had another 10-ish minutes to make improvements and in some cases to start again.

In the end the children said, with some encouragement (!) that they had learned to solve and overcome a problem and to be resilient. We are very big on resilience just now. Everyone agreed that they had improved their design as they went along and understood how they could do a much better job next time. I was very impressed by the way the children coped with failure – several of the initial designs simply fell down. Next week I will challenge them to build something different and I am very confident that they will have learned from their work today.

We began by discussing the properties of my metal water bottle that make it suitable for carrying warm water to the woods i.e. strong, won’t melt etc. I then asked each group to choose a card ( face down on the ground) with a design challenge on. The groups then had to go away and discuss the ‘design specification’ – what properties their object needed to have. The example I used was an umbrella – we decided it would need to be waterproof, have a strong pole, have a comfortable grip and be nice to look at.

We re-grouped and shared ideas then the children went off to build their objects. We later had a look at what had been constructed – there were some great ideas and I was most impressed.

The challenges were;

A bag to carry a mobile phone

A toy for a toddler- this group built a mobile. Look at the pine cones which they used to cover the sharp edges!

A present for mum, a tree decoration, a boat, a den for a small creature and a fire. The children who were asked to make a gift for their mum couldn’t think of any ideas so to finish off I asked everyone to go and make something for their own mum. More great ideas 🙂

I hope to repeat this in the summer when there are leaves around etc. Next steps would be to ask the children to think of their own challenges and maybe to have a ‘properties Olympics’- find the strongest, weakest, softest etc. potential for more fair testing.

We have been learning about properties of materials so went into the woods to test things to see how hard they are. The children used either a nail, pen lid, stick or stone to scratch  materials – if it can only be scratched with a nail it is harder than something that can be scratched with a stick etc. We made predictions and some surprising discoveries.

There is a boy in my class who is never invited to birthday parties, undoubtedly because of his behaviour. Last week he became very upset because yet again invites were being handed out and yet again he wasn’t given one. When H wasn’t with us I asked the rest of the class what we could do to help and they – funnily enough (!) suggested that we organise a secret party. H is obsessed with pokemon so that was to be the theme….

We arrived in the woods and – goodness me- there was an envelope addressed to H and the rest of the class. H opened it and it was clear that his favourite pokemon had been abducted and we needed to help rescue him. There was a quest – to collect 48 pokemon cards which were hidden in the woods. When collected the cards would be turned over to reveal a message…

And the message lead to another letter and the letter asked the children to build special dens to house ‘Charazard’ when he was released. The class dutifully built great dens then, when the time was right, I made a ‘discovery’. Another ‘Oh my goodness!’ moment. Cakes with a  message iced on them..

H was THRILLED and all the other children wanted him to be in their group etc., H walked home on top of the world, chatting to people he doesn’t normally spend much time with. 🙂

Today we melted ice over a fire and watched it turn into water vapour. I had hoped to find ice in the woods but we had a badly timed thaw!

We also conducted and estimation assessment – groups were asked to line up 8 sticks ranging in size from about 10cm to 1m. We then approached individuals with a stick and asked them to decide where it should go in their scale. We also asked them to estimate how long the new stick was. The results were very interesting. We followed this up with a spot of den-building- estimation in context.

estimate and measurement challenge table p%

This afternoon we took tapes, metre sticks, rulers and trundle wheels up to the woods. The children worked in their groups to decide on which piece of equipment / units to use to measure the girth of  a tree, length of the lane etc. I was lucky enough to teach the same class last year and it was great to see the progress they have made since we had a similar lesson twelve months ago. Plenty of interesting discussions about which units to use and how accurate we should be.

We finished with some estimation activities – we used our paces to estimate the length of a section of lane. Most of the children were within 10m of the actual answer – not bad at all!

Indoors we watched a Bill Nigh film about atoms, we then went outside to play a game which helped explain what happens to atoms when materials change state.

In a solid the atoms are all clumped together and still ( we were frozen on a freezing day!)

As the solid melts the atoms slowly move around in clumps…

As more heat is applied the atoms begin to move around  more quickly until eventually they EVAPORATE and turn into gas – water vapour..

During CONDENSATION the vapour turned back into a liquid etc.

I demonstrated the states inside eg we conducted  a fair test to find out if more energy is needed to melt ice than chocolate..

and we looked for condensation on a cold can of drink and the windows. All the water evaporated from a damp cloth on the radiator. We have frozen jelly to see what happens when that thaws- not sure!

It was raining today so we donned our waterproof trousers and went to the closest woods. We talked about tenses and I asked the children to think of a verb and say it in each tense. I then made a small picture and explained that there would be two different lands in the woods today – present tense land and past tense land.

In present tense land I said..

‘I am picking up a stick… I am wrapping the stick etc’

we then moved to past tense land – a completely different area – and I said it all again in past tense.

The children then worked in groups and we visited them all in each land and I asked the audience to suggest alternative verbs. The language became more and more complex and by the end the children were talking about re-morphing, constructing, obtaining etc. wonderful!

We had quite a discussion about whether we would be time -travelling backwards or forwards to go from present tense land to past tense land. We were also able to discuss the use of ‘ed’ on many past tense words and the words that can be verbs and nouns, e.g. fishing and fish.

‘Our focus this week was on recording observations- We went to a new area of the woods and will return each month in order to record the changes that happen each season. The record sheet asks the children ‘what has changed since last time?’ so I want the changes to be reasonably dramatic.

Each group also ‘adopted a tree’ and made notes about the colours of the leaves etc. They also collected 20 leaves which we took back to class. Tomorrow the children will measure the leaves and find the average length etc.

On our way out we used the ‘Nature Detective’ sheets to look at wild berries. There was a lot of interest in galls so I need to bring the relevant ID sheet next time too, I also need to read up on galls!

season observation sheets

Today the children worked in groups to make symbols – in the spirit of prayer flags which Buddhists hang from trees. Buddhist Prayer Flags

Each group had to make a ‘big wish’ to blow in the wind. The wishes were great – ‘we wish that everyone in the world could be respectful and loyal’ etc.

I asked the groups to make their flags in front of the dens they had made last week with another teacher. In hindsight I should have asked them to work in their usual trios in a different area because some of the children were more focused on improving their dens.

Last week I attended a ‘Wild Things’ bush craft course and learned how to light a fire correctly. How to light a fire

We also learned some knife / carving skills but I don’t plan to use them with any class I ever teach!!

We also learned how to make cord from raffia

1. take a long and wide piece of raffia

2. dampen it in water

3. fold the strip in half  then adjust the lengths so the narrower end is about 5cm longer than the thicker end.

4. poke a rigid stick – no thicker than your thumb and about 30 cm long- into the sol.

5. sit down and loop your raffia around the stick.

6. hole a piece of raffia in each hand. keep the left hand still but twist the raffia in your right hand.

7. pass the twisted strip over the flat strip and swap hands. continue….

you can use treated nettles for this. Textiles are made using hemp, bamboo, linen, cotton, sisal and barks e.g. redwood bark. You can join in new lengths of raffia by twisting them on.

We used Carroll diagrams to sort 4 leaves into different categories. We then used the diagrams to help us write 2-step keys.  We had previously explored this idea using an alien_classification_key. We used ‘Nature Detective’ tree identification wheels to name the different species.

The children worked well in their trios to find four different leaves and most used categories such as big/ small, dark / light or ‘made of lots of little leaves / one big leaf’. At the end we toured each group and I challenged children to use the keys to name a leaf. We discussed whether or not ‘big / small’ and ‘dark/light’ would always work – I found huge and tiny leaves on the same tree etc. I then asked the children to think of other categories that they could use and we came up with spiky, toothed and shiny/ dull.

A successful lesson. It was definitely worth waiting until we could visit a larger woods with a good diversity of trees. We had  spent time using the ID wheels, in these woods, before the holidays.

26/8/15

We had a brief chat about what a bar chart is  and I made a very quick one on the ground by drawing lines to show how many children were wearing willies / trainers / school shoes etc. I then challenged the children to go off in their groups and make a bar chart to show the different types of things that can be found on the woodland floor (no litter). This was the first session of the year and some of the class have never worked in the woods before.

The results were interesting and although one group scratched out squares ( as in squared paper), most made columns from materials. we were able to discuss misleading graphs ie one column was very tall but contained fewer items (ie 5 large leaves) than a shorter column of beech nut cases ( 14).

To finish I gave the children one minute to collect as much as they could and we then created a huge chart. I asked the children to draw conclusions about the chart..

On reflection, we were actually building pictograms, not bar charts!

Today we went off to use the ‘Nature Detective’ wheels to ID trees in the wood. We walked around in a group and I found the necessary trees. The children then went off in pairs and had to find a leaf to match each tree on the tick list ( 3 trees not in the woods). At the end we got together and I went through the list and asked them to show me each leaf in turn. Children loved it and I would like to take them back to see the berries and nuts in autumn. Ideally children would record a photo etc.

We visited our local garden centre to choose plants for our garden. The children were given a budget and a remit (perennials, include climbers etc). in the end they had a marvellous time writing down all the plants they liked. Some tried to stick to a budget but most didn’t. They did, however, learn about the information on plant labels.

Today we went back to the woods but worked in a new area. I asked the children to build new dens and to write down a set of instructions that someone else could use if they wanted to build a den just like theirs. We discussed the need to begin each instruction with a time connective or bossy word -direct link to recent writing lessons.

The children quickly got down to work building their dens and the more academic children took ownership of the clipboard. I had to remind groups to work together and that they had a job to do.

The instructions were initially very brief but I asked leading questions and the children added in more detail. I had thought I would take step by step photos and then ask the children to write another set of instructions, in class, as an assessment. It soon became clear that this would be far too complicated and I would have to give the children so many clues that it really wouldn’t be a valid assessment.

We love den building and ran out of time again!

Tuesday 2nd June

Today we re-visited the woods and the children spent time improving or re-building their dens. Again we discussed what we would be learning and what the risks could be. I also asked the children to practice giving instructions – we re-capped that these should begin with a time connective and/or a bossy verb.

In reality no-one did this but when I toured the dens we did practice. Unfortunately we had so much fun we were late leaving and late back to school. Our return to school was not safe enough – some were running and going three abreast etc. I must always leave time.

The team-work was great. No-one was upset or huffy and the only behaviour problem was due to  one boy taking wood from someone else’s area.

I had previously asked the children what they would like to learn in the woods – I made it very clear that they were to suggest learning, not just activities. A popular idea was to make dens so that we could write a set of instructions. So today we went to the woods and made dens! When we arrived I asked the children to tell me what they thought they would be learning and what skills they would use. They came up with estimating, risk assessment and team work. Plus other things which are essentially one of the previous three. We then discussed success criteria – the den should accommodate at least one person and try to keep rain out. Then they did it.

The children had an absolute ball. They worked very well in their groups and at the end we toured every den and peer assessed them. We are returning next week but should have more time – less intro chat. I am happy with how things went. At the start I said no-one was to be more than 100 footsteps away from our gathering point. No-one heeded this but none went too far away although they weren’t all in sight. It was important that they kept on their fluorescent bibs.

May 14th

today we sowed vegetable and flower seeds in our garden. The children were SO EXCITED. Many had never done anything like this before!

Things we would like to learn in the woodsToday the children worked in their trios and used one of their own maps to create some treasure hunt questions for another class. They were asked to write 4 fig grid refs for at least 5 easily identifiable places on their maps. They then had to write a question for each place – for example, how many bars are in the gate? The children really enjoyed this and I was able to see how well they understood the map grid reference system. Unfortunately our photo-copier wasn’t working and in hind-site I should have laminated the chosen maps because it began to rain and most of the maps deteriorated. I will now need to laminate them if another class is to use them. I had wanted the groups to swap their maps and questions but it was too damp so we made transient art pictures which the children really enjoyed.

Before going to the woods I asked the children what they would like to learn there in the future. I was very impressed with their ideas – all were very sensible and referred to the learning. I am inspired and will use their ideas. I am glad that I didn’t ask the children too early on in our programme as they now clearly understand that there is always a learning intention behind each of our lessons. Their ideas are attached.

Today we re-capped on values in class then went to the woods to act out the story of the Buddha. We discussed the fact that people believe different things and that the 6 world religions shared many common values but had different beliefs. After acting out the story we summarised and I asked each group to go and find a meditation spot- like the Buddha’s fig tree. we visited each spot and then I asked the children to return to their spot an discuss a ‘big question’- where did the world come from? I was very impressed with the answers and discussion. 3 said God, one said aliens and the rest proposed ideas involving crashes, amalgamations and explosions in space. Everyone took the task seriously which was impressive and I presume down to the balance in each group.
It was a very wet day and ideally I wanted to do this task somewhere more beautiful where children could experience a sense of awe.

Today I asked the children to measure the key features of their maps. They worked in trios using trundle wheels and metre sticks. It quickly became apparent that too many children were messing around so I changed tack and we all measured the same thing at the same time, compared measurements and decided on an average. The children took it in turns to use the equipment and most children were involved. I took note of the average measurements and will transfer them onto a plan ready for the children to use to make maps. Next time I need to take many more trundle wheels.

Today I gave each child a clipboard with an outline plan of our woods on – enlarged and copied from the OS map which we looked at in the classroom before going. Once at the woods we identified the paths and I asked the children to draw on features in the wood and create a key. They remembered making a key when we drew our garden designs. All the children needed help (often repeatedly) to orientate themselves but then most drew features in roughly the right place. Everyone said that it was tricky but they all did well. This is the first time I have asked children to work by themselves in the woods and most managed to stay on task. At the end I asked the children to pair up and check each other’s maps.
If I did this again I would spend more time at the start ensuring that children knew exactly where the paths were on my sketch map. Each map was double-sided so the children could make a rough copy before making a final copy.

Today we learned to draw ‘bird’s eye view’ plans – starter maps. Our aim is to map the woods.

After an introduction the children worked in trios to design a picture on the floor using a frame , 5 objects and an up arrow. They then each drew plans of the picture – including a ‘this way up’ arrow. The plans were handed to me and I wrote a letter on the back then recorded the name of the mapper, next to the relevant letter, on a separate sheet. When everyone was finished I muddled up the plans then handed them out. Each child (some drew plans in pairs so they worked together) then had to match the plan they had been given with the correct picture. 95% of the plans were good enough for the children to be able to identify the correct picture.

Next time- take  a better photo!

moving onto plans of the whole woods.

I showed the children a compass – introduction to using north. Hardly anyone remembered their outdoor clothes today and two children couldn’t come because they had silly shoes on no-one had any the correct size to lend them/ lost property.

We visited Quarrel Woods for the first time. Before going we looked at the street map and the children suggested different routes to take. I timed us and it took about 25 minutes.
In the woods we discussed risks then I allowed the children to go off in their groups to explore. They were not to go out of my site and I suggested that they might like to make a trail to show which way they had gone but they didn’t need to. Afterwards we all visited each different area and I passed on what I knew about ditches and pine cones etc. In the end I asked the children what they had learned and they said they had learned to be ‘a little frightened’ which I guess is a lovely way of saying that they were learning to take and manage risks.

I read out the story of Passover and the children re-enacted it. They particularly enjoyed the plagues! The children then hid ‘Matzos’ biscuits in the woods – just like parents hide them for their children at Passover. One group hid them in one half of the woods etc. Once we had finished I asked the children to go and see if theirs had been found and if not I collected them in. We completed the session by making transient art pictures of the plagues. As part of the learning we discussed the similarities between Christianity and Judaism ( Jesus / Abraham. God etc.). we also noted, yet again, that all the faiths we have dipped into celebrate their festivals in similar ways. Tomorrow we will review our learning in class and focus on the values.
Lovely weather and it all went well. If we had time in the future it would be nice to make a transient art cartoon strip of the whole story!

Today we met at Forres Academy and shared what we have been doing outside. Ideas I like include;
-Using ‘past, present and future’ as a way to focus a project on mapping.
-using GPS devices- you can programme a set of handsets so that each one leads to a different marker / item. The children use one device then bring it back and swap it for another until they have found all the clues etc.
-Mud kitchen – need to use clean topsoil without faeces in. Teachers have observed that children are using the language of learning (e.g. measurement) in their kitchen play.
-Charleston Academy SFL group – a small group are taken into the woods for an hour every morning. They have taken ownership of their patch.

We talked at length about risk. The ‘Young Report’ (2010) suggested that schools move towards reduced paperwork and an annual permission / consent form to cover all activities.

The future seems to be ‘risk – benefit’ forms. These forms include details of the activity, the benefits, the risks and precedence (who has done it before). We concluded that risk assessments are work in progress at the moment and each authority is different. Head teachers are able to add in another level of assessment if they wish. We were given an article written by the HSE ( School trips and outdoor learning activities- tackling the health and safety myths).

We discussed the issues that I have surrounding T – the runner in my class. Someone said that in order to be inclusive the school has to provide someone to accompany this child if his mother can’t come. Alternatively, someone else noted that if my risk assessment identifies T as a risk, when he is unaccompanied, I am within my rights to eliminate the risk by leaving him in school. I need to have this point clarified by the Moray Council.

We also talked about the different systems we have in place to manage our children outside. Someone uses a word (e.g., she shouts a dinosaur name) and her class then freeze and listen for instructions. We noted that this wouldn’t work with all children (especially my class who are spread over a wide area and are much older etc.). Whistles are good for small voices too.

My next steps; give children responsibility to plan our outdoor learning.
-use a questioning approach as a start to our next project.

My favourite place – presentation skillsmy favourite place formTuesday 3rd March.
I was concerned that the children were thinking of the woods as a playground and not respecting the environment enough. To counteract this I asked them to work in their groups and prepare a presentation about their ‘favourite place’. The focus was on presentation skills and they did well – by the end most children were using a loud, clear voice and making good eye contact. I like to think some of them had more respect for their surroundings.

Number patternsToday I showed the children examples of patterns in nature ( pine cones, leaf veins etc.) and they suggested some.  I then showed them how to make a sequence with natural materials and asked them to describe the pattern and continue the sequence. The children went off in groups and made their own sequences – we all visited each group and had to say how to continue each one. It was very cold so I allowed one guesser per group. After that  I formed larger groups ( 7 ) and asked the children to create a human pattern – e.g.  one person squats, one jumps then one does a star jump. Again we all visited each group but this time the audience had to continue the pattern. The children found working in such large groups a challenge so I was able to ask them to suggest ways to combat the problem of ‘everyone talking at once’, They did and 2 of the 3 groups remembered to take it in turns 🙂

If I did this again I would encourage the children to use at least 4 different materials per pattern. They had to repeat the pattern twice and some were too easy to guess.

We fair tested the friction of our shoes on the slide and ran / walked around with sheets of paper to find out about air resistance.

We re-enacted the story of Rama and Sita- the highlight was surely the part when the ten-headed monster has a battle with the army of monkeys! After that we discussed the fact that Hindu’s light lamps to remember the story and celebrate the return of Rama and Sita. The children recognised that Christians light lamps to celebrate Christmas and everyone has a feast / spends time with family.
Children then went off in their trios to create and act out their own stories. The tales were AMAZING and took place on locations all over the woods. The children all got along and no-one complained of feeling left out or not listened to!!
Next time we will re-cap more on values and beliefs to ensure that the plenary chat on values is more purposeful. In class today the children will write the relevant values onto PPT slides of the story.

Today we went to the woods and met Natalie Campbell from ‘Earth Time’. We did a mass litter pick and the woods now look an awful lot better. Once we had filled all of our bags Natalie lead us down a very steep slope into the ‘basin’ area at the bottom of the woods. Many of the children found the walk down and up quite scary and challenging and we I had a chat with some of them about risk and looking after yourself. All good stuff! Whilst we were out we endured rain, hail and snow. One child thought we would have to go back but most just ignored it!

Measurement Challenge             measurement challenge table           Another great afternoon in the woods. The children are more used to the space now and somehow seem to take longer to respond the whistle etc! The children worked in their trios to complete the attached challenge sheet- it was a great way to put previous skills into context and solve real life problems.

23.1.15
We all met up again for a frosty afternoon and I would like to record the following ideas;
– Comparing local woodland with rainforest- SS e&O’s
-School buses – once they have dropped off children in the morning where do they go? Can we hop on and travel somewhere?
-Secondary biology teacher – class collected plants and used extracts to test for anti-bacterial properties etc.
-Keep Scotland Beautiful will send out free litter picking kits etc.
-Challenges – for example give the class a letter from a robin asking them to make him a bell using natural resources.
-Values – use values learning in woodland context. RME
-Kamana website.
-Check weather forecast with class the day before a trip.
-Sponsored walk – better than a fun day??
-Alison can lend out GPS – 10 in a box.
-How to engage other teachers with outdoor learning- in groups of 3 draw a giant teacher and write on what they think a great outdoor teacher needs to BE. Discuss how the qualities are the same for a ‘normal’ teacher.

We completed part of a self-evaluation sheet ( extracted from Outdoor learning 3-18 self-evaluation toolkit’. Interesting to think about how to ‘measure’ the benefits of outdoor learning. I noted the following;

– children should be sharing the joy of OL with rest of school.
– It is important to give feedback for OL. I explain LI but must remember to feedback – as if it was written work.
-Children need to be involved in planning OL- we do ‘what do you want to know?’ etc for indoor topics. should try to do this each time we go out.

As a result of this afternoon I will;

– ensure I give feedback outside,

-check the weather forecast with my class outside

-plan lessons based on ; the doocot, values, old road and mapping.

describing a settingWe went off for our first trip to the woods at Chandlers Rise today – fantastic! I knew it would be very cold so we had spent some time preparing and the children had taken home an illustrated diagram to show what clothes they would bring to school today. Most came very well prepared and I lent out 3 spare pairs of gloves. One girl used a pair of our new school waterproof trousers.

We had an early lunch and set off at 1;00, taking only 15 minutes to get to the woods. On arrival we did ‘sticky feet’ and the children suggested risks they might encounter in the woods. I showed them the boundaries and allowed them to go off and explore for about 10 minutes before gathering them back with my whistle.

Our next task was to work in trios ( I had pre-decided the groups) to complete a site -description sheet. We will write up the descriptions in our writing lesson on Thursday and use them as a basis for a story.

After that I gave each group a small toy animal to go and build a den for – they had been observing and running around the ‘big picture’ so I thought a tiny den would help them to become more familiar with soil level etc.

We held a final circle plenary then returned. A very successful day. I enjoyed walking to and from the woods with a child who can be very annoying in a group situation – it was great to spend some one -to-one time with him. In the woods it was obviously fantastic to see children running free!

We went out with stopwatches- 3 children timed each ‘team’. Discussed why need 3 results and 1 may not be fair etc.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vr0sk5rsntxkstx/AAB4xOJIB-4YIYgWVwwHCQvsa?dl=0

The four signposts – (Wattcchow and Brown 2011)
– Senses aware
– make up stories
– ask questions about the place
– Record learning and feelings.

This afternoon I attended a meeting of the Moray Outdoor Learning Group followed by the Moray OWLS meeting. There was some interesting discussion about the need for very specific lesson ideas for the secondary sector. Also met people from other local organisations- hope to join up with Earth time to litter pick our new woodland.

Two parents have volunteered to come with us to the woods so I have issued a covering letter and MC consent forms. Also completed risk assessment (Go out there format), check list (own, based on MC) and MC form E1. All forms based on the MC outdoor learning document.

This week we have been outside;
maths; 1-100 on ground, find me multiples. human odd and even.
Reading; make pairs. ‘A’ go and think of a where question, B think of a what question. Discussed. In pairs think of a why question. Great activity -worked well, much better than it would have done inside.

The council were in touch yesterday to confirm that they own the woods at ‘Chandlers Rise’ and we are welcome to visit them. Apparently there is tree preservation order on the trees and the footpath that runs through the woods used to be the original Lesmurdie Road. The big house behind the woods, now converted to flats, used to be called Lesmurdie House.
Kate Elder (Ed officer with the council) confirmed that not all adults on excursions need to be disclosure checked but, as ever, someone without a disclosure check must not be left alone with a child.
I will issue a letter home today asking parents to identify which, if any, dates they can volunteer to come with us to the woods. The dinner lady has confirmed that we can go to lunch early on the days that we want to visit the woods.
I took the class out on a Ninja run yesterday. A and L made surprisingly good leaders!

I plan to take the children to the woods once a week, starting in January. To prepare for this I have read the Moray Council ‘RULES AND GUIDANCE
FOR OFF-SITE
EXCURSIONS
INCLUDING
ADVENTUROUS ACTIVITIES’ document and linked in to read parts of ‘Getting Out There’. Martin (HT) has identified the forms I need to complete and reading the document has raised some questions / observations.
1. I have insufficient first aid training (need min 6 hour course). My Girl Guiding course is inadequate.
2. some discussion over whether parent helpers need to be disclosure checked.
3. Need to buy water proof trousers for class.
4. when we go out I must establish a ‘rendevouz point’ and take an ‘Emergency response card ‘ (p27). I should also have well defined objectives before we leave.

I have identified two patches of local woodland – the closest ‘Chandlers Rise’ has ‘nicer’ rubbish in than the woodland which is nearer to school. In now need to find out who owns it.

In the last two weeks we have been outside to;
Plan a fair test experiment to find out which material is the most waterproof. Children used pipettes, jars and material etc.
Conduct a fair test to see which surface has least friction.
Multiple game – numbers 1-100 scattered on ground. Children go and find multiples of 2 etc.
Ninja runs – idea from TESS. We all pretend to be Ninjas on a secret mission. Great for practising team work / leadership skills. Energiser.

www.rcahms.gov.uk

Introduction to the course
• Co-op have small grants available £500
• Cairngorm national park will pay 50% travel costs to NP
• Royal Commission Architectural…
• Teaching in nature
• Stirling Uni website
• John Hattie – suggests formative assessment before task. See on Education Scotland.
Ask children to say how they think they will get on with a task and what they might find tricky before they start.

Remember that getting dressed for outdoors is part of the learning.
Ideas to pass time on a walk;
Smile at strangers
Estimate then measure distances
Spot shapes
Pass hand signals

On arrival at new place
Calm down
Ask children to complete senses sheet (smell, hear etc)
Co-write risk assessment
Set a boundary
Ask children to think about what they know already about the place (2 min) then share.

Impact
I feel re-invigorated about my love of outdoor learning.
I feel inspired to find a wild place and take my class there – lots.
I will try pre-task formative assessment
I will look for ideas for more areas of the curriculum
I will buy a Kelly kettle!

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