Nothing brings our Outdoor Ed teachers more joy than seeing students make connections with their classroom lessons and their Outdoor Forest exploration.
First grade students recently read City Kid, Suburb Kid, a story of two cousins who have fun visiting each other’s community, and realize all the great things about their own community as well. Later in Outdoor Ed, the first graders created Stump County, which includes a city with many different buildings, a suburban neighborhood, and three farms. “This activity was explained and shown to every student, tying back to the words urban, rural, and suburban which we had introduced the week before,” said Bonnie Shearer, Outdoor Ed instructor. “Students were free to work or play within Stump County during the Outdoor Ed class period, or they could choose their own regular games and activities as usual.”
“Some students chose to work making city buildings including a hotel, an apartment building, and a museum. Others made a road in front of the suburban neighborhood for cars to drive down. They collected pinecones to create the Christmas Tree Farm, rocks to create the pasture of animals, and wood chips to plant in the vegetable field. One student proposed adding a large body of water so the residents could go riding in boats. At the end of the class we made observations about the urban, rural, and suburban areas in Stump County,” said Mrs. Shearer.
“I loved seeing the first grade students make connections with the things they noticed and heard about in the story on Wednesday,” said Kelly Alberts, Outdoor Ed instructor. “The kindergarteners came out next, and were delighted to play and build in Stump County too!”