Take Me Outside Day #5

For this week’s reflection, I used a Venn diagram from Pathways to Understanding: Patterns and Practices in the Learning-Focused Classroom by Laura Lipton and Bruce Wellman, to reflect on these two Take Me Outside Day experiences. This tool helped me compare and contrast my two Take Me Outside Day experiences, one at Kootenay Orchards Elementary and the other with a Grade 2 class at Gordon Terrace Elementary.

Venn Diagram I created using Canva.

Using the Venn Diagram helped me visualize how both experiences prompted collaboration, curiosity, and outdoor learning, but in two different ways. The KO experience was more about going with the flow, requiring more attention and a lot of repeating yourself because you were constantly getting a new group of students. The Gordon Terrace experience enabled deeper connections with your small group of students and provided more individualized attention. Both experiences encouraged students to connect with the outdoors and demonstrated how learning can happen beyond the classroom walls. However, the settings, structure, and level of guidance were quite different.

Kootenay Orchards Elementary Take Me Outside Day

At Kootenay Orchards, I worked with two other teacher candidates. The entire school participated in this Take Me Outside Day experience. We set up our own I Love a Challenge stations around the school field. Students from Kindergarten to grade 6 came out at different times and were guided to a station for 30 minutes. The younger kids had a harder time with their shorter attention spans, so we ended up switching the students between stations. Our task was more open-ended, so we went with the flow, allowing the student to guide what they wanted to do. Beforehand, the students completed a story walk of the book “OK.” As the day went on, it was clear that some students did not participate in the story walk, as they didn’t remember the book. Some students also did not know what I Love a Challenge was. Having some of the students unprepared was the most challenging aspect of the day, in my opinion. The Grade 4-6 had the most fun at our station, especially when I told them a student could stack 10 bean bags on his head, and that immediately got the students motivated, and they were determined to beat that record.

Gordon Terrace Elementary Take Me Outside Day

At Gordon Terrace, the experience was smaller and more guided, focusing on a single grade 2 class. I worked with one other teacher candidate, and we had an amazing group of three grade 2 girls. We left the school property with the class and walked down to Elizabeth Lake. When we got there, the students completed a nature scavenger hunt. After that, they created leaf art, connecting back to the book they read in class, “Leaf Man.”

One of our students leaf art.

This day was more structured but also allowed students to make strong connections between nature and creativity. Technology was also used during this activity. We used ChatterPix, which I referenced in my last reflection post. Overall, this experience was a lot of fun and, in a way, less chaotic than the first. The students knew about this day for a long time, and they were really excited and had so many ideas for their leaf art creations. I think also because this class read the book together, the students knew the leaf man book, other than the KO experience, where some students explained to us that they did not read the book.

Going forward, I can see how these experiences could extend into classroom learning. Students could write reflections about their outdoor experiences, create a digital project inspired by nature, or continue exploring environmental topics through art, science, or literacy. Both of these days showed me the value of outdoor education and how it fosters engagement, imagination, and community connection.