Outdoor Learning

I am thrilled that The Kindergarten Program includes a section on Learning In The Outdoors where "learning in the outdoors is included as part of the instructional day, and the educators play an active role, engaging with children in an inquiry stance as they play, explore, and learn together outside the classroom." (The Kindergarten Program, pg. 34, 2016)

This past year, our teaching team made a commitment to include Outdoor Exploration to our instructional day. We dedicated time each week to play and learn outdoors. We took nature walks in the forest behind our school, used Sit Spots to build connections with nature, and created opportunities in our "backyard" to explore and create. You can visit Rose Marcelli of Educate.Invest.Inspire and Lucas Serper of Play.Create.Inquire for more information on our Outdoor Exploration. 

  

As part of my commitment to outdoor learning, I created a proposal for adding learning materials to enhance the space we have in our kindergarten pens. I also incorporated ways in which we could use those same materials beyond the fence. The proposal was well received and approved by our supportive Administration and School Council. 

Our outdoor order was placed with Louise Kool & Galt who "are the leading supplier of learning materials, furniture and equipment to the Canadian early childhood and elementary school markets (Louise Kool & Galt, 2016)." Having had the opportunity to visit their showroom last summer and tinker with their products, I knew that they were the right company to trust with our outdoor space. 

Photo Credit: Joanne Babalis

The products from Louise Kool & Galt enhanced the outdoor space that was previously designed with the help of Linda Naccarato of Art With Linda. Linda worked with our students to create a natural environment that included a painted mural, waterfall, stepping stones, and wooden house, as well as a bike path, and tire garden. She provided hands-on activities throughout the entire process, which engaged the students and further connected them to their environment. This included planning the environment using loose parts, painting the mural, planting flowers to attract various insects, exploring ramps and loose parts play, and engaging in dramatic play experiences. 

Photo Credit: Joanne Babalis

I look forward to continue using the outdoor space with our students, as well as taking our new materials beyond the fence, in the upcoming school year! (We will be doing this with the help of our newly purchased Mac Sport Wagons from Costco). I am excited to continue documenting students learning and having it available for them to observe from the outdoors and I am most excited to foster our students curiosity and sense of wonder and contribute to their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being (The Kindergarten Program, 2016). 

The following are three of my favourite children's books and educator resources to inspire learning outside!

The Other Way To Listen by Byrd Baylor

If You Hold A Seed by Elly MacKay

The Listening Walk by Paul Showers

A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Non-Fiction 

in the Primary Grades by Georgia Heard

Natural Curiosity: A Resource for Teachers

by The Laboratory School at the 

Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study 

  

Designs for Living and Learning, Second Edition: Transforming Early Childhood Environments 

by Deb Curtis and Margie Carter

"It's a good thing to learn about nature in order to share this knowledge with children; it's even better if the adult and child learn about nature together. And it's a lot more fun."

Richard Louv

Ontario Focused Intervention Program

"Ontario Funding Intervention Program (OFIP) Tutoring supports school boards in initiating or extending programs that help students in Grades JK to 6 to strengthen their literacy and numeracy skills beyond the regular school day. This includes programs such as before and after-school tutoring, homework clubs and cultural programs that focus on literacy and numeracy skill development. Partnerships with existing community-based programs that provide tutoring for students are encouraged." (Ministry of Education, 2016) 

I came across the YRDSB's posting for OFIP and thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for our youngest learners to strengthen their literacy skills. My teaching partner, Rose Marcelli, and myself created a proposal for the program and had it approved by our Admin and Superintendent. 

After conducting observations and assessments in the area of literacy, students were selected by their educators, and we developed an Early Learning After School Program that aimed to support and strengthen literacy skills based on their individual needs. 

As a team, made up of six educators, we planned and implemented play-based literacy activities that connected to areas of focus in the classroom. We included provocations that targeted sight word recognition and recording, created stories using story props and texts that were familiar to the students, and explored wonders through fictional and non-fictional texts. We also conducted small-group guided reading and writing lessons, as well as whole group oral language opportunities to share our learning.

As an educator team, we used Google Drive to share our weekly plans, anecdotal observations, and next steps for learning. We communicated our students progress with parents and guardians, as well as provided a package to educators with student work samples, anecdotal notes and observations, and assessments, to inform next steps in the classroom. 

I found this program to be extremely beneficial for our youngest learners. In the two months of focused instruction, we were able to see an abundance of growth, not only in their literacy skills, but also in their attitude towards learning. We strived to instil in them a growth mindset, where each student believed that their abilities could be improved over time through hard work. 

Click here to read more about the program from 

Rose Marcelli of Educate.Invest.Inspire.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day! We had a fun-filled last few days of school creating Canada flags using red paint, finger paint paper, masking tape, and wooden dowels.  

We also added a touch of Canada to our end-of-year gifts for our students with Canada pencils and white and red ribbon! 

We hope to inspire some wonder writing over the summer with these personalized clipboards, pencils, and a beautiful quote from one of our favourite books, "I Wonder" by Annaka Harris. 

We live with some big mysteries. 

When we come upon one, we're given a little gift.

Every mystery is something for all of us to wonder about together. 

What do you wonder about?

The ABC's of Kindergarten!

                               

As the school year comes to an end, I love looking back at all the memories that were made. I often scroll through my Instagram account or my stored photos to see how far we have come in such a short time together. 

This year, an idea came to me to create a keepsake for students and their families, so that they too could reflect on the school year. With the help of my teaching partner, Rose Marcelli, and PicCollage, the idea came to flourish and a book was created! Many people have been asking to see the inside of the book after posting a picture of the title, and so I would like to share our Alphabet Book and kindergarten keepsake of the 2015-2016 year with you. (To respect the privacy of our students, some pages have been removed.)  

A picture is worth a thousand words,

but the memories are priceless...

                                                                                                  

Provocations

This past Fall, I joined my #4EverInspired friends as a guest speaker at the TransformEd Workshop, "Provocations, projects and my pedagogical documentation process," presented by Joanne Babalis. 

Here we shared some of our own ideas around invitations for learning, in hopes of inspiring like-minded educators as they began a new school year.

The following are the slides with a voiceover of my presentation, which I shared with the participants of the workshop. I hope this helps those who are beginning their journey of using provocations in the classroom.   

For additional information on invitations for learning, I recommend reading Creating Invitations for Learning by Deb Curtis. 

What better way to offer learning experiences — as an invitation to wonder, explore, and create in as many ways as possible!

Deb Curtis

Educate.Invest.Inspire

As a graduate from Ryerson University, in the field of Early Childhood Education, as well as a former Designated Early Childhood Educator (DECE) with the York Region District School Board, I am so grateful for the partnership of teacher and DECE in the classroom. In my career, I have had the pleasure of working with several DECE's, all of whom I have learned from and with. I love that each member of the partnerships I was fortunate to be apart of brought forth a multitude of strengths, experiences, and expertise that made each unique and special.    
This year, I continue to build a partnership with a DECE who I also had the opportunity to mentor last year as a Teacher Candidate with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Rose Marcelli of Educate.Invest.Inspire is a graduate of UOIT's Bachelor of Education Program, as well as a graduate of Seneca College, where she obtained her Bachelor of Child Development and Early Childhood Education Diploma. 

Rose's first Provocation as a Teacher Candidate in our FDK Classroom

I always tell her that she reminds me of myself when I first started in this profession six years ago. Her excitement for the every day things that happen in our classroom, her eagerness to learn, and her willingness to try new things is so welcomed and appreciated- and quite honestly makes me feel like I'm back in my first year of teaching again! 

Our First Day as Partners!

I recently sat down with Rose and asked her where she goes to for inspiration when lesson planning for our classroom. She shared that workshops, professional development sessions, additional qualification courses, social media (Pinterest and Instagram), and prior lessons or activities that she implemented during her placements and previous places of employment are where she gets her ideas from. She was also sure to include her "teaching partner" for brownie points! ;) 

A Fine Motor Provocation Created by Rose. 

I also asked Rose to share some advice for future educators and she positively said to "remember your goal even when you are going though tough times" and to "always remember the reasons why you wanted to be an educator." That coupled with a "don't give up" attitude is what helps her to see her goal of becoming a teacher through. 

The Creation of the Educate.Invest.Inspire Blog!

I look forward to continuing to co-learn and collaborate with Rose in the classroom and through our blog posts, as we enter into a new term together. I invite you to follow her journey as it unfolds, through her Instagram and Blogger accounts. Her teaching philosophy of educating the whole child, investing unconditionally in student success, and inspiring both students and educators has led to her creation of Educate.Invest.Inspire. 

  It takes a BIG heart to teach little minds.