This post was written by By Teri Burgess – Teacher and LSF Consultant

Summer is still in all its glory (until the equinox lady sings…). In  September  your students’ minds may be wandering outdoors. Step Outside with them. Step Outside is an online almanac that helps you and your students to identify what is happening in the natural world…right now! It can be found at www.r4r.ca/step-outside.

The mid-February instalment focused on animal tracks. I enjoyed the tips about distinguishing domestic dogs’ tracks from coyotes and wolves. The early April issue featured the mating techniques of frogs—you may think this will be of interest only to our adolescents, but children of all ages enjoy stories about how babies are made. Step Outside also taught me that one of the 62 species of mosquitoes in Ontario overwinters as adults! How do they keep those little bodies from freezing in January?!?

The guides are written in Ontario’s near north, so the dates and species may (or may not) vary from what you’re experiencing. However, many themes stay true wherever you are (for example the late April guide was about finding a mate) and many bird and insect species move through many of our local neighbourhoods on their seasonal journeys to and fro. Of course, reports of meteor showers can be enjoyed by all of us across Canada.

Hopefully, all of this talk of stepping outside will encourage you to take your students out, even if it’s just onto the school yard.

What Would We Do Outside?

Go outside, even if the lesson does not require it. Making the effort will teach your students that you believe that the outdoor world is valuable. Your action will speak louder than your words can! Routine activities which students enjoy doing outside: group discussions, silent reading, practicing group presentations, taking up completed work, etc.

Tips for a Positive Outdoor Learning Experience:

• To create a simple ‘outdoor classroom,’ purchase: a collapsible easel, a class set of clipboards, and a class set of gardening knee pads to use as seats. You’re ready to go! For fancier ideas, visit www.evergreen.ca.
• Scope out the site before you go outside with the students. Decide on boundaries beforehand so you can clearly communicate them to the students as soon as you take them outside.
• Try to do some exploratory activities the first few times that you go outside so that you will not have to rein students in from their natural tendency to do this. Scavenger hunts work well for this. This can be a great literacy activity (find something translucent; find something ephemeral; find something foreign…). Students can name/draw what they’ve found rather than collect it.
• Create a communication system to indicate important ‘commands’ to your students without yelling. For example: one whistle or clap mean ‘stop and listen’, two whistles/claps mean ‘come to the meeting spot’, etc.
• Be aware of your resources. Do any students have knowledge about the topic and area? Do you have parents who can help with your lesson?
• Bring a cell phone or walkie-talkie with you.
• Inform the office that you are going outside. If you will do this often, photocopy the note a number of times so that you do not need to write it out each time.
• Discuss the ground rules and the consequences for following them (students will get to go outside again) and for not following them before you go outside.
• Take advantage of teachable moments – don’t be too regimented in your lesson plan that you miss out on unique learning opportunities. Respond to and fan the flames of your students’ curiosity.
• Ensure that the class activities do not harm the natural world.

Key Safety Tips:

• Scope out the site before you go and identify any special risks (i.e. insects, poison ivy, syringes, broken glass, etc). Share these risks with your students.
• Review, model, and/or practice dressing for the weather with your students.
• Be aware of all allergies (especially environmental allergies), medical conditions, etc.
• Bring a small first aid kit.
• Have extra help if it is appropriate and available. Consider asking older students, a librarian, a special education teacher, a parent or a vice-principal to join you.