Starting the day and setting the tone for learning

I had the pleasure of spending the day with a fabulous team that I have not been able to visit yet this year. We had connected last week at a workshop, and we made a plan for me to visit and support inquiry-based learning.  While I was there I had the pleasure of seeing some of the things we learned at the conference in action.

Since the conference was all about inquiry, and specifically inquiry outside, it was great to see that they started their day....you guessed it, outside.

After the students had come inside for announcements, attendance, etc. they headed back outside for some reading time.  (Just my wonderings here: would it work to have the students stay outside right from the bell and meet them outside?  Would this allow for one less transition?) Anywhoo, each student was armed with a bag of "just right" books at their specific level, and the educators used a "train" to drop the students off at designated spots in the yard.

The educator is at the front of the line, walking around and pointing to a spot for each student to sit (under a tree, in a patch of sun, etc.)  The nice thing about this is that there is no running from spot to spot and no arguing about who gets to sit under which tree.  Perhaps this will allow for a gradual release of responsibility, and once the kids get the idea of spreading out and sitting in a variety of spots they can quickly pick their own sometimes.

Spending time in nature with a good book :)

This school is blessed with a wonderful treed area

At the end of the time the educator starts back at the beginning and picks up the students as the train passes by.  It was so funny for me to watch as the students very diligently waited for the train to pass by before jumping on.  When we did it at the conference with adults we were all hopping on the train at any point as soon as it came close to us ("budgging" if you will) - but not these kiddos.  Despite their friends calling out to them, they waited until the caboose had passed.  So cute!

I really liked this strategy for getting kids settled into reading (or whatever task they had been given...it could be many things: journal writing, drawing, etc).  It avoids the running and chaos of 30 kids trying to find a spot, and the inevitable time wasted switching spots.

As I watched this class engage in their morning reading routine a few things struck me:

1) It was quiet, calm and organized as 30 students moved into place
2) This opportunity to be outside in nature was a calming and grounding experience for the students.  We stood and watched the class for several minutes, all engaged in the task of reading, and loving it!  What a great way to instill a love of reading.
3) I believe this really set the tone for the learning that was going to happen immediately after (I          blogged about that here).  I believe that this is directly linked to how successfully the students were
 able to self-regulate and participate in the explicit instruction to follow.

What do you think?  Give it a try!  Amazing things can happen when you take the learning outside and give students a time to reflect and be still in nature.  LOVE it :)

Carly