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 Bringing learning to life is about more than bring learning experiences into the classroom. It's about creating learning experiences out of the classroom also. For our first week of Down on the Farm we went to a local farm here called Murray's Farms. The Farm was so adorable the kids were able to do basketball throwing, throwing baseballs and we are able to go sledding (well the best you can sled down astro turf. In the middle of the California desert). We were able to go on a hay ride and learn about the different crops of fruit they grow on the farm. Fridays are self guided tour days and it was the best thing I think I could have done for this age group. A guided tour for this age group may not have worked out. The children were so excited about being on the farm that rounding them up was probably going to make the field trip miserable instead of the super fun time that we had. Below is the picture of the outfit I wore for the field trip. This month we are doing 24 days of Halloween, this is where I wear a costume everyday for my classes. For the field trip I was Ms. Frizzle. I even got a Liz purse!! I got the Magic school Bus shirt here.   During the field trip the children were able to pet some of the farm animals and this means that we will be able to a conversation during circle time about the same and differences in seeing animals in real life and seeing them in the book Old McDonald Has a Farm By Leslie Falconer. I loved this book and will be doing a one minute book review. I will say that this book was great in the way it addressed being welcoming to people who are different. It also opened up the conversation to rescue locations and what types of animals might be in these places. The book was able to get across a pretty complex thought in an easy to understand message. I will post more about it on the Youtube channel. Visiting the farm was a great way to connect the lessons from this month to the real world. I have managed to incorporate many videos from Youtube, National Geographic and PBS into my lessons to give the children a real life association for what we are learning about. I hate teaching and having the subjects seem abstract because they have not seen what we are speaking about in real life. I love the summer time and I always miss it when its gone. All the outdoor learning we do during the summer makes it so much fun. But the coming of cooler weather, allows for different types of learning opportunities outdoors and a chance to dress up. I am excited for all the things to come this month and to share them with all of you.
Live Long and Keep Teaching! ~Ms. Tessie~ |
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