By Wendy Oellers, 2003 National PLT Outstanding Educator

For many teachers, the benefit of environmental or place-based activities is not in question - but how to get to do them is!  How can we justify taking time for activities outdoors, when we already are overburdened with existing curricular demands?  This is a question I am familiar with grappling with.  I have my students for two years beginning in second grade and am therefore responsible for meeting the academic demands for two different grades.  Time is definitely a critical issue for me – as I’m sure it is for all of you!

In my journey as a teacher and as co-developer of something called the Integrated Instructional Model*, I have discovered a way to both meet curricular responsibilities and have time for venturing into the outdoors.  The key components developed are.

1. Creating essential questions that will guide our learning
2. Integrating concepts and skills from across the disciplines
3. Incorporate the Arts as vehicles of learning and the demonstration of understandings. 

I work with grade level team members to identify state frameworks, topic areas, key concepts, and skills.  Using post-it notes, we arrange and rearrange the notes until connections and a relevant sequence became apparent.  Inherent to both our science and social studies curricula is the concept of community.  The essential questions are:

What makes a community?
How does diversity (or lack of it) impact community? 
How does change (or lack of it) impact community?

From the scaffold of these questions, others are developed to link the children’s learning for meaningful connections. Whether one is studying classification in biology, economy, geography, history, or a host of other fields, these three questions are exceptional ones for guiding learning.
        
In the beginning of our first year together, my class develops an understanding of what makes our classroom a community and how we can show both respect and responsibility.  Rituals and rules are established as well as an understanding of the similarities, differences, and connections we have with one another.  The classroom community extends to the school community and beyond.  By the second week, our class begins its exploration of the many connections and interrelationships in the community outside our classroom.  Venturing weekly into the woods, the children begin a journey of discovery that continues throughout the school year.
 
During our daily literacy block, centers are developed and materials presented that provide both information and the practice of relevant skills that enrich and support our current unit of study.  For example, during a unit on New Hampshire animals in winter, one center shows pictures of various NH mammals with a set of accompanying riddles.  Children read the “clues” and determined which animal would match the riddle.  Once finished, the challenge is to create a new riddle.  A kit of pelts, borrowed from the State Fish and Game Department, gives the children opportunity to graph and measure.  A crossword puzzle gives clues which send the children scurrying for the classroom dictionary to find the correct spelling for “cache”, “omnivore” and other key terms.  Working collaboratively, the children solve a word-find with the hidden message that tell them that only three NH mammals are true hibernators. Reading groups feature both Native American fables, (i.e. How the Chipmunk Got his Stripe) and non-fiction stories.  Tracking expeditions (courtesy of grant-funded snowshoes) show evidence of our furry neighbors - much to the delight of my “Junior Naturalists”.  Discovering the stories that unfold daily in our surrounding communities are powerful hooks for students. The opportunities for critical thinking are endless and I find the enthusiasm of the students, their motivation for learning, and their levels of understanding and skill development inspiring.
 
During a recent sojourn, a visitor was told that my class was out on the trail.  He walked down the trail only to discover me, seemingly alone in a clearing.  All he could hear was the rustling of leaves and the occasional chatter of the forest’s guardian red squirrel. A bit confused, he looked around for my students.  I smiled and pointed to random spots around the clearing.  Children sat quietly - looking, drawing, and writing in small journals.  After a few minutes, they gathered back together and shared new observations. When asked what changes had he noticed, one eight year old announced: “Well, when I first came out here, all I saw was rocks, trees, you know - the usual stuff. Now I know, really know, how to look, and I can find all kinds of things…it’s like magic.   See, look at this.  I never would have seen something cool like this before.” In his hand, he held a crumpled leaf.  On the underside, there was fastened the delicate webbing of a cocoon.  

The Naturalist Robert Pyle once said, “How can we teach children to care about the fate of the condor when they haven’t made the acquaintance of the wren in the back yards?"  In learning about their communities and their own personal place, children are discovering that kids can make a difference in the world they live in. 
     
*Integrated Instructional Model” an award winning instructional model that incorporates inquiry based, interdisciplinary, and problem based instruction. The Arts are integral parts of the learning process.  Emphasis is placed on the development of a compassionate, and democratic learning community.