Orienteering

We introduced orienteering to the students today. All around the meadow, we had hidden some red poker chips, each with a unique symbol drawn on it with a permanent marker.

 After being reminded of the boundaries and the safe zone, students were asked to explore the meadow with a partner. The red markers were hung with a plastic tie at eye level. Students were asked to record the symbol for each marker that they found.

In future attempts, we plan to give students a map of the area, so that they can plot the location of the markers.

Eco Club

As part of the initiative to get Rouge Valley accredited as a TDSB Eco School, students and staff came together to form the Eco Club. The club meets once a week during lunch, to discuss and plan ways to spread environmental awareness, and encourage best practices with the use of energy and resources.

Aboriginal Peoples Unit - Tipi Diorama

After studying the tipi in Rouge Park, my Grade 5 students were inspired to build their own in the form of dioramas. The tipis looked amazing in the end but were actually quite challenging to build. The bamboo skewers that the students used for poles kept shifting. Eventually we had to tape them down onto the foam board.

Descriptive Writing Highlights

Our Walk to the meadow this week inspired some descriptive writing by some our students in Mrs. Whitlock's class. Here are some photos taken from the Walk as well as a couple pieces of writing that have been spotlighted:

Milkweed

by Khalida

          We saw a milkweed in the meadow on our walk. The milkweed has brown oval seeds. Beside the seeds, there is fluffy white floss. The fluffy white floss helps it fly. The sticky milk attracts butterflies. The stem holds the milkweed so it can stand and grow.

Milkweed

by Nathan

          We saw milkweed in the meadow on our walk. I saw brown seeds inside the pod. The pod was green and sticky and some of the pod was rough. The fluffy white floss helps the seed fly. The white sticky milk attracts insects. 

Stepping Into Nature: Teacher Stories

Our Walking Wednesday Program at Rouge Valley was recently featured in an article on Outdoor Education. The article was written by our very own, Mr. Daffern and published in an online journal titled: "Stepping into Nature: Teacher Stories Volume 1".

A copy of Mr. Daffern's article can be read here:

"Walking Wednesdays at Rouge Valley" by Mr. Daffern

The journal can be downloaded here:

http://www.back2nature.ca/stepping-into-nature-teacher-stories

Ontario Children's Outdoor Charter

From the Home page of the Ontario Children's Outdoor Charter:

"Children have the right to explore and play in the outdoors. Research shows that kids who spend regular time in nature are happier and healthier."

"The Ontario Children's Outdoor Charter aims to get children outside to discover the wonders of nature. Spending time outdoors is essential to every child's development, health and well-being. It builds a connection to our rich natural and cultural heritage. Kids connected to nature grow up caring for the Earth and helping to conserve biodiversity."

"People, organizations, governments and communities that support the Charter recognize that time outdoors is important for children's health and wellness. Supporters of the Charter can promote it in their communities and improve opportunities for children of all abilities and backgrounds to play and learn outdoors."

For more information, please visit the Ontario Children's Outdoor Charter website:

http://www.childrensoutdoorcharter.ca/

Studying Habitats and the Transition Zone

The Grade 4 class has been studying habitats in Science. They've visited the forest, the meadow, and the river habitats in Rouge Park. Today the class visited the transition zone, the micro-habitat between the forest and the meadow. They explored the area, made observations and then wrote about their insights and experience in their Journals.

We are BACK!

This blog hasn't been updated in a while.

Mostly this has been due to changing teacher roles and responsibilities. However, our commitment to place-based education and experiential learning hasn't changed. What better way is there to make learning 'real' to students, than to take them out into the real world?

Through the dedication and commitment of Mr. Daffern, Walking Wednesdays at Rouge Valley has continued in various forms through the last few years. It hasn't always been on Wednesdays and it hasn't always been with the same grades, but it has been happening. In fact, the idea has been growing and spreading to other teachers and other classes. With 'Walks' happening on various days and by various classes, we really should be calling it Walking Rouge Valley (or Walking RV for short)!

We hope to share some of the photos that have been taken over the last while. These will be posted along with some current happenings on our Walks.

Just to get us started, here are a few photos taken earlier this year.