Who will we see in the woods today?

During the Autumn term, Foundation children completed an expedition to answer the question of, ‘Who will we see in the woods today?’

We began our journey by immersing ourselves into our guiding question to observe nature closely observing similarities, differences, patterns and change. We had a story, ‘The Owl Babies’ by candle light in our forest school to observe the sights, smells and sounds of the forest.

During our expedition we used our senses to explore the natural world. We used our observational skills to create artwork to display in our indoor and outdoor environment We continued to use our senses to explore the world around us, we used adventurous vocabulary to describe what we saw, felt, touched, smelt and heard in and around our environment. .

We were able to observe the changes happening before our eyes and use lots of natural Autumn ‘treasures’ as resources for discussion and observation. We also used nature to assist our maths work using sticks to make 2d shapes, compare the size of objects and order by length and height. We used leaves and conkers for counting, addition and subtraction and also comparing weight.

We explored Nocturnal and diurnal animals and looked closely at the features of owls and other nocturnal animals. We use our Case Study 2 skill’s to talk about what we have learned and to develop our curiosity by asking questions about the different animals such as where they live and what they eat. We explored the story of the Gruffalo to develop our understanding of having a balanced diet.

During Case Study 3 we focussed on performing a story for our fellow crew’s. We explored the events and settings of the story of the Gruffalo further by asking questions and critiquing them. We spoke with confidence in front of Y1 class crew’s to perform the story of 'The Gruffalo’. We sang new songs, using makaton and made music and dances to retell the story. We performed this at our Learning Exploration celebration.

Hooks / Learning Visits and Environments

The children were hooked by a 'bedtime story event' allowing the children to further explore stories outside of the school day. Our classrooms were enhanced by developing the learning environment to include learning spaces that reflected the stories we studied. The children used art to bring the story settings alive in their learning spaces and dance and role play to retell them.

We made observational painting and drawings to display in our classroom and made things using natural materials.

Assessment

Our assessment of this exploration was exhibiting our new skills through child-initiated learning assessed against Early Years Outcomes. Our significant assessment pieces for this exploration were the children's recall and retell of stories throughout their learning journeys, with a focus on developing speaking and listening skills.

Final Product

Our expedition culminated with a celebration of our learning with an unveiling of our production of ‘The Gruffalo’.