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No matter the learning environment (indoor or outdoor classrooms), when learning is active, experiential, and applied in real-world contexts, it is memorable and more easily committed to long-term memory.
- Joan James & Theresa Williams -
This part of our story explores how we brought math and outdoor learning together and focuses on our experiences with teaching and observing a math lesson. We share our story as an example of a first step to teaching math outdoors.
Our math lesson included three parts: a warm up activity, creating and playing their own beanbag toss game, and a concluding reflection.
Kim's Thoughts
After many hours working together to plan this one lesson for our capstone project, we were ready. I arrived, armed with my iPad and tripod, ready to film Lana teaching her students an outdoor math lesson. My role for this step in our project was data collector. When I began to film, I could tell Lana was nervous. Was this because the math lesson was outdoors or because she was being recorded? I wasn't sure.
Together, Lana and I planned and prepared an outdoor math lesson for her to teach to her grade two students. Here is our story of taking math outdoors.
Lana's Thoughts
After checking the weather report for June 14, 2022 I felt a little apprehensive. There was a chance of showers and my students would likely not remember to bring jackets to school. What was our rain plan again? Kim and I had been putting so much planning into this outdoor math lesson it felt that we should be ready for anything, and yet the plan for rain was just a quick thought of moving part of the lesson across campus to a larger undercover area. I prayed that it wouldn’t rain.
"Kim and I had been putting so much planning into this outdoor math lesson it felt that we should be ready for anything..."
Over the past few months Kim and I had spent many hours preparing this outdoor math lesson. To be honest, a ridiculous amount of hours. We were prepared with a plan that should work and I was pretty sure my students would enjoy it. It was the last full week of school and they were rather squirrely. We were ready to go. Or were we? Why was I so nervous? I felt like a new teacher again. Why were we doing this? I reminded myself of the reasons we were doing math outside…. good for the kids, fresh air, room to move, a fun way to practice some addition…..
While planning our lesson, we brainstormed what sort of materials the students would be able to use outside. What natural materials were in the forest area that students could use to create shapes and their game? What could they throw? We tossed around the ideas of pinecones, sticks and rocks. We thought of bringing out skipping ropes and other materials from the classroom. At that point in our planning stage, Lana exclaimed, "That's a lot of stuff. I wasn’t thinking it would be that much stuff." The thought of carting all the supplies outside was another hurdle. We tried to simplify the amount of supplies we were taking from inside and ended up just taking clipboards, pencils and beanbags - nice and simple.
Line up grade 2’s, we’re going outside for math. The students were excited. This was a special lesson that Mrs.Bartram was coming to video record.
We’ll meet in the usual spot in the outdoor classroom!
After a few light showers in the morning the weather was now dry and comfortable. The students ran off to the picnic tables. We had used this as a meeting place before and I wanted to use a familiar routine.
Students comparing stick lengths
To begin, I gave the students 30 seconds to go find one stick in the forest and gather at the side of the track. Students ran back with their sticks, some short, some long. One boy even tried to bring back a log! Another brought a long curved stick that he used like a skipping rope.
Your job, Grade 2’s, is to sort yourselves into a line from the shortest stick to the longest.
Without realizing it, students were engaged in a simple math activity, sorting and comparing length.
Once they were in order, I quickly paired them off. The main math activity we had planned required partners and I wanted to group students randomly. While planning the lesson, I realized my routines for making random partners were best done inside the classroom, like using matching popsicle sticks. I came up with this outdoor idea since Kim and I were trying to use materials that were already outside as much as possible. Bringing the least amount of classroom supplies outside felt right.
"Bringing the least amount of classroom supplies outside felt right."
Now that students were in pairs I explained that we would be making a game together, but we would need a whole bunch of sticks so they could build it. I sent them with their partners to collect sticks that were about as long as their forearm. Once again they were doing some math - using their bodies to measure!
Making sure the sticks are about as long as their forearm
During this activity it was fun to see the students measuring the sticks against their arms. They took their teacher’s instructions quite literally and were breaking branches to be the actual length of their forearm. Students were working together, measuring and verifying the accuracy of the sticks they were collecting.
So far so good, but the track area was feeling rather open without clear boundaries. I hadn’t fully anticipated how uncomfortable this would make me feel. As students came back I wanted them to be closer to me so I asked them to sit in a semi-circle. I had a bit of difficulty getting them into this shape. Reflecting back, I wonder what kind of structured space or routine would be best. It would have been easier to have something set up with the students ahead of time.
With materials in hand, I asked each pair of students to create a shape with some of their sticks.
Put your hands on your head if you have a shape made!
Using a strategy like this to grab their attention was helpful. Students shared the shape they had created and we looked at which ones might be good as a target for a beanbag toss. Without realizing it, they had done a bit more math - creating shapes.
As students worked, I noticed Lana constantly scanning to keep an eye on everyone…looking to the left, right and then behind her. Taking her students outdoors to learn was a new experience, and I could sense her concern for how far away the students were. Her concern was unnecessary though, as I looked around, I saw all the students engaged in creating their shapes.
"Without realizing it, they had done a bit more math..."
Finally, I explained the game I wanted them to create and how they were to record their learning.
Design your game with targets that have different point values... You will get three bean bags to toss onto the targets… The player with the highest score wins… Any questions?
Now, it was the last week of school and a bunch of 8 year olds have just been given permission to play with sticks on the gravel. Did they even hear what I said?
Put your finger on your nose if you’re listening.
It didn’t take long to get their attention and it turns out they really were listening! They are truly a wonderful group of students.
As Lana was giving instructions, I observed most students playing with gravel, making patterns with their sticks, building little towers... they seemed to be very distracted by the materials in front of them. The students were not looking at her and as an observer, I would conclude that they were not listening to her. However, once they got to work, it was obvious they had been listening - they knew what to do.
It was time to send the students off to create their game. I had told the students where to work but realized some of my students needed a visual clue to clarify what I meant. One group asked if they could work in an area clear on the other side of the forest. As it so happened some pylons had been left outside. I gladly took advantage of this and moved them into place to better define our working area.
I wandered around as they worked, checking in with different pairs. Everyone seemed to be engaged in the activity! It was easy to tell who was having the most difficulty. There was really only one pair of students who were in the wrong place and doing the wrong thing - sword fighting! After a quick check in, I had them back on task and creating their game.
Lots of running!
During the lesson and later while watching the video recording, I noticed, as an observer, how much movement there was. Students were moving about, standing then sitting, throwing bean bags, darting around the picnic tables, running and looking at games from different angles. Students working at the picnic tables went from sitting on the bench to sitting on the table, then moved to a different table. However, because we were outside, movement was not an issue as it would be in a classroom. I reflected on the effect behavior would have in a classroom; I’m sure it would have been much more disruptive. I’m also sure that some of the behaviors, like sitting on the table, chasing someone around a table, would have been stopped quite quickly. The movement did not stop students from completing their task, nor did it distract other students. Perhaps because they had that chance to move and play, they were more able to focus on their task. I was reminded of a study of forest schools in the UK (Harris , 2018) that found that when students were outdoors they felt free to run, shout or find a quiet space away from others.
"There was really only one pair of students who were in the wrong place and doing the wrong thing - sword fighting!"
"There was really only one pair of students who were in the wrong place and doing the wrong thing - sword fighting!"
As students finished up, they began to play their games. Many students had their clipboards out checking and recording their points as they played. There was a lot of noise and throwing, but really, it was very pleasant. It was a happy noise. Students in my class who are normally sensitive to a loud classroom environment didn’t seem to mind.
Finally, I quickly paired two groups of students who were close to each other so they could teach the other group the game they had made. I felt it went really well. It was a highlight for me to see my students sharing their game and playing together.
I ended the lesson by asking students to reflect on three questions - where did you see math in what you did today, what did you like about your game and what might you do differently next time. It was a nice quiet wrap up; students were thoughtful as they wrote their answers down. When they had finished and returned their supplies, there was a short run to our regular outdoor line-up spot. At the end of the day many students mentioned that the outdoor math activity as one of the highlights of their day.
As Lana gave directions to the class for the last part of the lesson, a reflection of their learning, I once again noticed all the movement. Some students sat and listened, others stood, and a few walked around. Once they started to work, there was a lot of talking - there was supposed to be, because they were reflecting together about their learning. In a classroom, we would probably ask students to "spy talk" or whisper. Outdoors there was no need for that, one less thing to manage.
References
References
James, J. K., & Williams, T. (2017). School-based experiential outdoor education: A neglected necessity. The Journal of Experiential Education, 40(1), 58-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825916676190
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