A Revery: Our First Field Trip

On Day 3 of school, we went on our first field trip to a local park with a lovely little lake.  We started with our typical morning meeting-- but in the grass surrounded by water and the sound of the wind in the trees. We read this poem by Emily Dickinson:

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee

One clover, and a bee. 

And revery.

The revery alone will do,

If bees are few.

We then briefly talked about what a revery is (a daydream) and the prairie ecosystem where we live. The children spent the next four hours, exploring, picnicking, pretending --a true revery-- and kayaking on the little lake. 

As they played after I had finished taking them out in the kayak, I listened for questions the children had about the nature around them, careful only to listen rather than answer, to allow extended time and space for wonder. One of the children is reading the book Magic by the Lake, and the children reveled in the daydream of the lake granting wishes about saving polar bears and their cubs.

When we returned to our learning space, it was an ideal time to introduce Wonder Boxes to the children, a concept Debbie Miller writes about in her book Reading with Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades.  The children each received an index card box (like used for recipes) and some blank index cards to record questions to investigate during our learning workshop times, stretches of time in which the children read and explore.  

I shared with the children that I had heard them ask questions while we were at the park: What is that red building?  What kind of crane is that? What are these flowers? What is the Potawatomi Trail of Death? They recorded their questions on cards.  I shared the book Plant a Pocket of Prairie by Phyllis Root with them, which provided for us the name of the plant we had wondered about (Joe Pye Weed) and inspired the children to create a prairie garden.  We agreed to another field trip soon to a local nature center to learn more about what plants are native to our area. Soon, we will identify a space for a prairie garden, track the amount of sun it receives, and research plants. 

The children researched the answers to their remaining questions and shared what they learned with each other. They will keep their research notes in their Wonder Boxes to spark further inquiry when we begin more developed projects later.

We were able to make progress toward mastery of the following standards in this day: (We have a 2nd grader, 4th grader, and 5th grader). 

ELA (Common Core): RI.2.1, RI.4.9, RI.5.1, W.2.8, W.4.9, W.5.7, W.5.9

Social Studies (KS standards): 4.1 for both 2nd and 5th grades

Science (NGSS): 2-LS-4-1, 5-ESS-3-1