Walking through the Autumn Leaves with Kindergarteners

Do you get outside with your kindergarteners?  In this day and age of kindergarten, every minute seems dedicated to Common Core-based curriculum in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, plus ( if you're lucky), art, music and PE.  If your school has a scheduled recess, it is probably before/after lunch and, most likely, you do not supervise recess.  So, I'm wondering if many kindergarten teachers are able to get outside with their students much at all.....

I, myself , do not get outside often with my students.  Readers of this blog know that I take my class outside on Green Day to look closely and describe what they see in the grass.  On another occasion, we walk around the school property to locate and read all the environmental print (street signs, banners, murals,etc.)  If it's that rare warm day in winter or early spring, we may take an outside route to or from one of our related arts classes.  But 21st century elementary education does not typically afford much time to enjoy outside learning.

Nonetheless, most years, I manage to take my class on one special walk through the neighborhood surrounding our school. You see, I live just two blocks from school!  For me, working and living in the same community has been a very good decision.  It has helped me connect with the everyday lives of my students.  I know where they shop, worship, take swim lessons, and play soccer because my family has visited those places, too. So, the destination of our annual community walk has always been my house.

In the early years, during the first couple of weeks of school, we took the walk on Red Day.  We had a BIG tomato crop for a few years and it was fun for the kids to come pick a tomato to take home.  Neighbors used to come out to watch the parade of children all dressed in red.

One sadly memorable year, we walked to my house right before the holidays.  I thought the children would enjoy seeing holiday decorations.  My eldest son was home from his freshman year at college and he met us at the door with a tray of cookies and the sad news which he whispered in my ear.  Our beloved Balinese cat had suddenly died.  I had to mask my feelings and lead the class back to school with that knowledge weighing me down.  But the kids had a great time!

In memory of Prancer.

For several years, our walk was in the spring towards the end of school.  Everyone brought a picnic lunch and we had a picnic in the backyard under a big maple tree.  My husband was on hand to shoot hoops and give gentle pushes on the tree swing.

But, for the past 5 years, the walk has been during the fall and tied into our unit on the community.  I send home this note to parents which you can grab HERE:

Before the walk, the children dictate sentences about what we might see on the way to my house.

As we walk, I point out common features in a neighborhood like fences, and we talk about why some people have fences.

We look at American flags and discuss why people fly flags and how we are (mostly) Americans.

We practice looking left, right, and left again before we cross the quiet neighborhood streets.

At my house, we have a treat on the front deck, sometimes apple cider or donuts.

And, back at school, we get out our whiteboards and dry-erase markers. We practice drawing what we saw and using our sounds to spell the words.  This year, we also made little booklets with 3 flaps. Under each flap, we drew and wrote what we saw on our community walk.  You can have a copy of the tri-flap booklets RIGHT HERE.

Students cut on the dotted lines and fold down the flaps.
Then they draw a picture and write the word behind each flap.

Of course, you don't have to make your home the destination for a neighborhood walk.  Simply walking around a block or two adjacent to your school can provide you and your students with a shared, pleasant experience outdoors, material for good writing, and good memories to last a long time.