Use of the Outdoor Classroom and Nature-Study to Support Science and Literacy Learning: A Narrative Case Study of a Third-Grade Classroom
Source: Journal of Science Teacher Education, Volume 23, Issue 7, p. 789-803. November 2012.
The author describes a case study of an exemplary third grade teacher’s use of the outdoor classroom for meeting both state science and language arts standards.
Data from the researcher’s field journal, teacher lesson plans, and teacher interviews document how this teacher used nature-study to bridge outdoor classroom experiences with the state science and language arts curriculum.
The data reveal that this teacher’s early life experiences supported her strong interest in science and nature in the outdoors and experiencing it with her children.
Children interacted with the outdoor classroom throughout the day as a context for science and literacy learning.
All but one child successfully met Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) goals in reading at the end of the school year.