I recently taught literacy for the second time. The objective for the lesson was to gather some effective adjectives based on senses, to put into a storyboard to then use in their writing on the following day. After discussion at literacy training, about how we must get the children to experience something and encourage lots of talk around the subject, before they actually begin to write a descriptive piece, I decided to take the class outside to use their senses and think about what they saw, felt, heard etc TS4: promote a love of learning and children’s intellectual curiosity. Many times, children haven’t actually had these real experiences in the outdoors, so it is important to give them a real sense of what it is like, before getting them to write TS5: have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and how best to overcome these. This was the first time I had done something like this, and it was out of my comfort zone as I was worried about children being silly and not paying attention to what I was expecting them to do. Luckily, it was very controlled, and we stood around in a circle and had some moments of silence to think and use our senses to take in what the season was like, and come up with some good ideas to then feedback in the classroom in group discussion TS1: establish a safe and stimulating environment for pupils, rooted in mutual respect. This was effective, and the children did come up with some lovely ideas based on their experiences outdoors which were fed back in the lesson TS4: impart knowledge and develop understanding through effective use of lesson time. In discussion with my mentor during my feedback, she praised the idea, but gave me some wonderful suggestions that I hadn’t thought about before, which could have stretched their learning further, and been more of a valuable experience TS4: reflect systematically on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching. One idea that she gave me, was assigning a child to be photographer, and take some photographs outdoors which could have then been printed off and stuck in books, or printed out and placed on tables for them to refer back to when they were brainstorming ideas, to support them. This would have been very effective, as I noticed that some children were passively engaged whilst outdoors, and not paying full attention, as when we came back inside some had no ideas and had forgotten what it was that they saw or heard. These photographs would have jogged their memory and supported them in the lesson TS4: promote a love of learning and children’s intellectual curiosity . Another good idea, would have been a nature walk, spending more time outside, as we were only outside for around 5 minutes. Here, we could’ve walked around the outside area and walked over the crunchy leaves, to get a real feel for what it sounded like, and come up with some good adjectives to describe it. We could have stood underneath a tree and done some more exploring. This would have enriched their experiences. TS4: promote a love of learning and children’s intellectual curiosity . During the lesson, I feel like I had a good idea by taking them outside, which was informed by recent training and observations of others in literacy lessons. However, I recognise many different ways in which I could’ve extended this TS4: promote a love of learning and children’s intellectual curiosity, and made it a more valuable experience for the children through letting go a little, and having less control whilst still maintaining a safe environment for the class through call and response etc TS1: establish a safe and stimulating environment for pupils, rooted in mutual respect. If I were to do a similar activity, I would have made this last much longer, and turned it into a nature walk, possibly with clipboards of which they could write down some ideas ready to feedback in the classroom. TS4: impart knowledge and develop understanding through effective use of lesson time. Focused next steps to impact on your progress or the progress of the children in your care: Think of ways to further enrich experiences in times such as these Let the class take control more, whilst still establishing a safe environment with high expectations for behaviour. All Stories