"The first curricular-focused outdoor learning textbook for prospective and practising K-12 teachers, this book provides both academic justification and practical support for educators working in a wide variety of environments and with diverse populations of students to incorporate more meaningful outdoor learning opportunities into their daily teaching activities. Learning Outside the Classroom is not a set of prescriptive activities that can be read and used uncritically. The idea of adaptation for personal relevance is central. All teachers are capable of enhancing their students' learning experiences by systematically and progressively incorporating ventures outside the classroom into their lessons. The principles and examples presented in this book are intended to be adapted by teachers to suit the needs of their students in ways that draw upon content offered by the local landscape and its natural and built heritage. Nor is this book just about outdoor learning; it's about good teaching -- wherever it takes place. It is about helping teachers devise and use the tools with which they can address the largely uncontested assumption that legitimate learning only occurs within four walls. Learning outside the classroom affords teachers the privilege of helping and the joy of observing students in a process of intellectual, emotional, and social growth that can last a lifetime"-- Provided by publisher.

This book demonstrates how the outdoor environment is enriching learning opportunities for children and deepening their connections with the natural world.

A beautifully designed book full of creative ideas and fun activities to get your children outdoors, with a foreword by Chris Packham. Spending time outdoors and interacting with the elements gives our senses a host of stimuli that cannot be recreated indoors. Whether you're splashing in muddy puddles, making shelters, foraging blackberries, playing hide and seek or watching birds, experiencing the natural world reduces stress, makes us feel alive and lays critical foundations for a healthy developing brain. Learning with Nature is ideal for parents, teachers and youth workers looking to enrich children's learning through nature and teach them to enjoy and respect the great outdoors. Written by experienced Forest School practitioners, it is packed with more than 100 tried and tested games and activities suitable for groups of children aged between 3 and 16, which aim to help children develop key practical and social skills and gain a better awareness of the world. The book is well-organised and features step-by-step instructions, age guides, a list of resources needed, and invisible learning points. Explore, have fun, make things and learn about nature with this fantastic guide.

This book shows how a wide range of contexts for learning science can be used outside of the classroom, and includes learning: at museums, science centres and planetaria from newspapers, magazines and through ICT at industrial sites and through science trails at zoos, farms, botanic gardens, residential centres and freshwater habitats in school grounds. With contributions from well known and respected practitioners in all fields of science education and through using case studies, Learning Science Outside the Classroom offers practical guidance for teachers, assistant teaching staff and student teachers involved in primary and secondary education. It will help enable them to widen the scientific experience and understanding of pupils. The advice in this book has been checked for safety by CLEAPSS.

Learning outside the classroom has been high on the political agenda for several years now, but recent Ofsted reports indicate that this can be confined to termly or yearly trips, as an 'extra'. This book provides a convincing and readable promotion of regular outdoor learning. It draws on relevant research to reinforce that working in 'real' environments benefits children's all-round development – cognitively, emotionally, physically and spiritually. This is illustrated through a wide range of engaging activities, from how to make a scarecrow, to interpreting a painting in a gallery, from getting the best from a library visit, to how best to attack a medieval castle. This practical guide for busy teachers will help them to link what they do in and out of the class. It's a must for every staffroom bookshelf.

In this provocative book, authors Washor and Mojkowski observe that beneath the worrisome levels of dropouts from our nation’s high school lurks a more insidious problem: student disengagement from school and from deep and productive learning. To keep students in school and engaged as productive learners through to graduation, schools must provide experiences in which all students do some of their learning outside school as a formal part of their programs of study. All students need to leave school—frequently, regularly, and, of course, temporarily—to stay in school and persist in their learning. To accomplish this, schools must combine academic learning with experiential learning, allowing students to bring real-world learning back into the school, where it should be recognized, assessed, and awarded academic credit. Learning outside of school, as a complement to in-school learning, provides opportunities for deep engagement in rigorous learning.

One of the keys to a happy and creative classroom is getting out of it and this book will give you the confidence to do just that. Drawing on academic research, Juliet explains why learning outdoors is so beneficial and provides plenty of tips and activities to help you to integrate outdoor learning into your teaching practice, providing a broad range of engaging outdoor experiences for your students. There is no need for expensive tools or complicated technologies: all you need is your coat and a passion for learning - oh, and you'd better bring the kids too! Topics covered include: forest schools, learning outside the classroom, outdoor education, nature activities, caring for the environment, play in schools, investigative play, urban outdoor activities, problem solving, creative thinking and strategies for supporting curriculum objectives. For all primary practitioners who want to shake up their usual classroom routine and discover the benefits of teaching outdoors. Dirty Teaching was a finalist in the Non-Fiction People's Book Prize Winter 2014 collection.