Field Trips Offer Real-World Learning
In the coming months, elementary students will visits places including John Jay Homestead, Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Sharpe Reservation, and Trailside Nature Museum, and Gossett Brothers Nursery.
These trips support and enliven curriculum, as well as increase empathy, tolerance, and teamwork.
establishing a sense of acceptance and belonging
Cooperation . . . communication . . . problem solving . . . strategizing
Katonah Elementary School's fifth graders visited the Challenge Course on Putnam | Northern Westchester BOCES' Yorktown campus in late September. They were excited for a day of climbing, balancing, and being in the woods. Before any of the challenges, they talked about how they would need each other to accomplish certain tasks.
"The students compiled a list of characteristics of an effective team and continued to build that list throughout the day,” said Dorna L. Schroeter, Program Coordinator of the Challenge Course. “They came up with cooperation, communication, problem solving, and strategizing. Students participated in a series of initiatives and challenges. After each activity, we processed the experience in light of those characteristics. Emphasis is placed on transferring these skills from the activities to the school environment."
“The students discovered that each member of a group is important, must be heard, and needs to be included if the group is going to be successful,” said fifth grade teacher Judy McBride.