Urban Ranger Adventure

Hello Urban Rangers!

Marigolds we planted in July!  Thank you Nathan!

Mr. G noticed these blooming furiously in the courtyard! A lovely reminder of our amazing summer in the Lincoln courtyard.  UR recently presented our program to the School Committee as we search for funding some expansion ideas.  The Committee was very supportive and offered some great resources we are exploring.

One of the things we'd like to do is start Urban Ranger Adventure days, where we meet locally and explore, create, learn together outside the courtyard.

Today we will attend the Walk Boston event on Revere Beach from 11am-2pm.  If you are planning to go, please look for us and say hello!  We will be wearing our UR shirts--please wear yours too!  

For all we were unable to reach, we hope next time to offer more notice in advance of an event, but if you can make it today, we look forward to seeing you! 

Session 2, Day 3

This was our last day of Urban Rangers, and it was packed with more amazing learning experiences, and a celebration of the work we did together this week.  For me, this year's experience brought me back to all the wonderful aspects of learning and education.  Mr. G and I feel confident that every individual Ranger had a meaningful experience and felt the joy of learning--something they should feel every day!  Here are our last day highlights:

Designing the Excavation Site

Planting mint--thank you to Vincenzo!

puppet show planning

Nick suggested we create a puppet show using our tin insects made on Tuesday, so first thing we met at the center planter and brainstormed some ideas.  There were so many--and so many great ones!!!--but we were working in a time crunch so we had to make hard choices based on what we could really do in a short time.  Just to share a few of the ideas suggested:  creating a "movie trailer" for the puppet show, using special effects, such as thunderstorm sounds to illustrate weather in the courtyard, creating characters and an intricate storyline that would show the interdependence of life in the courtyard, and more.  I started out trying to organize ideas using chart paper and methods that made sense for me as an adult. After about 15 minutes and no results, I realized a better strategy might be to butt out and let the Rangers put something together on their own.  Almost instantly, as I retreated to a role of just making sure everyone's voice was heard, the Rangers put together a simple and effective plan for the puppet show.  This was a great example of how sometimes the best thing we can do as an adult in a teaching/learning environment is to take the back seat and allow students space to solve problems and create products on their own!

More insect exploration

Coming inside to finish landscapes

 

After our exploration and project time outside, we did a new entry in our nature journals, and then gathered as a whole group for a lesson in drawing and perspective with the courtyard as our landscape. The varied straight lines and curved lines that make up the courtyard landscape are a perfect subject to experiment with landscape sketching, so Mr G took full advantage of that!  This is traditionally our final (and one of the few) teacher-centered instruction projects for the UR week.  The sun was brutally hot by the time sketches were completed, so we opted to complete them with watercolor painting in the cool basement art room.  Whew!  It definitely felt like July out there!

 

Rangers used black Sharpies to outline their sketches and then added watercolors.  One Ranger requested crayon for adding color amidst a great debate over what would look better at her table.  Sticking to the plan, we could've insisted on paint, but that's not the way of Urban Rangers.  We encourage diverse ideas about how to do things and fully support a Ranger taking initiative to try something different.  This empowers learners as they gain confidence by experiencing their ideas being valued and exercising creative thinking--both critical skills for the 21st century!  With this small measure of flexibility, we gain so much.  In the end, it was decided that both watercolors AND crayon possess separate and effective aesthetic value in the finished products.

At 11am, we met our parent/family visitors in the school lobby.  Sharing our work with families is a key piece to the learning experience of Urban Rangers--because we recognize the value and importance of including families in the learning environment.  As with each Ranger group we have worked with over the past 2 summers, we were so grateful and amazed at the family turn out for our little event.  Watching our Rangers guide their visitors throughout the courtyard to share the experiences, activities, and finished work we participated in this week is wonderful.  Visitors expressed the same curiosity and engagement that the Rangers showed all week, and Mr G and I are so grateful for all of your supportive and positive feedback--for not only the program, but also for your children!  I know as a parent I am always thrilled to get a glimpse of who my kiddos are in the world outside home, and I also know, as a teacher, that kids are typically delighted to offer that glimpse when given the opportunity!

 

After enjoying our puppet show--which I hope to post a video of separately--we traveled down to the art room to share our portfolios of work.  Portfolios are a meaningful, real-world assessment practice that show evidence of individual learning, progress, and growth.  The requirements for UR portfolios simply include a collection of work, (either completed or in progress) that the Ranger can share.  There are many different kinds of portfolios out there, and sadly I have witnessed a gross misuse of not only the term, "portfolio", but also the practice, out there in the world of education.  Essentially a "true" portfolio, or at the very least an effective use of the portfolio as an assessment method is: a collection of artifacts that illustrate growth, progress, and learning of an individual in any learning context.  The learner is an essential part of the portfolio assessment process as the one who does the work, collects the work, reflects on the work, and shares the work.  In our context as a one week summer program, we focus on these essential aspects to produce a snapshot of the concepts we covered over the week, and the learning and experience of each Ranger.

  

                           

Thank you so much to all of the parents for your support of the Urban Rangers this year!  It wouldn't be a success without you!

Thank you to ALL of the Urban Rangers!!!  We are so grateful for the opportunity to work with you!

Have a wonderful summer and please stay tuned for more info on UR throughout the summer!

Please remember, as you are out in the world:

U R curious

U R bright

U can make a difference

and once U R an Urban Ranger, U R always an Urban Ranger!

Happy summer 2014!

Session Two, Day two

Our second day was a whirlwind of activity!  We lost a day this session due to the holiday, and today we felt it--more so for the leaders, I think, rather than the kids, but we left feeling exhausted yet satisfied that we were able to pull it off.  Mr. G and I may take a nap this afternoon! :)

So our day began with a wonderful specimen brought in by Giavanna--turtle eggs found in her uncle's backyard.  Very cool!  She did a great job sharing them with the group and we had a discussion about different types of eggs and the harsh realities of life in the wild--not every egg survives--but this is nature and that's the way it is.

Next it was off to the courtyard for more exploring and time to work on projects!

Re-visiting the excavation site from last summer

more bug collecting and creating mini-habitats

This group LOVES to dig!  Yesterday Rangers discovered a tunnel underground and there was much hypothesizing about what kind of animal made it, where the tunnels connect and lead to, and how to explore yet preserve the area.

mud painting

Work began on the secret space in the courtyard, a project initiated by Valentina and several Rangers joined her.

 

And more bug collecting!

Today Rangers worked on filling in their excavation in preparation for tomorrow's parent visit.

In one corner of the courtyard, this lovely tree grows.  We hoped to identify it today, however there was too much happening.  Rangers, led by Valentina, cleared an entrance to the secret Urban Hideout.  Next they cleared the under side of the tree of dead branches in order to make it a better space to stand and move around.


Rangers decorated the entrance and created a secret hideout within the courtyard.  Great job!

 

Today we also made our tye-dye t-shirts using the method of "batik", which is traditionally a wax-resist way of dyeing fabric used in various countries around the world.  Because we are short on time, Mr G & I used our "wax" (which actually was Elmer's blue washable school glue and wrote "Urban Rangers 2014" last night.  This morning, after a quick demo, Rangers spiraled their t-shirts and added blue and green (UR colors) dye to the shirts.  Mr G & I will rinse them tonight and they will be ready to unfurl and wear by morning.  We hope!

 

 

 Emma and Marcella had some tye-dye experience, and it was awesome to have them share their experience with this technique with the other Rangers.  Thanks girls!

Last week I posted about the wonderful social development opportunities in a multi-age program (see Session One, Last day post), and these are a few snapshots of that in action.  These days, social skill-building is usually at the bottom of the priority list in public education, which is a shame because it's at the forefront of our students' minds--always.  Social interactions often dominate academic learning time, and all it takes is time and attention to make those social aspects work to enhance learning, rather than distract from it.  Think back to your own memories of school.  Who remembers that great phonics lesson in second grade?  NOBODY!!!  What most people remember are the social interactions and experiences they had, and when we fuse the two areas (social and academic) together in a learning experience, it resonates deeply.

Today we had a special guest visit from Steve, the school custodian.  He was genuinely interested in what we were doing and what we discovered.  He was also able to answer some questions we had about the school's history.  The best and most effective learning environments include ALL of the adults and children in the building as part of a community of learners.  Today, Steve gave us this wonderful experience.  He shared his knowledge and questions, and we shared ours.  Thanks, Steve!

Always important to have time to be silly!

snack and share

 

 

We have been visited by several huge dragonflies this session, and today, Chloe caught one in her bare hands!  Now that's a UR moment for sure!  Everyone crowded around in awe and with questions and congratulations.  We made sure to be gentle handling the little guy/gal, and set it free after everyone got to see it up close.

 

We took a break from activities, projects, digging, and exploring to nature journal, which is a daily routine for Urban Rangers.  Nature journalling allows us to stop and take a moment to reflect on what we've observed.  It involves that incredibly important skill of reflecting, but also analyzing, writing, recording information, and critical thinking.  Nature journalling has been used by scientists for hundreds of years--think Darwin!  It's a fantastic way to relax as an adult also.  Check out these links for more info!

sierra club

Nature Connection workbook--great resource we use!

pinterest resources

 

 

 

This is also a great way to get kids recording what they have learned--a meaningful, valuable form of assessment that also exercises meta-cognitive skills, (that is, when we think about our own thinking--really important for learners to do!!!)  And it serves as documentation for learning--a powerful resource for teachers to use to learn about how students are thinking, what interests them, and where they are in terms of academic skills.  Plus it's fun, and you don't have to be Picasso to be good at it because it combines the use of several skills!

There was a little more time for exploring as we want our Rangers outdoors as long as possible and it is hard to pull them away from such engaging, focused work.  And there were just too many fabulous pictures from today not to add a few more!

In the art room we read a story about symmetry--an important math concept that we see often in nature. Our centers today included:
* making symmetrical pictures and symmetry blobs
* clay insects
* milk jug birdfeeders
*snail painting
* book look

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a busy morning but lots of fun and active engagement!  We ran out of time for work on the puppet show, but several Rangers have expressed interest in this so it's top of the agenda tomorrow morning.  Seems too soon, but tomorrow is our last day of the session.  We hope parents/family members can join us at 11am in the school lobby to share our work!  Rest well, Rangers!
See you tomorrow!