Engaging Young Children In The Outdoor Environment Essay

In the video, “Engaging Young Children In The Outdoor Environment” I found a lot of the activities to be wonderful for the children. I was able to connect my previous knowledge of the course’s modules to understand the activities shown. All of the activities that the children took part in were available outside on the school’s property. The teacher stated “we believe outside play is just as important as indoor play.” The children were able to run around and choose the activities they wanted to partake in. The video started off inside with the teacher showing the children the different activities that would be available outside. The teacher modeled to the class what they would be using outside. She also used call and response to keep the students engaged with what she had to say. With all of the activities outdoor activities, the teacher is assessing using performance assessment

All of these materials/activities motivated the students to use them and to be engaged in play. In module 14, we learned about authentic tasks and how it was important for students to be involved in activities that are authentic. “It’s important to help create an authentic task in the classroom that is applicable to the real world for students. The utility value certainly matters to students beyond the interest value; it should make sense that if something can be applied in the “adult world” with a knowledgeable and helpful person, students will then have some amount of interest in learning” (Kristine Forney). The activities that were available were authentic for the students. Pulling weeds, writing/drawing, playing pretend picnic, and etc are all activities that could be done in the “real