During 491 I was fortunate enough to do a professional development day with my coaching teacher, Amy, her coaching teacher, and the classroom’s educational assistant. It was about using things from the environment in artwork to connect students to the land. It was all a little advanced for kindergarten, but it was great to see how other teachers use the land in their teaching. It is a great way to connect students to the area the live in, and opens up room for discussions on responsible harvesting and Indigenous knowledge. The three projects they showed were feather painting, a macramé tree which incorporated moss, sticks, etc., and a hanging decoration that used round cuttings from tree branches as well as other outside material. They were all so engaging to do, and really allowed me to think about how I could do similar things for younger students, like using pinecones to create bird feeders, or even using their hanging template but adding food for birds and other small creatures. We are lucky enough to live in an area with access to nature, we should use it, responsibly. It just makes the learning that much more engaging, particularly if students get the chance to collect the supplies.
