Steps to Creating a History Walk Linking Food, Culture, and the Environment

Tags:

Curriculum Development

Place of Learning:

Contributor

ESY Berkeley Teaching Staff
Edible Schoolyard Project
Berkeley, CA

Tags

Summary:

The goal of this resource is to inspire you in the many ways you can use an outdoor classroom to teach virtually any discipline.

Identify the objective, time period, and civilization for your history walk

Collaboration with the classroom teacher is an effective way to ensure the relevance of your history walk.

What are the history content standards at different grades?
Where in the curriculum do teachers at your site want support?
Where in the grade level scope and sequence does your history walk best fit (before, during, or after they have studied the content in the classroom)?

Brainstorm ideas for the station rotations

The use of stations has proven to be an effective way of creating a rich experience for student learning.

How many stations will you have? Who will cover each station?
In what hands-on activities can students participate?
What resources are in your garden and community that could connect to the history walk?

Connect to classroom learning

Assessing students’ existing knowledge prior to the activity allows you to tailor your delivery to each group.

What information would you like students to have before coming to the garden?
How can you build upon the students’ prior knowledge of the topic?
How does participation in the history walk help students demonstrate mastery of grade-level history standards?
What follow-up activities can teachers do in the classroom to enhance the experience in the garden?

Gather and organize the materials – including visual aids – needed for each station.

Creating kits for each station has offered some organization and efficiency to what can be a complex set-up process.

Pilot your history walk with enthusiasm and remain open to changes as you deliver an engaging experience to your students. Have fun!