Kingman Island Field Trip
I teach in DCPS which is an urban school system that has limited access to forests, rivers and large outdoor areas for children to safely play. Most people haven’t even heard of Kingman Island nor visited even if they’ve lived in DC for awhile. Considering the environmental challenges the children I teach will experience in their lifetime (climate change, natural disasters, pollution, natural resources, etc.) it’s important to begin to cultivate a curiosity, awe and understanding of nature. One way to do this is to expose and imbed students in natural environments. I planned and executed this alternative path and gateway to nature with other colleagues.
Table of Contents
1. Teacher Research and Planning
2. Photos from Kingman Island
3. Student Reflections
4. Teacher Reflection
Table of Contents
1. Teacher Research and Planning
2. Photos from Kingman Island
3. Student Reflections
4. Teacher Reflection
Teacher Research and Planning
In order to expose children to the feeling of being completely surrounded by and in awe of nature I needed to find somewhere close to DC but far away from people. Kingman Island was a place I had only recently been introduced to but realized it would be the perfect location for us to visit not just because of the size of it but also because it's been in use as a living classroom for DC's residents for over a decade. The mission also aligned well with my school's philosophy of the "environment as the third teacher." There's much that I alone can't teach children without the help of nature and an outdoor classroom like Kingman Island.
Image from Kingman and Heritage Island's website
From the beginning of the year I had been emailing and meeting with other teachers about planning when we would go to Kingman and we discussed that it would be really cool if we could go twice but during different seasons to observe the differences. I collaborated with the other Pre-K teacher and our Atelierista to select the days that would work with our schedule and then designed a plan for what we would do while we were there including what materials and resources we would need to bring. We also had to contact a bus company to take us there and back and check our classroom budgets to see if we could cover it between the three of us.
The following schedule was developed in a planning meeting with myself, the other Pre-K teacher and our Atelierista. I then shared it with the families and also sat down with the students to discuss the field trip. I answered and questions they had about it and how it connected to some of the books we had been reading about nature, the earth, Earth Day and how we can be better stewards of the natural world. Children were very curious about the paths we would take, if we would eat outside, what we would be drawing, if they could run and what types of clothes they should wear.
I also organized sending out permission slips, signing up chaperones and sending reminder emails to all families so that they would be able to prepare their child for the field trip.
Photos from Kingman Island Field Trip
All photos taken by me.
The welcome sign to Kingman Island outlines some of the rules we need to follow while enjoying the outdoors.
We first take a hike through the trees and around the entire island to give the children some perspective of the size of it.
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We meet a scientist while on our walk who answers some of our questions about Kingman Island and what to expect! He shares that he's seen a few birds for us to be on the lookout for.
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Children discover tracks of some sort and hypothesize what they could be! Some think they could be dinosaur, dog or wolf tracks.
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When you look up there's no skyline insight and while we silently walked for a bit you couldn't even hear traffic. This was something most children in the class had not experienced.
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Children start creating sculptures out of sticks and logs they were finding.
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Children not only noticed the enormous trees we walked through but also some of the smallest plants too. This child holds up a feathery leave she found. Making discoveries like this at our school or elsewhere around DC is nearly impossible since it's such a city landscape. Planning experiences like this are extremely important to me and my teaching practice and I'm glad that the children were as in awe of the experience as I was.
While outdoors on the bridge a story about the naming of a tree was read and then children journaled about a tree that they saw on our walk. This all happened on a bridge overlooking the Anacostia River where 40 children were able to spread out and make their thinking visible. This could not exist within our classroom walls.
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Children test their limits both physically and social emotionally by climbing, waiting alongside friends and jumping off of rocks. The access to large rocks, the freedom to explore and take physical risks is something that could only be experience outside our classroom walls and away from the city center of DC where our school is.
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Reflections on Field Trip from Children
The children spent over half a day immersed in the natural environment of Kingman Island. Their connection to it and their later reflections made it clear that it was a meaningful experience for them and one that they would not forget. They also drew even more connections to the earth and wanting to care for it after connecting with it for a longer amount of time.
A child selects a tree from the bridge and draws it. She then names it inspired by the book we read about naming a tree. Each chid did the same.
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Later at school children created journal entries about the earth for Earth Day and reflected on what they were thankful for. These entries showed the gratitude many children now felt for the earth and its offerings that didn't previously exist in their reflections.
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Sharing the photos and video I took while on the field trip we did a reflection as a whole group and children shared their memories: "I liked helping W get over the log", "I liked it when we did a silent walk through the forest", "I remember watching the worm move", "My favorite tree I named Jewel", "Ms. McLean read us a story about a tree with a name" and "I learned how to tie sticks together."
A parent who attended the field trip with us also reflected on the Instagram photos I shared as well:
A parent who attended the field trip with us also reflected on the Instagram photos I shared as well:
Teacher Reflection
I was thrilled to get to share Kingman Island with my students since I knew many of them had never been before. The looks on their faces once we were inside amongst the tall trees and hum of nature was one of awe and I couldn't have been more pleased. The children collaborated, observed, hypothesized, discussed, wrote, drew, ran, jumped and experienced our social/emotional, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor and literacy standards in so more meaningful ways than I could ever recreate within the classroom walls. The collaboration I was able to do with the other Pre-K teacher and our Atelierista made sure that we were horizontally aligned as a grade level and were providing children with equitable experiences within the school. Ultimately, it made me realize that young children are extremely connected to nature but for urban kids we need to be intentional about providing them with those meaningful experiences or they miss out.