Developing an Awareness of the Environment
Some introductory activities to encourage children to develop a sensitivity towards their environment.
- Awareness walk to see particular items of interest, e.g. Flowering Cherry.
Encourage them to look using all their senses. Ask them what they see; how they feel; what is happening; what it makes them think of. Look high above; lie down; find a special place. Sometimes changing the children's perspective will develop interesting ideas. Encourage answers to be given as phrases. Give credit for original and perceptive thoughts. Ideas can be written down in the field by the teacher or child, be taped or remembered back in class. Class thoughts written by the teacher with individual contributions or personal writing can follow.
- What I saw walk
A similar idea is a 'What I Saw' walk where children go on a class or individual walk and return to write thoughts suggested by what they have seen starting with 'I saw...' The teacher should be on the lookout for poetic responses when they occur, but the main emphasis is on encouraging the children to develop awareness.
- Question answer technique
The question and answer techniques is particularly successful with the hesitant writer, who often has a history of writing failure with a corresponding loss of confidence and self image. This requires that the individual child has experienced something that has captured his imagination. The teacher has to be awake to the potential of the selected topic, directing children's thoughts by asking questions and writing down the responses of the child. How? Why? When? Where? How did you feel? What do you think? Such questions help the child recall. This technique helps children clarify and intensify their thoughts. The teacher also gains an insight into the child's thinking, shares an experience with the child and most of all, the child gains recognition and success in the knowledge that the teacher cares for his ideas. This method can be used with a range of content areas and need not always result in a written statement. With a whole class outdoors in the bush, for example, the question and answer technique is a way of helping children direct their thoughts in what, if it is a new experience, can be a confusing situation.
- Going solo
The children find a place by themselves to sit quietly. As awareness is the main concern there is no need for writing to always be a requirement. After a time of reflection children write or draw whatever comes into their minds. To succeed children must be well spaced out so that no talking is possible - along the school fence line perhaps. With experience, the time for going solo can be extended.
- Observing a particular thing, place, object
Directing individual children to observe some particular place, thing, person or object and write thoughts. Topics can be written on cards, for example, 'sit by the incinerator. What does it make you think of...'
- Focus on particular incidental event
An activity for the whole class is to focus on one particular incident, perhaps a heavy shower of hail, and all contribute thoughts. A map of ideas expressed by all the children can be written on the blackboard. Use this only as an introductory activity because children will be influenced by what is said and written. If children are to write their own thoughts, such charts are best rubbed out. Ideally, with skill, children can write out their own flo-charts of lists of impressions following an experience.
Through these activities children will learn to value their own thoughts about the experiences, incidents and happenings in their lives. Such activities help them in selecting and focussing on what is important to them and provide them with the confidence to communicate and share their thoughts orally in written language and in drawing.
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