I want to extend my sincerest gratitude for affording my students the opportunity to experience this amazing program. The Walking Classroom is an exceptional addition to our daily activities. I cannot tell you how truly excited and motivated my students are to go on our walks each week. I teach third, fourth, and fifth grade students. Every single day the first thing I hear upon entering the classroom is, “Are we walking today?!”
The pure elation is heard in cries of excitement when I confirm that we are, indeed, heading out for a walk. And when I have to break the bad news that we do not have the time in our schedule to listen to a podcast that particular day, there is no attempt to mask their disappointment. My students love getting out of the classroom to take a walk in the fresh air to stretch their legs and minds. After all, what child, or adult for that matter, finds sitting in a classroom for hours on end truly conducive to learning?
Integrating the podcast lessons found with The Walking Classroom program with our curriculum has been so beneficial for my students. My fifth grade students just finished up a cross-curricular unit of study. We covered Stock Market Crash (5-#86, Complete-#115), Great Depression (5-#87, Complete-#116), Dust Bowl (5-#88, Complete-#117), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inauguration speech.
At the end of the unit, students pretended as if they were present during FDR’s speech. They had to write a letter to the president telling him how his speech impacted their family. Students were to integrate what they learned about those difficult times to create a background story and then explain how FDR’s words motivated and inspired them.
It is impossible to express how beneficial The Walking Classroom was in this investigation of history. The conversations following each podcast led to more questions and exploration of each topic. My students were beyond proud of all that they learned, often stating that their older siblings “didn’t even know” the things we discussed.
I sincerely thank you for the valuable and energizing addition to our classroom! With your assistance my students found a new joy in learning this school year. We are extremely grateful.
Tammy Hanby
AAP Teacher
West Park Place Elementary
Leave a Reply