Super Natural Adventures in the Classroom

Now that 2009 is in full swing we can truly appreciate what little free time we have, both as parents and teachers. I know I have my work cut out for me this spring if I want to keep all my proverbial balls in the air. One exciting new project I’m working on is getting Super Natural Adventures into the classrooms of my two youngest sons (or more accurately, getting those children out of the classroom!) Both Michael and Will are going on class field trips this spring and SNA is hopping on board to film their adventures and turn them into segments to post on the website.

Each field trip will be different in the content (and characters) but they will both get the children out of the deductive, structured style of learning they’re all too accustomed to and out into the wild world of inductive education. With inductive learning, children become co-teachers of their lessons as they are able to experience the world first hand and draw their own conclusions.

What ‘s interesting about inductive learning is that teachers don’t need to give the children information in the form of answers, but rather questions that allow them to process and interpret that information for themselves. In short, the teacher is helping the students learn on their own. In the article, “The Many Faces of Inductive Teaching and Learning” by Michael Prince and Richard Felder, it is stressed that internalization of information occurs when children are able to connect what they’re learning in the classroom to the outside world. (Cue SNA video clip…)

Super Natural Adventures is a perfect example of inductive learning and can be used in any classroom for any age group. Simply determine which unit of your lesson fits in with the SNA content (i.e. environmental issues, ecosystems, animals, and the list goes on…) and plan a field trip with your students to explore and learn first hand. The kids will be in charge of researching the content, developing a story line and ultimately shooting the video. And the real bonus is that once they post the video online, they’re able to share their experience with the rest of the world, which gets them more than a little enthusiastic about doing the project!

Let me know what video ideas your class comes up with!