Stanley Park Field Trip Accelerated the Learning Objectives For My Grade 1 & 2 StudentsDate: September 18, 2019Written by: J. CurtisFrom: Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
We recently took our grade 1 and 2 combined class on a walking tour with Talaysay Tours in Stanley park. As a new teacher, I had many questions about what to expect for our class of 20 students. Our correspondence began in late November and I always received detailed responses in a timely manner which is so appreciated when you are juggling a teacher’s schedule. Talaysay Tours provided top quality customer care and was very supportive in creating an experience to best support the desired learning outcomes for my class.
Our two guides met our group of 20 students and 6 adults in Stanley park at our agreed spot in perfect timing and had already spent time checking our route for the day to assure our safety and quality of experience. My students listened so carefully while our guides combined legend, science, local First Nation’s traditional knowledge, music, and their personal family stories at a variety of sights through the park. Even though I have been coming to Stanley Park my whole life and consider myself to be fairly well educated, the majority of what was shared with us that day was completely new information. All of the adults on the tour live in downtown Vancouver and we all agreed that we had not been able to see Stanley park in this way before Talaysay shared this wonderful journey with us.
At school, I had been trying to guide my students to learning about how we are connected to the natural world and to the place we live in. The one hour and thirty minutes we spent with our guides accelerated our learning in that context in way that I had not yet been able to. The mind maps we have collectively made since our experience with Talaysay Tours have been very impressive. I am very grateful to Talaysay for providing the great service of sharing local First Nations stories and knowledge that I might not otherwise have access to as a Canadian with European heritage.
I hope to be able to take my class on this experience every year, and would highly recommend this field trip experience for any age group from Kindergarten through grade 12. Talaysay Tours is skilled at working with teachers to create the experience that best suits the needs of your class. I am attaching some of the work that my students produced as a reflection of our tour. Also, the photos were taken by my students using the few mini iPads that we brought along to record our journey.
