Outdoor play-based number sense and numeration experiences for primary levelled students

Abstract

Classroom educators have a great deal of responsibility beyond the generally understood career description of delivering lessons. As educators are creating well thought out lessons that are differentiated to meet the needs of students, they must also keep up with on-going school community initiatives as well as craft delicately worded report cards. The purpose of this Portfolio Package is two-fold. As mentioned, educators are often bombarded with multiple, and often competing school initiatives. A commonly heard initiative is to enhance traditional classroom learning by utilizing outdoor activities and resources. This Portfolio Package first serves the purpose to be a resource for educators to quickly locate inspiration for play-based mathematical experiences. Secondly, this document serves the purpose to support, and motivate educators who are feeling nervous or overwhelmed by the thought of bringing students outdoors. This Portfolio Package includes an Annotated Bibliography that comprises of critically analyzed peer-reviewed journal articles and published texts. Each annotation takes into consideration the benefits and potential outcomes of outdoor play-based lessons. Articles that challenge outdoor play-based experiences are also analyzed. The second component of this package is the Practical Resource Guide. Within the Practical Resource Guide, there are five sections that include several number sense and numeration learning experiences, assessment opportunities, and academically supported documentation of the positive outcomes that students will experience.