A Thematic Unit: The Learning Tree

This short film was made as part of an assignment that asked me to conceive of a learning event and then share that event with others on the web. The learning tree activity is not my own idea, but it does have many of the properties I feel are essential to good elementary education. This activity helps develop student's powers of observation, connects them with changes that occur as part of natural cycles, and through a long term journal writing activity, provides them with a continuum to express their observations in a highly personalized manner. As I express in the film, this activity could be further developed to have an extra cultural feature through partnering with another class somewhere else in the world. Comparing the different observations from students elsewhere in the world would likely prompt further cultural or scientific inquiries.