Learning Local

Kindergarten
Is there a better way for children to celebrate fall than a visit to a beautiful pumpkin patch to pick their own pumpkins?! Top that off with a hayride through this historic working farm, hands-on activities, a crazy corn maze, and a fabulous fall picnic with their classmates, and you have a wonderful day in the life of a kindergartener!

Target Standard: Observes and describes similarities and differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and animals.

Kindergarten
Critter encounters abound at our own Nashville Zoo! With the zoo housing more than 2,248 animals and 353 species calling the Nashville Zoo home, our visit is sure to be full of shouts of wonder and amazement!

Target Standard: Recognizes that organisms have features that help them survive in different environments

Kindergarten

Created by Jonathan Rockefeller Based on books by Eric Carle “One Sunday morning the warm sun cane up and – pop! – out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.” Direct from Off-Broadway, four beloved classics — “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”, “Mister Seahorse”, “The Very Lonely Firefly,” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” — leap off the page and on to the stage right in front of your eyes brought to life by a menagerie of 75 incredible puppets. 

Targeted Standards

• The students will observe and interpret the elements of art (line, shape, color, texture, form, & space) and the principles of design (balance, unity, variety, contrast, & movement) in viewing this performance.
• The students will recognize artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, historical and faith-based themes to deepen understanding
• Listening to literature for pleasure and information

Kindergarten
Green Door Gourmet welcomes our kindergarteners to their 350-acre organic farm where they will enjoy seed planting and garden planning, explore “good” and “bad” bugs, and learn about simple machine farm technology! Students will also participate in a scavenger hunt and create bug thumbprint art! Explore this fascinating experience for yourself at greendoorgourmet.com.

Target Standard: Living things are made of smaller parts that contribute to the well being of an entire organism.

First Grade
First graders take flight as they discover the wonderful world of bird banding! They will be enthralled with learning about the long-term migration of birds when they hear the fascinating stories of the same birds returning year after year, after migrating thousands of miles, to winter at Edwin Warner Park—on the SAME DAY each year! The bird banding experience includes the birds being caught in invisible nets, weighed and identified, banded and released, without ever ruffling a feather!

Target Standard: Investigates and collects information about organisms that occupy specific environments

First Grade
The Rainbow Fish
Adapted by Marcus Pfister

Based on the Book by Marcus Pfister, The Rainbow Fish introduces the audience to the most beautiful fish in the sea, whose scales shimmer in all the colors of the rainbow. 

Second Grade
Me…Jane…
The Dreams and Adventures of Young Jane Goddall Adapted by Andy Mitton, Patrick McDonnell, and Aaron Posner;

Jane Goodall Before she was a renowned humanitarian, conservationist, and animal activist, Dr. Jane Goodall was a little girl with a very special toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. 

Third Grade
The Phantom Tollbooth
A masterful fusion of engaging storytelling with the performing and visual arts, which appeals to all of the senses, stimulates intuitive thinking and captivates adults and children alike.

Targeted Standards

• Students will identify artistic choices made based on personal experiences when observing a theatre work
• The students will observe and interpret the elements of art (line, shape, color, texture, form, & space) and the principles of design (balance, unity, variety, contrast, & movement) in viewing this performance
• Listens to literature for pleasure and information
• Demonstrates comprehension of materials read or heard
• Shares opinions about materials heard, read or viewed
• Students will identify, analyze and use elements of literature in responses: Plot (beginning, middle, end and conflict resolution)

First Grade
Habitat for Humanity Nashville has provided 770 homes locally, serving more than 2,600 family members including 1700 children! We will travel to the site of a home under construction, assist with the build, meet the family, and bless the home with scripture before the final walls are completed!

Target Standard: Recognizes the biblical principle of stewardship, including a Christian’s responsibility to give from the resources God has given each of us. 

Second Grade
Second graders will take a guided tour of the historic Tennessee State Capitol. One of the oldest working capitols in the nation, this Greek Revival style building contains a great deal of history within its limestone walls. Staff will guide them through its historic halls and chambers to view the governor’s reception room, bullet-scarred stair rail, House of Representatives, Senate, and old State Library.

Target Standard: Explores, identifies and understands the development of structures of power, authority and government, and understands the role of citizens within our community, nation, and world

Second Grade
This educational experience teaches how raw materials are manufactured into products that are used to create clay projects with a handson workshop with The Clay Lady in the studio to make, paint, and finish a clay project as well as a tour of Mid-South Ceramics and The Artist Co-op & Galleries.

Target Standards:

• Understands and applies the art making process
• Explores how art experiences affect daily life and identifies opportunities for involvement in the arts
• Describes objects according to physical properties, including hardness, color, and flexibility

Third Grade
Third graders will visit Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, a field trip designed as a collaborative arts experience supplementing their studies. The day will include exploration of the arts on display in the mansion, the outdoor sculpture trail, and the gardens. On the 80th anniversary of William Edmondson’s solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (the first African American artist to have that distinct honor), Cheekwood celebrates the incredible work, life, and legacy of one of Nashville’s most beloved and respected artists — featuring over 20 of Edmondson sculptures from our collection. Students will have an opportunity to relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen their understanding of art and life.

Target Standards:

• Relates artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding
• Applies criteria to evaluate artistic work
• Perceives, analyzes, and interprets meaning in artistic work
• Identifies and applies elements of art including line, shape, color, texture, value, form, and space

Third Grade
Third grade students will experience a newsroom up close and personal! They will get to learn firsthand from a meteorologist and tour the newsroom and master control center for traffic and weather.

Target Standard: Identifies technology used to record and predict weather, including thermometers, barometers, rain gauges, anemometers, and satellites

Third Grade
When our students walk through the doors of Second Harvest, they become partners in the fight against hunger! They will assist with a project that will enable Second Harvest to provide millions of meals to our hungry neighbors in middle and west Tennessee. Fresh, local food will be assembled in boxes and bags for school feeding programs and senior feeding programs. Second Harvest — “where good does the most good!”

Target Academic Standard: Recognizes the impact of individual & group decisions on citizens & communities

Fourth Grade
Fourth grade students will visit Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame as part of their music enrichment unit on rhythm, poetry, and lyrics. Students participate in the Hall of Fame’s Words and Music program, a program that supports classroom teachers as they guide students through the process of lyrical production. Not only does the program teach curriculum, but it connects young people to Nashville’s music community, pairing classes with songwriters who transform student lyrics into finished songs that are performed on the field trip.

After exploring the songwriting process in their classrooms, students will write their own lyrics and attend the final songwriting workshop in the Education Center at the Hall of Fame. Several selections will be set to music and performed by professional lyricists. Students will be able to engage in the songwriting process from start to finish and enjoy their finished product of their own songs performed by local artists.

Target Standard: Invents short songs and/ or instrumental pieces within specified guidelines, using a variety of sound sources when composing

Fourth Grade
Nashville wears its history proudly! This historic walking tour of Nashville beautifully guides our fourth graders through downtown Nashville, visiting incredible sights such as Ft. Nashboro, War Memorial Plaza, and the Tennessee State Capitol Building. Along the tour, the iconic history of Nashville and Tennessee comes alive for the students.

Target Standard: Recognizes, discusses, and understands the contributions of people of various ethnic, racial, religious, and socioeconomic groups to the development of civilizations in the Americas and to our national liberty and faith

Fifth Grade
An anticipated fifth grade tradition, Nature’s Classroom marks a student’s first overnight field trip. Nature’s Classroom, atop Lookout Mountain, is a hands-on educational program with an emphasis on team building and experience-based learning in an outdoor setting. Outside the walls of the classroom, this trip gives our students the chance to experience education from another perspective. Our days consist of field group work, large group time, evening activities, zipline adventure, praise and worship, and outdoor chapel.

Target Standards:

• Investigates how living things interact with one another and with non-living elements of their environments
• Understands living things have characteristics that enable them to survive in their environment

Fifth Grade
Sound Lab with the Symphony
Explore physics and the scientific method with guest conductor Dr. Freakuency and his trusty lab assistant, Bunsen! Get crazy with science and music with time-tested classics like Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.

Target Standards:

• The students will observe and interpret the elements of art (line, shape, color, texture, form, & space) and the principles of design (balance, unity, variety, contrast, and movement) in viewing this performance 
• Students will recognize that music reflects time, place, and culture
• Students will build a personal listening repertoire that represents various musical styles, genres, interpretations, and historical periods.