Student Voice- Let's go outside

For years my favorite English teacher and I have schemed in secret about a devious plan to help our students learn deeper. Did you know devious means "wandering and roundabout?" It also means "moving without a fixed course." Most importantly here it means deviating from the common course, according to merriam-webster.com. 
Before the 2020-21 school year we proposed that our classes combine into a one-hour humanities block. We were not allowed to move forward, because we were deviating from the common course of siloed subjects.
We persevered, however, because we know that the connections between social studies and language arts are infinite. We imagined a learning experience without a fixed course that ebbed and flowed with the needs of our learners. As National Board Certified Teachers, we knew that deep, rich learning happens when connections are explicit and time is offered for ideas to germinate.
Most weeks our humanities block does not wander or follow a roundabout course. Our learners regularly give us feed-forward to guide us. This course is learner-centered but they are mastering both ELA and Social Studies standards by learning slow and digging deep.

Back in October, I pored over student feedforward surveys, trying to unlock the code to this unique group of students learning through a disjointed pandemic experience.

They wanted to play games, be with their friends and go outside. So we planned a Humanities Block that offered them a chance to play a game outside for the length of one class period and write in their civil war journals for the other half of the period. (We've created a block schedule once a week thanks to the flexibility of our science and math super-hero team.)

In social studies class the previous day students researched turning points in the Civil War and created a "choose-your-own-adventure" scenario based on what they learned.
The morning of Humanities Block I organized a winding path through our school woods and marked the course with helium balloons. Each student had a map and a log to track their experience.

It was fun and we learned about similarities and differences in experiences. We also learned a bit about how context and identity affect how we experience events. Most importantly, students felt their voice was heard. They worked together as a team to create this learning experience, then they found their way through the game by collaborating.
Few teams read their identity cards, which would have helped them with extra supplies and even money to pay for substitutes to fight in their place! Those who read their identity recognized that the Confederate and Union experiences were quite different in terms of supplies and survival rate.

Now that the students have created this framework and tested it out, I'll revise for next year.