The National Park Classroom - by James Fester (Paperback)

About the Book

Bring proven teaching methods from the national parks into your classroom to address common instructional challenges and improve student outcomes.

Book Synopsis

Bring proven teaching methods from the national parks into your classroom to address common instructional challenges and improve student outcomes.

The U.S. National Park Service describes its parks as "America's largest classrooms," and for years, its rangers have been developing educational approaches that invite visitors to engage with their surroundings in active, participatory ways. This book shows classroom teachers how they can use these same methods, as well as a vast array of national park resources, to address common instructional challenges and boost student engagement and retention, integrate equity, improve college and career readiness, and more.

This book introduces the National Park Classroom (NPC) Framework, which enables teachers of all subject areas and grade levels to take advantage of national park resources and educational practices. Park rangers draw on pedagogies such as project-based learning, inquiry-based learning and culturally responsive teaching in their lessons, and the book shows how the NPC Framework can help classroom educators use those same approaches to design engaging units and projects for subjects like math, science and language arts. These lessons are anchored in the ISTE Standards and incorporate content standards such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

The book:

• Highlights resources available to teachers and their students through the U.S. National Park System and other public land agencies across the globe.
• Provides insights and tools for leading high-quality project-based learning.
• Offers guidance for transitioning from a teacher-centered classroom to a learner-centered classroom.
• Shows how to apply successful equity and inclusion practices from the national parks in classrooms and schools.
• Provides examples of "place-conscious learning," with strategies for connecting students to distant parks and other places.

With strategies backed by research and reflecting best practices from proven learning models, this book shows educators how to integrate the great outdoors and park-inspired learning into their classrooms to drive student engagement and agency, and better prepare students for college and beyond.

Audience: Elementary and secondary teachers and administrators

Review Quotes

"With a friendly style and an informative stance, this book shows educators how to make use of the National Park Classroom (NPC) model to engage students at all grade levels in active and meaningful learning in every subject. The NPC model is both flexible and rigorous. Fester, a former classroom teacher, teacher educator, and park ranger, successfully bridges the gap between classroom and park settings in order to provide a model of exciting and active learning. The book provides examples of how to teach a wide range of academic subjects, including science, social studies, mathematics, literacy, and the arts. It also deals with best practices for distance learning and inquiry. A strength of the book is the abundance of links to sources of teaching materials, videos, examples of how to provide active roles for students, and student work samples. This is a book that can be consulted many times as teachers build meaningful curricula for their students."

VERDICT: The author's friendly, inviting writing style and the abundance of links to sources, videos, and examples of teaching materials make this an invaluable guide for all teachers.

-- Myra Zarnowski, School Library Journal

About the Author

James Fester has worked in public, private and online schools as a teacher, instructional coach, technologist and curriculum specialist. In addition to serving as a member of PBLWorks' national faculty, Fester served as a facilitator for the National Park Service Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program. He's also a facilitator for the United Nations through UNESCO-MGIEP, a National Geographic Certified Teacher and grantee, and a public lands volunteer and advocate who has collaborated with state and national parks across the country to strengthen their educational offerings. Also a Google Certified Innovator, he's the author or co-author of multiple books, including co-author of Environmental Science for Grades 6-12 (ISTE, 2021).