This spring, at least 550 Plymouth students made their way to the gardens to dig some soil and plant some seeds, physically and metaphorically. While in the garden the elementary students had some time to read some books. I had some requests for the book list. Here it is!
- The Garden of Happiness by Erika Tamar - Monarch and Milkweed by Helen Frist and Leonid Gore - Anywhere Farm by Phylllis Root - The Promise by Nicola Davies - Who Will Plant a Tree by Jerry Pallota - Berries, Nuts, and Seeds by Diane Burns - A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long - If You Hold a Seed by Elly MacKay - Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward - Flip, Float, Fly- Seeds on the Move by JoAnn Early Mackan - Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson - Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson
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There's a cool school garden opportunity coming up (May 31) that is close to home (in Sheboygan), not a major time commitment (1 hour), and free! No RSVP required. If you'd like to carpool with me, let me know via email. [email protected]
Here are a couple of lesson plans to set the stage for saving seeds in the fall.
Seed Saving from Island Grown Schools A sweet, sweet story - The Bean Keepers and The Bean Keepers Lesson Plan.
Want to get your phone addicted kids involved? Get them involved with a citizen science project called Bumblebee Watch. Students can take pictures of bumblebees, upload them, try to identify, and wait for an expert to confirm the identification. https://www.bumblebeewatch.org.
Here is a nice lesson from School Garden Project on Flowers and Pollination: This lesson includes some botany, as well as a fun game with flour and cinnamon where the students simulate pollination. https://www.schoolgardenproject.org/download/flowers-pollination/ Want help with a lesson? Email me and I'll come do a lesson with you! In an effort to help you learn about the many resources available on this site, I will be highlighting lessons found within this website to help make nutrition and garden education more accessible for teachers, parents, and students of all ages. Feel free to subscribe to the blog. I will also periodically email links to this blog to Plymouth School District teachers. If you are not a teacher and want to be on the email list, please email me at [email protected] .
See the highlighted lessons below to see some examples of planning your school garden and exploring WORMS! I will be asking for school garden plant requests soon, so here are some lessons to fuel the fodder.
Garden Planning Lesson - A nice lesson with picture book suggestions to help you and your students start dreaming about what to plant in your garden. Though it's written for elementary school students, it's great fodder for any age group. http://growing-minds.org/documents/garden-planning-lesson-plan-2nd-grade.pdf Planning the Summer Garden - This lesson from the School Garden Project is meant for summer time, but it offers ideas for learning why we can plant spinach right now but not tomatoes and peppers. Students learn about life cycles, climate and seasonality. The Harvest Trading Cards are amazing, but are for more temperate Oregon and for older grades. Nevertheless, I would use them! https://www.schoolgardenproject.org/download/planning-summer-garden/ https://www.schoolgardenproject.org/download/harvest-trading-cards/ Worms - With all the rain we've been having, it's hard to miss the worms coming up out of the ground. Here is another great lesson from the School Garden Project that explores the role worms play in our environment. In the lesson are some fun games (worm, centipede, bacteria - like rock, paper scissors, and a tag game) to get the kids thinking about the importance of decomposers and getting some exercise while they are at it! https://www.schoolgardenproject.org/download/worms/ |
Carrie Caselton Lowe, Nutrition & Wellness Coordinator for Plymouth Community Ed and Rec
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Nutrition Education | Food For Thought Blog |