First Grade Digs Gardens!: February 2015

This blog has been created to document our journey into the world of garden-based learning and garden curriculum in our first grade classroom. We're excited to share our experiences with you!

A little background about me:

My name is Elizabeth Marin Barnard. I am a graduate student from Southern California obtaining my Masters in Education from the University of La Verne. In August of 2014, I began student teaching in a first grade classroom at a local elementary school. I finished student teaching with a multiple subject teaching credential and immediately replaced my master teacher when she left after Thanksgiving on maternity leave. Since December of 2014, I have been teaching first grade full-time and loving every minute of it!

I'm in my last semester of graduate school and my thesis is on garden-based learning.

As luck would have it, just outside the back door of our classroom sit three raised-bed garden plots. The plots are maintained and are occasionally used for veggies in school lunches, but are not currently being used for anything besides that. After speaking with my principal and the volunteer who has been taking care of the garden, I received the OK to go ahead and use these raised-bed plots as a means to introduce garden-based learning to my students.

The benefits of teaching and learning outdoors in the environment of a garden are truly remarkable. Garden-based learning is a fabulous way of capturing and utilizing students' natural inquisitiveness. Educators who use gardens as a framework for teaching can incorporate a variety of content areas within one lesson; math, science, language arts, social studies, and art all readily lend themselves to garden-based learning. Gardens offer students the opportunity for valuable hands-on experiences, as students are able to apply and practice skills in realistic and meaningful ways. In many ways, garden-based learning is the answer to the Common Core dilemma - how do we, as educators, get our students to think more deeply, to practice critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and to work cooperatively on projects? I say lead them outdoors, show them a garden, facilitate a "driving question," and get digging! Based on my research, the result will be more meaningful and longer lasting student knowledge, and will undoubtedly prove more exciting to students.

Garden-based learning can help improve student attitudes toward healthy food. Experiences in school gardens offer students the chance to understand and interact with natural sources of food. By familiarizing students with food sources and introducing them to new and nutritious fruits and vegetables, we can help steer children toward a path of lifelong healthy eating habits. At a time in history when childhood obesity is more prevalent than ever, school gardens and garden-based learning offer to help teach our youngsters to value and appreciate nutritious food.

And besides, who doesn't love getting to spend some time outdoors and in the sunshine during the day?!

I have so many ideas and plans for the coming months it's almost overwhelming! Today I posted a sign-up sheet on our classroom window asking parents and families to donate seeds and other items so that we can get started right away. I asked a friend of mine who runs a school garden at a nearby junior high school to come and have a look at our plots and to offer some ideas about how to begin this project. In addition to other good suggestions, she encouraged me to work with students to brainstorm and teach "garden jobs," and to use as many recycled/up-cycled items as possible to cut down on cost. I am so thankful to have her as a resource (and so is my bank account!).

I'm really looking forward to documenting this exciting journey as the following months unfold. I plan on integrating technology into the experience as much as possible - my first thought was asking a couple of my students to record a "before" video of our gardens on our class iPad. We'll also be starting a YouTube channel and using iPad apps to record measurement and to track the weather, among other things.

The possibilities are truly endless and I can't wait to get started! Thank you for reading - stay tuned for an exciting spring!

Dig on,

Elizabeth

P.S. Here's a few quick photos of what the garden plots look like right now!

These are some leafy green vegetables the previous gardener planted to use in school lunches. Look at those lovely afternoon sun rays! (And the hose nearby - woo hoo!)