May 02 2012
The day was perfect! All day long, classes came and supported one another in preparing and planting the garden. We tilled, mixed soil, planted, mulched, and watered. We were so lucky the weather was spectacular, too. The kids seemed so happy and proud of their work. Such a wonderful day.
May 01 2012
Tomorrow, all four classes will be planting in our three large garden boxes in the side yard of the school. We will be doing this rain or shine (providing no lightening or thunder). Please make sure your child is dressed in clothing that can get a little dirty! If you have gardening tools to share, make sure they are labeled with your name on them and send them with your child. We look forward to this very fun and dirty day!
One of our garden boxes.
Apr 30 2012
What an exciting day! This afternoon, two of our generous parents, Mr. Newbold and Mr. Reiberg, were generous enough to build three, 4×10 garden boxes. The boxes are beautiful and built of rot-resistant cedar. We can’t wait to plant in them on Wednesday. Remember to send your child in clothes they can get dirty for the big planting!
Zek reads our Beautiful Chickens book in ancicipation of our coop.
This morning, I was greeted by friends shouting things like “CHICKENS!” and “Do they come today?!?” Friends were so anxious to meet our new hens. This afternoon, Andrew Brake from Naptown Chickens brought us our beautiful coop and three, lovely Rhode Island Red hens: Thelma, Louise, and Dottie. We are lucky enough to have this opportunity thanks to Mandy Owens and Carly Swift, Jett and Hutton’s moms and the owners of Just Pop In! Just Pop In! was kind enough to fund this project for our school. This afternoon, each class went outside to learn a little bit about our new friends and how to care for them. The plan is to have each class share the responsibilities weekly. We also talked about some chicken rules we will need to follow to keep Thelma, Louise and Dottie safe as well as ourselves. Because we don’t want to frighten them, we will try our best to talk in a soft voice around the chickens and not touch them. We are so excited to see how much more we are going to learn about our new friends!
The girls! Meet Thelma, Louise, and Dottie.
Apr 22 2012
As you may know, our class is immersed in a garden project. We have been learning about vermicomposting, seed germination and plant development, the benefits of gardening locally, how insects benefit our garden, and are starting to talk about urban farming on a larger scale. Within the next two weeks, we will be assembling some garden boxes for our school and planting some small vegetable plants we have started from seeds. We are so excited for where this project has led us, and the learning opportunities thus far have been incredible. As we get ready to plant, I wanted to ask families if they would be interested in assisting us with the task of starting our garden. Please let us know if you would be able to do any of the following:
donate plants for the school garden
come in and help build the garden boxes depending on the day
come in and help spread soil depending on the day
come in and help plant the beds depending on the day
donate gardening gloves or help find a donor for them
donate gardening tools (hoes, rakes, shovels, or trowels) or help find a donor for them
donate mulch or help find a donor for it
donate a 50 ft hose and spray nozzle or help find a donor for it
Thank you for your support with this project! We hope this garden becomes a part of our school culture and that it teaches responsibility, care for nature, and the importance of sustainability, amongst many other things! Make sure to ask your child about a special announcement that is coming on Thursday afternoon…
While we know some of these may be lofty goals, we also have a wish list. If you have any local business contacts or friends that could donate any of these materials, please let us know.
Wish List
Compost bins
Wooden fencing
Large stones (for sitting, playing)
Large logs (for sitting, playing)
Rain barrels
Soaker hoses
Shed for equipment storage
Living willow branches for space design and play
Mar 20 2012
Over the past week or so, we have tried something new to show our learning: strategy posters. When a child uses a novel idea to help them work through a problem, they are asked to make a poster of their thinking to be displayed in the room. This poster then serves as a guide for other children who may be encountering the same type of problem. This not only encourages kids to take ownership in thier own learning, but also encourages them to look to one another for help when problem solving and collaborate. Right now, we have six addition strategy posters and three posters about what to do when you come to a new word in reading. Look for them at Family Night on Thursday at 6pm!
