May School Garden Ideas

It's the beginning of May, which means its time for Monthly School Garden Ideas.  At the beginning of each month, the Got Dirt? WI blog features a variety of month-specific ways to incorporate your school garden into your classroom.

Here are just a few ideas for the month of May.  Enjoy! And share your suggestions below.

• May: National Salad Month--Celebrate salads and fruits and vegetables.  Highlight a new fruit and vegetable each week.  Have students research the origins of fruits and vegetables.  Enjoy a salad with fresh fruits and vegetables.

• May: National Hamburger Month--In a unique spin to this monthly celebration, teach students that all of our food comes from soil and the Earth.  Break down the elements of the a hamburger and trace them to the soil.  (Example: Hamburger>Beef>Cow>Grass>Soil; or Bun: Flour>Wheat>Soil).  Listen to the song "Dirt Made My Lunch."

• May 2-8: Compost Awareness Week--Start a classroom composting project.  (Check out these website for helpful resources Journey to Forever or The Adventures of Herman the Worm)

• May 2-8: National Postcard Week: Find a school garden in another state and exchange postcards.  Tell each other about your garden and what you are planting.

• May 2-8: Teacher Appreciation Week: Thank you teachers for everything you do! Thank you for starting school gardens and changing the lives of your students!

• May 4: Bird Day--Make birdhouses or birdfeeders for your garden.  Talk about the types of birds that will visit your garden.

• May 4: National Weather Observers' Day--What is the weather like in your garden?  Draw a picture!

• May 7: National Family Child Care Provider's Day: Thank you child care providers for everything you do! Thank you for starting school gardens and for changing the lives of your children!

• May 9: Mother's Day: Celebrate mom! Invite her to your garden.  Decorate a container and plant mom's favorite fruit or veggie. 

• May 20: Pick Strawberries Day--Although it may be a bit early to pick strawberries in Wisconsin, you can still have a strawberry-themed day.  Have students wear red, eat strawberries for a snack, make strawberry smoothies, draw pictures of strawberries, or read a book about strawberries.

• May 23-30: National Backyard Games Week: Play games in your garden! Do a relay race, go on a scavenger hunt, or simply enjoy being in your garden!

What school garden activities do you have planned for May?

Great School Garden Resource

While searching the web for school garden resources, I stumbled upon Florida Bureau of Curriculum and Instruction's website.  Not only does Florida's Board of Education support school gardens but they have a fabulous list of resources for educators.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I encourage you to check out their website for inspiration.

In particular, I loved the page about lesson plans.  One of my favorite ideas--the "Mix-A-Salad" Game--was in the "Team Nutrition Fruits and Vegetables Lesson Plans for Preschool Children."

1. Children stand in a circle to form a pretend bowl.
2. Each child is given a picture of a fruit or vegetable.
3. The leader says "I'm going to make a salad...and in my salad I am going to have _________ (name of a fruit or vegetable) that is _________ (say an action). 
• Suggested actions include:
• Twirling
• Jumping
• Running
• Hopping
• Waving
• Flying
• Dancing
• Clapping
• Kicking
• Rolling their arms
• Walking on tip-toes
• Splashing
4. After 3-4 fruits and vegetables are called, the leader says "Let's stir up the salad!" Then all those in the center scramble around, and all those forming the bowl make stirring motions until the leader says, "Stop! Let's eat."
5. All the children fall down, rub their tummies, and say "Yum, that was a good salad!" 
6. Play again calling different fruits or vegetables to the salad bowl.

What a fun and wonderful activity!

Thanks Florida Board of Education for the great resources and for your support of school gardens!

Field Trips and Local Produce

So you've planted your school garden and you're waiting for your fruits ands veggies to grow...what to do now? 

This is the perfect time to take your students on a field trip to a local garden, farm, or nature center.  Check out the following websites for field trip ideas near you. 

 

• Wisconsin Garden Websites 
• Wisconsin Public Gardens
• Wisconsin Nature Centers and Environmental Education Centers

The Farm Fresh Atlas is another great resource for inspiration for a field trip or to find local produce to use in your classroom.  Check out their website for a farm or retailer near you!

• Farm Fresh Atlas

Grant: NEA's Green Across America

NEA Member Benefits and Target have joined forces to offer $50,000 worth of grants to help K-12 schools go green.

As their website explains, "NEA’s Green Across America grants of up to $1,000 are available to help you implement your innovative education program, activity, lesson or event to excite students about going green, caring for the earth and creating a sustainable future."

This is the perfect opportunity to secure funding for your school garden project!  To further help your school become green and sustainable, you can even incorporate a compost pile into your garden.

The formal grant applications will be available May 1st but the NEA Member Benefit's website features a sample worksheet to help you plan your program in the meantime.

So put on those thinking caps and start planning your project today!

Dear Gardening Friends: Letters from Students

Who says that gardens don't have an impact on students?  Check out these adorable letters I received from a class that just planted a Microfarm.  Not only are the letters cute, but they show just one way for students to practice spelling and writing.

"Dear Gardening Friends,

Thank you for donating stuf

for the garden.  We are

planting, radish, lettuce,

pepper, tomatoes.  Our group

planted tomatoes.  Have a

very happy spring.

Your friend Addy"

"Dear Gardening friends,

Thank you for helping with our

microfarm.  We planted some

veggies.  My group planted red

lettuce and green lettuce.

Yours

truely Ike"

"Dear Gardening friends,

We planted a microfarm.

Thank you for the money

to get us started.  We

planted Pepper, lettuce,

radish, tomato, and spinich

seeds.

From,

Jackson" 

"Dear Gardening friends,

Thank you! Do you have a

garden?  I do.  The pumpkins

usually take over :)  What do

you plant in your garden?

Your friend,

Nel"

"Dear Gardening friends,

Thank you.  We planted raddish,

lettuce, pepper, tomato, spinach.

There are 3 radish sprouts

in the plastic tray.

Have a nice summer.
Love,

Taylor"

"Dear Gardening friends,

Thank you for stuf for our

garden.  We plated some red

lettuce and some lettuce in

our room.  It is a lot of

fun.  You would love it.  I

can't wait to harvest the plants.

From Jake"

Activity: Farmers Market

In this activity, students will practice their addition and subtraction skills.

Materials

• Fruits and vegetables (either real, plastic, or pictures)
• Price tags
• Budget or play money for students
• Shopping list or recipe (optional)

Activity

• Set up your classroom like a farmers market so that each student's desk sells a different fruit or vegetable.
• Create price tags or signs with the price of each of the fruits and vegetables.
• Have the students rotate between being shoppers and farmers.
• When students are shoppers, give them play money and have them figure out what they can purchase at the market.  Shoppers can also use a shopping list or recipe so that they have some direction on what they can purchase.
• When the students are farmers, they must calculate the appropriate change for the shoppers.
• Have the students rotate between being shoppers and farmers.
• When you are finished, use the fruits and vegetables for a snack.

Extensions

• Using copies of a grocery store's weekly flyer have students figure out what healthy foods they can purchase for a designated dollar amount.  Have students describe how much they spent, how much money they had left over, and why they chose the foods that they did.
• Have students complete the Grocery Shopping Worksheet.

Fruit and Veggie Alphabet

Do you know your Fruit and Veggie Alphabet?  From Apples to Zucchini there is an array of new fruits and vegetables you can introduce to your class.

Whether it's talking about, or even better tasting, fruits and veggies associated with the letter of the day or using your Fruit and Veggie Alphabet to decorate your classroom, the possibilities are endless.

Click here to download the flashcards (shown below) that list just a sampling of the fruits and vegetables for each letter of the alphabet.  You can also use the blank version of the cards to have students write in the names of the fruits and veggies.

How do you use your Fruit and Vegetable Alphabet?