Category Archives: In the Classroom

Grow Your Own Mushrooms Grant

We were fortunate enough to receive a grant from the SPARK PTO to grow our own mushrooms this spring! For this project, we worked in collaboration with Jonathan Tescher at Sparta Imperial Mushrooms. Throughout the unit, students learned the history of mushrooms, how mushrooms grow, how to care for mushrooms, the parts of mushrooms, and aboutContinue reading “Grow Your Own Mushrooms Grant”

Clean Air Campaign Young Lungs at Work Art Competition

Today, we had a productive work session on our comics for the Clean Air Campaign‘s Young Lungs at Work Art Competition. They are turning out great! Students are creating a narrative story (based on a problem/solution model) with the primary purpose of informing the reader on the topic of air pollution. Their comics must showContinue reading “Clean Air Campaign Young Lungs at Work Art Competition”

Lesson: Introduction to Soil – Integrated Centers

This week, we began our unit on soil. To introduce students to the topic, I created four learning centers for them to rotate through. An exploration center, where students collect soil from the garden, explore the soil using a magnifying glass, and record their findings in their journals. A writing center, where students write theirContinue reading “Lesson: Introduction to Soil – Integrated Centers”

Book Reviews: Lettuce

Lettuce Grows on the Ground is a very informative book about how lettuce grows. It covers the academic standards of the plant parts, the plant life cycle, as well as reviews varieties of lettuce and discusses how it grows. It is part of a series that includes Carrots Grow Underground, Tomatoes Grow on a Vine,Continue reading “Book Reviews: Lettuce”

Book Reviews: Soil

Scary Creatures of the Soil is just one in a series of “Scary Creature” books. The kids loved looking through this one on Halloween and reviewing what we’ve learned in past lessons about soil. There are chapters about beetles burying their dead, spiders ambushing their prey, and everyone’s favorite – “What Feeds Poop to itsContinue reading “Book Reviews: Soil”

Lesson: Introduction to Compost

All of our lessons throughout the school year focus around the central themes of land, water, air, and energy. This week, we began our unit on land by discussing the necessity of healthy land for our food to grow. Composting serves this purpose in two ways – This process “recycles” fruit and vegetable waste ratherContinue reading “Lesson: Introduction to Compost”

Book Reviews: Compost

For an introduction to compost, I have three favorite books – “Compost Stew,” “Composting: Nature’s Recyclers,” and “Diary of a Worm.” For classroom activities around compost, my favorite is “Worms Eat Our Garbage.”   “Compost Stew” is a fun book to read because of it’s rhythm and rhyme and it’s repetitive chorus “Just add toContinue reading “Book Reviews: Compost”