Day Nine: Planting & Pavers

Today we had our final full session with the after-school program! It was bittersweet, because we didn't really realize it would be our last session due to the Memorial day holiday. Nevertheless, we had a ton of fun!

We....

• Planted the garden
• Made mosaic pavers
• Had a Water fight
• Made a Bean Tee-Pee!

Here are a few highlights...

Above: Raised bed kits available from Growing Hope in Ypsilanti, MI; $35
http://www.growinghope.net

Above: Miss Lisa is ready to dig!

Above: Bags of top soil purchased from local garden store. We used A LOT of bags.
In your area, you might want to check for local sources that deliver mulch, compost, and top soil.

Above: Bean Tee-Pee. Beans are planted around the base of the structure (which is bamboo lashed together with bailing twine) and as they grow, they will climb the poles. This will provide some a nice, shady spot to sit and observe the garden, or read a book!

























Above: the start of a mosaic paver stone. The idea to create these came from day three's lesson, "Sculpting Dreams," when we asked the students to come up with ideas of what we could grow by sculpting with Playdoh.

Day Seven (With Guest Teacher, Miss Lo): Composting! It's a way to Recycle!

Miss Lisa & I were out this week and the next for other obligations, so we asked Miss Lo to take over! They worked on painting signs, talked about soil health and made two raised beds!

More information & pictures to come!

Day Six (With Guest Teacher, Miss Lo): Finishing Signage & Raised Bed Kits

Miss Lisa & I were out this week and the next for other obligations, so we asked Miss Lo to take over! They worked on painting signs, talked about soil health and made two raised beds!

More information & pictures to come!

Day Five: Creating Signage

 

This week's task was to create some signage for the garden. We decided on two signs; one for compost and one for the garden itself. 

Step One: Brainstorms

• Compost Sign: We asked the kids to come up with things they thought could go in the compost and which things they thought shouldn't. We confirmed their ideas and explained as they went along. So we ended up with a list of things that can go in the compost as well as things that should stay out.
• Garden Sign: We asked them to come up with a list of veggies, fruits and flowers they could put on the sign. We also figured out what the sign should say; they decided on "Gardening Club."

Step Two: Sign Teams

• We broke up into two teams and basically worked with the kids to draw out the sign. We began painting, but ran out of time.

Reflections: 

• Kids come up with great ideas and having multi-disciplinary projects really allows some talents that may have been hidden to shine through.
• We are constantly adapting the plan for the garden and the lessons based on their input, questions, and our own experiences of what we find works and doesn't work. It's part of the story of teaching.. So often the activity you planned and prepped for hours falls flat while the crazy idea you made up on the fly ends up being the highlight of the session.
• Miss Lo (Our Sub for the next two weeks) came along with us. It was invaluable to have her there with us (not only for the extra help) but also to introduce her to the kids and to give her a chance to have integrity as another teacher. Too bad more subbing situations don't work out like that in your everyday schools... (Some schools use "in-house" subbing where other teachers fill in - seems crazy but it works!).