Dear Mr. Painter,
The day after the garden workday I was working on my lesson plans at home. My class was currently involved with a study about Lewis & Clark. They were extraordinary naturalists, keen observers, and they painstakingly mapped the trail. I remembered that you had cut back the prickly pear cactus in our garden and it happened to be one of the plants documented in the Lewis & Clark journals. What a prime opportunity to connect our garden to their historical event. I collected the cactus, distributed one to each student, and proceeded with a sensory lesson. Each student measured their piece, illustrated, and as a group completed a 5 Senses graphic organizer. Then the true experiment: eating, needless to say this is a class that is up for any challenge. Almost everyone agreed that the taste was acceptable, with flavors ranging from: sweet, tart, fresh, cucumber, pear, & one kiwi.
This one classroom lesson exemplifies a statement from David Sobel's book Childhood and Nature, " A diagnostic feature of a good classroom is being able to walk in and see something happening that you've never seen before; the intersection of children's concerns and interests, and the teacher's passion".
I feel fortunate that we have in our possession a natural environment where children have the opportunity to experience a true friendship with nature.
Mrs. Uskovich
(photos: Barbara Uskovich)
1 comments:
I grew up with my grandmother cooking what she found in the yard, cactus, and having incredible meals. This is cool.
Students that are able to enjoy nature, fabulous!
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