Moving Forward
The following day, on the field trip at Bartram’s Garden, all five of my students were active participants in the “Seed Collector’s Lesson,” which was a lesson on why trees change color, how seeds travel and grow. Students were able to find and take some seeds home for the classroom. My heart was warmed when the Bartram’s guide asked if anyone had ever planted a bean seed and all five hands from my group shot up in the air. My lesson could have been beneficial for every child in the class because it lined up so well with the field trip and provided a solid foundation going into Bartram’s Garden.
There are many options for the next lesson:
Also, I discovered that many libraries have an area just for plants in their children’s section. It would be clever to have many different books available and let the children look through themselves on a specific topic and explore independently. Next time I teach this lesson, I could factor in measuring the plant once it starts growing and track the progress over time, which will help continue the conversation and lesson. Also, this would help provide a cross-curricular opportunity by incorporating a math component. Art could also be included if students decorated their pots and social studies could be involved by framing planting seeds as a positive way to be a good citizen and make our world a better place. This lesson can be a good first lesson in building on core concepts over time (Michaels, Shouse, Schweingruber, 2008, p. 60).
There are many options for the next lesson:
- How seeds travel (which could include a read aloud of “The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carle)
- What a seed needs to grow
- Explain the concept of roots
- How plants protect themselves
- Why people need plants (which I asked at the end of the lesson and the students responded that people need fruits and vegetables which come from seeds – impressive answer!)
Also, I discovered that many libraries have an area just for plants in their children’s section. It would be clever to have many different books available and let the children look through themselves on a specific topic and explore independently. Next time I teach this lesson, I could factor in measuring the plant once it starts growing and track the progress over time, which will help continue the conversation and lesson. Also, this would help provide a cross-curricular opportunity by incorporating a math component. Art could also be included if students decorated their pots and social studies could be involved by framing planting seeds as a positive way to be a good citizen and make our world a better place. This lesson can be a good first lesson in building on core concepts over time (Michaels, Shouse, Schweingruber, 2008, p. 60).