The Edible Schoolyard

GARDEN LESSONS

Special Spot
Garden Journals

Visit the Classroom Lessons section to learn more about related lessons taught in the King school classrooms.

Visit the Kitchen Lessons section to learn more about related lessons taught in the Edible Schoolyard kitchen.

Special Spot

Overview
Students choose a spot in the garden that will be their special spot. They visit and do journal writing at their spot every time they go out to the garden.

Concepts
Seasonal cycles. Many living organisms perceive and respond to the cycle of the changing seasons.

Objectives

Students will notice the changes of the seasons by paying attention to the details in their special spot as evidenced by their journal entries.
Students will become emotionally attached to their little piece of nature as will be evidenced by their journal writings and class discussions.

Materials

Journals (one per student)
Pencils (one per student)

Lesson
In the classroom tell students that they will have the chance to choose a spot in the garden that will be "theirs" and no one else's. They will visit this spot every time they go out to the garden. They will not be gardening or doing any work in this spot other than observing and writing about their spot. Tell them that it is your hope that they will pay such close attention to their special spot that they will notice even the tiniest of changes there.

It is important to lay down the ground rules before they begin-they may not be too close to anybody else- their special spot should be a private place as much as possible. The distance they need to keep from their neighbor depends on the size of your garden. The other important rule is that special spot time is for quiet observation and reflection. They may not talk or interact with anybody else while at their special spot.

Each day they go to their spot write down a prompt for them to copy into their journal. Some of the prompts we use are:

Why you chose that spot.
Describe your special spot using as many of your senses as you can.
Describe it using at least ten descriptive words (or phrases). [In sharing circle everyone chooses one word or phrase to say. We go around the circle and it turns into a poem.]
A drawing of something in your special spot. Can be big like a plant or small like a pebble, but it must be detailed.
At least five things you have noticed that have changed in your special spot since last time.
At least five things you have noticed that have changed in your special spot since you first chose it.
At least five things you have noticed that have stayed the same in your special spot.
At least five things that you will miss about your special spot. [On the last day.]
Compare how your special spot looks now in [this season] with how it looked in [last season].

Here are some examples from one sixth grade class’s experience with Special Spot:

I like being in my special spot: the bees, the spiders, the ants, the rolly-pollies, the huge leaves, the bugs, the smell, the sound, the sky, the birds, the clouds, the yellow leaves….
The leaves rustle with hidden secrets that even the laziest man would be dying to know. And the bees, gracefully floating from flower to flower, sing of flowers and gnomes and fairies who never seem to show themselves to anything but the bees, the birds, and the tress.
I smell fresh air.
I see beautiful white flowers, really big leaves, and figs. I wonder, when are figs ready to eat?
My special spot is like a part of me.
I like my special spot because it is quiet.
I can touch a snowflake-like plant that is soft and furry.
I like the butterflies fluttering past.
I see snails and slugs on a raspberry that fell on the ground.

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Garden Journals
After spending time working, observing, and learning in the garden, students take some time to reflect on their experiences. The following day in the classroom they record their thoughts and ideas in a journal. Journaling is a key step in experiential learning, providing a time for students to process what they have experienced and observed. This is also an important tool for monitoring learning and development in the students' thinking and understanding. Below are some excerpts:

"First Impressions - I really like the garden because we had lots of fun. When we were in the Ramada, it was nice because we were sitting in nature. I really like the Card Hike. I followed the directions and the cards. Some of them said to taste and I tasted them and I really liked the Golden Raspberry. I was hooked on them! I could not leave! I saw some cards that said to smell stuff so I did. I liked to smell the lavender." - Mati

"Yesterday we went to the garden. Our crew made a fence, after collecting branches to make it. Near the fence, there was a new plant where the corn was. It was called cover crop. It holds in the soil near its roots to prevent erosion. It attracts lots of beneficial insects (ones that help the garden). It also protects the soil from the sun’s ultraviolent light. Not only that, it provides fertilizer to make rich soil. We saw snails, ladybugs, flies, wasps, and more." - Jason

"We went to the garden and harvested chard, amaranth, and joi choy. Then went into the kitchen and cooked noodles...while we were doing that we cut up joi choy, chard, amaranth, onion, garlic, and ginger. Then we stir-fried the noodles and vegetables, added hoison and bean sauce. It was delicious!" - Christopher

"Yesterday at the garden I did clearing out the pumpkin patch. What I did is clear out some weeds with my group. And when the wheelbarrow got full, I took the wheelbarrow to the compost pile. And then we took five minutes to eat berry." - Kevin

"Pride – Pride means to be proud, and happy about what you've accomplished. In the garden and kitchen there are many ways to have pride or be proud. One example is when you make a dish in the kitchen. Also you might be proud of planting a tree, or collecting and producing grain from amaranth." - Charlotte

Garden Journal Topics

Describe something new you tried in the garden: a food, a job, or a conversation with someone you do not know well.
Grilling Corn Day. What were the steps necessary to eat that ear of corn? Who was involved at each step? There are four types of corn: sweet, dent, flint, and popcorn. Talk about the corn worm too.
Recognize someone in the class who worked hard, tell how you know they were really putting a lot of effort into their work.
Describe what you liked about your job.
Write about a change you noticed in the garden, since the last time you were out.
Amaranth...winnowing, harvesting, and threshing. Write about some of the facts that you now know about this grain.
What was challenging about your job today, what part was easy?
What were the tools involved in the job today, did you learn how to use any that you haven’t before?
What did you learn or notice today in the garden?
If you were a garden superhero, what special powers would you have?
Write a description of the garden from the point of view of the root, stem, leaf, or flower of a plant.
Describe decomposition. What happens in the compost pile? What is involved in the decomposition process? How do you build a compost pile? What is worm tea?
If you could be a vegetable, which one would you be? Why?
If you could be a bug in the garden, which one would you be? Why?
If you could train a garden creature, which one would you train, and what would it do?
Describe being picked from the point of view of a fruit or vegetable.
Describe someone who gardens in your family.
Describe how well YOU worked today. Why?

For students who missed a garden day, but need to write during your journal time. Some ideas include:

Describe your school garden last year. How is it like ESY and how was it different?
Describe any experiences you have had gardening at home?
Describe a garden that you like. It could be a garden on your block, a garden on the way to school, a garden you visited. What did you like about it? What are some of the details you remember about it?