Our previous lesson (here) continued this year as we enjoyed seeing the growth of our peas! My kids still talk about the Hans Christian Anderson story “5 Peas in a Pod” and are anxiously awaiting the perfect time to eat and shell the peas we planted!
Now that the danger of frost is gone, it was time to plan out our vegetable garden bed. This year has been a big focus on Tennessee history and we spent a lot of time earlier in the year learning about the Native Americans. As I thought about what kind of garden to plant, it made perfect sense to bring in the “Three Sisters!”
Before telling students what seeds we would be planting, I read them the story (here) and had them draw the story in their notebooks. We had a great time comparing the characters to the seed packets and making connections about the “blonde hair” of the tallest sister (corn) and the short, crawling sister in green (zucchini squash) along with the middle sister who wanders everywhere wearing a yellow dress (yellow climbing beans.)
The children weeded the garden bed to prepare for planting (and enjoyed a few radishes and spinach that were planted for a cold crop) and worked to plant our three sisters in rows in the garden.
We went back to check on our gardens this week and I’m so excited to see them doing well! I’m hoping for a good crop that the students will enjoy!
Another part of our lesson was just exploring on a ramble. We found this awesome tree and spent time imagining and playing with the stumps.
Since I still had our TN map, we also learned about garden crops that are planted and harvested in our state!
This was a great lesson to conclude our year! As I look back on all the “object lessons” we had this year I am so thankful for the time spent giving consistent opportunities to learn in nature! What a wonderful year! I’m looking forward to next year and seeing the growth in my children’s love of nature and science!
KIND + CULTIVATED 