Teacher Appreciation WeekThe week of May 7th is Teacher Appreciation Week. In the first couple of weeks of the Spring Garden Club, we planted an herb garden for the teachers and staff. This week the kids made some awesome cards for the teachers to tell them about the herb garden.
Drawing What We LearnedWe've been pretty lucky this season weather-wise, so I guess we can't complain too much when it rained the last 15 minutes on Friday. We decided to head inside when it started to thunder. The kids drew pictures of an evergreen tree, deciduous tree in summer, deciduous tree in winter, and their favorite cartoon character!
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Tree IdentificationAll the kids got Tree Identification handouts from the "Common Native Trees of Virginia Tree Identification Guide". Regina introduced them to some of the terminology for parts, types and positions of leaves. The kids used hand gestures to model some of the terms to help them remember. Then we started to use the guide to identify a tree near the school. Unfortunately it started to rain and thunder before we finished. Please click here if you'd like an electronic copy of the Virginia Department of Forestry book: Common Native Trees of Virginia or you can buy a hard copy for $2 by visiting their online store.
The GardensAll the gardens are coming along nicely. The peonies and iris' are blooming and we got our first strawberry!
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Coming Up
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We will learn about composting. Tina will bring in her red wiggler worm compost bin. She is prepared to give each child enough worms to start their own "vermicompost bin". Please email echaleki@grymesschool.org if you would like your child to bring home a container of worms. Click here to read about what you will need to prepare a home for your new worms. Tina says it's easy, a great way to recycle papers and food scraps, and doesn't smell. She says it makes the best compost and/or compost tea. She is also willing to take back any worms if you decide vermicomposting is not for you.
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Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is located in Mineral Virginia and emphasize plant varieties that perform well in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. They do extensive germination and purity testing to ensure they always provide the highest quality possible. As part of their mission, they promote seed saving and traditional plant breeding.
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Vegetable gardening is a fun and rewarding way to learn about nature and healthy food. That's why we Bonnie Plants started the Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program. Through the program, millions of students have learned about gardening.
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Click here to see what the kids planted and the toothpick color coding scheme.
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