Overview

The goal of this curriculum is to help develop oral language, reading, and writing in English to help students feel more comfortable and confident in the content area of the Life Sciences. An important component of this development is helping the student feel comfortable and confident in sharing in their learning environment. These lessons are based upon the premise that the classroom community has been established and is encouraging to all types of learners.

This curriculum has been written with the following underlying principles in mind:

• Provide instruction in a way that gives the students comprehensible input including using visual, manipulative, and scaffolding in their first language if necessary.
• Provide opportunities to increase verbal interaction during activities.
• Provide instruction that contextualizes language as much as possible.
• Provide activities that offer opportunities for active involvement.

Teaching in an outdoor setting, especially a garden, can help create the connection between language and learning in an inspiring environment to students. The connection to food also helps connect their past to current experiences and creates an authentic learning experience. Activities are created to have a lot of student activity and practice their language development in a group and individual experiences. During instruction, keep the following strategies in mind:

• Build community first
• Contextualize language
• Connect new language to past experiences
• Create authentic learning experiences

This curriculum uses a variety of ways to help measure the growth of language learners. One approach is using observation and anecdotal records. This includes watching the student’s responses and documenting their growth in comprehension. Another approach is documenting student responses and tracking their growth. A third assessment strategy is creating a portfolio. In this case, it will be their science folder or notebook for older students.

Lessons

Kindergarten: Things are Alive!

The Edible Bug Project
Give Me Five
Six Plant Parts
 

First Grade: We’re also a Part of Nature

Bird Brilliance!
Plant Power
The Root Show
 

Second Grade: Cycles

Metamorphosis Magic
Red Worms Rock
Fruit to Flowers
 

Third Grade: The Nature Connection

Bugs, Bugs, Everywhere!
Habitat Hopscotch
Three Sisters
 

Fourth Grade: The Circles of Life

The F.B.I.
Pollinator Power
Producers and Consumers
 

Fifth Grade: Nature Scientists

Everything Breathes
The Digestive Dance
Why Are Plants Green?