Observational Drawings

April 30th 

This week we did some observational drawings of the different vegetables and plants that we planted last week with Elder Sally.  

We talked about different colours, shapes and textures.  Several of the children used magnifying glasses to examine details of the different plant parts. 

Elder Teachings

April 23, 2015
Today Kwak'wala Elder Sally Williams joined us in our classroom to share her teachings about Mother Earth, gardening and maya'xa̱la - which means respect in her traditional Kwak'wala language.  We talked about the importance of giving back to our garden as we harvest foods and Sally told that her ancestors often used seaweed as an offering for harvest.  

In order to show respect and welcome Elder Sally to our classroom, several students had roles to play:

Greeters:  Two students greeted Sally at the front of the school, held the door for her, carried her things and brought her to our classroom.

Set Up:  Two students prepared a chair both inside the classroom and out in our garden for Sally's comfort.

Drink:  Two students were responsible for offering and bring Sally a drink of water.

Thank you:  Two students presented Sally with a thank you gift for joining us and sharing her teachings.   

Later we spent some time planting the first plants in our garden beds.  Elder Sally shared a prayer in her Kwak'wala language and everyone planted some kale, broccolini, mint and marigold.  We talked about how gardeners often choose companion plants for their gardens and Sally shared the teaching that if happiness and positive energy goes into something it will thrive.  

Gilakas'la - thank you - to Elder Sally for joining us to start our garden and we look forward to watching it grow!  

Do you have an Elder in your community?  How does he or she help in your classroom?

Inviting an Elder

April 17th 2015

As part of the learning with our new garden we wanted to seek out a local Elder to share teachings about respect for Mother Earth.  Through our school's connection to the Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre we were able to find a Kwak'wala Elder with stories and teachings to share.  We sent her a letter inviting her to our classroom and we look forward to her first visit.

In preparation for her visit we talk about Elders and the important role they play in our community.  The boys and girls understand that Elders have wisdom and knowledge to share - the students are especially interested in learning more about Elder Sally's traditional Kwakwaka'wakw language.

Do Elders visit your classroom?  What kinds of teachings do they share?

Chlorophyll Art

April 10th 2015

This week in school we explored the green pigment in plants called chlorophyll.  We used the chlorophyll in mint leaves to create leaf rubbings that smelled beautiful. This great idea came from Linda Kamp's Life Cycle of Plants Resource.  The students investigated different ways to make marks with the chlorophyll and we used markers to add outlines for our pictures.  

At the end of class we had a garden of mint prints to display!

Watching Seeds

March 20th 2015

Our booklet is from Linda Kamp's Life Cycle of Plants Resource

One of the first in-class activities we do is plant beans in plastic bags - we observe how the beans change everyday and record information in our Bean Books.  We talk about what plants need to survive and grow.  We learn about different plant parts and measure our plants.  Once the beans have sprouted we move them into small pots and everyone brings home their own plant.


Have you ever planted a bean in a bag?  What happened?

Setting Up

March 13th 2015

Our garden grant package from Whole Kids Foundation has just arrived and we are all excited to to get our garden growing.  Last week we set up our 3 new raised beds in the outdoor area.

This week the school children helped fill the beds with soil.  We worked in team to fill and move the wheelbarrow - it was harder work than we thought it would be!  We made estimates about how many trips we would have to make...

A big THANK YOU to Whole Kids for giving us this opportunity and for sending us a care package with a resource binder, loads of seeds and other materials for our new garden! 

Do you have a garden at your school?