Watch how their garden grows
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on April 23, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Mindy Lane, Northwest Elementary kindergarten teacher, helps her student Wesley Wolfe, 5, dig a hole to plant a flower in their class garden in celebration of Earth Day on Wednesday.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Colin Villaneuva, 6, center, picks a dill plant out of the basket as Bella Franklin, 5, and Yamia Pierce, 7, right, raise their hands to announce the names of their flower seeds.
Mindy Lane's class celebrated Earth Day on Wednesday by planting a garden -- a kindergarden.
The Northwest Elementary kindergarten class measured and laid the bricks to fence in the small vegetable and flower garden outside of Principal Theresa Cox's window.
The garden started with a packet of seeds from Mrs. Cox, other plants and seeds were donated from the community. In the past, Mrs. Lane's class has made pine cone bird feeders and hung them outside of the windows.
"We want to save the world," Mrs. Lane said.
The day's lesson plan centered around Earth Day, from measuring the bricks to reading "Curious George Plants a Tree."
They created a flow map of planting from the book, so they could have a reference while out in the garden. It served a dual-purpose of practicing drawing numbers.
The class learned about the three "R" words: reduce, reuse and recycle.
They discussed ways they could make changes in the classroom to help the Earth, including turning off the lights when they left the room, using both sides of the paper and reusing materials.
The students celebrated in style with decorated globe hats made out of paper bags.
Out in the garden, Mrs. Lane read "The Lorax" before they planted. Her class sat on learning carpets that make them "extra smart learners" and kept them out of the muddy grass.
The Lorax is a fictional character that protects the trees.
Wesley Wolfe knows the importance of protecting trees.
"We don't want them to die, or we all die," the 5-year-old said.
Caden Newcomb, 6, broke ground on the garden with a pint-sized shovel.
The class worked together to plant the "tomato trees," dill, and flowers. Later, they will add cucumber seeds, carrots, bushes and more flowers.
Caden is most excited for the tomato plant to grow, but he does not actually like tomatoes.
They used rakes, shovels and their hands to remove dirt and weeds from the plot of land.
"Talk about taking the class out of the classroom," Mrs. Lane laughed as she encouraged her students to share.
There were shrieks of delight and fear as the mini-gardeners unearthed worms.
"I love picking up worms," Caden said.
Next week's lessons will include a unit on earthworms.
The gardening session ended with Mrs. Lane leading the class in sending "Good Vibrations" to the plants.
The children stuck out their arms and wiggled their fingers at the small plants.
"Grow, garden, grow," they chorused.