Curriculum Resources
Adriene Koett-Cronn, Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation
- Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation
- national organization
- education program
- non-political
- support all types of agriculture
- It is a program of OSU within the College of Ag
- The organization is not funded through state or federal funds.
- Mission: Help students grow in their knowledge of Oregon Agriculture
-Students are the future so we need to help them to be outstanding decision makers
- We want to instill appreciation for natural world and systems and empower healthier choices
- OAITC works specifically with Oregon educators as well as Boys and Girls Clubs, after school programs and with summer camps
Resources available
- full curriculum
- stand alone lesson
- support materials
- “Get organized” textbook (regions, history social studies text)
- activity supplies
- teacher training (focusing on how to incorporate agriculture into standards based teaching)
- in-class field trips
How do you get to all of this?
- Oregon AITC’s website
- Go to “Teachers” and “Oregon Grown”
- Utilize the “Free Loan Library”
- no fee online library
- OAITC mails materials directly to you
- The only cost is the return postage
- Information required is: how many students you reached and feedback about the experience.
Hands-On Lessons
- download directly from website
- Lessons focused on a wide variety of things but for instance they have three focused lessons that reinforce field trips to pumpkin patch
“Grown in Oregon” Map
- Includes distinct seven regions of the state with icons that represent the unique commodities of each region
- Depicts the diversity of Oregon agriculture and landscapes
- Back contains more info about Oregon (economics of region etc.)
Facebook Page
- Use facebook page to stay abreast of interesting things happening in agriculture and education in Oregon
Growing Minds Newsletter
- A full color eight page free newsletter that contains 2 new lessons per issue.
My Oregon Grown Plate
- Oregon twist on Federal My Plate Standard
- Nutrition sheet free to educators
- Used for lessons aimed at K-5 students, lessons are found on website
- Includes language arts activities, math, health and nutrition and fine arts activities that are associated with map as a manipulative
AITC Calendar Contest
- K-6 statewide art contest
- In 2012-13, 1,500 students from 24 counties entered the contest
- Students can submit art to be published within the calanadar
Annual Literacy Project
- A project that uses trained volunteers state-wide to come into classrooms and read to students
- Volunteers help to implement lessons in the classroom to reinforce the book
- Project happens from March - May
- Last year AITC reached 17,000 students, with 600 volunteers
Plant a Seed in-class field trips
- started in 2012
- 37 classes in 5 counties
- 45 minutes lesson
- Tailored to teachers need
- Focuses on nutrition, germination, seasonality
If you have any questions, you are encouraged to call or email the folks at OAITC
Maureen Hosty, OSU extension faculty 4-h Youth Development Program
- Extension services started by congress in late 19th century to extend knowledge from universities to everyone else in communities
- Every county has an extension office
- Maureen encouraged educators to not feel as though they have to reinvent the wheel. Use can use existing curriculum.
- OSU Extension's Purpose and Resources
- Master Gardner’s, 4-H, Health and Nutrition Services
- Training for volunteers to sustain and maintain gardens (2 day training in PDX area)
- Food and Nutrition Programs
- Online Food Hero Program- Lessons related to garden, recipes and tips
- Growing Healthy Kids Program Digging In- food safety, lessons, activities
- 200 page school garden teacher/volunteer handbook. This includes the nuts and bolts of putting together a school garden
- Connected in to National 4-H curriculum
- cooking curriculum
- horticulture curriculum
- vegetable garden curriculum
- Entomology curriculum
- Fine arts curriculum
- Small lessons kits, includes basic supplies, can be checked out if you’re in PDX area
- Different extension offices have assorted resources available yet this varies from county to county
- Resources available for incorporating wildlife and natural resources into garden learning
- flashcards for native plants for sale
Check out back table for resources and get list of compiled resources via email by contacting Marueen.
Linda Colwell
EatThinkGrow Abernathy School Curriculum
- Encouraged participants to figure out what the best resources are for particular situation and context.
- Best resources engage students in a purposeful and dynamic way
- Eat.Think.Grow is center on the idea of place-based education
- Oregon, culture, botany, nutrition
- What shapes the people, plants and how they respond to where they are
- David Sobel- process of using local community and environment as a starting point for academic learning emphasizing hands on real world learning experiences.
- focuses on engaging in community
- See all curriculum at Eatthinkgrow.org
- Considering the conditions of the Willamette Valley, this curriculum is based on the maritime climate and the ability to garden 12 months out of the year
- The curriculum is organized for K-5 students, with 3 seasons of lessons per grade
- 3 to 6 lessons per season
- Matched with Common Core Standards and Oregon state standards
- Lessons build from year to year
- Can be implemented lesson by lesson or as fully integrated learning opportunities
- Created in 1999 and developed along side teachers
- Uses experiential learning to support academic goals
Kindergarten (unique lesson examples)
- school garden exploration: learn where the garden is, garden as a place of learning, educational space from the start
- “Under, on and above,” develops spatial understanding
- “Living and non-living in the Garden”
- “Winter in the garden,” observation
- “Popcorn is a seed”
Fourth Grade
- “Measuring and mapping the school area”
- “Timing a school garden”
- “Companion plant”
- “Writing instructions for a school garden bed”
Fifth Grade
- “Finding local in your lunch”
- “Public opinion polls in cafeteria”
- “Advertising harvest of the month”
Highlights from the curriculum as a whole
- people grow food in neighborhood gardens (map making, what foods grow in their neighborhoods)
- school garden ecosystem game
- school garden exploration
- trees that traveled the Oregon trail
- getting to the roots (art as a way to critically observe root systems)
- insects in the garden
Question and Answers
-Holly Sunnyside, Environmental School
- How much time is each student in the garden?
- Linda: 550 students k-5, every single kid gets a garden class a week
Diana, Parent
Spanish language curriculum?
- Maureen: Nutrition lessons in Spanish
- Andriene: Spanish language materials available, searchable by Spanish language
Mark, Southwest Charter School
Building in international experiences/understanding?
- Linda: Thinking locally as first concern but utilizing technology to be interconnected. Skype call with people around the world doing similar things
- Maureen: Ground students and then introduce global later grades. UNESCO as resource
Geerchrest Farm
Farm/School outside of Salem, teachers would like to connect with larger farm...school gardens connecting with larger educational farms?
- Linda: Developing appreciation of field scale ag within our garden box. Zenger as example.
- Adrienne: Farm Bureaus, Oregon Women for Agriculture farmers as very generous resources
- Maureen: 4-H student ambassadors on farms
- Watershed council as resources