RESOURCES & LESSON PLANS
On this page you will find many links to resources, including books about gardening to read with children and some of my favourite lesson plans that have been split up into primary (K-3) and intermediate (4-7) categories. Many lessons do overlap between primary and intermediate grades, as well as, cross-curricular. Feel free to adapt the lessons to cater to your students as you know them best. The possibilities of what you can learn and teach in the garden are endless, have children keep a garden journal, ask open-ended questions, allow them to explore the garden using their senses and write a poem about it, collect data and create graphs, measure and count, observe plant growth, discuss lifecycles and so more much! Connecting the garden with the classroom can enhance students' curiosity and engagement through subject areas including literacy, mathematics, art, science, and much more! Below are links to online teaching materials and resources for educators, including resources for integrating the First Peoples ways of knowledge when teaching about gardening and plants.
ONLINE TEACHING MATERIALS AND RESOURCES LINKED TO BC'S CURRICULUM
Click on each one to be redirected to a new link.
- Big Green: Classroom Resources
- Food for Thought: Exploring Agriculture and Sustainability in Metro Vancouver
- Growing Minds: Free “This Week in the Garden Monthly Newsletter Templates
- Growing Minds: Lesson Plans and Activities
- Hand Made Places: Free Printable Activities and Worksheets
- KidsGardening: Garden Activities
- KidsGardening: Lesson Plans
- Life Lab (check their “For Educators” tab for teaching resources and professional development workshops)
- List of Garden-Based Learning Distance Teaching Resources
- Megan Zeni: School Garden Resources
- Patterns through the Seasons: A Year of School Food Garden Activities
- Roots & Shoots: Lesson Plans for Grades K-5
- Roots & Shoots: Lesson Plans for Grades 5-8
- Scotts Miracle-Gro: Gro More Good Learning Activities
- SPEC: Guide on a School Garden Calendar
- SPEC: Lesson Book
- SPEC: Weekly Lessons and Activities
- Teacher Vision Gardening: Resources
- Teaching in Nature’s Classroom: A Free Online Course for Educators (registration opens on August 10)
- University of Georgia: Lesson Plans and Activities for K-8
- Whole Kids Foundation: Lesson Plans
FIRST PEOPLES LINK TO THE GARDEN
Click on each one to be redirected to a new link
- Aboriginal First Nations Gardening, Calgary Horticultural Society
- Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
- In our Own Words: Bringing Authentic First Peoples Content to the K-3 Classroom (K-3) → Refer to Unit 2 “Gifts from the Earth” (Pg. 49-70)
- My Seasonal Round – An Integrated Unit for Elementary Social Studies, Science, and First Peoples Learning Principles
- Science First Peoples Teacher Resource Guide ( 4-7) → Refer to Unit 1 “Traditional Ecological Knowledge (Pg. 27-52) and Unit 2 “Plants and the Connection to Place” (Pg. 53-78)
- Teaching about Wild Products from BC’s Coastal Rainforests