WHAT'S COMING UP THIS MONTH?
In March, in Kindergarten we will learn about chickens behavior and anatomy (Ex: How can they eat without any teeth?). We will then get to pet our school chickens, Chicken Little and Polly. In First grade, we will continue learning about animals in their environment. In Second grade, we will learn about the life cycle of animals. In Third grade, we will start our unit about animal adaptation. In Fourth grade, we will continue exploring water and its importance. In Fifth grade, we will continue exploring ways to reduce how much ends up in landfills and we will make our own school waste audit.
WHAT WE ARE LEARNING IN THE GARDEN
In February, in Kindergarten we continued to learn about trees, wood and paper. In First grade, we continued to learn about animals in their environment. We had a garden celebration and we made a plant part salad with vegetables from our garden. (Photo below) In Second grade, we learned about the worm life cycle. (Photo above) We also had a garden celebration and tasted the vegetables from our garden. In Third grade, we continued our unit about plant adaptation. We learned about plants that live in the desert. (Pictured here) In Fourth grade, we continued exploring where our drinking water comes from. In Fifth grade, the students invented ways to remove plastic from oceans. Ask your student to tell you more about what they have learned in the garden!
Interesting plant or animal in the garden
The kindergarten and 1st grade students planted radishes. (Pictured here) They grow very fast and reach maturity in only one month. Actually, the scientific name for the genus that includes radishes is Raphanus, Greek for "quickly appearing." Radish crops were first cultivated in China. They then spread through the Northern Hemisphere and into Europe in the 1500s. Radishes had reached Massachusetts by 1629.
On Monday March 16, we will have Phoebe The Phoenix visit our school and help us sort out waste during lunch time. Questions, comments or ideas? Please reach out to me at outdoor.educator(at)fastmail.com, or visit me in the garden on Mondays through Fridays. I’d love to hear from you! With gratitude, Mr. Raphael - March 2026 Note: All the photographs were taken in our garden.
Credits:
Raphael Hitzke