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CoursesMaster ClassesLet’s Grow Literacy Outdoors Master Class
  • Welcome 5

    • Lecture1.1
      0-1: A Welcome Note from Victoria 30 min
    • Lecture1.2
      0-2: Good Things to Know 30 min
    • Lecture1.3
      0-3: Why Literacy Outdoors? 30 min
    • Lecture1.4
      0-4: Ideas to Kick Start Your Literacy Garden 30 min
    • Lecture1.5
      0-5: Supply List for Reading, Writing, Listening, and Talking Outdoors 30 min
  • Module 1: Gardens that Feed 5

    • Lecture2.1
      1-1: Welcome to The Gardens that Feed 30 min
    • Lecture2.2
      1-2: Gather Seeds of Inspiration 30 min
    • Lecture2.3
      1-3: Plant Literacy Ideas 30 min
    • Lecture2.4
      1-4: Grow Literacy Activities 30 min
    • Lecture2.5
      1-5: Harvest Curriculum-on-the-Go Kits 30 min
  • Module 2: Gardens as Outdoor Learning Stations that Inspire Themes 6

    • Lecture3.1
      2-1: Welcome to Gardens as Outdoor Learning Stations that Inspire Themes 30 min
    • Lecture3.2
      2-2: Gather Seeds of Inspiration 30 min
    • Lecture3.3
      2-3: Plant Literacy Ideas 30 min
    • Lecture3.4
      2-4: Grow Literacy Activities 30 min
    • Lecture3.5
      2-5: Harvest Literacy Curriculum Kits 30 min
    • Lecture3.6
      LIVE Workshop #1
  • Module 3: Gardens that Attract Wildlife 5

    • Lecture4.1
      3-1: Welcome The Gardens that Attract Wildlife 30 min
    • Lecture4.2
      3-2: Gather Seeds of Inspiration 30 min
    • Lecture4.3
      3-3: Plant Literacy Ideas 30 min
    • Lecture4.4
      3-4: Grow Literacy Activities 30 min
    • Lecture4.5
      3-5: Harvest Literacy Curriculum Kits 30 min
  • Module 4: Gardens for Beauty and Art 6

    • Lecture5.1
      4-1: Welcome to The Gardens for Beauty and Art 30 min
    • Lecture5.2
      4-2: Gather Seeds of Inspiration 30 min
    • Lecture5.3
      4-3: Plant Ideas 30 min
    • Lecture5.4
      4-4: Grow Activities 30 min
    • Lecture5.5
      4-5: Harvest Curriculum Kits 30 min
    • Lecture5.6
      LIVE Workshop #2
    This content is protected, please login and enroll course to view this content!
    Prev 3-3: Plant Literacy Ideas
    Next 3-5: Harvest Literacy Curriculum Kits

      66 Comments

    1. Gina Ferreira
      June 26, 2020
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      I love the poems that everyone shared, I’ve copied them to read to the children. I like the idea of reading books and poetry outdoors, it’s so much more relaxing and peaceful. I will be adding some poetic expressions to our nature gardens and stations. I’m very excited to get started on some of these ideas. They’re all going in my journal to help me set goals for my space.

    2. Yu Kwan Mok
      June 26, 2020
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      Haiku
      Pretty butterfly
      Dancing and floating in air
      Spread her wings to fly

    3. Mary Guzman
      June 23, 2020
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      I think it would be great if we read them lines and they would place it in what they think would match that poem. my children are young so think doing rhyming words might work best. Maybe giving them words related to the objects and then they find a rhyming word. Interconnecting nursery rhymes such as the its bits spider is also good. As they learn a lot about animals through nursery rhymes. Maybe setting up a section based on a nursery rhyme outside and they can illustrate or find the animals.

      • Victoria Hackett
        June 23, 2020
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        Awesome ideas!!

    4. Pamela Guzman
      June 23, 2020
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      I really love poetry, in our curriculum we have a nursery rhyme unit and its really fun! But I never really thought of using it this way. Since my children are young, I think starting out with painting pictures on rocks with even words beside it that rhyme from the nursery rhymes. As they further go along the year they themselves can create this themselves with some help. Other than nursery rhymes we love to teach our children with songs as it has a rhythm to it and they tend to remember concepts faster this way. One of the ways we talk about plants is called parts of plants with the rhythm and beat of the muffin man our kids love this song placing movement with it too, to get the wiggles out.

      Oh, do you know the parts of plants,
      The parts of plants, the parts of plants?
      Oh, do you know the parts of plants
      That make them grow and grow?
      The roots, they hold the plant in place,
      The plant in place, the plant in place.
      The roots, they hold the plant in place,
      And soak up water, too.
      The stem moves water up the plant,
      Up the plant, up the plant.
      The stem moves water up the plant,
      Brings water to the leaves.
      The leaves, they soak up the rays of sun,
      The rays of sun, the rays of sun.
      The leaves, they soak up the rays of sun,
      And help the plant make food.
      The flower turns into a fruit,
      Into a fruit, into a fruit.
      The flower turns into a fruit,
      To hold the tiny seeds.
      Oh, now you know the parts of plants,
      The parts of plants, the parts of plants.
      Oh, now you know the parts of plants
      That make them grow and grow!

      • Victoria Hackett
        June 23, 2020
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        Thank you for sharing!!! This is awesome!

    5. Donna Rose
      June 23, 2020
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      There’s dirt on my shirt
      and leaves in my hair
      There’s mud on my boots
      But I don’t really care

      Playing outside is so much fun
      To breathe the clean air
      and feel the warm sun

      To stomp on a puddle
      or climb a big tree
      makes me quite happy
      Just look and you’ll see

      • Victoria Hackett
        June 23, 2020
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        Thanks for sharing. This is awesome!

    6. Joan Allen
      June 21, 2020
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      Under One Grey Rock
      Under one grey rock what do I see?
      Five squiggly round earthworms as busy as can be.
      Under one grey rock what do I see?
      An army of ants working diligently.
      Under one grey rock what do I see?
      An eight-eyed face spider looking at me.
      Under one grey rock what do I see?
      Beetles all shiny and black, that’s what I see.
      Under one grey rock what do I see?
      Three tiny field crickets making music with their feet.
      Under one grey rock what do I see?
      One sole millipede sliding around maybe looking for a meal.
      Under one grey rock what do I see?
      Six tiny slugs all covered with slime.
      Under one grey rock what do I see?
      An assortment of wildlife living together happily.

      • Victoria Hackett
        June 22, 2020
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        Thank you for sharing!!

    7. Patricia Nash
      December 10, 2019
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      I forgot to add a favorite poem:
      I am a pumpkin, big and round
      I start out as a seed in the ground.
      Next I grow a vine, my, I look fine.
      Out pops a blossom, white and yellow
      that will turn into a green little fellow.
      Let him sit on the ground until
      he turns big, yellow, and round.

      • Victoria Hackett
        December 10, 2019
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        Love this…I have not seen it before. Thanks for sharing.

    8. Patricia Nash
      December 10, 2019
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      I made 5 cubes out of orange juice boxes. Each of the six sides has a different nursery rhyme on it so we learn 30 rhymes each year. The children love to toss these cubes to see which rhyme comes up for them to participate in. Their favorite each year is Jack Be Nimble because they get to jump over a toy. I’m a firm believer that nursery rhymes, poetry, help children to become great readers because of the repetition, rhythm, and just plain fun words. I have had kindergarteners write poems once the “light bulb” went off in their heads. They loved it. I do believe preschoolers would love to
      create poems too, once they get the hang of it.

      • Victoria Hackett
        December 10, 2019
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        Oh my goodness…I love the idea of using 5 cubes for nursery rhymes. I may have to borrow this idea from you. Also thrilled that you found a way to recycle…take it all outside, add a few physical activities…and whola! Great job!

    9. Mercedes Sanchez
      November 17, 2019
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      My favorite poem is The garden:
      This is my garden, l will plant it with care .
      Here are the seeds l will plant in there.
      The sun will shine,
      The rain will fall,
      The seeds will sprout and grow up tall.

    10. Marissa Quigley
      November 13, 2019
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      My favorite poem is Planting by Dick Wilmes. I cannot write a poem while using one of these formats with my children and share it in the comments. This experience was like for me is like when you do something nice and gentle it becomes amazing on what you are doing and this poem can turn into a storybook with the children on learning how to grow a plant. One page each can have one line each to create this poem and turn into a book to read for them.
      Planting by Dick Wilmes:
      I took a little seed one day
      About a month ago.
      I put it in a pot of dirt,
      In hopes that it would grow.
      I poured a little water
      To make the soil right.
      I set the pot upon the sill,
      Where the sun would give it light.
      I checked the pot most every day,
      And turned it once or twice.
      With a little care and water
      I helped it grow so nice.
      Dick Wilmes

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        This is beautiful! Thank you for sharing and spelling it out. I am sure others will love it too. 🙂

    11. Pamela Wesley
      November 11, 2019
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      I haven’t had any experience with poems with preschool. Maybe you have ideas for what I could use for poems in the classroom

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        I absolutely LOVE this idea! Thrilled that you are thinking about Winer activities.

        • Victoria Hackett
          November 13, 2019
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          Just find poems you enjoy and share them. Keep it simple.

    12. Olivia Bean
      November 11, 2019
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      My favorite poem is called, ” Stopping by the woods on snowy evening” by Robert Frost. I think with this poem and with my preschoolers I would definitely do a poem walk during the winter and have the students look for different parts of winter outside.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Lov this idea.

    13. Kimberly Sheehan
      November 11, 2019
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      Alexandria and I would like to create our own poem with our classroom about Caterpillars. We could tie it into the story the hungry Caterpillar and possibly get a butterfly kit. When we watch caterpillars transform into butterfly’s and then let them fly away once they come out of their cocoons. It would be interesting to base an entire theme off of this and create our own poems in the process.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Great ideas!

    14. Lisette Lara
      November 11, 2019
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      Im not much of a poet but will try to use a song like 5 speckle frogs sitting on a speckle log… and recreate the song with log and 5 stuff animals.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Sounds fun!

    15. Alexandria Cicci
      November 11, 2019
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      I have never been a fan of poetry. I don’t know why but it was just never intriguing to me. However the idea of a little rhyming poem about nature for the kids to have is a wonderful idea. I mean if you think about it, most of the children’s books nowadays are short and rhyme. These could potentially be considered a poem. I believe the kids would enjoy the poem about nature.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        YES!!! This this way if the idea of poetry doesn’t turn you on.

    16. Brendan O'Donnell
      November 11, 2019
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      I have never really indugled in the area of poetry personally or know how I would introduce its concepts to a class of 5-6 year old students. Has anyone else had any success in it for them to take anything positive or different from the expirience?

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Good question. Keep an eye out on the reply.

    17. Julia Best
      November 11, 2019
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      Ahhh, this just reminded me of story stones! Collect a bunch of smaller rocks, paint various items on them, and use them to create a story. You could easily bring this bag of rocks outdoors. I have a preschool class so using images for them to tell a story all together is a great tool for us.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Awesome! I love when things spark excitement

    18. Daniel Lemke
      November 11, 2019
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      This actually inspired me to have the kids learn about writing Haiku’s.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Perfect!

    19. Erin Hudson
      November 11, 2019
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      I have so many favorite children’s poems I can’t think of one off the top of my head! We could definitely create a class poem (preferably an acrostic) after an observation.

      Worms
      W – wriggly
      O – outdoors
      R – really slimey
      M – muddy

      I’m guessing the children in my class might write something like this.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        LOVE!!!! Great ideas here!

    20. Shawna Szczechowicz
      November 11, 2019
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      I have never been huge into poetry and don’t have a favorite poem or format. I think this one may be a challenge for me. I may have to do additional research about poems and try to find fun ways to incorporate them with my children. The last thing they want is to learn more after they were just in school for 6 hours and then come to after school and “learn” more. So framing it in a way of them teaching me about poems and having a nature theme may be more fun for both of us.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Playful learning is the name of the game!

    21. Alicia Robitaille
      November 11, 2019
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      My age group of toddlers are too young for poems. Maybe itsy bitsy spider. Preparing children for spring and starting a garden is exciting.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Playful finger plays, songs can be considered a form of poetry. Young children love rhyming.

    22. kathleen regan
      November 11, 2019
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      Our class might be a little too young for this

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Think finger plays.

    23. Doreen Hathaway
      November 11, 2019
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      poetry and rhyming books are my favorite to read …I received where the sidewalk ends from a former coworker as a parting gift … I love dr. seuss but hmm don’t think he has a nature book lol

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Great!

    24. Madeleine Law
      November 11, 2019
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      “It looks appetizing. It snows softly. And gently” is a haiku by japanese poet Kobayashi Issa. I like it because it is short and simple yet speaks so well to our fascination with winter. I believe young children could connect to it easily and we could make an activity of catching snowflakes on tongues and playing with the texture of snow in a sensory bin.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Love this simplicity of this. You are not tripping over the word “poetry”. Keeping it simple as an accent to a larger activity. Great job.

    25. Kyle Silva
      November 11, 2019
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      My favorite style of poems have always been Haiku, as they were easy to comprehend and help me learn syllable count and line structure. I really like the example you provided which was the number-adjective-alliteration-object.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Super! Thanks for the feedback!

    26. Aimee Provencher
      November 11, 2019
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      A lot of my children enjoy writing acrostic poems. I’m sure they would absolutely love to create acrostic poems of different animals/things outside in the playground.

    27. Eileen Finck
      November 11, 2019
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      Many of our infant-level nature books in our classroom are rhyming (baby poetry!), and that rhythm helps to keep our kiddos more interested in the subject matter.

    28. Christina Morneau
      November 11, 2019
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      love these ideas for older children

    29. Debra Pacheco
      November 11, 2019
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      I love this idea of creating poetry by describing the wildlife.

    30. Heather LeMay
      November 11, 2019
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      I am not sure if my kids are able to comprehend the idea of poetry. So it would have to be something very simple with a lot of rhyming to keep them engaged.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        YES!!!

    31. Bonnie Ellard
      November 11, 2019
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      Listening to poetry is all about learning and maybe they recall something new.

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Great idea to change it up!

    32. KATHLEEN CARROLL
      November 11, 2019
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      I love poems and I feel they are such an important part of learning to read. Even the toddlers can repeat certain lines. They all seem to enjoy how they sound just like music. I love Shel Silverstein and “skin stealer'” is one of my favorites but many of his works the kids enjoy hearing

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Great resource! Thank you!

    33. Emily Walsh
      November 11, 2019
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      Informing our children what type of bugs we have outside would be so fun. We could show them pictures of the bugs then go have them find one themselves.

    34. Pamela Caldwell
      November 11, 2019
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      Would probably use pictures from different books and only sight words Have children draw pictures and share story about picture with everyone

      • Victoria Hackett
        November 13, 2019
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        Wonderful ideas!

    35. psawyer
      March 31, 2018
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      I’m also looking for some suggestions on ways to explain or define the idea of “poetry” or “poems” to preschoolers. We have read poetry together, and I have identified it as such, but I don’t think that they get it. The 4s and 5s are beginning to catch on to rhyming, but of course, not everything that rhymes is a poem and vice-versa. How have other teachers here introduced Poetry to your kiddos? Do you think they just innately catch on by being immersed in it?

      • Victoria Hackett
        April 17, 2018
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        This is such a great question. I will make sure I write a post about it and add it to the Facebook page.

    36. psawyer
      March 31, 2018
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      The playgrounds are finally snow-free, and we are looking forward to finally being able to spend some quality time outdoors! In addition, our program is sending classrooms to participate in a local offering where their nature educators are going to lead the kids in some activities around “Looking for Spring.” We are going on April 4th; this may be our class’ first opportunity to see What’s Under a Log. I’ll let you know what we find. I asked my little guys what they thought they might find if they looked under a log, but most of them do not have any experience with the idea, so there weren’t a lot of satisfactory responses. Several of them were hoping for dinosaurs… and the rest kept referencing the animals from The Mitten. (We just finished a week-long compare and contrast of multiple versions of The Mitten and similar stories, including the Jan Brett and Alvin Tresselt versions, as well as a book called The Elf’s Hat with amusing illustrations.)

    37. calamityjayne85
      March 13, 2018
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      My favorite poem is Nature’s First Green is gold by Robert Frost.
      I think this will be really easy to get children to create poems using these examples.

      • Victoria Hackett
        March 13, 2018
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        If you create any new poems with your kids…please post. I took a stab at it and it was fun.

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