Growing Together: Open Forum

Join your fellow gardeners this upcoming Tuesday, 1/24 @ 3PM ET for our first Community Chat of 2023! We'll be chatting about literacy in any gardening setting - homes, schools, libraries, etc. Bring your questions and ideas for book-themed gardens, favorite reading and writing activities in the garden, creating special reading spaces, and anything else you'd like to discuss. From those new to gardening to seasoned educators, everyone is welcome!

Feel free to share any ideas or photos of your literary gardens/activities for inspiration in this thread or in this Jamboard.

Sign up below:
(If you're interested but can't attend, feel free to sign up to let us know what questions you have or if you're interested in a recording of the Chat)

1/24/23 3PM EST 
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvceuorD8tG9aRSdbZldwKpvhFstCafVLN
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Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
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I, unfortunately, was not able to attend yesterday's Community Chat but I just watched the recording and - wow! - so many great ideas for literary connections in the garden! Huge thank you to Valerie Bang-Jensen, Jennifer Tianen, KidsGardening staff, and all of the Community members who asked fantastic questions and shared so much information. 

The recording of the Chat is attached, resources shared are linked below, and time stamps for the recording are also available. If you have more questions and ideas to share, drop them in this thread or add to this Jamboard (especially if you have photos to share!).

Info from the topic specialists:

• Valerie - Here's a link to the slide deck she shared. Her contact info and website are provided at the end of the slides.

• Jennifer - She runs the West Bloomfield Literary Garden and you can check out this amazing garden program on Instagram (@wbhslitgarden) and Facebook (West Bloomfield Literary Garden). Jen had to hop off the call early but she shared so much more about the literary garden in the ELA webinar linked in the resources below and is open to connecting with and helping anyone who wants to reach out to her (email: jennifer.tianen@wbsd.org).

Books for literary garden connections:

• Books in Bloom - Written by Valerie and her colleague, Mark, this features 17 different children's books to use for formal or informal garden adventures (this is one of the most popular KidsGardening curriculum books!)

• Here are some books KidsGardening recently compiled around the holidays

• A really wonderful list of Multicultural Garden/ Farm to ECE books

• Another great children's gardening books list

Other resources for literary inspiration:

• Signage recommendation from Jennifer: Plants Map is a wonderful company that has QR codes embedded and provides opportunities for kids to fill in all kinds of information about plants, from scientific to literary to historical plus pictures!

• Coming Soon! Valerie has a book full of literary ideas coming out in April called "Literacy Moves Outdoors"

• English Language Arts in the Garden: Webinar Recording - this webinar has so many examples of ways to use gardens to teach literacy in any context and with any age group

• KidsGardening's literature-focused resources - activities, lessons, and guides for literacy connections in gardening

• National Head Start Association Garden Storytimes

  • Recording of the Fall Garden Storytime (Book: Pumpkin Circle - The Story of a Garden)

  • Recording of the Winter Garden Storytime (Book: Logan's Greenhouse)

  • Register for the Spring Garden Storytime

  • Register for the Summer Garden Storytime

Recording Time Stamps:

10:30 - Ideas for literacy connections

24:45 - Story walks  (what they are and examples)

33:45 - Strategies for getting more teachers/grade levels to use the garden (connecting the garden to grade-level curriculum)

47:50 - Examples of integrating garden programs with local libraries

52:30 - Word gardens (what they are and examples)

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Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
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