Garden Lessons: Making Salad (First Grade)

 
Cabbage.jpg
 

Grade(s): Kindergarten

Lesson Objective(s): Students make a healthy garden snack, plant lettuce, and chart what the plant needs and doesn’t need to live.

Supplies Needed

  • Lettuce, cabbage, kale or whatever other leafy greens are available in the garden

  • olive oil

  • salt & pepper

  • hand sanitizer

  • bowls (small, 1 per student)

  • forks (1 per student)

  • Seedling mat

  • Large Planting container

  • Lettuce Seeds

  • “Our Lettuce Seedling Needs…” Chart (on poster)

  • “Our Lettuce Seedling Needs…” Cut-out items with picture and word underneath

  • Harmonica

Introduction (5 mins)

  • Everyone washes hands, welcome students

  • If in garden: Everyone harvests 1 cabbage leaf, 1 lettuce leaf, 1 kale leaf

  • If inside: bring the leaves to class. Show leaves to class, ask who’s seen them before

Activity (20 mins)

  • Explain that today we’re going to make a salad. Ask: Have you ever tried a salad before?

  • Go to seats, have helper pass out bowls, another pass out forks, 1 per person

  • Everyone gets hand sanitizer

  • First show students the 3 different greens: Cabbage, lettuce, and kale

  • Show first how to tear up leaves: tear into small pieces, and put into bowl

  • Each student gets: 1 cabbage leaf, 1 kale leaf & 1 lettuce leaf

  • Students work on tearing up leafs in bowl. Teacher goes around to each table and pours a drizzle of olive oil in bowl, student adds salt & pepper.

  • Have students mix the olive oil in very well with the greens with their fork

  • Explain that once they are done, they can try their snack. If they don’t like it, they can either throw it in compost or give it to a friend.

  • While students are snack, go around with large planting container & have each student plant a lettuce seed. Make sure no two seeds are planted in the same spot.

Wrap up (5 Mins):

  • Students throw away all trash, wipe tables & clean up

  • Gather on carpet with class- by show of hands, who liked it, who didn’t?

  • Do ”Our Lettuce Seedlings Need…” chart together. Does our Seedling need coffee or a house? What about sunshine or water? With each item, ask class and put on chart.

  • Water seeds and say goodbye!

Classroom Extensions:

Before: Read “Lettuce” by Diana Kizlauskaz

After: Compare the needs of our lettuce seedling to that of people or animals. How are they different? How are they the same?

Garden LessonsTeresa Woodard