Seeds of Purpose

1
Seeds of Purpose
Over the course of three months, Jackie Maloney
worked with four third graders planting seeds and
seedlings, taking care of these plants, and
observing and recording the progress in the form
of several journal entries and discussions about
plants and their growth. The kids experimented
with several forms of gardening, which included
the indoor planting of radish seeds and the
outdoor planting of kale and chard in a raised
bed.
After each phase of the project, the third
graders described what theyd observed and
accomplished in their journals. At the end
With Kale and Chard seedlings, soil and compost
donated by Seth at Crystal Spring Farm,
Rochelle, Autumn, Lewis, and Mercedes learned
how to
Each radish seed was planted in a glass Ball
jar so that the kids would be able to observe the
root growth as well as the leaf growth.
of each entry, they signed their names and added
illustrations. Each journal entry was read out
loud by the author when all had been completed.
Through this process, kids learned new
vocabul- ary that pertained to the
agricultural/horticultural process, were better
able to understand the logic and organization of
the project, and are now able to look back on
older entries and understand just how much they
have accomplished.
Lewis, Mercedes, Rochelle and Autumn were
excited to learn about planting seeds when they
started the garden project with radish seeds in
early April. Jackie taught them that different
kinds of seeds need to be planted at different
depths in the soil, need different amounts of
light and warmth, and that too much water will
drown a seed while too little will cause it to
dry up. All four third graders watered their
plants every day responsibly, made sure that the
glass radish jars always sat on the sunny
windowsill, and recorded the progress of growth
by writing and drawing in their journals.
Recently, they outgrew the glass jars, and the
kids decided to transplant the radishes to the
raised bed outside with the kale and chard.
Radishes
transplant seedlings into a raised bed. Much
fun was had filling the plywood box with moist
soil and compost, fishing out clumps and mixing
the soil by hand to make it smooth. With dirty
hands and much concentration, each child planted
three seedlings at the correct depth in the new
raised bed, and watered each plant. Two months
later, the seedlings are creeping over the edges
of the bed, and are dark and leafy, and recently
passed the taste test as approved by all four
third graders.
Kale Chard
Journals
The project succeeded beyond expectations each
hour the kids spent involved in the project
brought a lot of excitement, purpose, and focus
to the classroom. The kids began to feel a
responsibility for their plants and garden, and
seemed to get a wonderful sense of satisfaction
and ownership when the plants began to grow. The
kids also seemed more excited to write and draw
about the progress of the plants when the time
for journal entries came at the end of the hour,
and completed each entry with a reading of what
they had written.
This project was designed specifically for young
children with behavior issues such as short
attention spans, a lack of cooperation with their
peers, or a difficulty with responsibility.
These behavior issues subsequently lead to
problems in subjects such as reading, writing,
and mathematics. The idea behind actively
tending a garden mimicked an alternative method
of education that has been proven in some schools
to improve the charisma, passion, and focus of
students that do not learn as well in the general
public school.
From left Lewis, Mercedes, Autumn and Rochelle
tasting baby kale and chard greens.