Students at Petit Rivière Elementary School have discovered there are valuable lessons to be found in the simplest of things, such as in their own school garden which they plant, grow and harvest.
Recently, the students’ garden was used as the topic of a four-book series which used their work in the garden as a way to promote reading and literacy skill building in primary readers and those learning to speak English.
Titled ‘Planting Our School Garden,’ ‘Our School Garden Grows,’ ‘Harvesting Our School Garden’ and ‘Garden Soup,’ the books featured students Asia Corkum, Omar Faaur and Zion Guest.
Guest said it was a lot of fun posing for the pictures.
“We had recaps for some of the pictures because things could get a little goofy with us so sometimes it took a long time,” he said.
The books were written by Author Sylvia Gunnery, in collaboration with Photographer-Graphic Designer Jim Bell and Publisher and Owner of Curriculum Press John Merchant.
Gunnery, Bell and Merchant had worked together previously on producing book series for primary readers and those learning English and the garden seemed like a perfect subject for the new series.
“I knew they did all these things with the garden,” said Gunnery, who frequently visits the school.
“I had never visited the garden before, and I haven’t been here for the soup, but I knew about it and thought it would make a great subject for the books.”
In addition to planning, planting, growing and harvesting the garden, students also get to enjoy their work by making soup.
The school uses the harvest as a retelling of the European folktale Stone Soup, where hungry strangers have only a stone and ask villagers to bring ingredients for their stone soup to make it tastier, demonstrating the importance of sharing.
A release celebration for the books was held at the school recently, which saw the students featured in the books read them aloud.
Gunnery said it was really special to hear.
“Sometimes when you are writing a book you don’t really get to hear how it sounds until it is read aloud.”
