Unser Bericht vom Tag des Schulgartens 2020
65189 Wiesbaden, Obermayr Europa-Schule
Great Pleasure
It was a great pleasure for Class 3A/3B of the Obermayr Europa Schule Wiesbaden to participate in the 2020 “Tag des Schulgartens” garden project! We were able to integrate the garden into multiple bilingual subjects. This motivated the children significantly to learn English and the other bilingual subjects. The bilingual teachers were able to seamlessly integrate the garden project lessons during homeschooling as well. This project can be inspire other classes to have similarly engaging projects.
English
Most students in the 3A/3B classes speak English as a second language. Thus, immersing them in the language in a positive low stress atmosphere is vital to stimulate their interest in learning the language. In English class, the students participated in scavenger hunts to identify nouns, adjectives, and verbs in the garden. This exercise allowed students to view nouns in person and outside in fresh air. Nouns were no longer abstract ideas in a school textbook, but real-life living things they could see in person. Once they identified nouns, we could focus on adjectives. All students were able to find simple adjectives and native speakers in the class were able to teach other students more advanced vocabulary. Lastly, we identified action verbs that students, insects, animals, and bees could perform. The students were able to find and classify over 100 different words without assistance from the teacher.
Science
In bilingual Science class the students learned how plants grow and actively planted flowers and trees in the garden. The students were deeply engaged in the gardening project and were positively motivated to perform each step required to construct the garden. Additionally, during science class we studied insects and bees. The children constructed bee hotels and participated in discovery exercises to find and identify insects in the garden and outside of the school in a nearby pond. Seeing the bees daily in the bee hotel the students became deeply interested in learning more about bees. This culminated in a class trip to Schloss Freudenberg where students observed bees making honey and were able to see and taste the honey that bees produced. Students were able to describe and identify the lives of bees in both German and English.
Art
The students began the school year learning about Impressionist painter Claude Monet and his fascination with nature. Utilizing nature as the inspiration for their art, students sat outside in the garden and sketched pictures of plants, trees, and other objects they observed. We then took the students back to the classroom to add colors to the sketches as best they could remember. Students who were unsure of which color to use were encouraged to pick the color that inspired them. This allowed the nature they observed in person to positively influence the artwork of each student and deeply enforce the concept of Impressionism.
Teamwork
As students worked together to initially plant plants in the garden, the students showed amazing teamwork. This team building exercise allowed the students to positively practice teamwork and made the class morale stronger. During the break times in school the students rush to the garden to water the plants and clean up around the garden. This fact exemplifies that the students have a sense of pride and ownership in the class garden. This sense of ownership and pride along with the continual teamwork required to maintain the garden crosses over into the classroom and in life.
Video (Class 3A): https://youtu.be/QyCxTsDN1ec
Video (Class 3B): https://youtu.be/5Zc5c7IHDtQ
Bilingual Teachers: Frau Gianina Baumann (Deutsch Lehrerin) / Mr. Jarrett McDonald (English Teacher)
https://eduaktiv.de/hp436/Jahrgang-2014-Unsere-Absolventinnen-und-Absolventen.htm
https://eduaktiv.de/hp1/Startseite.htm