The "Dairy Products in Wisconsin" unit for high school English Language Learners focuses on enhancing various linguistic skills through practical and engaging activities. I created this slideshow as a daily launch for mini-lessons in ag-themed language activities for my students in Food Science learning English as an additional language.

Unit Title: Dream Garden MeasurementsAuthor: Melissa WimmlerSchool: Discovery Charter School, Columbus School DistrictGrade Level: 2nd GradeContent Area(s): Math, Environmental ScienceContext: Our governance council is working on a school wide project to improve the lawn space in front of our school and create our dream garden. During this six-lesson unit the second-grade students estimated and accurately measured objects in the space and perimeter. The students calculated the area of the space and used square units to plan spaces and garden beds.

The unit is a very basic introduction to phenology geared for the littlest of learners, preschool children ages 3-5. Over the course of five weeks we embrace winter fatigue and set our sights on Spring hoping to spy our very first signs of the season—we spend time looking for the first green shoots, explore the forest floor (moss, lichen and fungi), welcome back the robins, celebrate the spring beauties, embark on a frog hunt and observe the dancing dragonflies!Week One—On the hunt for greenWeek Two—Beneath our feet…Week Three—Birds!Week Four—Spring ephemerals and awakening bugsWeek Five—Pond StudyPrior to introducing phenology to my students and implementing this unit, we had been using simple journal prompts at the end of each week as an assessment tool. My students are primarily in the pre-writing stages—the bulk of our entries are fantastic imaginative crayon sketches that we have each student describe for us. I am incredibly fortunate to teach in a garden-based program where we are outside for the majority of our learning time together and teachable moments abound. For this unit, I really wanted our Sprouts to take a closer look at the things we see every day.

This unit begins and ends with the motivating reality that my fifth graders are responsible forthe raspberry patch on our school grounds. Since they are responsible for maintaining,harvesting, and caring for this patch in general, it is a logical connection that they should beknowledgeable about it. In the end, it is a true learning-by-doing experience. It should benoted that this is an ongoing recurring type of unit that we come back to with variousexperiences throughout the school year.

Authors: Tiffany Lodholz, Morgan May, Jenny GrimesSchool: High Marq Environmental Charter School, Montello School DistrictUnit Title: Garden MathGrade Level: 7-12Content Area(s): Environmental Science, MathematicsContext:High Marq Environmental Charter School is a project and place based school that serves grades 7-12 in Marquette County, Wisconsin. Each week our students participate in a full day field experience designed to connect, explore and engage with the outdoors. These five lessons were all a part of those experiences. Our focus this year was on gardening. All of these lessons took place in the school garden on campus, Our school district has a greenhouse for us to start seeds in and our garden uses primarily raised beds. The students also traveled to a local greenhouse to purchase supplemental plants, soil, mulch, hay, and other accessories.

Maple Grove Charter School, Athens School District, is a Grades K-5 elementary school located the heart of the rural Town of Hamburg. The school takes its name from the school forest on its site. Built in 1904, the school has annual tradition of tapping the maple trees. What started as a first grade classroom project has expanded as students from each grade level identify, tap, and collect sap from two trees. Unit plans have been created for each grade level to address agriculture, science, literacy, social studies, math, and environmental literacy standards. While the sap collecing routines remain relevatively constant each year, the learning opportunties have been differentiated by grade level so that students are always learning new content and skills.In the following unit plan discussion readers will learn about the schoolwide project from the perspective of teachers in Grades 1 and 5.Students in Grade 1 learn about maple tree identification and the traditional and modern tools and technologies employed in sap collection and syrup production. Their fifth grade counterparts continue to grow in their understanding of the tapping, collection, and production processes, and take on the role of entrepreneurs as they develop their brand and market the finished pure maple syrup.

Unit Title: Near Nature Exploration Developed by Tiffany Lodholz, High Marq Environmental Charter School Grade Level:6-12 Content Area(s): Environmental Science, Science, ELAOver the course of a semester students in grades 6-12 engaged in various nature journaling activities that allowed them to connect, explore, and engage with the environment around them. Students participated in monthly phenological observations, discovered ways to use nature journaling for scientific study, and developed new techniques for looking closer and making deeper, more meaningful observations.A series of five outdoor nature journaling lessons are described:Qualitative PhenologyNature JournalingSAUNTERBug RadnessFrog Fest!

Author: Tammy Moncel, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School Middle School, Integrated ScienceProtection of freshwater on Earth is a global responsibility but the Native American efforts to protect the Great Lakes Freshwater is of particular interest to the people throughout Wisconsin. The movie “Bad River” is a relevant perspective of some key arguments from the view of the water protectors in Native American communities. This documentary highlights Native speakers and the defiance of the Bad River tribe required to stand up to oil companies. This movie was used at the end of our school year (coinciding with the release date of the documentary) to promote understanding of the Native American perspective of issues that have been a great source of media attention throughout the state of Wisconsin. A major part of understanding the importance of freshwater protection includes an understanding of the water cycle. The very simplified version of the water cycle includes precipitation, evaporation and condensation. The handouts of these words with pictures and Ojibwemowin translations gives students a starting point to talk about water as a closed system with continuous recycling in nature. My students were able to connect the English vocabulary meaning to the descriptive Ojibwemowin translation.

Author: Lucille Burr GrignonCurrently teaching from my Indigenous Homestead/Gardens. Ancient Roots Homestead in Bowler, WisconsinAncient Roots Homestead collaborates with students, elders, community members in the surrounding Tribal Nations– both Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee and beyond. We recognize all students learn in different ways. Some students join us in person, while others join us virtually. People of all ages are invited to tell stories, garden, connect and reconnect, preserve food, make music, create art, and learn different Indigenous life skills, and more.Maple Sugar season is a beautiful time for learning. So much is happening in the world around us, all we have to do to learn is observe. The seasons change, the trees grow and develop. From the tapping of the trees, boiling down, canning, educating, and processing. It is very beautiful from beginning to end. The lessons learned while working with maple trees can be directly applied and used in our own lives.The culturally-relevant text sets offer different perspectives for students to see as well as wonderful conversation starters. Students learn of different careers within the Indigenous World. Some of those careers being: Traditional Seed Keepers, Gardeners, Knowledge Keepers, Storytellers, and More!

Unit Title: Urban Runoff and Its Impact on the Community and BeyondAuthor: Anthony Jordan, Franklin High School, Franklin Public SchoolsGrade Level: 9-12Context:  This unit of study combined mathematics, environmental science, and literacy while also incorporating a real world context. Students began the unit of study by looking at specific examples of environmental impacts of rainwater runoff and the contaminants they contain. In addition, students used these articles to build context knowledge and dive deeper through research on the reasons behind stormwater runoff, the systems in place, and solutions to solve this problem on a local, national, and global level. Afterwards students began to incorporate how to calculate the amount of stormwater runoff and utilized GIS and google earth to develop a deeper understanding of how to accurately calculate the area of impervious surfaces. Finally, students compared the amount of runoff calculated and were able to construct a project on how to address building a greener school. 

Learning about our natural resources and how to maintain and improve them is a common thread throughout the K-6th grades. In fifth grade, students learn about soil composition, soil health, how to regenerate soil, and how to test the soil.  Based on the soil test and composition determination/s, we then discuss why we received the results we did, what the results mean, and why different samples from the same geographical area may vary.They learn about soil depletion, the importance of regeneration and management of the soil, and whether to use natural fertilizers or synthetic bagged fertilizers to build up the soil and for plant health. During the process, they learn what N, P, and K mean and how to read the fertilizer bag.

Each spring Roosevelt fourth graders embrace the challenge of writing an essay for the Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom essay competition for 4th and 5th graders. It has become a tradition at our school and many older siblings recall writing the essay for their particular topic when they were in fourth grade!  We have covered topics from John Deere & maple syrup to soybeans and farmer’s markets.  This year we were excited to study Wisconsin’s fruits, specifically strawberries!The annual contest falls in the third trimester where we focus on Expository writing and completing a 5 paragraph essay with a simple bibliography.