By: Learn and Serve – Michigan Team
Situated between the upper and lower elementary was a plain patch of grass. Well…sometimes there wasn’t even grass. The students and teachers at the elementary schools wanted to turn the space into a place their community would want to spend time in, but the right idea hadn’t been proposed. While attending a professional development on service-learning one of the teachers hatched an idea. The plain patch of grass could be a poetry garden and it could be integrated it into their literature curriculum!
Today the garden is thriving and features trees, benches, and podiums where the children’s poetry is displayed. It has become a place of inspiration. They have a strong sense of pride and ownership of the garden. Their strong connection with the garden remains long after they have moved on to middle school and compels them to keep coming back to see how their garden grows. It holds memories for them and pride that their poetry was recognized in such a powerful way.
An authentic audience is always a motivating force for learning. It gives them relevance for their writing exercises. They know their poetry can have an effect on the world outside of the classroom. The poetry garden has become a place of creativity. They have turned a patch of grass into a wonderful learning environment.
You can hear the story of Grand Blanc Community School’s Poetry Garden below:
Read about additional service-learning projects at Grand Blanc – including their Michigan Native Garden – in the Michigan Community Service Commission’s December 2009 e-newsletter: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs090/1102444973205/archive/1102849297554.html.
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