Compost Projects- Part 1

We have been learning about soil and composting for weeks now. To show what they know, students selected a compost project to work on. Their goal was to teach other people about composting, and they had 7 different choices about how to do that. I wanted students to be creative and to choose a project they would enjoy. After discussing the expectations of each project, students made a choice and signed the Composting Project Contract.

A big part of working on this project was choosing the audience and the goal. Some students chose to teach younger children about composting, while other chose to teach parents about how to compost at home, or teach the entire school about composting in the cafeteria (which we hope to start soon). I think this focus helped make their projects more meaningful.

We worked on the projects every morning for two weeks. I was amazed at how seriously the students took their work. Some kids were researching on computers and in books, while others dove right into writing scrips and rough drafts.

At the end of the two weeks, everyone has completed a project. We are working on editing some of the videos, or binding a few books, but all of their learning and producing is complete. I love how invested the students are with their projects. They are so excited to share them with others. Some students will be reading their books to other classes next week. Others are excited to show off their songs and videos. Posters are now hanging in our hallway.

Here are a few of the many projects that are complete:

This is a video by Trevor, Pete, Clayton and Gus demonstrating how they set up a composting experiment with worms. We are still observing the experiment in our classroom. We owe a BIG thanks to Mrs. John for helping with the experiment and video.

Alex made a poster of a Log Hotel. We read a book called The Log Hotel, about a tree that fell over, and all of the living things that helped it decompose. Alex cut out pictures of animals and fungus that caused his log to break down.

Max made a brochure about how to compost at home. We sent it home with each student in our class and gave it out to other teachers at Keysor.

Audrey and Marin create a nonfiction book about critters that live in a compost bin. They even included a table of contents. They will read their book to a kindergarten class next week.

Madeline wrote and illustrated an ABC book about composting. She will share it with kindergarten students next week.