Schools throughout Windham County are implementing a new language arts curriculum called EL Education. At Food Connects, we’re looking for ways to support local educators in linking this curriculum with hands-on food, farm, and nutrition experiences in the garden, classroom and cafeteria.
What is EL Education?
EL, or Expeditionary Learning, is a language arts-focused curriculum that intersects with other subject areas like science and social studies. It provides a great opportunity to link with current Farm to School (FTS) programming because it, “emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning and the integration of academic content with real-world experiences.”
EL is the curriculum currently being used in Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU), Windham Northeast Supervisory Union (WNESU), and West River Education District (WRED). From K-8th grade, there are four modules per grade. At the high school level, EL starts with a guiding question, and there are several components, including: classroom expeditions, experts, fieldwork, community engagement, Intensives (3-4 days that are not curricular and are focused on team building), and an authentic product at the end.
How are teachers integrating FTS with EL?
Whether it’s 2nd graders at Academy School reading about India and then working together to make vegetable tikki masala, 3rd graders at Grafton Elementary School learning about overcoming learning challenges and experimenting with seed saving while reading the book Zoe and the Seed Garden, 8th graders at Dummerston School using the EL anchor text The Omnivore’s Dilemma to launch a study the local food system including visits to Bunker Farm and Walker Farm, or high schoolers at Leland and Gray participating in a maple sugaring intensive co-led by Devan Monnette of Food Connects, there are many ways that FTS can enrich the EL curriculum.
There are even opportunities to link these EL modules to the Big Ideas of Farm to School. Recently, Food Connects facilitated a community of practice group discussion for FTS focused educators in WSESU, WNESU, and WRED interested in digging deeper into the connections between EL and FTS, and Oak Grove School recently worked with Food Connects and Shelburne Farms to create a professional development workshop focused on strengthening the connections between FTS and EL.
How can FTS support EL?
Schools with active FTS programs are well-positioned to integrate with the EL curriculum, because FTS education, with its emphasis on gardening and cooking with students and connecting students to local farms, is inherently experiential, hands-on, and connected to real world experiences. Contact us for more information on making connections like this at your school.