The Glenvar Garden Video

The Five Standards of Authentic Instruction

• Higher Order Thinking: Higher order thinking was an important outcome of the garden; students used daily garden observations to infer and predict outcomes. All levels of critical thinking skills were used as they solved real-life problems.
• Depth of Knowledge: Students were required to gain depth of knowledge of various skills. This varied from student to student, as the gardening process allowed students to select an area in which they had interest and could excel.
• Connectedness to the World beyond the Classroom: The garden classroom allowed students to learn skills that were immediately transferable to the world beyond the classroom. After repeated classroom discussions, students chose to donate excess produce to a local shelter.
• Substantive Conversation: In planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting the garden, students were required to interact with each other out of necessity, spurring substantive cooperation and conversation on many topics.
• Social Support for Student Achievement: Through gardening, the class met high expectations in a challenging project. Students who had been unsuccessful, uncooperative, and unhappy in science prior to the garden experienced a change of attitude. Low-achieving students became respected leaders and all students participated in the project with enthusiasm.