Openlands partners with 58 Chicago Public Schools to expand outdoor learning opportunities. Teachers from many of these schools have developed simple and realistic lesson plans that use the school garden and schoolyard as extensions of the classroom, while aligning with national standards. You can use these lesson plans and resources too!
Some of the lessons are divided into a lesson plan and activity page for students, so you can print only the pages you need.
- Climate Change in the Chicago Region
- Checklist: Common Birds of the Chicago Region
- Charting Diversity (4-8)
- Compare and Contrast in the Garden (Pre K-7)
- Diamante Poems (K-8)
- Family Heirloom Plants (8-12)
- In Our Butterfly Garden (K-2)
- Nature Name Writing (K-2)
- Poetry in the Garden (3-8)
- Preparing and Writing in the Airy Garden (7-8, Special Education)
- Writing with Story Cubes (4-7)
- The Man Who Planted Trees (5-12)
- Using the Garden to Portray Mood (3-5)
For more information on these lesson plans, please contact schools@openlands.org.
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