Kenowa Hills — Fifth-graders are getting front row seats as the Michigan seasons shift into fall, right from their own courtyard.
The Living Lab is located in an outdoor space, accessible only from inside Zinser Elementary.
Mary-Lyn Frost’s fifth-graders recently spent time reading in the courtyard, after checking out new books from the school media library.
Seated at a picnic table with her classmate Ivy Minty, fifth-grader Faith Levandoski said she enjoys reading in a different environment.
“We’re in our classroom all day, and then we get to come out and read and it’s relaxing,” Faith said.
Cora Mitchell curled up in an Adirondack chair with “Who is Caitlyn Clark?” from the Who HQ Now series.
“When we read outside, you get to sit wherever you want,” she told a visitor.
Frost called it “wonderful” to get her students outside to enjoy Michigan’s fall weather.
“A lot of my students wish they could be outdoors all the time, so we get to take advantage of this beautiful area,” she said.
Zinser’s courtyard was re-landscaped in 2020 as a community service project, thanks to Superintendent Jerry Hopkins and his fellow Comstock Park Rotary Club member, Dan Clark, owner of Clark Landscaping.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zinser students and staff engaged with the Living Lab’s 30 species of native plants, a rock pond and three turtles; they also utilized the space for mask breaks throughout the day.
Now, three students from Frost’s class are tasked with pulling weeds, trimming trees and looking out for wildlife during recess as members of the Courtyard Crew.
“We’re basically the caretakers,” fifth-grader Nathan Corte-Amaya said. “If we don’t get rid of the weeds, they’ll infest the whole courtyard.”
Reading Indoors, Outdoors & At Home
To help get her students even more excited for reading, Frost and her partner teacher came up with a 40-book challenge for the school year.
Fifth-grader Eden Klukowski chose a book that was new to her, the first of the “School for Unusual Magic” series to count toward the challenge.
“I like to read, but I don’t think it will be too easy; one book has to be 100 pages,” she said.
Eden explained that if she reads five books, she gets a candy bar, 10 books earns a social media-trending candy salad and the more books she reads, the better the prizes get.
Frost said implementing the reading challenge for her students gives them a chance to go into the library and choose the books they’re excited about, which incentivizes reading.
“Choice is so important for students,” she said. “Our curriculum has good books, but being able to choose their own adventure gives more genre options, and challenges the kids who enjoy reading.”
She added: “We don’t always have time to just sit and read. They grow from reading more and more each day, and they’re more excited to read at home.”
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