Bean harvest and Three Sisters lessons At folsom School

Nora Seymour - South Hero Land Trust Programs Coordinator, partnering with Folsom Education & Community Center in South Hero, VT

Bean harvest and Three Sisters lesson with 1st grade 

I led the Folsom 1st grade class in harvesting Abenaki skunk beans and learning about the Three Sisters. We followed much of the Three Sisters lesson from the Abenaki Foodways Project. They had recently read a book about the Three Sisters in class so had some background information. We started in a circle discussing what they already know about the Three Sisters and Abenaki, and sharing some more information and going over what each plant does for the others. We also looked at the corn and beans growing in the garden currently (unfortunately our squash didn’t grow very well and had already been harvested and pulled). Then I gave the overview of the lesson and we split into two groups. 

One group spent time drawing the Three Sisters and writing about how they help each other. The other group came to the garden and we looked closer at the corn, discussing how it grows and opening an ear together. Then we harvested some of the skunk beans and opened the pods together. Students shared what they looked like “solar system, zebra, etc” before I shared that they are skunk beans! Then we rotated groups and repeated.    

Bean shelling/sorting with 3rd + 4th grade

We grew Norridgewock, Cranberry, and Dolloff beans at another garden site and I brought those dried plants to Folsom school for a lesson with the 3rd and 4th graders. I had pulled mostly full plants so students could see how they had grown, and students were able to shell them and sort them into their different varieties. After sorting and counting, students spent time observing and drawing the different beans in their science journals. 

The 4th graders had planted the corn, beans, and squash last spring as 3rd graders, and both grades will plant them this upcoming spring. Later in November we will be doing a decolonizing Thanksgiving lesson with these students, cooking Sagamite, following the Abenaki Foodways Project lesson.