In the classroom

Big vegetables lead to big projects, By Beth Kalet FRANKLIN — Inspiration may not grow on trees, but it can grow in a garden. That’s how it happened for fourth-graders at the Franklin Borough School. A story called “Mr. Biggins’ Garden” tells about a farmer in Alaska who grows giant vegetables, wins awards and gets a lot of notice. After reading the story, the children delved into the facts behind the fictionalized account. They learned that a real farmer, John Evans, inspired the story they read. He’s won nearly 200 first-place ribbons at the Alaska State Fair and set numerous world records with his disproportionate produce — some weighing several times the average fourth-grader. Next the youngsters took their lessons to heart, becoming news reporters. They researched the real John Evans by going to his Web site: http://www.recordholders.org/en/records/vegetables.html. There they found photos and statistics on his gargantuan carrots, beets, cabbage and more, such as a 49-pound celery and a carrot weighing nearly 19 pounds. Then, pretending to interview the grand gardener himself, they wrote and illustrated articles about a giant vegetable or fruit. They took their cues from local media. Chelsea Van Dyk, who has grown some pretty big pumpkins in her own family garden, was impressed by one on Evans’ site. “We saw his prize-winning pumpkin that weighs over 1,000 pounds.” Erin Kidd, like the others, was also most excited about the artistic side of this project. Drew Helmstetter, who created a giant apple, took his inspiration from big vegetables and really big construction paper. “I saw the big red paper and said, ‘Oooh, red paper. I’m going to use that.” He chose an apple “because when I get home I always eat a lot of apples.” Franklin’s fourth-grade teachers are Lauren Brady, Kim Panaite and Ryan Ellis. Nancy Gottlieb is the inclusion teacher.