Washington County Fall Agricultural Literacy Project

2026 Washington County Fall Agricultural Literacy Project

The Fall Agricultural Literacy Project, exclusive to Washington County, connects students to the agricultural community! The project entails reading the featured agriculturally themed book and leading an activity with the students reinforcing the message or theme of the book.

The project runs September through December, and a free copy of the book is available to classrooms as long as supplies last. However, a copy of each year’s selected book will always be available for checkout from our library.

See details below for more information.

 

 

2026 Book and Activity

The Book:

Our 2026 book selection is Our Little Kitchen written by Jillian Tamaki. This is the playful story of resourceful neighbors coming together to cook a meal for their community. The book features vibrant illustrations and a heartfelt message of diverse friends collaborating to prepare a meal with “what we’ve got, what we’ve grown, what we’ve kept, been given, and bought!”
Our Little Kitchen book

The Lesson:

2026 is the International Year of the Woman Farmer, and because of this, we’re proud to include a lesson written specifically to introduce students to the 6 F’s of Agriculture by sharing the stories of several Washington County women who grow, use, and/or teach about locally produced grains. As a hands-on learning tool to accompany the lesson, registered classes will receive a bundle of locally grown wheat (or buckwheat as an allergy alternative) for students to examine. *

*Provided grains are unprocessed and have not reached full maturity and are therefore not recommended for consumption. 

The Activity:

After students have listened to the book and learned about grains, they will participate in a field-to-table matching game. In it, each student receives a card depicting a grain plant, harvested grains, or grain-based food. Depicted grain types include rice, wheat, oats, quinoa, buckwheat, and corn. Students will locate others in the class with matching grain types. Once in their groups of matching grain types, students will place themselves in order of field to kitchen to table. For example: wheat plant to grains to pizza dough and bread.

2026 Fall Literacy Project activity cards graphic

How to get your materials:

1. Use the form below to register your class for the 2026 Washington County Fall Literacy Project. Registered classes will receive in the mail this year’s featured book, a bundle of wheat,* bookmarks, and printed lesson/activity materials. Teachers will need to cut activity grain cards from the provided template, and it is recommended that the cards are laminated for reuse.

*For classes with severe wheat allergies, you have the option to receive a buckwheat bundle as an allergy-friendly alternative. We have very limited supplies of buckwheat bundles, so please only select this option if it is absolutely necessary.

2. We ship your materials. *

*While supplies last.

Special Accommodations:

While the Fall Literacy Project is primarily intended for grades K-4th, we invite participation from those with intellectual disabilities. If you teach a SPED class and would like to participate, please feel welcome to register.

Acknowledgements:

We’d like to extend a special thank you to Lyle Spiesschaert of Tuality Plains Outpost for the wheat bundles donation, and Charlene Murdock for the buckwheat bundles. 

If your class would like to write a Thank You letter to either Lyle or Charlene, please feel welcome to do so! You can send your Thank You cards to our Washington County office, and we will forward them along to the farmers. Send cards to:

Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom

7175 NE Evergreen Parkway, Suite 400

Hillsboro, OR 97124

Related resources:

  • Learn: Check out National Agriculture in the Classroom for a rich selection of wheat and grain related lessons and more: https://agclassroom.org/matrix/
  • Visit: Want to visit and learn more about the farm where your wheat bundle came from? Join the Washington County agricultural community on Saturday, September 26th, from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M., for the Tuality Plains Outpost Fall Harvest Festival, at 3150 NW Thatcher Road, Forest Grove, OR  97116. This year’s event includes horse drawn wagon tours across the site; local food vendors and artisans; baking, brewing and distilling heritage local grains; local musicians; kids activities and more. 
  • Watch: OPB’s Superabundant episode about wheat (9 minutes): Why Wheat Matters to the Pacific Northwest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFJVvzxD7IQ
  • Explore: More wheat resources including fact sheets, recipes, activities, and more: https://foodhero.org/

Program Information

About the Fall Literacy Project

The goal of Washington County’s Fall Agricultural Literacy Project is, like the statewide project, to improve both the reading and agricultural literacy of Oregon students in grades K-4. Each year a new agriculturally-themed book is chosen and a lesson is developed that reinforces the message of the book.

 

How it Works

The project format is subject to change with each year, depending on the theme. In some years there might be an option for a volunteer to lead the activity, and in others the teacher will be empowered to lead the project in their own classroom. The Fall Literacy Project is typically suitable for grades K-4. Start to finish, the reading and lesson take 45 minutes. The program is FREE and all materials are completely prepared and mailed out to registered classes by Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom. Each participating classroom receives a copy of the book to keep!

 

Registration coming soon!

Registration opens in September. Stay tuned!