Washington County Fall Agricultural Literacy Project
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.
Have you completed this year’s project with your class? Please use our feedback form to let us know how it went for you!
2025 Book and Activity
The Book:
As a special accompaniment to this year’s project, we are proud to offer a video introduction to the project featuring Katherine Pryor! In it, Katherine introduces the book and invites students to think about the role they can have in community food systems. You can view the video here (approximately 2 minutes) on our YouTube channel. The link is also included in the activity mailed out to registered teachers.
The Activity:
A Barn Quilt Trail is a unique-to-place collection of individual large, painted quilt squares which adorn barns, homes, and even businesses. Each barn quilt tells a story of the person or people who painted it, representing a piece of the history and culture where the trail is located. This year’s activity will introduce students to the barn quilt trail of the Tualatin Valley, and allow them, as a class, to create a classroom barn quilt of their own.
As a special accompaniment to this year’s project, we’ve created an educational video about the Barn Quilt Trail of Washington County, which features interviews with local producers! You can view the video here (approximately 8 minutes) on our YouTube channel. The link is also included in the activity mailed out to registered teachers.
Click below to view and download the 2025 activity PDF (includes video links):
Oregon AITC 2025 Washington County Fall Literacy Project Activity
How the 2025 project works:
1. Use the form below to register your class for the 2025 Washington County Fall Literacy Project. On the registration form, select a barn quilt template from the 6 options available (options also pictured above). Be sure to select a template with enough pieces to accommodate all students in your class.
2. *We ship your book, activity guide, selected barn quilt template (pre-cut), and barn quilt mounting template to your school.
(*While supplies last)
3. After receiving your materials, follow along the activity guide with your class: Read Zora’s Zucchini, learn about barn quilts and watch the short educational video “Barn Quilt Trail of Washington County” (video link provided in activity guide), and finish by creating the class barn quilt with your students using the materials delivered to you.
4. Once the class quilt is completed and pieces are reassembled on the mounting template provided, snap a high-quality photo of it and send that photo to us. Your class keeps their completed barn quilt. We will compile all of the submitted classroom barn quilt photos into a “Washington County Classroom Barn Quilt Trail” poster and send one to your class! Enjoy the poster as a gift, demonstrating to your class how they are part of a community of their peers across the county.
More detailed instructions are provided in the activity guide delivered to your class.
This year’s project is self-guided. AITC will not be available to coordinate classroom volunteers, however, you are welcome to have a volunteer of your choosing lead the project with your class.
Special Accommodations:
While the Fall Literacy Project is primarily intended for K-4th grade, we are inclusive of those with intellectual disabilities. If you teach a SPED class and would like to participate, please feel welcome to do so. We also have extremely limited quantities of the book in Spanish. Please only select this option in the registration form if your class is Spanish-speaking.
Acknowledgements
We’d like to extend a special thank you to Katherine Pryor and Readers to Eaters for their collaboration in this year’s project!
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!
