E340 Gardening Literacy Unit

Gardening: It All Starts With a Seed

Anna Zukowski, Erica Mayberry, Katie Russell

With Spring upon us, it is a new beginning for

our world! Our students have shown an

interest in the blossoming plants outside of

our windows. Our school is also a part of a

farming community, where fields are being

plowed and new animals are being born. We

will begin examining seeds, plants, and the

concepts of gardening. Where do seeds

come from? How do they grow? What do

they look like? What do they grow into? Our

hope is for our students to gain a better

understanding of seeds through this

emergent exploration.

Large Group

Activities

Large Group Activity:

Story time with The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Purpose: Introduce students to seeds and the plant life cycle through a story.

Foundation Standards:

ELA.2.7 Actively attend to things that an adult is showing.

ELA.2.34 Watch and listen to a story for completion or for more than

ten minutes

ELA.3.47 Point to a title of a book.

ELA.2.48 Talk about the cover and illustrations prior to the story being

read

ELA.4.72 Ask and answer simple questions about a story being read.

Book: A Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Directions: The children will sit in circle time and have the book. The teacher will ask questions about what they know

about seeds, where they come from, how they grow, that they look like after they grow. The teacher will also ask

children what they think the book is about after showing the front page of the book. The teacher will ask students to

point out the title of the book and then read it aloud. The Tiny Seed will be read to them. The teacher will engage

them in questions and discussion to build their knowledge.

Engagement with book: Ask students questions about comprehension while reading the book. (What do you think will

happen next? Have you seen this before? Why do you think that happened?)

Mediation Strategies: The students will use the book as a base to ask follow up curiosity questions to guide their

interests.

Follow up: Seed Yoga/Dance through “Planting Seeds” Song

Assessment: The teacher will ask the same questions as before to learn what the students learned from listening to

the story. Such as: What did you learn from this book that you didn’t already know? , What do you think would

happen if the seed didn’t get enough water, got too much?

Planting Seeds Song

(Sung to Farmer in the Dell)

Act this song out with each verse:

The gardener plants the seeds, the gardener plants

the seeds.

Hi-ho the derry-o, the farmer plants the seeds.

Additional verses could be (or make up some of

your own to go along with specific seeds you are

planting):

The rain starts to fall........

The sun begins to shine...........

The plants begin to grow.......

The flowers open up.............

Purpose: Have a shared writing experience about what students have learned about seeds.

Foundation Standards:

ELA.1.5 Associate writing with sounds.

ELA.1.13 Follow printed words as a story is read or caption as a video is played.

ELA.2.61 Use known letters or approximations of letters to represent written language.

ELA.4.105 Follow dictated writing read by an adult.

Resources: Anchor Chart Paper, markers, pointing stick

Directions: After the students have explored seeds for 4-6 days, the teacher will use an anchor chart and

markers to record what students have learned about seeds during circle time. The first sentence written

will be from the teacher (Ex. Some seeds can be eaten!). The teacher will then ask the students to

complete the sentences that follow (Ex. Seeds need the sun to grow.). The teacher may choose to write

the poem herself or use the engagement strategies below. The class will then read the poem together.

After the poem is written, it will be displayed in the classroom.

Large Group Activity:

Shared Writing

Engagement: The teacher may incorporate the use of creating lines for each words and having students

assist her in writing the class poem. The students could either write the letter of the first sound or the

entire word if they are able.

Mediation Strategies: The students will share what they have learned about seeds with the class. This will

assist students in solidifying facts they have learned about seeds.

Follow up: This poem will be read together at circle time over the next 2-3 days.

Assessment: The teacher will record what statements the children make. She will assess whether these

statements about seeds are true or not. If the students help physically write the poem, she can assess

their phonemic awareness by recording if the students choose the correct letter or a similar letter to begin

a word with.

Small Group

Activities

Small Group Writing Activity:

Plant Growth Journal

Purpose: Help students understand the plant life cycle while learning how to document observations of

change each day.

Indiana Literacy Foundations Standards:

ELA.2.50 Draw pictures and scribble to generate and express ideas.

ELA.2.54 Use writing or symbols to share an idea with someone.

Books: The Tiny Seed (Exploring seeds more in-depth)

Materials: Stapled white paper, crayons, markers, pencils

Directions:

1. Prior to planting seeds, the teacher will model how to make a journal of their growing seeds

each day.

- Teacher will do this journal a week before the children will in order to document the plant

growth each day.

- She will model a page in the journal by drawing what the see looks like on the last day in

front of the group.

3. Students will each plant their own alfalfa seed on the first day.

4. Each day students will draw and/or write in their journals what their individual seeds look like.

They will then describe what their seeds look like to their best abilities verbally to teacher.

Assessment: Teacher will ask the children to talk about their drawings and then write down what

they have said (on a sticky note) with their help. (Shared writing) If students have put effort to-

ward making a picture or writing what they see, they have successfully completed this task.

Small Group Writing Activity:

Where Do Seeds Come From?

Purpose: Students will learn about the different types of seeds involved in foods and flowers while

making predictions about which food each seed belongs to.

Indiana Literacy Foundation Standards:

ELA.4.31 Engage someone else to record ideas in words, drawings, or symbols.

ELA.4.45 Engage in turn-taking vocalizations.

ELA.4.70 Use new vocabulary learned from experiences.

Book: The Tiny Seed (exploring seeds by dissection)

Materials: Seeds from apples, apple, seeds from cucumber, cucumber, seeds from strawberries,

strawberry, grape seeds, grape, orange seeds, orange, tomato seeds, tomato, raspberry seeds, rasp-

berries, plastic knives, paper, pencils

Directions:

1. Using their prior knowledge from The Tiny Seed , students will look at seeds placed in front of

them and then give predictions aloud (which seeds belong to which foods or flowers) for teach-

er to write down on the board.

2. After teacher has written down the predictions of which seeds belong to which foods/flowers,

the teacher will give each student an object to dissect and find the seeds in it.

3. Students will share with the rest of the group what they have discovered meaning which seed

they found in their objects.

4. As a group they will discuss the differences between the seeds and other things they have

found interesting.

Assessment: Students have shared accurate findings and made other observations about their ob-

ject to the rest of the group. Teacher may ask follow-up questions such as: What seed did we figure

out belongs to this object? Why do you think these seeds all look different? if necessary.

Activity

Centers

Sensory Table


- ELA.3.19 Use symbols or objects to communicate.

- ELA.4.70 Name objects from picture books.

- ELA.7.27 Follow simple directions with prompts.

- ELA.7.39 Use new vocabulary learned from experiences.

Building Background Knowledge: The book The Tiny Seed discusses one type of seed. In this experience,

children will expand their knowledge of what a seed is and what types of plants seeds can grow into.

Materials: Popcorn kernels, bag of 15 beans, sunflower seeds, fake flowers, plastic toy bugs, shovels, small

pails/pots, cards with seed/bean picture and name

Things we hope children will do: Experiment with filling and emptying pails/pots, comparing seed sizes/

colors/shapes/textures, make the connection between seeds/beans and flowers

Art Center





Building Background Knowledge: Deepens the children’s initial understanding of seeds by examining a variety

of types of seeds and experimenting with them in a variety of artistic formats.

Materials: Contact paper, variety of seeds and beans, paint, paper, crayons, markers, labeled potted

plants, labeled pictures of other seeds and plants

Things we hope children will do: Create seed mosaics using contact paper and seeds/beans, glue beans/

seeds onto paper as an art project, paint different types of plants/seeds/gardens

Science Center Indiana Literacy Foundations Standards:


ELA.2.75 Write letters in strings.

ELA.2.76 Write using phonetically spelled words.

ELA.2.77 Use different combinations of letters to achieve sounds.

ELA.2.78 Write more than one word correctly.

ELA.2.79 Use the correct grasp of writing tool.


Building Background Knowledge: Deepens the children’s initial understanding of seeds and plant structure by

examining and deconstructing a sunflower head.

Materials: Sunflower head of the plant, magnifying glasses, magnifying tables, light table, tweezers,

scissors, safety goggles, gardening gloves, class science journal, pencils/markers/crayons, books about

sunflowers

Things we hope children will do: Dissect a sunflower by removing seeds/petals/etc., deeply examine the

different parts of the plant using different materials (magnifying glasses, light table, etc.), and record their

findings in the class science journal

Writing Center Indiana Literacy Foundation Standards:


ELA.2.75 Write letters in strings.

ELA.2.76 Write using phonetically spelled words.

ELA.2.77 Use different combinations of letters to achieve sounds.

ELA.2.78 Write more than one word correctly.

ELA.2.79 Use the correct grasp of writing tool.

ELA.3.55 Tell simple stories from pictures and books.


Building Background Knowledge: This center will have a variety of texts, both storybooks and informational

texts, for the children to model their own writing after. The children will be encouraged to create a book

about plants/gardening/seeds that can be placed in the class-made basket of books in the library.

Materials: Paper, small book templates, crayons/markers/pencils, an alphabet chart, a variety of books

about plants/gardening/seeds

Things we hope the children will do: Write about plants, gardening, or seeds; create stories/narratives

Technology Center


ELA.4.101 Recognize print in media other than a book.

ELA.5.5 Give writing to someone as a means of communicating. [Broad concept of writing.]


ELA.5.26 Use trial and error to solve a simple problem.

Building Background Knowledge: Using knowledge of how plants grow from seeds, the students will take

pictures of the changes they see in their plants as they grow. Children will also record and photograph

classmates and themselves while participating in other centers.

Materials: Camera on iPad, iMovie

Things we hope children will do: The students will create a time lapse video of the growth of the plant.

Students will have the opportunity to photograph and record themselves and classmates participating in

seed-related activities.

Library

Indiana Literacy Foundation Standards:

ELA.4.79 Request or select a story by the title of the book.

ELA.4.84 Follow pages that accompany a story on audiotape or CD.

ELA.4.90 Hold a book right side up, looking at pages and pictures.

ELA.4.91 Turn pages from front to back.

ELA.4.108 Read own writing (e.g., give meaning to own writing by ―reading what it says).

Building Background Knowledge: Each of the books in the library will have a connection to The Tiny Seed.

All of the materials will relate to the theme of seeds, plants, and gardening.

Materials: A variety of books about seeds, plants, and gardening; book baskets; class-created basket of

books; headphones; recorded audio of The Tiny Seed and How Groundhog's Garden Grew; copies of The

Tiny Seed and How Groundhog's Garden Grew for students to follow along with

Things we hope children will do: Read and explore stories and informational texts about seeds, plants,

and gardening; listen and follow along with class stories; read materials written by classmates

Math Center


- ELA.7.27 Follow simple directions with prompts.

ELA.7.3 Match pictures to actual objects.


Building Background Knowledge: Deepens the children’s initial understanding of seeds by examining a

variety of types of seeds.

Materials: Pattern cards, a variety of seeds/beans, cards with seed/plant images and names

Things we hope children will do: Create different patterns using seeds, recognizing patterns, develop a

sense of pattern

Dramatic Play Center


ELA.7.38 Pretend to do something or be someone.


ELA.7.40 Act out familiar, scripted events and routines.

ELA.2.55 Recognize print in media other than a book.

Building Background Knowledge: How Groundhog's Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry

Introduce this book to the children when introducing this center. It will address the concepts and tools

of gardening to expand the children’s play.

Materials: Gloves, shovels, rakes, dirt, buckets, watering pots, shade hats, knee pillows, water hose, plants,

pots, sand box, labels for plants, seed packets

Things we hope children will do: Create elaborate gardening stories/dramas, use newly acquired

vocabulary

Documents

E340 Gardening Literacy Unit