The Enormous Turnip, by Alexei Tolstoy

In this story a farmer plants a turnip and asks it to grow sweet and strong. The turnip does grow, and grow, and grow into an enormous turnip! It takes the farmer the help of his family and friends to get the turnip out of the ground.

Materials

Masks of farmer/wife/daughter/dog/cat/mouse
A turnip
Fingernail scrub brushes or rags

Vocabulary

Enormous (Really, really big)
Turnip ( a kind of vegetable that grows under the ground)
Cooperation (when you need help to do something that is too big to do by yourself)

Before Reading the Story

Before hand, put your real turnip into a bag so the children can not see it. Bring all your plastic foods to the rug and also 2 baskets. One labeled Vegetables and the other labeled Not a vegetable. Tell the children that your story today is about a vegetable. Hold up the bag (with the turnip) and ask the children if they can guess what vegetable you have in the bag. After they are through guessing, or if someone guesses it, pull the turnip out of the bag. Let the children each pick a plastic food and sort your plastic foods by vegetable-not vegetable. Do the children know which are grown underground?

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities in matching, sorting, putting in series, and grouping objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Reading the Story

Emphasized the word pulled making a face that looks like you are using all your strength. Encourage the children to pretend to pull on each page.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend ti and and understands conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

After Reading the Story

After reading the story, talk to the children about ways that they might help out/cooperate around their home. Praise them for being good helpers. Ask them if they can think of a time that someone helped them to do something. (Remember yesterday when Roger helped me wash the paint brushes, when my dog ran away the man caught the leash). Remind the children that when people help them that they should always tell them thank you. Thank you lets people know that you appreciate that they helped you.

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; progress in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy and caring for others.

Discovery

Bring the real turnip to the table and a large turnip that you have drawn on paper. Ask the children to describe the turnip and write their responses on the paper turnip. After they have described the outside of the turnip, cut it open and continue to have the children describe the turnip. What does it look like, smell like, feel like. Finally let the children taste a tiny piece of the raw turnip. Graph those who liked the turnip and those who did not.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices ti gather information. investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Music and Movement

Sing Where Oh Where Are All The Children to the tune of Paw Paw Patch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTLX0dkRV4w As the children sing have them act out how to harvest the produce.

Where oh where are all the children,

Way down yonder in the turnip field.

Pulling turnips, put them in the basket

Pulling turnips, put them in the basket.

Pulling turnips put them in the basket,

Way down yonder in the turnip field.

(Let the children sing about other vegetables)

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Blocks

Have the children sort the blocks according to size. Which block is the smallest in the center? Which block is the largest in the center?

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurements; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Art

Cut out many circles, squares and triangles in small, medium, and large sizes. Put these out on the table for the children to collage as they choose.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to be able to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and the same shape.

Library and Writing

Turnip starts with the letter T. Have the children think of T words. Write them down. Farmer starts with the letter F. Have the children think of F words. Mouse starts with the letter M. Count the words under each letter, which has the most? Which has the least? Can the children think of any more letters so that they all have the same amount?

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; shows growing awareness of beginning and ending sounds of words. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, and equal to.

Sand and Water

Put the vegetables in the water today with fingernail scrub brushes. This is the way we wash the turnip, wash the turnip, and wash the turnip. This is the way we was the turnip to get it nice and clean.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Dramatic play

This is a fun story to act out. Make the masks and attach to a sentence strip for the children to wear. Encourage them to act out in the dramatic play center.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Math and Manipulatives

Have like items in various sizes for the children to sort by smallest, bigger, biggest. (bear counters, toy cars, scraps of paper)

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to be able to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and the same shape.

Outdoor Play

In the story the characters pulled and pulled. Ask the children if they can find things to pull. (a wagon, a jump rope, a piece of equipment across the yard)

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; uses an increasingly complex and varied spoken language. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops an increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Transitions

Ask the children to name a vegetable, name a fruit, name something that you eat that is orange, name something that you eat that is hard, etc.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops an increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Resources

Flower Garden, Eve Bunting

This is a wonderful book about spring and a little girls gift to her mother. It is inspiration to those who live in the city and a reminder of the joy that plants bring to people everywhere.

Materials;

Silk flowers (these can often be gotten at craft stores for a few dollars. If they do not have stems, cut pipe cleaners into 6-8 inch pieces and attach to the silk flower heads.)
Petal Power game
Gardening catalogs or spring fliers from local garden stores
At least one real flowering plant

Vocabulary

Trowel ( a shovel for planting flowers or vegetables)
Jamboree ( a celebration, in the story it is a celebration of colors!)

Before reading the Story

Show the children the cover of the book. Ask them if they have ever helped plant a garden before? Where do you get the plants? What did you have to do to make the garden? What do you have to do to take care of the garden? If you live in the city, this might be more difficult for the children to answer. In that case, talk about if they have ever seen a flower garden? Did you like it? What did you like/not like about it? Where did you see the garden?

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

As you read the story, ask who, what, where, when, and why questions. (Where are the girl and her father going with the flowers, what are they going to do? Why are they lighting candles? Whose birthday do you think it is? What time of year is this story taking place?)

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate informations, experiences, ideas, feelingsw, opinions, needs, questions,; and for other varied purposes.

After Reading the Story

Talk about the sequence of the story. Where did the story start? (In the store), then where did they go? (On the bus). Where does this story take place? (in the city). Where did the girl live? (High in the building). Who was the last one to come home? What special day was it? Does anyone know when their special birth date is?

Discovery

Put the real flower/s into the center today. Encourage the children to uses their senses to tell you about the flower. Let the children take it out of the container so they can see the roots. Talk about what a plant needs to live and grow (water, dirt, air, and sunshine). Encourage them to draw the plant showing the various parts, including the roots.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Music and Movement

Sing or chant, Dig a Little Hole

You dig a little hole Pretend to dig a hole

And you put the seed in. Drop a pretend seed into the hole

And you cover it with dirt, Use hands to cover pretend hole

And let the sun shine in. Arms over head to make a circle

You give a little water Wiggle fingers over hole to make rain

And keep it fed,

Pretty soon a little plant will show its head. Bring one hand up through the other

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Go through the motions of making a birthday cake with the children and then sing Happy Birthday.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems. AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Blocks

In the story, the girl and her father planted the flowers in a window box. Encourage the children to build a long window box out of blocks. If you have enough silk flowers/plants, you could add these to the block center today.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop and follow through on them.

Art

Give each child a piece of brown paper and tell them to pretend that this is their window box. Put out gardening catalogs and let the children cut and glue what their window box would look like.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Library and Writing

Encourage the children to make cards for family members, friends, or a staff person. Show them how to fold the paper in half. Encourage them to draw a lovely flower design on the front. Open it up and you can help them write a message or they can write/scribble their own message. Make sure they sign the card.

Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes. AND Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles, shapes, or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their own name.

Sand and Water

Add dirt to the table along with several garden trowels or shovels. Add silk plants, or real plants for the children to pretend to plant. Bring in several containers that the children can use for the garden box.

Creative Arts/ Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Dramatic Play

Add silk flowers and a plastic vase ( a water bottle works) so the children can arrange some cut flowers for the table or counter.

Math and Manipulatives

Play Petal Power. Give each child a potted plant from the resource page. Cut out a quantity of petals in various colors and place in the center of the table. Take turns rolling the dice. The child counts the number on the dice and takes that many petals from the pile and places on her circle. Play until all the petals are used up. Use glue sticks as you play to make your pots part of a wall display afterwards.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Outdoor Play

Look for signs of nature growing around your playground. Help the children to name the plants that they see. That is a Loblolly Pine, that is a Dandelion, that is Oregano.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Transitions

Show the children the page where the Mother sees her garden. Ask the children if the Mother liked her present? Ask the children what they would like to get their Mother for her birthday?

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops an increasing ability to find more that one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Tops & Bottoms, by Janet Stevens

Bear is too lazy to plant his own garden and relies on Hare. Using his creative powers, Hare finds a way to get the best of the deal for him and his family.

Materials

Silk flower tops (ask your local craft store if they have any loose flowers that you can have)
Pipe cleaners cut into 4-6 inch pieces.
Several pieces of celery and several carrots.
Model of Jumping from Top to Bottom of the Alphabet board.

Vocabulary

Hare (another word for rabbit)
Cheated (swindle or deceive)
Clever (to be smart)
Crops (what a farmer plants in the fields)
Business Partners (someone you work with or do a job with)
Debt (money owed)
Profit (crop yield)
Harvest (the time to pick produce)

Before Reading the Story

Bring any plastic fruits and vegetables that you have to the group time. Explain to the children that your story today is about a Hare, or rabbit, that plants many different kinds of vegetables. Hold up one of your plastic produce pieces and ask if it is a fruit or a vegetable? Sort them accordingly. Put the fruits aside and hold up one of the vegetables, can the children name them? Continue through all your plastic vegetables. Introduce the story. Read the Title of the book and then open it up to the first page. Ask the children if they notice something different about the book (it opens vertically).

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, amd poems.

Reading the Story

When you get to the page where Hare and his family dug up all the carrots, radishes, and beets, ask the children if they know which part of these plants we eat? When you get to the part where Bear says “You plant this field again-and this season I want the bottoms!” Ask the children what they think is going to happen. (Bear will get mad, He’s gonna get the carrots, The rabbit tricked him). Ask again when you get to the page where Bear says he gets the tops and the bottoms. (The rabbit won’t get any, He will trick Bear, Bear will help plant the garden and they will share).

Literacy/Book KNowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children why Bear got mad? Do you think it was fair that Bear should get all the vegetables if he did not help plant and care for the garden? Begin a discussion on how everybody needs to cooperate and work together. Make a Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down game out of it using classroom examples. The children put their thumb up if they feel the statement is fair and their thumb down if they feel the statement is unfair. 1) Everyone has to cleanup to go outside except one child who got to look at books. 2) Everyone has to throw his or her food in the garbage after lunch except one child because he is too tired. 3) All the children worked together to bring the toys outside. 4) No one got to look at books because one child was not taking care of them. 5) All the children were working hard so the teacher said they could go outside ten minutes early. Make examples of incidents that have happened in your own classroom, leaving out any child’s name.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing, and resolving conflicts with peers. AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Discovery

Bring in a couple of pieces of celery and several carrots. Let the children use their senses to explore the produce and write down their thoughts. (The celery has bumps, it smells good, the leaves are at the top. The carrot has dirt on it, it is pointy on the bottom, it’s got circles around it). After everyone has had a chance to observe the celery and carrots, cut them into small pieces and do a taste test. Make a chart showing which one each child liked best; carrot-celery. WARNING, carrots are considered checkable when cut into round circle. Cut the carrot into thin strips instead. This activity could be done using more vegetables if monies allow.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

At lunch talk about any vegetable that you are eating. Do we eat the top, bottom, or middle of the vegetable? Is it crunchy or soft? Is it cooked or raw? Ask children to describe the vegetable as best they can.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Music and Movement

The Opposite Song

Everything I always say, you always say the opposite.

When I say up, you say down.

Include other opposites such as top/bottom, lazy/active, in/out, under/over

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; uses an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary. AND Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds an increasinging understanding of directionality, oeder, positions of objects, and words such as up, down, oover, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, behind.

Act out the poem, Dig a little hole

Dig a little hole and put the seed in.

Cover it with dirt and let the sun shine in.

Add a little water and keep it fed,

pretty soon a little plant will show it’s head.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Pretend to be a seed and grow into a plant. Ask the children what kind of a plant they grew in to.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Blocks

Cut out a triangle, a square, and a rectangle from paper. Show the children the shapes and say that many people put fences around their gardens to keep critters out. Give the children a paper shape and encourage them to copy the shape out of blocks. When they are finished they can trade shapes with one another.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; progresses in ability to put together and take shapes apart.

Art

Put out orange playdough today and make lots of carrots. Ask the child, “Can you make 5 carrots”? Or “How many carrots did you make in all”?

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Have carrot shapes drawn on orange paper for the children to cut out. Glue this to a piece of construction paper. When the carrot is dry, put out bowls of brown paint that you have mixed a little sand into (this will give the paint a full body and texture). Have the children paint over the carrot bottom. When this is dry, add a few strips of green to make the carrot top.

Creative Arts/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic.

Sand and Water

Put damp sand in the table today. Add pipe cleaners cut into 4-6 inch pieces and the flower tops. Show the children how to put the flower onto the pipe cleaner and then pretend to plant them in the damp sand. Add a couple of spoons to help with the digging.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Library and Writing

Give the children the above the line/below the line page along with alphabet magnets or letters. Have the children sort by those that the letter goes below the line and those that the letter stays above the line.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.

Dramatic Play

Pull out your play produce and 3 bowls. Challenge the children to sort the produce by which part of the plant we eat. The bottom/roots, top/flower, or middle/stems- leaves.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurements; begins t make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute.

Math and Manipulatives

On a piece of paper draw a line across the center. Label Tops and Bottoms. The children use the vegetable cards to sort by those that we eat the tops of and those that we eat the bottoms of.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurements; begins t make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute.

Outdoor Play

Play Jumping to the Top of the Alphabet. Look under resources to see how to draw the jumping board on your sidewalk area. Make each square big enough for a child to jump inside of. The child starts with A and jumps along naming the letters. If they miss a letter, they must return to A and start again. For older children who know many of their letters, after they jump and name the letter, they must say a word that begins with the letter.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their name.

Transitions

Tell the children that the littlest rabbit was hungry but Mrs. Rabbit and Hare could not understand what she wanted to eat! When she said Weet, she really meant Beet. When she said Warrot, she really meant ________. When she said Welery, she really meant _________. When she said Woccoli, she really meant ________. When she said Wettuce, she really meant ________. When she said Worn, she really meant ________.

Continue making up words until everyone has had a turn to name a vegetable.

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; progresses in recognizing matching sounds and rhymes in familiar words, games, songs, stories, and poems.