A Gardener’s Alphabet, by Mary Azarain

So many new words to learn about the garden all done with beautiful detailed pictures.

Materials

1-10 plastic cups, labeled with the numbers 1-2-3-etc.
Many plastic or silk flowers (if you have just the heads, use pipe cleaners for stems.)
Old play dough
Small basket and several dish towels
Sheet of poster board or large piece of paper
1-2 potted plants (since you will be pulling these out of the pot, you do not need a fancy plant. I have stuffed garden weeds into a cup as a potted plant to do this project)

Vocabulary

Arbor (a little nook or gazebo)
Bulbs (some plants grow from seeds, and some plants grow from bulbs)
Compost (food scraps that you let deteriorate to make dirt for your garden)
Greenhouse (a house made out of glass so you can grow things in the cold weather)
Manure (animal poop that you can put in your compost)
Nibble (to take little bites or tastes)
Topiary (to make fancy shapes out of bushes)
Weed (to take out all the plants you do not want in the garden)
Xeriscape (a garden that needs hardly any watering at all!)

Introducing the Story

Talk to the children about their gardening experiences. Do they have a garden at home? What do they grow, vegetables or flowers? Do you have a garden at school? How do the children help maintain it? Tell the children that today’s book is about words that tell about a garden. Ask the children if they can think of any words that tell about a garden and write them on a large piece of paper (dirt, zucchini, smells good, sprinkler, seeds). Introduce the book and as you go through the pages, help define what each word is.

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 each page, introduce the letter it represents, its letter sound and point to it at the beginning of each word. Take your time reading the story allowing the children to talk about what they see on the page and experiences that come from looking at the pictures.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name. Knows that letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.

After Reading the Story

Open the book up randomly to a page, Say the letter name and the word that corresponds with it; M-manure. Ask the children if they can think of any other words that start with the letter sound /M/ for manure? Do several pages. This could also be used as a transition activity. Let the child open the book, see if they can name the first letter of the word, say the word and think of another that begins with that letter sound.

Music and Movement

Sing or chant while doing motions that go along;

Dig a little hole and put the seed in.

Cover it with dirt and let the sun shine in.

Add a little water, to keep it fed,

Soon a little plant will show its head.

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

Discovery

Bring in several real plants in pots. Ask the children if they can name the parts of the plant (leaves, petals, stem, flower). If not, help them to name. Count the leaves, smell the flower, etc.). Pull the plant out of the soil and show the children the roots of the plant. Give them pieces of paper and encourage them to draw the plant. You can label their plant parts with them when they are finished drawing.

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

Blocks

Ahead of time, trace around blocks onto a piece of poster board or large paper. Lay this out in the center and challenge the children to find the correct blocks to lie over the traced shapes. When we did our garden unit, we made flower type shapes using the blocks and traced them onto the poster board.

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

Art

Look on the Internet for flower collage projects to do with preschoolers. There are many different and lovely ideas. Pick one and let the children collage flowers today.

Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrate care and persistence in a variety of art projects.

Sand and Water

Bring the play fruits and vegetables from the dramatic center today and let the children wash them in the water table. As they wash them, they can dry them with a dishtowel and place in a small basket. Washing our harvest so we can eat it, yummy. Can the children name the various vegetables? Remind them that by washing the vegetables, you are removing any dirt and manure that still might be on them. This is a healthy habit.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Library and Writing

Put out seed catalogs for the children look at. For your oldest children, encourage them to write the names of the flowers or foods that they would like to grow. Show them where to find the name of the plant on the page of the catalog.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from scribbles, shapes or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their own name.

Dramatic Play

If you have extra silk flower heads today, let the children arrange them into a plastic vase (an old mayonnaise jar works well) and put them onto the dramatic table.

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

Math and Manipulaties

Ahead of time label plastic cups 1-10 depending upon the age of your children and the numbers that you are working on. In each cup put a ball of play dough that fills the bottom ½ of the cup. Put out the silk/plastic flowers on the table. Encourage the children to add the proper number of flowers to each cup (#3=three silk flowers)

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increased abilities to combine, separate, and name “how many” concrete objects.

Outdoor Play

Plant a garden or work in your classroom garden with the children. If you do not have a school garden, pretend to plant a garden in the sandbox. Use shovels to make rows and acorns, rocks, or pinecones to be the ‘seeds’.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness.

Bring out scissors and let the children cut the grass.

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

Transitions

Explain to the children that in the garden one can find many colors. Dismiss the children to the next activity by colors that they are wearing. If they are proficient in colors, use patterns in tier clothing (stripes, polka dots, words, numbers, plaid, etc.).

Resources

Dear Parents, Today we read an alphabet book about gardening. Play a game with your child using the letters in their name. Write the letters, not in the correct order, and ask them if they can name the letters. If not tell them the letter name and also the letter sound. Then take your finger and point to the letters in the correct order of your child’s name and slowly say their name saying each letter and then each syllable.

Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert

This book has bright lively pictures and a simple planting information to help children understand the world of gardening.

Materials

Seed catalogs of any kind
Silk flowers. If you do not have stems, attach pipe cleaners
Small paper plates, one per child
Many triangles cut in rainbow colors. They will be the pedals of the flowers
Long strips of construction paper about ½ inch wide
Large sheet of paper where you have drawn a simple rainbow: using the colors in your color strips.
On a large piece of paper draw a red circle, an orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple circle.

Vocabulary

Catalog-a directory magazine
Soil-dirt
Seedlings-baby plants
Sow-to plant
Petals-a part of the flower on a plant.

Introducing the Story

Show the children the front and back covers of the book. Tell the children that the title is called, Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. Ask the children what they think the author meant by planting a rainbow? Ask the children if they have ever helped to plant flowers before? What do they think flowers need to grow? (Dirt, water, and sunshine).

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, stop occasionally on pages and ask the children to name some of the colors that they see. On others, point to a color and name and ask the children if they are wearing that color.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

After Reading the Story

Put the sheet of paper on the wall with the colored circles. Ask the children which color flower they would be if they were a flower. Write their name inside the circle. Count how many of each color flower you would have in your garden. Act out the poem, Dig a Little Hole.

Literacy/Print Awareness & Concepts; develops growing understanding of the different functions of forms of print such as signs, letters, newsletters, lists, messages, and menus. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness if numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

Music and Movement

Dig a Little Hole

Dig a little hole and put the seed in. Act out digging a hole with your hands.

Cover it with dirt and let the sun shine in. Pretend to cover the hole and lift arms over head.

Add a little water and keep it fed Wiggle fingers like rain

Pretty soon a little plant will show it’s head. Use one arm to grow up towards sky.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes. AND Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Discovery

At the easel put out red, yellow, and blue paint and encourage the children to mix the colors as they paint. What colors did you make?

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

If you have extra monies to spend, there is a fun science experience using a bag of M&M’s, a plate, and water. Have the children line the edges of the plate with M&M’s. Carefully pour a little water onto the plate so that all the M&M bottoms are standing in it. Then wait. As the color starts to dissolve and run towards the center of the plate, a rainbow will appear.

Blocks

Let the children use colored blocks today and challenge them to make a flower. How many shapes did they use? What shapes did you use? Show me the stem, the leaves, or the petals.

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

Art

Give each child a paper plate and show them how to glue the triangle pedals onto it. When they have dried you can cut out stems and leaves or let the children cut out stems and leaves. These make a cute wall display. As the children are gluing the triangles on, ask them about the colors that they are using. If by chance you have foam squares, the colors are much more vibrant.

Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrates care and persistence in a variety of art projects. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, experiences, and projects.

Sand and Water

Add dampened sand or dirt to the table and the silk flowers. The children can pretend to plant a garden. Give them spoons or small shovels and watering cans. Do not let them add any more real water or you will have a mess.

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

Library and Writing

Put out colored markers or crayons and encourage the children to draw flowers, around shapes cut from cardboard, or to practice writing their names.

Literacy/Early Writing;experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers.

Dramatic Play

Take some of the silk/plastic flowers that you have and put them into dramatic play along with a plastic vase (a mayonnaise jar works well). Remind the children that in the story they picked the flowers and took them home. Encourage the children to make a bouquet for the vase. This can then be left on the table for future arranging.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Give the children the long strips of construction paper and the large rainbow design. Let the children snip the paper into little squares and glue to the coordinating rainbow arch.

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

Outdoor Play

If you are working on a school garden, let the children help by watering and /or planting seeds. Remind the children that in the story, the narrator and mother dug holes to plant the bulbs. Give the children shovels or spoons and let them dig holes in the sand or dirt. How big a hole can you dig? Encourage the children to work together to dig a really big hole

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games or using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Transitions

Dismiss the children to the next activity by naming colors. Put one of each color strip that you made for manipulatives, or puffballs, under a blanket or into a sack that the children cannot see through. Have a child pick out a strip and name the color.

Or have the child find something in the room that is that color.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

All About Seeds, by Susan Kuchalla

This book uses simple pictures and words to describe how plants grow. It is a good introduction book to spring and planting.

Materials

Materials for planting flower or vegetable seeds.
Variety of produce and a knife to cut them in half.
Plastic lids from cool whip type containers.
A variety of larger seeds (beans, split peas, popcorn)
A journal for recording a seed sprouting and growth cycle.
A good sized piece of contact paper (2-3 feet long)
A small bag of birdseed

Vocabulary

Planted (to put something into the ground to grow)
Produce (fruits and vegetables).

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if their family has ever planted a garden? Let the children discuss what they planted, where they planted, and how they planted. Afterwards, introduce the book.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities;develops growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.

Reading the Story

As you read, point to the corresponding pictures and allow the children time to comment on anything that they see.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships. AND Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction books and poetry.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children if you planted an acorn, what kind of a plant would it grow? What if you planted the seeds from an apple, could it make a peach tree? Give each child a bean seed, a damp paper towel and a ziplock baggie. Have the children place their bean seed on the damp paper towel and seal it in the baggie. Tell them that you are going to watch the seeds for the next several days to see what happens. Use the recording log in library/writing to track the seeds development for the next few days.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving;grows in recognizing and solving problems through active exploration, including trial and error, and interactions and discussions with peers and adults.

Discovery

Bring in a variety of produce. Cut the produce in half and let the children count the seeds of each. Let the children guess if a produce will have a large or small seed/s inside. Good produce includes an apple, an avocado, a squash plant, a banana, etc. Talk with the children about the seeds that they see. What size, shape and quantity.

Mathematics/Number & operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in a meaningful way.

Music and Movement

Dig a Little Hole, act out as recite

Dig a little hole and you put the seed in.

You cover it with dirt and let the sunshine in.

Add a little water and keep it fed,

Pretty soon a little plant will show its head.

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

Sing Where Oh Where Are All The Children? act out as you sing or recite

Where oh where are all the children? clap to rhythm

Way down yonder in the apple orchard. point thumb towards back

Picking apples, put them in the basket climb ladder and pick apples

Picking apples, put them in the basket. climb ladder and pick apples

Picking apples, put them in the basket, climb ladder and pick apples

Way down yonder in the apple orchard. point thumb towards back

How would you act out; cutting lettuce, twisting tomatoes, carrying pumpkins, etc?

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances. AND Creative Arts/Movement; expresses through movement and dancing what is felt and heard in various musical tempos and styles.

Blocks

Try something different today. Tape a good size sheet of contact paper to the wall with the sticky side out. Put out your smaller/lighter blocks and let the children experiment ‘sticking’ them to the wall. Challenge them to make a flower or a tree using the small/light blocks.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; demonstrates growing confidence in a range of abilities and expresses pride in accomplishments. AND Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; progresses in ability to put together and take shapes apart.

Art

Have the children pour glue into the plastic lid. Let them use the “seeds” (beans, split peas, popcorn) to make a mosaic in the glue. When it is dry, punch a hole and hang them with a piece of string.

Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrate care and persistence in a variety of art projects.

Library and Writing

Help the children make a blank book for them to record how a seed begins to sprout and grow. The recording will be an on-going project over several days depending upon what type of seed you choose to sprout. The book does not have to be big or fancy, several pieces of paper stapled together will work.

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

Sand and Water

Fill the table with birdseed and allow the children to pour and scoop. (Note: from my own experiences, the children seem to want to pour this up high and splash it into the table. Remind them about your safety rules of seed must stay in the table and not on the floor).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; demonstrates increasing capacity to follow rules and routines and use materials purposefully, safely, and respectfully.

Dramatic Play

As the children play in the kitchen with the food, encourage them to name the foods that have seeds.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Count the number of seeds inside a variety of produce. Draw a picture of each produce and then have the children help count how many seeds were inside. Write the number next to the picture and let a child draw seed representations.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness if numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Outdoor Play

Bring you planting supplies outside and let the children plant flower or vegetable seeds.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships. AND Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities;develops growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.

Transitions

Play I’m thinking of…. A fruit that grows in a tree and is round and orange and sweet to eat. A vegetable that grows on a vine and we had it for lunch yesterday. A vegetable that grows under ground and it makes french fries. A fruit that you drink in a juice. A vegetable that is crunchy when you bite it.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasing complex and varied vocabulary. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

Dear Parent- today we read a book about seeds and how they grow. Planting a garden with your child can be lots of fun and encourages healthy eating. You do not have to grow a big garden, try a single tomato plant or a simple row of green beans.