The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle

This story follows the adventure of a tiny seed as it travels with the wind and finally finds a place to settle and grow, and grow, and grow!

Materials

Tissue paper

Seed cycle and flower parts

5 little seeds flannel pieces

Flower shape from blocks to make a flower

Dried bean seeds and zip lock baggie

Vocabulary

Autumn (fall time)

Burst open (to split or break open)

Bud ( a flower that is ready to open)

Before Reading the Story

Tell the children that when you were coming to school today you noticed a beautiful flower or tree. Say you were wondering how it grew? Let the children give their responses if they have any. Now tell the children that you found a book that explains how seeds grow. Introduce the book.

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

Point out the seed that meets its demise on each page as well as the path of the tiny seed.

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

After Reading the Story

Tell the children that you are going to pretend to be seeds and do the movement activity, How a Seed Grows.

Help the children to act out How a Seed Grows, this is an adaptation of a story written by Helen Jordon. Pretend that you are a tiny seed. It is the fall time and you are on a beautiful flower. Now the wind begins to blow and you pop off and are carried away with the wind. You whirl and twirl and then land with a plop on the ground. The rains come and you are pushed ever so slightly into the ground. Now it is winter and all around you it is cold and the ground is frozen. You don’t notice because you are all curled up sound asleep. Soon the cold winter starts to melt away to spring time. The sun begins to shine and the winds begin to blow gently. The ground begins to get softer and you can move a tiny bit. You begin to wake from your sleep and you slowly, slowly begin to stretch down a tiny root deep into the ground. Every day you grow longer and stronger. Soon you are strong enough to push your stem right out of the ground. You grow up straight and proud. In time you grow a leaf, and then another and another. You are no longer a seed but you are a small plant! When it rains you are happy because you need rain to make you grow. When the sun shines you are happy because you need sunshine to make you grow. Every day you grow a little bit bigger and a little bit stronger until you finally open up into a beautiful flower. The bees and butterflies come to visit you and land right on your face with their tickly legs and feet. Some of your pollen gets stuck on their furry legs and wings. In a couple of weeks you will begin to get weaker. Your petals will get droopy and soon fall to the ground. You begin to wilt and slowly, slowly begin to sink back down to the earth. One day the wind blows and your seeds blow off into the wind. You continue to sink back down to the earth and you are a spent plant. You will not grow again till next spring.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions. AND Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety if dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Discovery

Put a bean seed in a ziplock baggie with a moistened paper towel. Observe it over several days. As the stem begins to grow the children can measure it with a ruler. You can also have the children draw each day to document the seeds growth.

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

Put out books and pictures that show how seeds grow. If you have the funds, grow seeds!

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading-related activities, such as asking to have a favorite book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take books home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend reading with peers.

Music and Movement

Act out the poem A Little Plant, author unknown. Have the children sit on the floor and bend over their legs with their head towards the floor.

In the heart of a seed,

Buried down so deep, A little plant

Lay fast asleep.

“Awake” said the sun,

“Come up from the earth”

“Awake” said the rain,

“We’re giving you birth”

The little plant heard

And with a happy sigh,

Pointed its petals

Up to the sky.

Do this flannel with the children. They can use their fingers to count along.

5 little seeds planted in a row

Water them well and watch them grow!

1 little plant, so small and green

2 little plants can now be seen!

3 little plants with leaves so small

4 little plants are getting tall

5 little plants have buds of red

I planted a beautiful flowerbed!

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing ability to count to 10 and beyond.

Blocks

On a large piece of paper trace around block shapes to make a simple flower like design. Put it on the floor and let the children cover it with the correct block shapes.

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

Art

Make tissue paper flowers. On a piece of white construction paper draw a circle (this will be the flowers center) cut out many petal shapes from the tissue paper and also leaf shapes. Mix glue with a little water and put it into a bowl with a paint brush. The children can use the paint brush to spread the glue onto the paper. Let the children add petals and leaves to their flower. Show the children that if they over lap the tissue paper it will make another color.

Creative Arts/Art; progress in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic. AND Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Library and Writing

Let the children play with the 5 Little Flowers flannel.

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.

Sand and Water

Put dirt or sand in the table with small shovels or spoons so the children can dig holes. They can pretend to be planting a garden. (We did this putting dirt into the table. On Friday afternoon I covered the table and when we came back on Monday morning, the bean seeds we had been playing with in the table had sprouted! A fun and unexpected surprise).

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

Dramatic Play

As the children play, encourage them to sort the plastic foods by those that have seeds and those that do not. Bring in real fruits and vegetables if you can so that the children can cut them apart and look at real seeds.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Make copies of the seed cycle and also the flower parts. Color and cover with contact paper. Let the children use these like puzzle.

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

Outdoor Play

Go for a nature walk and look for seeds (grass, trees). Remember that acorns are seeds as are parts of the pinecone.

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

Transitions

The children can pretend to be blown all whirly and twirly by the wind to their next activity.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Resources

The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper

What a positive message this story carries about how hard work and how practice pays off. What will happen to the little blue engine if nobody helps her get up and over the mountain?

Materials

Simple train cars + engine for name game
Stuffed animals, especially a toy clown if you have one.

Vocabulary

Shiny (something that sparkles in the sun)
Engine (The first car of the train that has the motor to pull)

Before reading the Story

Tell the children that today you are going to read a story about trains. Ask them if they know what a train is? Show them a picture of a train. Do you know what trains do? Do you know what trains carry? Have you ever been on a train? Lead a general discussion about trains to find out what the children know. Now tell them that you are going to ask them some train riddles. (1. A train uses its wheels to get from here to there, what do we use? 2. A train sleeps in a train yard at night, where do people sleep? 3. A train drives on the train tracks, people drive on what? 4. A train drinks fuel and eats coal to nourish it, what do people eat and drink? 5. At night time a man will scrub the dirt off the train with a hose, what do people do when they are dirty?

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, nad tasks. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

Reading the Story

When you read the voices of the engines make faces and voice tones to match the speech.

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

After Reading the Story

Review the story with the children. Where was the little engine going, why? What kinds of things do train carry? Who helped the train? What color was she? What did she say as she pulled the train up and over the mountain? Remind them that when they were babies they did not know how to walk but they practiced and practiced and now they can. Ask the children if they can think of a time when they had to try and try to do something (ride a bike, tie a shoe, button a button). Help them to name things.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates 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. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; demonstrates growing confidence in a range of abilities and expresses pride in accomplishments.

Discovery

Add pictures, books, or models of real trains.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops increased ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences and comparisons among objects and materials.

Music and Movement

Sing She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain but change the words to sing about trains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1QUK9svSmw

She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes.

She’ll be coming round the mountain; she’ll be coming round the mountain

She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes.

She’ll be puffing lots of smoke when she comes, puff puff

She’ll be ringing her bell when she comes, ding ding

We’ll all go out to greet her when she comes.

She’ll be bringing good food to eat when she comes.

She’ll be bringing toys for children when she comes.

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

Teach the children the chant CAN (point out the different who cans as you go along).

I can

You can

He can

She can

Who can?

We can!

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Do The Train poem

This is the little train (bend arms at elbow)

Puffing down the track (rotate arms in rhythmic pattern)

Now she’s going forward (push arms forward)

Now she’s going back (pull arms back)

Now the bell is ringing (pretend to pull cord)

Now the whistle blows (put hand fingers to thumb up by mouth)

What a lot of noise she makes (put hands over ears)

Everywhere she goes! (Stretch out arms)

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

Blocks

If you have a train track, put it out. If you do not have a train track, hang a picture of a train on the track low in the center and encourage the children to make their own track.

Mathematics/Geometry & SPatial Sense; progresses in ability to put together and take apart shapes. AND Creative Arts/Dramatic PLay; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Art

Remind the children some things are hard to do and require practice. Explain that today we are going to practice cutting with scissors. Ahead of time draw rectangles and circles onto colored paper. Have the children practice cutting these out. Suggest to them to see if they can make a train car from all their rectangles and circles that they have cut. If your children are competent with scissors, give them school equipment catalogs to cut out toys and put them into their train cars. Remind them to say, “I think I can, I think I can” as they practice cutting the shapes out.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Library and Writing

Find a time today to play this whole class game. Put out two lines of chairs, one for every child playing the game. On the chair tape a letter. Make a second set of identical letters, these are the tickets. Give each child a ticket and then let them board the train and find their seat. After all the passengers are seated, pretend to be the ticket collector and go up the aisle making sure that the children are in the correct seat. As you collect the ticket you could ask the children to name the letter. If they can not say, “This is the letter S, it makes the /s/ sound. Can you think of a word that starts with S? Put on music and the children can walk around the chairs till the music stops. Then they must find the chair that matches their ticket. Switch out the tickets among the children and put the music back on.

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

Sand and Water

Add dampened sand and encourage the children to make a mountain. Give the children plastic spoons, Can they make a tunnel under the mountain?

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

Dramatic Play

Bring in stuffed animals to the center. Add chairs to allow the children to make a train for themselves and the animals.

Math and Manipulatives

Make copies of the train cars 1-10 and write the number on. Let the children put the cars in 1-10 order and then use small manipulatives to add the correct number of items. Bear counters work well.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Outdoor Play

In the book the dolls and toys asked engines to push and pull them. Use a wagon to demonstrate pushing and pulling. Encourage the children to push and pull each other in the wagon, on tricycles, and other riding toys.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Transitions

Make a simple train car for each child in the class. Put them up on the wall randomly to form a train. After you have all the train cars up, tell the children that this is the order that you are going to line up in today. Help the children read their names and put themselves into the correct order in line/to wash hands/brush teeth, etc.

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

Have all the children line up and hold the child in front of them shoulders. Tell the children that you are a train and that the teacher/you are the engine. Walk very slowly announcing different centers like train stops. Let children get off at each station (Our next stop will be blocks. All those who are playing in blocks, prepare to exit the train).

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.

Resources

cut out or draw shapes for the children to cut out to make simple train engines or cars

Mr. Gumpy’s Outing, by John Burningham

Mr. Gumpy owns a boat. One day Mr. Gumpy was going out for a boat ride and it seemed like everybody wanted to come with. Watch what happens when a boat full of animals and people is crowded and on the river.

Materials

Several Life preservers if available
Chest plate to represent Gumpy, boy, girl, rabbit,Cat, dog, pig, sheep, chicken, cow, goat
Roll of tin foil

Vocabulary

River (a long channel or stream of water that flows to a lake or the ocean)
Squabble (to fuss at or bicker with someone)
Muck about (to mess around with or poke nose into someone else’s business).
Bleating (the sound sheep make)
Trample (to step on)
Float ( it stays on the top of the water)
Sink ( it goes to the bottom of the water)

Before reading the Story

Hold up the cover of the book and ask the children if they know what everyone is sitting in (boat)? Ask the children if they have ever been in a boat? Where do you use a boat, what do you need to wear in a boat and what do you do in a boat? Bring in several pictures of kinds of boats to name and discuss with the children. Hang the boats on the wall. Give each child a slip of paper with their name on it and have them tape it beneath their favorite boat.

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

Reading the Story

As you read, whenever Mr. Gumpy is asked if someone can come along, answer shaking your head. When you get to the page where it says, “For a little while they all went along happily, read until it says the children squabbled and then stop and ask the children if they can guess what is going to happen?

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

Go through the story one more time and have the children act it out with you. The teacher can be Mr. Gumpy and the children can be the other characters (put on the picture mantels so everyone knows what part each person is playing). Make sure that they help you figure out how to act out mucking about and squabbling.

Discovery

Add a large bowl or bucket of water to the center. Put out a variety of small classroom objects that the children can experiment with to see if they will sink or they will float. Have them sort them accordingly.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss & draw conclusions, and form generalizations. AND Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute.

Music and Movement

Sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat with the children and act out different ways you can row the boat individually or with a partner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WphumMGa7Ms Think of a variety of ways to row the boat.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; develops growing understanding of how their actions affect others and begins to accept consequences of their actions.

Mr Gumpy’s boat is a long narrow punt type boat that you must push with a pole. Have the children stand and row or punt to the left, the right, the left, the right.

Blocks

If you are lucky enough to have access to several life preservers, bring them in for the children to put on and practice buckling and unbuckling. If you do not have access to life preservers, hang up the pictures of people wearing life preservers. Explain to the children that it is the law to wear them if you are in a boat on the water. Encourage the children to make a boat out of the blocks.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, preproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors. AND Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules a such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Art

Give the children squares of tin foil and ask them to see if they can make a boat that will float in the water table. Will their boat hold bear counters? Mr. Gumpy would be so pleased.

Creative Arts/Art; begins to understand and share opinions about artistic products and experiences. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins t make one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching matching groups of objects.

Library and Writing

Make a copy of the Mr. Gumpy path pages for each child. Can they follow the path and stay inside the lines?

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

Sand and water

Put water into the table today and boats to float. If you have no boats, use plastic Tupperware containers. Challenge the children to see how many counting bears they can put into the boat/Tupperware before it tips.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Dramatic Play

Make a set of character medallions for the children to retell the story in dramatic play.

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. 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.

Math and Manipulatives

Make a simple boat shape that is just big enough for three counters of choice. Mark a “river” on the table using 2 pieces of masking tape. Give the children 10 counters and tell them that they have to get them all across the river. How many times will the boat have to go back and forth to get 10 counters across? Remember that one counter has to stay in the boat to steer. Walk the children through the steps to figure out how many times the boat has to go back and forth across the water.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

Outdoor Play

Encourage the children to work together to build a river in the sand box. When they are finished, let them pour water into the river. What happens(evaporation)? Can the children saturate the sand enough to have it fill with water? Try this in the dirt, is it easier or harder?

Science/Scientific Methods & Skills; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Put out a balance beam on the playground and have the children practice walking it forward, backward, sliding side -to-side, etc.. Play a game that if you fall off then you fall into the water.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; chows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Transitions

Can you name an animal that was on the boat? Pretend to swim to the next activity. Can you name some more farm animals?

Approaches to Leatning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.