The
Munched-Up Flower Garden
By Nancy Kelly Allen
1.
Read and discuss The Munched-Up
Flower Garden. Ask the
following open-ended questions:
2.
What character interested you the most?
Why?
3.
Why do you think Liz worked so hard to grow a beautiful garden?
4.
Sallie came by often to visit with Liz.
Why do you think Sallie was so interested in Liz?
5.
Do you think Liz will grow a garden next year?
Will Sallie? If they do,
whose garden will be better?
6.
Have you ever been so angry you wanted to scream?
What made you so angry? What
are ways we can handle our anger?
7.
What happens when you plant a seed?
What does a flower need to grow? Discuss how soil, rain, and sun help
plants grow. Discuss how some
plants sleep during winter and wake up in spring.
8.
People eat different parts of plants.
Some eat bulbs (potatoes and onions); some eat seeds (peas and beans);
some eat stalks (celery and asparagus); some eat roots (carrots); some eat
leaves (lettuce); some eat fruit (strawberries).
Ask children to identify their favorite plant foods.
Create a food chart of favorites. Discuss and interpret the data
represented in the charts.
9.
Plants protect themselves from danger, such as insects, animals, and
people. What are some types of protection plants have developed?
Thorns, spines and prickles, odors, poison and off-flavors are typical
answers.
10.
How can plants become pests? Weeds
invade gardens and yards, some plants cause us to sneeze and cough, and some are
poisonous to touch or eat.
Conflict
Resolution/Anger Management
Ask
the following open-ended question:
1.
What is anger? Conflict?
2.
What are some things that make you angry?
How do you feel when you are angry?
Compile a list of positive and negative feelings.
Write positive on one side and negative on the other.
3.
Have you ever been angry with a friend, a sibling, or a classmate?
Did you say things you wish you hadn’t said?
4.
Is it okay to be angry sometimes? When
are some times when it’s okay to be angry?
What are some ways we can handle anger besides yelling or fighting?
Brainstorm ideas and write ideas on a poster or board.
(Examples: compromise,
problem solving, count to ten before saying a word, breathe deeply, listen to
music, talk with an adult, separate yourself from the person who makes you
angry). Post ideas on a chart and
hang in classroom. Refer to chart
when conflict arises).
5.
How do you think Liz felt when Sallie bragged about her flowers?
Why do you think Sallie came by Liz’s garden so often?
Why did Sallie brag so much? How
would you have acted if you had been Liz? What
are some good ways to handle someone else’s anger?
6.
Role play situations that can cause anger.
Give children a few minutes to rehearse.
Examples:
A.
Your best friend laughs when you fall and hurt your knee.
B.
Your sister teases you about the way you eat spaghetti.
C.
In selecting teams, your best friend doesn’t choose you.
Discuss
ways in which the children would likely handle the situations.
Role-play the situations again focusing on positive ways they can handle
anger.
7.
What can you do to calm down an angry person?
Group children in teams to come up with possible answers and report to
the whole group.
8.
Plants need care and feedings to grow.
The same is true of friendship. What
type of care and feeding do friendships need?
9.
Friendship Flowers
Hand
out parts of a flower to each child. On
the center circle write “A friend is.”
Children will write one word on each petal that illustrates a good
quality that a friend should possess. Example:
Fun, likeable. Staple or glue the
flower petals to the center. Display
on a bulletin board or wall.
10.
Planting Seeds of Friendship
Write
the word “Friendship” on a board or poster.
Hand each child a printed sheet with the letters f,r,i,e,n,d,s,h,i,p at
the top. Each child will write as
many words as they can using the letters f,r,i,e,n,d,s,h,i,p.
My
Own Garden
Materials:
Marigold
seeds
Plastic
cups
Potting
Soil
Water
Children
love to grow plants from seeds. Different
kinds of seeds can be used, but marigolds are a good choice since they are easy
to grow and bloom quickly. Place
potting soil in the bottom of a plastic cup.
Plant the seeds, water, and place in a sunny window.
Each child and parent will work together to make one cup.
Take cups home and plant in garden or container.
Journal
writing: Each day children will
write their thoughts, expectations, and observations of the planting and growing
of the flowers.
Write an acrostic
poem about gardening or flowers.
M
Y
G
A
R
D
E
N
(Write a word,
using each of the letters, to describe a garden.)
Activities:
1.
Stepping stones add interest to a garden, yard or walkway. You can make
you own stepping stone and design it any way you want to. You can decorate
it with an imprint of your hand or foot, your dog's paw, marbles, paint, or any
item you choose.
Stepping
Stone Materials:
Gloves
Fast-drying
cement
Items
to decorate: marbles, pieces of
broken glass (such as plates), leaves, paint, etc.
Aluminum
pie pans
Non-stick
cooking spray
Directions:
Coat the inside of the pie pans with the cooking spray.
Mix the cement with water until it looks like oatmeal.
Pour the cement mixture into each pan and rub your hand over it to level
the mixture. Clean hands and put on
gloves if decorating with sharp items. Carefully
place the decorating items into the cement creating a design you like.
Leaves can be pressed gently onto the concrete to leave a design; then
remove the leaf. Allow the cement to dry for 24 hours. Invert the pie pan and the stone will slide out.
Place the stone in a special place in your garden or yard.
2.
Seed Art. Give each child a
sheet of light-colored construction paper and a half-cup of seeds.
Bird seed will work well for this project.
Children glue the seeds on the sheet in various designs.
Display the seed art in the classroom.
3.
POP POP! Watch the popcorn
grow.
Materials:
Bag of popcorn, one Ziploc bag per child, bag of potting soil, water.
Directions:
Pour 1 cup of potting soil in a Ziploc bag; add four kernels of popcorn and
enough water to dampen the soil. Seal
the bag and place it in a sunny window. Have fun watching the popcorn grow.
4.
BRRRR! It’s Cold Outside.
We wear coats to protect us from the weather.
Did you know that seeds wear coats to protect them, too? Let’s look inside a seed.
Soak a lima bean in water over night.
Give each child a bean and have them peel off the seed covering. Split
the seeds in halves. Look at the different parts of the bean.
Younger children: Draw the lima bean.
Older children: Label the names of the parts of the seed on the drawing to
include the seed coat, root, leaves, food storage, and embryo.
5.
How Many??? Explain that
most plants come from seeds. Display a variety of seeds: acorns, marigold,
watermelon, sunflower, carrots, lettuce, rice, etc.
Let
the children guess the number of seeds needed to fill a cup.
The number will vary according to the type of seed.
Use at least three different types of seeds for this experiment.
After filling each cup, have children count and chart the number of seeds
per cup. Example:
Rice, watermelon, and marigold. Discuss
and interpret the chart data.
6.
Grow your own plants. Place
a wet paper towel in the bottom of a clear plastic drinking cup.
Place a bean on the paper towel.
Each
child will have two cups. One cup
will be placed near a window and the other in a dark area of the classroom.
Lead a whole class discussion about which of the seeds they think will
grow quickly. Check the cups daily and discuss the findings.
Have children estimate how long it will take the seeds to germinate. After the
seedlings sprout, plant the most vigorous in soil and chart their growth.
Have children decorate cups, then plant marigold seeds in each cup.
Let plants grow and allow children to take plants home to their mothers
for Mother’s Day.
7.
To show children the power of a root system, place a stalk of
celery in a clear glass partially filled with colored water.
Watch the celery change colors over the next few days.
8. Plant a school garden.
School gardens are an alternative classroom and can be integrated into
the curriculum. Children plant
seeds and care for the plants. Gardens teach children about nature, math, social studies,
science, and art and open the door to learning about the living world.
This is a fun way to build child interest.
Examples: First grade
children learn about butterflies by growing plants that attract butterflies.
Butterflies need food (flower nectar), water, and housing.
Fourth grade children grow and tend to plants that Native Americans and
colonists grew.
Children
work together to make the garden grow. They
study the plants that thrive and those that don’t.
Children observe, paying attention to detail, and write their
observations, questions, and predictions in a journal.
9.
Make a friendship quilt. Each
child in the class or group will illustrate a picture depicting friendship.
The pictures will be placed on the wall in a quilt pattern.
After to quilt is “hung,” each child will identify his/her quilt
square and explain the picture.
10.
Writing:
Pretend
to be Sallie or James and write a letter to a friend explaining your version of
what happened to Liz’s garden. Include
events in the beginning, middle, and end of The Munched-Up Flower Garden.
You
found a strange looking seed. After
you planted it, you couldn’t believe your eyes.
The seed grew into a plant that… Write
a story using this plot.
Without
plants, we wouldn’t enjoy many of our favorite foods. We wouldn’t have chewing gum or pencils or paper.
Our houses would not be built of wood.
Write a story about life in a world without plants.
Create
a new plant. Illustrate the plant,
give it a name, and describe the plant. How
is it different from other plants? How
is it similar? How is the plant
beneficial to people, animals, other plants, or the environment? Is it harmful in any way?
If so, how?
Did
you know that some plants eat animals? The
plant, Venus’s-fly trap, has leaves that close when an insect lands on them.
After the insect has been eaten, the leaves open again to catch another snack.
YUM! Pretend you are a Venus
Flytrap. Write about your favorite insect meal. What is the best tasting insect dinner? Do you prefer a different insect for breakfast?
What’s for lunch?
How
do plants help people and animals? What
do plants provide? Possible
answers: fuel, food, oxygen,
building material, fiber, medicine, paper, pencils.
Have children fold a sheet of white paper into four squares.
Draw an item we get from plant in each square on front and back of the
paper. Older child may write a
caption below each illustration.
Core Content
RD-04-2.0.7
Children
will make inferences or draw conclusions based on what is read.
RD-04-3.0.1
Children
will explain a character’s or speaker’s actions based on a passage.
RD-04-4.0.1
Children will connect
information from a passage to children’ lives (text-to-self), real world
issues (text-to-world) or other texts (text-to-text - e.g., novel, short story,
song, film, website, etc.).
RD-04-5.0.2
Children will identify
literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery or figurative language (
similes, metaphors, and personification).
WR-04-1.1.2
In
Personal Expressive Writing,
·
Children
will communicate the significance of the writer’s life experience by narrating
about life events or relationships.
·
Children
will apply the characteristics of the selected form (e.g., personal narrative,
personal memoir).
·
Children
will create a point of view.
Children will sustain a suitable tone
or appropriate voice.
WR-04-1.1.2
In
Literary Writing,
·
Children
will communicate to an audience about the human condition by painting a picture,
recreating a feeling, telling a story, capturing a moment, evoking an image, or
showing an extraordinary perception of the ordinary.
·
Children
will apply characteristics of the selected form (e.g., short story, play/script,
poem).
·
Children
will create a point of view.
·
Children
will use a suitable tone or appropriate voice.
Children will apply a fictional
perspective in literary writing when appropriate.
MA-04-4.1.1
Children will analyze and make
inferences from data displays (drawings, tables/charts, tally tables,
pictographs, bar graphs, circle graphs, line plots, Venn diagrams).
Children
will organize and display data.
SS-04-4.4.1
Students will
explain and give examples of how people adapted to/modified the physical
environment (e.g., natural resources, physical geography, natural disasters) to
meet their needs during the history of Kentucky and explain its impact on the
environment today.
AH-05-4.3.2
Children
will improvise to tell stories that show action and have a clear beginning,
middle, and end. (Literary elements)