- Vegetable Garden by Douglas Florian
- garden
- harvest
- plant
- vegetable
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Literature/RL.PK.MA.1: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about a story or a poem read aloud.
English Language Arts/Literature/RL.PK.MA.4: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unfamiliar words in a story or poem read aloud.
English Language Arts/Literature/RL.PK.MA.9: With prompting and support, make connections between a story or poem and one’s own experiences.
English Language Arts/Literature/RL.PK.MA.10: Listen actively as an individual and as a member of a group to a variety of age-appropriate literature read aloud.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Book Appreciation and Knowledge: Asks and answers questions and makes comments about print materials.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 6: Listen to a wide variety of age appropriate literature read aloud.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 10: Engage actively in read-aloud activities by asking questions, offering ideas, predicting or retelling important parts of a story or informational book.
Read Together: Vegetable Garden #1
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Plants get their needs met from the environment (their habitat); Some plant parts are below the ground and some above; Earthworms are animals that live in the soil, underground
ELA Focus Skills: Concepts of Print, Listening and Speaking, Interpreting Illustrations, Making Connections, Story Comprehension, Vocabulary
Hold up the cover of Vegetable Garden by Douglas Florian. Point to and read aloud the title.
Have children to describe what they see on the front cover. Ask, What do you think the book is going to be about? Why do you think that?
Tell children the book is about a family who plants a vegetable garden. Explain that they have to take care of it for a long time as the plants grow. Have a brief discussion about seasons. Then talk about how the family plants the seeds in spring, they take care of it all through the summer, and they harvest it, or gather the fully grown vegetables in the fall.
- For this first read do a slow, instructional picture walk with children.
- On each spread have children describe how the garden changes and what the characters are doing.
As you do this picture walk, ask questions such as,
- How is the family in the story helping the plants grow?
- Do you think the bunny or the dog help the plants? Why do you think so?
- What are inside the peapods on the vine?
- What do you notice about the way the lettuce leaves are growing and the way the pea plant leaves are growing?
Allow children to make comparisons between the plants in the vegetable garden and the plants they are growing.