Unit 7: Watch It Grow

Sing the greeting song and hold up a name card. Have that child sprout like a seed. Repeat until every child is included.

Review parts of plants by observing the children’s growing plants.

Take children outdoors to observe plant parts and draw their observations in their science notebooks.

Discuss that all living things have similarities and differences, comparing two plants and two children.

Play the video Between the Lions “Help!” and have children focus on what the little red hen does with the grains.

Sing the song to recall the sequence of events in the little red hen story. Act out each verse.

Use the Target Letter and Word Routine to introduce children to the letter “Kk” and the word kitchen.

Send a Family Connection letter home with children.

Invite a child to choose a name card. Have the child whose name card was chosen to “grow” out of his or her spot. Repeat until every child is included.

Explain the difference between growing plants in pots and plants growing in their natural environments.

Have children observe their growing plants. Instruct them to use their science notebooks to draw their plants.

Have children observe and compare the leaves of their bean, grass, and onion bulb plants.

Read the book and compare it to the story of the little red hen in the video Between the Lions “Help.”

Have children draw, dictate, or write a letter to a family member about something they liked in the story The Little Red Hen.

Use the Letter in Our Names Routine to help children find the letter “Kk” in their names.

Recite the poem and have children listen for words that begin with the /k/ sound. 

Play the Between the Lions video “Fred Says: kazoo.” Have children listen for /k/ sound and look for the letter “k.”

Hold up two name cards. Have those children stand slowly, as if growing, and complete the song. Repeat until every child is included.

Challenge children to think of ways they can use materials to measure their plants.

Have children measure the plants and compare their results to the measurements they took in earlier weeks.

Play the video Between the Lions “Help!” again. Compare how the hen grows her wheat to how the children planted their seeds.

Have children add to the graphs that show how their plants grow over time.

Play the Between the Lions video “Words Beginning with ‘k’.” Have children listen for /k/ words.

Repeat the sentence “Kevin keeps kiwis in the kitchen” with the children. Stress the /k/ sound. 

Pick one or two name cards to complete the song. Guide children to use the singular or plural response.

Have children compare different plants and flowers by using their senses.

Have children make connections between the indoor and outdoor plants and continue to compare the parts of plants.  

Reread The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone. Compare what the hen does to help her wheat grow to what the children do to help their plants grow.

Have children draw a garden. Have them write or dictate what their plants need.

Play the video Between The Lions “Word Morph: kiwi-kids-kitten-kite” and talk about the 'k' words.

Have children decorate an outline of the uppercase letter “K.” Name objects that begin with “K.”

Send a Family Connection letter home with children.

Give each child a plant name and sing the song. Call out the plant names to signal children to grow like a plant and stand up.

Discuss how plants need a larger area to grow in as they get bigger.

Help children repot their plants in a larger container or an outside garden.

Choose a book about plants to read. Have children identify the plants in the book and name the parts of the plants.

Explain how spices come from plants. Have children draw, write, or dictate a window box with plants they would want in their kitchen window.

Have children find two letters and name a word that begins with each letter.

Instruct children to clap when they hear a word that ends with the /n/ sound.

Revisit the charts, objects, and pictures from the week.  Review plant parts, and measuring plants, “Kk,” /k/, and kitchen.