Unit 8: Plants We Eat

Sing the greeting song and signal a child. Have child say his or her name and as the group claps out the name parts. Repeat until every child is included.

Review plant parts animals (including humans) eat, and talk about seeds.

Let children freely explore a variety of fruits and vegetables with their senses, and compare the seeds in the plants.

Have children describe some fruits and vegetables and make a chart showing which ones have one, few, or many seeds.

Read the book, comparing a fruit to a suitcase. Have children notice all “fruit suitcases.”

Recite the poem with the gestures. Clarify that peas are seeds.

Use the Target Letter and Word Routine to introduce children to the letter “Aa” and the word apple.

Use the Sandpaper Writing Routine to help children being to “write” the letter “Aa.”

Send a Family Connection letter home with children.

Pull a name out of a suitcase. Have that child say his or her favorite fruit or vegetable and clap the word parts. Repeat until every child is included.

Have children describe a fruit or vegetable they have eaten. Review that fruits have different types of and numbers of seeds.

Have children identify which fruit or vegetable seeds come from. Have them sort the seeds in different ways.

Have children estimate how many seeds are in a slice of watermelon.

Reread the story and focus children on different ways a seed can travel from one place to another.

Help children dictate or write two ideas about watermelon. Have each child draw a watermelon.

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

Say some words and have children give a “thumbs up” if a word rhymes with seed or a “thumbs down” if it does not rhyme.

Sing the song and signal a child to hold up his or her name card. Repeat until all children have been recognized.

Review the different ways seeds travel. Demonstrate with a dandelion seed and a pea.

Take children outside to collect seeds. Discuss with children the relationships between seeds, animals, and nature.

Discuss how different countries and families have their own special recipes. Read the story and have children notice all the foods in the bee-bim bop.

Sing the song “The Cook in the Kitchen” as children play the game and become ingredients in the bee-bim bop.  

Have children draw a picture of food they would want for dinner. Have them dictate or write a sentence describing the food.  

Play the Between the Lions video “What’s Your Name (a).” Have children listen to for names in the video.  

Have children trace an uppercase “A” and decorate the page. Then have them march along a large “A” on the floor.

Send a Family Connection letter home with children.

Sing the song and hold up a name card. Have that child clap the syllables in his or her name. Repeat until every child has had a turn.

Discuss seeds children brought in from home and have them predict how the seeds travel.  

Have children sort seeds by how they travel.   

Have children sort seeds in an egg carton. They decide on categories to sort the seeds.

Play the video Between the Lions “Bee-bim Bop!” Have children listen for the plant foods that go into the bee-bim bop.

Recite “Hungry for Bee-bim Bop!” with hand motions.

Have children draw a picture of their favorite dinner food and write or dictate a sentence about the food.

Play a guessing game with children to help them hear and identify the /a/ sound in the beginning of words.

Clap children’s names and find objects with the same number of syllables.

Sing the greeting song and have each child say and clap his or her name.

Discuss what a grocery store is in the produce section of a grocery store. Children are introduced to the difference between man-made and natural foods.

Visit a grocery store or farm stand and explore and compare fruits and vegetables.

Play the game Peep and the Big Wide World “Hide and Peep” and have children remember where the characters hid.

Recite the rhyme “Oh, So Yummy.” Have children suggest foods to replace “Carrots, carrots” to make a new rhyme.

Watch the video Peep and the Big Wide World “Peep Plants a Seed” to review what children have learned about seeds and plants.

Watch the video Between the Lions “Doo Wop (short a).” Clap the syllables in some of the words. 

Play a listening game to help children hear and recognize the /a/ sound at the end of words.   

Play a rhyming game using some of the rhyme words in Bee-bim Bop!

Revisit the charts, objects, and pictures from the week.  Review seeds, seed travel, and grocery stores, “Aa,” /a/, and apple.

Send a Family Connection letter home with children.