PLANTS

Plants Language Arts BOOKS: The Carrot Seed; Pumpkin, Pumpkin; Pearl Plants a Tree; The Giving Tree; Trees ACTIVITIES: 1. Write a sequence of events and illustrate it. 2. Write a poem about trees. 3. Write a short opinion piece, stating “If I were a plant, I would be…because… Science BOOKS Plant Secrets; Plant Life Cycles; A Fruit Is a Suitcase for Seeds; Pick, Pull, Snap! Where Once a Flower Bloomed. ACTIVITIES 1. Students create a web of things they know about plants. 2. Students plant a seed and note their observations through the week in their science journals. 3. Students observe plants in their schoolyard, draw one, and label its parts. 4. Students will learn new vocabulary related to plant life cycles and be able to use it to talk about various plants. Math: Geometry BOOKS Math textbook; Math Counts: Shapes; My Very First Look at Shapes ACTIVITIES 1. Describe geometric shapes within everyday objects. 2. Use basic geometric shapes to construct trees, and describe the composite shape referring to defining and non- defining attributes. 3. Use basic geometric shapes to create composite geometric flowers, cutting the shapes from colored paper and gluing them onto a background. Write a description of the geometric flower, identifying defining and non-defining attributes, and present to class. Visual Art BOOKS Lucy’s Secret; Math Counts: Shapes; Museum Shapes ACTIVITIES 1. Identify and describe geometric shapes in everyday objects, especially plants. 2. Use geometric shapes to create a representation of a flower, and describe the flower with regard to line, shape, form, and color. 3. Evaluate classmates’ artwork, referring to line, shape, form, and color.

The Carrot Seed Pumpkin, Pumpkin Trees Pearl Plants a Tree The Giving Tree LANGUAGE ARTS

Learning Goals/ Activities The Carrot Seed, Pumpkin, Pumpkin  Students will listen to the story, recall a sequence of events, and write, following the teacher’s example, a simple retelling of the story, with illustrations to clarify meaning. Trees  Students will participate in a choral reading of the poem to build fluency. Then, given a short list of rhyming words which they will create, students will write a short poem about trees following the teacher’s model. Pearl Plants a Tree  Students will write about a special place they share with their families after hearing about Pearl’s. The Giving Tree  After hearing the story, students will pull from all of the knowledge gained through the unit to write a short opinion piece with the prompt “If I were a plant, I would be_____ because________.  For all of the stories, students will ask and answer questions about key details in the text to build comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Plant Secrets Plant Life Cycles A Fruit Is a Suitcase For Seeds Pick, Pull, Snap! Where Once a Flower Bloomed SCIENCE

Learning Goals/ Activities  Students will know the basic needs of all plants are soil, sunlight, water, and air  Students will know the life cycle of plants and the role animals play in the cycle  Students will observe and talk about plants in their schoolyard, then draw a plant and label the basic parts such as stem, leaves, roots, flower, and fruit.  Students will grow their own plants, in groups, and record daily observations of the plant’s growth.  Students will find the seeds in various fruits, such as apples, peaches, and strawberries, and discuss the differences.

Math Counts: Shapes My Very First Look at Shapes Math Textbook MATH: GEOMETRY

Learning Goals/ Activities  Students will learn to recognize geometric shapes in everyday objects and describe them.  Students will observe the plants in their schoolyard and identify and describe the geometric shapes present in the plants, such as circular flowers, rectangular bushes, or triangular leaves/petals  Students will use pre-cut squares, rectangles, circles and triangles to construct two-dimensional trees  Students will design their own geometric flower using simple geometric shapes, then cut the shapes out of construction paper and “grow” their flowers, which will be placed in a geometric garden on the classroom wall.  Students will be able to describe their flowers in terms of defining and non-defining attributes, and will understand what a composite shape is.

Lucy’s Secret Museum Shapes Math Counts: Shapes VISUAL ART

Learning Goals/ Activities  Students will create a realistic representation of a flower using geometric shapes, then describe their flower in terms of line, shape, form, and color.  Students will evaluate their classmates’ artwork using artistic language and concepts learned in the unit.  Students will, after hearing the story Lucy’s Secret, discuss what it means to be unique, and how this relates to art, nature, and themselves.  Students will examine the illustrations in the story to identify geometric shapes in nature.  Students will examine works of art and identify geometric shapes within the pictures, and be able to talk about patterns and the difference between an object being a geometric shape and containing a geometric shape.  When the geometric garden is complete, students will be able to look at the complete picture and identify patterns, dominant forms, and similarities among the flowers.