The Tiny Seed
"I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn.
I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun". - Eric Carle
Written by Eric Carle and illustrated by Picture Book Studio Ltd.
Web page lesson plan by Elyssa Vanderbilt
Summary: This book is about following a tiny seed on its journey as it travels to many different places, after being blown into the air by the wind. All the seeds fly in the air over many places until they eventually all settle into the ground. All of the seeds sprout and grow but then each get killed. The tiny seed survives and grows into a beautiful flower. In the end when autumn comes, the flower looses its petals, and the wind, once again, carries its seeds into the air.
About the Author: Eric Carle was born on June 25, 1929 in Syracuse, New York. After moving to Germany with his family at the age of six, he returned to the United States and moved to New York city in 1952. His writing and illustrating career started out when an author, Bill Martin Jr., asked Eric to illustrate his story, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?. Soon afterwards Eric wrote his first book, "1,2,3 to the Zoo, and was then followed shortly by his most famous work, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Eric has written and illustrated more than seventy books, many of them being best-sellers.
Interested in learning more about Eric Carle? If so, feel free to visit his official website by clicking on the link provided: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html
Intended Grade Level: Third or Fourth Grade
Pre-reading Activities:
Activity One: Go to the following website: http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/pdf/kwl.pdf and print out the KWL chart to help assist you with completing the first activity. Once you have printed out the chart please fill in the first column based on your knowledge of what you already know about plants and or seeds. Next, you will fill in the second part of the chart of what you want to know.
Activity Two: When you have finished the first activity, click on the highlighted part and complete the worksheet to help familiarize yourself with the understanding of the different parts of a plant and what each of their functions are Plant Parts. Feel free to use this website if you need help with identifying the correct functions to plants: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/case1/c1facts2a.html
During Reading Activities:
Activity Three: After reading page 22 (the boy gives the girl a flower), go to the following website to take a quiz about seeds: http://cuip.net/~jmartin/spquiz1.htm. Make sure to take the time to look and understand any questions you may have gotten wrong.
Once you have finished taking the quiz, click on the following link. Here you will learn all about plants while solving a mystery- The Great Plant Escape! http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/index.html
Activity Four: After you have solved the case of The Great Plant Escape, and have learned more about plants type a paragraph explaining five new facts you have learned about plants.
Post-Reading Activities:
Activity Five: When you have finished reading the book, complete the final column of your chart of what you have learned and did not know beforehand.
Activity Six: Next, click on this website: http://www.kinderplans.com/admin/images/seedbook.pdf to print out the activity booklet and complete in class.
Assessment:
Please click here to print off the checklist for each of the activities. Staple the checklist to the back of all your activities. Make sure your name is written on the top of each of your activity pages. Be sure to also write down the activity number under your name.
Seeds are buried deep-deep-deep.
In the soil they sleep-sleep-sleep.
Yellow sun is bright-bright-bright.
Raindrops falling light-light-light.
Gentle breezes blow-blow-blow.
See the little seed grow-gr0w-grow.
~ A poem submitted by a teacher Jeanne Riley
