Theme: Plants – Listen to the story – “The Tiny Seed” By Eric Carle

This book has a lot of text and some students may have difficulty sitting still for the whole story. They will still enjoy looking at the pictures though. Pause the story from time to time and try one of the strategies below.

You can make the story more interactive by:

• Making the sounds of the wind together.
• Moving your hands like the ocean waves,
• Shivering and say, “brr” on the icy mountain.
• Fanning yourself with your hands in the hot desert.

And moving around like the animals. When the seeds begin to grow to invite your child to point to the parts of the flowers:

• The roots.
• The stem and leaves.
• The flowers.

When the little seed begins to grow, ask:

• How big do you think it will get?
• Do you think it will grow flowers?
• What color might they be?

After listening to the story try this fingerplay activity to engage your student in concepts from the book This is my garden (Extend one hand forward, palm up) I’ll rake it with care, (Make raking motion on the palm with 3 fingers of the other hand) I’ve got some small seeds (Use thumb and finger to show small) To plant right in there. (Plant motion) The sun will shine (Make a circle with hands) And the rain will fall, (Let fingers flutter down to lap) My seeds will sprout (Cup hands together; extend upward slowly) And grow really tall. (Stand on tiptoes and indicate tall)

Create an Alphabet Garden outside with chalk. Write each letter, then take a watering can and water the letters. Say the letter name and sound as you water each letter.

Have an adult write the letters for the “Alphabet Garden” and you trace over the letters. As you trace say the name of the letter.

Play the Sunny Day Addition Game.

Students can count the dots on the die and then put that number of clothespins onto the paper plate. Parents, you can also draw lines on the plate to divide it like a pizza and put numbers on it to help your student with number identification, number order, and counting.

Let’s sprout some seeds. Here’s a very easy way to see how a seed sprouts. The materials you will need are a Ziploc bag, paper towel, and seeds. Follow these simple directions. After you plant your seeds, create a seed journal. Use a notebook or pieces of paper to draw and write your observations each day for a week.

• What do you notice?
• What do you wonder?
• What’s happening to the seeds?