The Gardener
By: Sarah Stewart
Question of the Day
How can gardens enrich our
lives?
Objectives:
Build vocabulary by finding words related to
the lesson concept.
Listen for cause and effect.
Listen as I read
Eat Your Vegetables
By Elizabeth Rusch
Listen for the following vocabulary:
encouraging, preparations, and soup
kitchen.
Listen for cause and effect.
Listen as I use my voice to model reading
with expression.
Eat Your Vegetables
Dustin Hill's vegetable garden is in his yard, a slice of country just
minutes from the city of Portland, Oregon, down a gravel road riddled with
potholes. The light-blue farmhouse sits back from the road, with rakes,
hoes, and a shovel hanging from pegs on the side of the garage.
Dusty got the idea for his garden while dishing out food at a soup
kitchen with his family at Christmastime. He'd noticed that the soup kitchen
was stocked with lots of meat, bread, rice, and canned beans. "But they
don't really get fresh produce very often, and I like my greens," Dusty said.
He had decided to do something about that. In January, Dusty had
invited twelve friends from his neighborhood and his school to help him
grow vegetables for hungry people. "It's so much easier with a bunch of
kids than doing it alone," said Dusty. The group had dubbed themselves
Planet Kids. To get the garden off the ground, they'd gotten a $490 grant
from Take the Time, a local program that helps empower kids.
"None of us kids had ever gardened before," said Dusty. "We just kind
of went at it. We didn't know when to water or how to plant seeds, how far to
space them." So the kids read the backs of the seed packets, watched
gardening shows on TV, and asked their parents for tips.
Dusty and his friends wanted to provide the freshest, healthiest
vegetables possible. So instead of spraying weed-killers, the group had
decided to get rid of weeds the old-fashioned way—by pulling them.
Some vegetables were ready for picking in July. Planet Kids filled two
big baskets with dozens of cucumbers and zucchini—huge zucchini! In
August, Dusty celebrated with another harvest. "We filled two baskets and
more with tomatoes!" Dusty said.
Donations for Dignity
Once the garden had proved successful, Planet Kids had to decide
where to donate the veggies. Dusty's mom suggested giving them to
Sisters of the Road Café, and Dusty and his friends liked that idea.
Not your typical soup kitchen, Sisters of the Road looks like a coffee
shop. Diners choose from two main meals and some side dishes. After
ordering, they snag a stool at the counter or sit at one of the cozy tables.
While waiting, diners can watch food preparations through the opening to
the kitchen. Lemonade, tea, and coffee flow freely. Meals at Sisters of the
Road cost $1.25 per person. But no one goes hungry. People who have no
money at all can pay for their meals by wiping down tables, sweeping the
floor, or slicing vegetables.
A Fruitful Experience
Dusty felt good about the garden, but something bothered him.
The garden produced vegetables only four or five times a year. "I
didn't like that we would bring food [to Sisters of the Road] one
week, then not again for another three weeks.” So Dusty went back
to Take the Time to ask for more grant money-this time funds to pay
for fresh-picked fruit for Sisters. He found U-Pick Farms on the
Internet. With 50 dollars each week, the group’s kids could go to
farms to pick and buy 100 pounds of berries-berries that Sisters
could blend into fruit smoothies, tuck into fruit pancakes, and bake
into fruit pies.
Now, every Friday in the summer, the kids go fruit picking,
filling large flats and big bags full of marionberries, blackberries,
loganberries, rasberries, boysenberries, peaches, strawberries, and
blueberries. It’s hot work, but fun. Kids compete to see who can
harvest the most berries, and they sample the fruit as they pick.
Feeding people feels so good, and growing a
garden is so much fun that Dusty wants other
kids to try it. “Now I want to spread the word
about hunger and do gardens all across
Portland and get kids started in other places,” he
said. He’s going to make a packet of material to
send kids who want to start gardens to fight
hunger. He’ll include tips, some seeds, and
encouraging words.
“I still worry about how many hungry people
there are,” Dusty said. “But I feel I’m doing the
best I can, and it’s helping the people I can
help.”
Questions?
(Cause and Effect)
What experience made Dusty want
to grow vegetables for people in
need?
What was one effect of Dusty’s
hard work?
Concept Vocabulary
Gardens Enriching Lives
Work
Helping Others
Rewards
Read the portion of the story about the soup kitchen. What
does that phrase mean? Where does the term soup kitchen
apply?
Let’s do the same for encouraging and preparations. Where do
they fit in the diagram?
Late for School
Causes
Overslept
Effects
Not Enough Time
Skill: Cause and Effect
• A cause tells why something happened.
• An effect is what happened.
• Words such as because and so are clues that can help
you figure out a cause and its effect.
cause
effect
•Sometimes a cause has more than one effect.
Cause
effect
effect
Strategy: Use story structure
to understand cause and effect
• A story has a beginning, a middle, and an
end. This means that events happen all
along the way. One event leads to the
next. Good readers use this structure to
find causes and their effects.
Beginning
Middle
End
Let’s Read Winter Blooms
• Let’s find examples of cause and effect by using
clue words.
Margo loved flowers. They made her think
of spring. There were no flowers growing in the
yard now because it was January and the
ground was frozen. Margo wondered how to
grow flowers in her house, so she went to the
library for a book.
Margo loved flowers. They made her
think of spring. There were no flowers
growing in the yard now because it was
January and the ground was frozen.
Margo wondered how to grow flowers in
her house, so she went to the library for a
book.
Think Aloud
“When I come across clue words like because and so in a story, I know
the author is writing about causes and effects. If I ask myself what
happened, I will find the effect, and if I ask myself why it happened, I
will find the cause.”
• She read the book carefully so she would know how to
make flowers grow in her house. The book had a list of
what she needed for an indoor garden, so she went to
the garden shop to buy some supplies. The book said
flowers grow best near a window because they need
plenty of sun. So, she set her new green plants on her
kitchen windowsill. The book also said that flowers need
water. Margo put the watering can near the sink to
remind her to water the plants often. She looked at her
dreary yard and then at her cheerful pots of plants. She
hoped they would bloom soon!
• When I see the word so in the second paragraph, I know
the author is signaling an effect. The author has used
this clue word before. One thing seems to affect
another. This pattern helps you recognize that events
are happening in order and that they affect one another.
Prior Knowledge
Good Soil
Sunlight
Gardening
Brainstorm with a partner what you know about
gardening. We will add your ideas to the web.
Word Rating Chart
Word
Beauty
Blooming
Bulbs
Doze
Humor
Recognizing
Showers
Sprouting
Know
Have Seen
Where have you seen some of these words?
Do you notice any word endings?
Don’tKnow
Spelling Words
Contractions
• In contractions an apostrophe ‘ takes the place of letters
that are left out.
let’s
you’ll
I’d
haven’t
she’d
when’s
they’d
didn’t
Challenge: should’ve
would’ve
could’ve
he’d
can’t
you’d
hasn’t
needn’t
you’ve
they’ll
we’d
wasn’t
Writing
• The Gardener reveals the experiences of
a girl through her letters.
• The story describes vividly a year of living
with Uncle Jim, growing plants, and
learning.
• Write a journal entry using vivid words and
sensory details (include them all…sight,
sound, smell, taste, feels)
SMALL GROUP TIME