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ELA 1 From Seed to Pumpkin

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts: K-12 Close Reading Task. Most first grade students posses the attention necessary to comprehend this type of text.  Students may not have adequate background knowledge to understand all of the vocabulary upon the first read.

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Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 

Key insights:

  • Students will identify the main topic of the text (the life cycle of a pumpkin) and understand how a pumpkin seed grows.
  • Students will retell the key details or events of the life cycle of a pumpkin.
  • Students will learn specific vocabulary to describe the parts of a pumpkin.   
  • Students will understand the roles of each part of the pumpkin plant (i.e roots, leaves, flower).
  • Students will identify the basic needs that pumpkin seeds must have to grow into pumpkin plants.
     
Essential and guiding questions: 
  • When do farmers plant pumpkin seeds? 
  • What makes the food that the pumpkin plant needs to grow? 
  • What do plants need to make food? 
  • How do the leaves make the food for the plant? 
  • Why do farmers need to keep weeds out of the pumpkin patch? 
  • What grows on the vines of the pumpkin plant? 
  • What do the bright orange flowers attract to the plant and how do they help new pumpkins grow? 
  • What grows where the flowers bloomed on the vine? 
  • What helps the small pumpkin fruits grow in the summer? 
  • Ripen means to be fully grown.  What happens to pumpkins when they ripen? 
  • After reading this text, what do you think is the main topic?
     

Activity/Task Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Applying
Differentiation suggestions: 

Scaffolding and support for special education students, English language learners, and struggling readers:

  • Throughout the lesson, explanations of content vocabulary will be critical to the understanding of this text.  
  • The teacher will model identifying the main topic of the text and retelling the key details of the pumpkin life cycle.  
  • To support struggling readers, English language learners, and Special Education students, the teacher will utilize picture-sorting strategies in both whole group and small group settings to facilitate the categorization of the parts of a pumpkin plant and the needs of the plant.  
  • The teacher will also use picture-retelling cards to help these students in successfully sequencing and retelling the key events of the pumpkin life cycle. 
  • The teacher will also utilize labels and diagrams to assist these students in correctly identifying the parts, needs, and steps of the pumpkin life cycle.  
  • The teacher will use established mixed ability partner routines to give students extra practice with identifying the main topic and sequencing and retelling the events of the pumpkin life cycle with picture retelling cards.  Students will work in pairs to sequence the retelling cards and orally retell the key details of the pumpkin life cycle.  These print resources will be available to help these students as they complete the writing task.  
  • Additionally, these students will complete the writing task in small groups to provide differentiated assistance in completing the writing task successfully.  
     
Originator: 
Tennessee Department of Education