Garden Unit: Day 1 Introduction to Gardening

Day 1: Garden Unit

Whenever I have my son start a new project, I first want to know what he already knows about the subject.  I will write the words “What is gardening?” on a whiteboard and let my son list anything he can think of about gardening (for little children, the parent can write their ideas down for them). After he is done with his ideas, we will discuss his answers and I will add to the topic.  Some information that my son provided:

·      A garden is an area filled with plants that you can grow.

·      A garden needs soil, water, and good sunlight to stay alive.

·     
You can grow different types of plants such as fruits, flowers, herbs, and vegetables.

·      You will need seeds to grow plants.

·      It takes awhile for the plants to develop.

·      A garden is a lot of work and responsibility.

I will then provide him a list of spelling words that is related. I will say each word out loud, write the word on the whiteboard, and give him the definition.  He then needs to copy the word into his word journal. Here are two lists of spelling words: one easy and one challenging.  The easy list is for children aged 4-7, I recommend having them use a handwriting form, to work on their handwriting while working on spelling.  The challenging list is for children who are ages 8-11 and can consist of cursive writing form.  

Easy list: garden, shovel, hose, sun, water, plant, dirt, soil, seed, grow

Challenge List: gardening, sunshine, vegetable, fruit, soil, sow, maintenance, seedling, fertilizer, gloves

 A great website that I use sometimes use for handwriting worksheets is:

http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/flash/printdots/multiword/index.html