Teaching Practice A Seed By Any Other Name ... THE LESSON
Invitation
We began with a group discussion of some essential questions, building on their prior knowledge and giving them some new things to think about.
Where do plants come from? Do all plants grow from seeds? Where can you find seeds in a plant? Where are the seeds in a potato? A carrot? How do you suppose we can plant new plants if we don?t have any seeds? If there were no seeds left to plant, would all plants die? What would our life be like without plants?
Situations
This unit takes place primarily in the classroom, allowing students to plant, make observations and care for their seeds and plants. Each day held a new discovery!
Even with some of the planting overlapping, this unit could take 8-12 weeks, depending on the student?s level of involvement and available space for plants.
We used the computer lab at least once a week to allow for whole group work. Some planting and recording was done outside the classroom also. When slide shows were finished, we set up a small group practice center to prepare for student presentations.
Tasks
During this unit the students will plant a variety of seeds, cuttings, bulbs and roots to make new plants. They keep growth logs using a spreadsheet and illustrate their observations in preparation for the creation of the plant cycle slide shows.
Each student can draw their slides and assemble the slide show, using sentences and illustrations from their journals to explain the process. My class used Kidspiration software to assemble a web of facts for the non-fiction stories. They also created fantasy stories about their plants and assembled both stories in a Fact/Fiction folder to share with other students.
Interactions
Introductory sessions were teacher directed. Students often planted in groups of 4 or 5 with help from a parent volunteer. Observations, journaling and plant maintenance was done in pairs to encourage discussion.
The slide shows were created individually, but the increased mobility of our classroom iBooks often promoted and invited peer collaboration and sharing. The students encouraged each other to take risks, try out new ideas and were delighted at each other’s success. Teaming the 2nd graders with 5th grade buddies facilitated planning and rehearsing for the presentations.
We began with a group discussion of some essential questions, building on their prior knowledge and giving them some new things to think about.
This unit takes place primarily in the classroom, allowing students to plant, make observations and care for their seeds and plants. Each day held a new discovery!
