Recommended for: Children Ages Birth-5
Themes: Science, Math, Character Education (Responsibility)
Summary:
Ten Seeds tells the story of a little boy who has planted ten flower seeds in his garden. However, throughout the story the the seeds, seedlings, shoots and plants are picked out or trampled by a slue of animals and people one by one until just one flower is left. At the conclusion of the story the flower drops ten seeds so that the whole cycle may start again.
Children will enjoy this counting book, counting down from ten to one, and watching the seeds as the grow into a flower. They will be sad to see some of them do not make it but will be able to make connections to this process and what they may have seen in their own gardens or those in their neighborhoods. The pictures are simple yet realistic, and will really draw the children into the story.
Suggestions for the Classroom:
This story is wonderful to use with children when discussing plants and how the grow from seeds. It will be interesting for them to see that not all seeds will make it to being made into plants and that even though many animals help them to survive, there are also accidents that keep them from maturing.
*Pre-Reading Activities: Discuss with students all of the things that plants need to grow: food, water, light, and oxygen. Explain to them that most plants make their own seeds, and with help from the wind and bees they are able to spread these seeds to help new plants grow. Tell them, that they are going to listen to you read a book today and learn more about how plants grow.
*During Reading: Discuss with students the changes that are taking place among the different plants as they grow. Give them opportunities to make connections with times that they have seen plants grow as well as time where they have seen plants get trampled.
*Post Reading: Give students an opportunity to plant their own flower seeds in a cup. Explain to them that we are going to keep them in a safe place to keep them from getting trampled so that they can grow into flowers. Ask them what other things the plant may need: food, water, sunlight, and oxygen. Explain how we can give them these things: oxygen: all around us in the room; light: we will put them in the window to get sunlight; food: we will plant them in potting soil which will feed them the nutrients in the soil; and water: we will have someone in the class water them each day as a job.
Let the students take their flowers home once they have sprouted to share with their families, remind them to keep them in a safe place.
About the Author/Illustrator:
Ruth Brown was born in England, her family moved to Germany after the war but Ruth returned to England in 1953. She was always talented when it came to drawing, and began attending Art College at the age of 16. She earned a National Diploma in Design in 1961, and then became an Asssociate at the Royal College of Art in London, where she met her husband, Ken Brown, also a student at this college. She orignially worked for BBC doing children's programming but eventually got her start illustrating children's books for other writers. In 1978 she published her first children's book, which she authored, through the encouragement of a friend (Crazy Charlie).
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