he poem 'Rain'. (Choral read, letting half of the class read the first line and the other half of the class read the second line, alternatively.) Mask letters and sight words within the poem and story.
Read together the story Rain by Robert Kalan. Review with students how they recently planted a rainbow.
Introduce the second companion poem 'Plant a Little Seed'. Pantomime actions to the poem as you read it together...
I plant a little seed in the dark, dark ground.
(Bend down, dig hole, push seed into ground and cover with dirt.)
Out comes the yellow sun big and round.
(Hold arms up over head in a circle)
Down comes the rain, soft and slow
(Hold arms out over head, with fingers moving. Move arms slowly down to the floor.)
Up comes the little seed.
(Squat down. Touch fingers to floor and come up slightly.)
grow, grow, GROW!
(Move body up as though you are the flower, until you are standing with arms up.)
Review what plants and all living things need in order to grow. Begin work on a class mural showing what plants need to grow (sun, rain, soil) and the Rainbow Garden of flowers that they planted yesterday.
Make some time to read the story Grow Flower Grow! (also called Fran's Flower) by Lisa Bruce. It is a cute story about a little girl who feeds actual food to her flower and can't figure out why it is not growing!
Companion Poem and Story: Reread the companion story Rain and the companion poem 'Rain'.
Read together the story Rain by Robert Kalan. Complete work on the class mural - Use interactive writing to label the sun, soil, rain, color of each flower, etc.
Reread and act out the second companion poem 'Plant a Little Seed'. Make a torn construction paper booklet to illustrate the poem. Students can take it home to remember what plants need in order to grow and to read again and again!
(Thanks to Kim Martin for sharing this great booklet idea!)
Printable Words to 'Plant a Little Seed'
Related Garden Read Aloud Stories and Poems
Focus Story: Rain by Robert Kalan
Companion Story: Rain by Rozanne Lanczak Williams
Companion Poems: 'Rain' and 'Plant a Little Seed'
Down Comes the Rain by Franklyn Branley
Rain Song by Lezlie Evans
Rain by Peter Spier
In the Rain With Baby Duck by Amy Hest
All the Colors of the Rainbow (Rookie Read-About Science) by Allan Fowler
The Rain Came Down by David Shannon
Puddles by Jonathon London
Red Rubber Boot Day by Mary Lynn Ray
This Is the Rain by Lola M. Schaefer
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
Sunflower House by Eve Bunting
Flower Garden by Eve Bunting
Fran's Flower or Grow Flower Grow by Lisa Bruce
Bumblebee, Bumblebee Do You Know Me? by Anne Rockwell
Jack's Garden by Henry Cole
The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
Seeds/Living Things in General
What's Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
A Seed is a Promise by Claire Merrill
I'm a Seed by Jean Marzollo
Flowers, Fruits, and Seeds by Jerome Wexler
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
A Little Seed
A little seed for me to sow.
A little earth to make it grow.
A little hole, a little pat
A little wish and that is that.
A little sun, a little shower,
A little while, and then a flower
Possible Cross Curricular Connections
1) Label flowerpot shapes with numerals and then have students count out that many flower shaped erasers into each pot.
2) Create flowers using pattern blocks and then glue paper pattern block pieces to recreate.
3) On a rainy day, collect rain in a rain gauge and measure how much water you get.
1) Plant a flower garden!
2) Label the parts of a plant (flower, stem, leaf, roots).
3) Conduct plant experiments such as celery experiment for demonstrating how the plant gets water; light, water, air experiments.
4) Make rainbow crayons.
1) Sequence/order events from story and plant growth.
2) Brainstorm additional rhyming words for 'me' and then insert them into the poem 'Rain' to reread.
3) Match pictures that end with the same sound. (See below.)
1) Make a seed collage.
2) Create hand print flowers. (See below.)
See a related study at Hubbard's Cupboard called The Enormous "Kinder" Garden! See ideas to us