+Ag-Knowledging the Importance of Agriculture(K-3)

By Ashley Nagel

+Literature Selection: Fiction

“The Little Red Hen” http://safeshare.tv/w/RwxWFfmmzo

“Toni’s Bread” by Tomi dePaola

“Charlie Needs a Cloak” by Tomi dePaola

“Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White

“Are you my Mother?” by Doctor Seuss

“Click, Clack Moo Cows That Type” by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

+Literature Selection: Fiction “Barnyard Dance” by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

“Cook-A-Doodle-Doo!” by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

“Kiss the Cow!” by Phyllis Root

“Whole-Y Cow! Fractions Are Fun” by Taryn Sounders

“Splitting the Herd: A Corral of Odds and Evens” by Trudy Harris

“Fractions, Decimals and Percents” by David A. Adler

+Literature Selection:Non-Fiction “Clarabelle” by Chris Peterson

“Hooray for Dairy Farming” by Bobbie Kalman

“What a Wonderful Day to be a Cow” by Caroly Lesser and Melissa Bay Mathis

“Farm Animals” by Mary Schott and Lisa C. Botto

“Portrait of a Farm Family” by Raymond Bial

“My Day at the Farm” by Jory Randall

+

“From Wheat to Bread” by Kristin Thoennes Keller

“A Field of Sunflowers” by Neil Johnson

“Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression”

“Who Grew my Soup?” by Tom Darbyshire and C.F. Payne

“A Seed in Need: A First Look at the Plant Cycle by Sam Godwin

“From Seed to Plant” Gail Gibbons

Literature Selection:Non-Fiction

+Books for Students’ Research

My Horses by Heather Miller (1.0)

My Pigs by Heather Miller (0.9)

My Sheep by Heather Miller (1.4)

Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond & Diane deGroat (2.2)

A Prairie Alphabet by Yvette Moore (2.5)

From Egg to Chicken by Dr. Gerald Legg & Caroly Scrace (2.6)

Bread is for Eating by David and Phyllis Gershator (2.2)

Bread comes to Life George Levenson (1.9)

A Seed in Need by Sam Godwin & Simone Abel (2.6)

+Theme Study: Ag in My World Students will take part in a thematic unit

studying the importance of agriculture. This unit will integrate reading and writing activities with art, mathematics, music, physical education, social studies and science.

Students will develop an understanding of the importance of agriculture to their lives. The students will participate in hands-on activities that will enhance students’ learning about food production, farm safety, and the importance of agriculture to their world.

+Language Arts: Reading Activities Students will read various fiction and non fiction books

about agriculture and it’s impact on their lives through silent reading, partner reading, guided reading reading aloud, and reader’s theatre.

Students will read their five senses poem (about making bread) to the class.

Students will share their stories about what they would do if they lived on a farm.

Students will research a list of animal bi-products.

Students will explore non-fiction text features as they read informational books about agriculture.

Teacher will read aloud from “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White.

+Language Arts: Writing Activities

Students will write a five senses poem about making bread.

Students will draw a picture of them self making the bread.

Students will write and illustrate thank you notes to the dairy farm we visit.

Students will write things they liked or disliked about the dairy farm on a class chart.

Students will write a story on the topic of “What would I do if I lived on a farm?”

Students will illustrate the parts of a plant in their science journals.

Students will sequence the process of making butter in their science journals.

+Language Arts: Speaking Activities Students will present a poster of field to table.

Students will share their five senses poem.

Groups will present their visual aid of bi-products that come from their subject animal.

Research a fun farm fact to share with the class from: http://www.agday.org/tc/tc-funfacts.html

Students will read-aloud their poems and farm stories for the class.

+Language Arts: Listening Activities Classroom read-aloud- Charlotte’s Web

Students will actively listen to presentations of the five senses poems.

Students will listen to speakers at dairy field trip.

Students will listen to the speaker talk about farm safety.

Students will listen during scaffolded science small group activities and experiments.

+Language Arts: Viewing Activities

Field to table web. Students will create a graphic organizer to show the process of getting food from the field to your table.

Students will view picture charts of animal bi-products.

Students will use their five senses as they participate in a field trip to a dairy farm.

Students will view photographs of their trip to the dairy farm.

Students will view food doesn’t grow in the super market video. (See technology links.)

Students will view The Little Red Hen story. (See technology links.)

Students will view the agriculture word wall.

+Language Arts: Visually Representing Activities

Poster-board creation of dairy farm

Photos from dairy farm field trip

Draw parts of a plant

Students will draw pictures to illustrate the steps of making wheat into bread.

Students will create a timeline of how farming began.

Students will post pictures of plants and animals that are the highest source of agriculture income for each state on a map of the United States.

Students will create an agriculture themed word wall.

Students will view the food pyramid as they discover where their food comes from.

+Language Arts Standards RL.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with

purpose and understanding.

RI.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as a basis for answers.

W.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

SL.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

+Science Activities

From Wheat to Bread- describe and illustrate the steps to make kernels of wheat into bread.

It’s a Moostery- Turning cream into butter.

Students will visit a dairy farm.

Draw the parts of a wheat plant and label it.

Students will define the vocabulary words organic and inorganic, and be able to identify the difference between the two.

Students will research to create a list of animal bi-products.

Students will grow a plant from wheat seed. They will make observations in their science journal and take photos to illustrate the growth of the plant from seed to sprout.

+Science Standards

Describe different ways that things can change.

Use senses to make observations about the world around them.

Record and describe observations with pictures, numbers, or words

Ask questions and seek answers about the world.

Identify characteristics of living things.

Identify how plants and animals are alike and different.

Use several steps to complete a task.

+Mathematics Activities

By the Pound- measuring the amount of food and weighing food items on a scale (pounds, cups, gallons, ounces)

Students will graph By the Pound information.

http://www.myamericanfarm.org/games/harvest_this/ practicing math facts

Explore the Food Pyramid. Make a calendar of the foods they eat throughout the day and compare it to the pyramid. Do they eat the correct amount?

+Mathematics Standards

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

Model with mathematics.

Use appropriate tools strategically.

+Social Studies Activities How does our food get to the table? Mapping

activity.

Students will study a history of farming in America and create a timeline of important events in agriculture.

Students will research which crops grow where in America

Students will post pictures of crops or animals to a map of America and the world to represent the main source of agricultural income.

Research farming as a career. Create a picture book to show the daily life of a farmer.

+Social Studies Standards Use a variety of resources (e.g., maps, charts,

bar graphs, Internet, books) to gather information about people, places, and events

Construct simple time lines (i.e. periods in their own lives and the lives of their family members)

Use a resource (e.g., books, picture, graph, chart, video, Internet, guest speaker, TV) to gather information

Identify land and water on a map or globe

+Music and Art Activities Charlie Needs a Cloak- Weaving Activity

Listen to audio version of Barnyard Dance

Listen to other versions of square dancing music.

Watch a version of square dancing.

Students will draw the parts of a plant and label them.

Bean art- use beans to create a design

Students will create corn husk dolls

+Music and Art Standards Students sing, alone and

with others, a varied repertoire of music.

Students listen to, analyze, and describe music.

Students understand the relationship between music, and other arts, and other disciplines.

Students understand music in relation to history and culture.

Students understand and apply visual art media, techniques, and processes.

Students understand the visual arts in relation to history and culture.

Students make connections between the visual arts and other disciplines

+Physical Education Activities Students will participate in a square dance

Students will participate in a relay race to get their crops to market.

Students will practice eye-hand coordination skills as they play corn-hole with cobs of corn.

Students will shake bags of cream to make butter.

Hail storm- protect crops from hail stones (Battleship)

Burger press- Teamwork activity. The object of the game is to see how many patties (2 inch pieces of pool noodles) the two players can push between their hands. Start with partners and work up to full group.

+Physical Education Standards Use basic object control skills.

Use control in travel activities at various speeds.

Demonstrate a variety of basic non-locomotor skills.

Use locomotor skills to complete a task.

+Technology

http://safeshare.tv/w/RwxWFfmmzo (Little Red Hen Link)

http://safeshare.tv/w/URBaPqjthx (Food doesn’t grow in the grocery store.)

http://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/virtualfarm/main.html (Virtual tours of wheat, meat, dairy, poultry, and horse farm.)

http://safeshare.tv/w/UAFaHGAHNY (Wheat harvest video)

http://safeshare.tv/w/KtEQnaFGzW (Cattle drive video)

http://www.agclassroom.org (Teacher resources)

+

http://www.myamericanfarm.org/games/harvest_this/

http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/ag_facts.htm

http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/kidsapp?area=home&subject=gmzn&topic=landing

http://www.farmsfoodfun.com/Default.aspx

http://www.agday.org/tc/tc-funfacts.html

Websites for Student Research and Exploration

+Language Arts Strategies

Activate Background Knowledge: Students will think about what they already know about food, and the process of getting food ready for people to buy and eat.

Connecting: Students will relate agriculture to the world by discovering the process of getting food from the field to their table.

Predicting and Monitoring: Students will predict what might happen to the cream as it becomes butter. Students will monitor changes throughout the experiment by drawing quick pictures or recording notes about the composition of the cream.

Playing with Language: Students will use language creatively through stories, poems, and journals.

+

Observe: Students will observe the daily life and routines of a dairy farm. Students will actively observe science experiments.

Elaborate: Students will use descriptive words and phrases as they journal about the dairy farm field trip, and as they create poems using their five senses.

Take Notes: Students will take notes during science experiments as they observe the process of making butter, bread, and the growth of a wheat plant.

Visualize: Students will use imagine what it is like to be a farmer as we look into the daily life of a farmer.

Language Arts Strategies

+Grouping Patterns

Large group: grand conversations, field trip, classroom read-aloud, viewing video links, agricultural word wall, venn diagram, Relay race, corn-hole, Hail storm, Burger press, Field to table web, create a timeline of important ag events, post pictures of crops or animals to a map, Weaving Activity, Listen to audio version of Barnyard Dance, learn to square dance, post things they liked or disliked about the dairy farm, speakers, make cream into butter, make wheat into bread, read-aloud poems, read-aloud farm stories, research the Food Pyramid, research farming as a career, watch square dancing, Burger Press game,speakers

Small group: research, graph By the Pound information, describe and illustrate the steps to make kernels of wheat into bread, describe the steps to make cream into butter, grow wheat plant, observe and take notes to describe the growth of the wheat plant, create brochure of plants grown in state, Burger Press game, corn hole using cobs of corn, relay races, Hail Storm game

Individual: draw the parts of a plant and label, bean art, create corn husk dolls, research, practice math facts, Draw and label the parts of a wheat plant, write narrative, poem, thank you notes, journal food eaten during the day, create picture book of farmer’s day,

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Language Arts

Watch Food doesn’t grow in a grocery store link

“Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression”

Read “Hooray for Dairy Farming” as a class and talk about life on a dairy farm.

Read “Toni’s Bread” by Tomi dePaola

Read “Charlie needs a Cloak” and research animal bi-products

Social Studies

How does our food get to the table? Mapping activity.

Important dates in farming history timeline

Field trip to Dairy Farm

Students will research which crops grow where in America And post to a map.

Research top money making animal in countries around the world and post to map.

P.E. Relay race to get crops to market.

Students will play corn-hole with cobs of corn.

Field trip to Dairy Farm

Hail storm- protect crops from hail stones (Battleship)

Burger press- Teamwork activity

Math By the Pound- measuring amount of food and weighing food items on scale

Students will graph By the Pound information

Field trip to Dairy Farm

Use crop facts from SS activity to relate other states production to ND.

Practicing math facts with farm math games link.

Science Organic/Inorganic activity

Draw the parts of a wheat plant and label it.

It’s a Moostery- Turning cream into butter.

From Wheat to Bread- describe and illustrate the steps to make kernels of wheat into bread.

Students will compile their findings and present the list of animal bi-products.

Art/Music

Use beans to create a picture

Students will create corn husk dolls

Listen to audio version of Barnyard Dance

Learn to Square Dance

Charlie Needs a Cloak- Weaving Activity

+Assessments

Journal entries –Rubric

Participation in grand conversations

6+1 Analytical Writing Traits Rubrics for stories

Poetry numerical score

Informal observation of participation and engagement during research and science experiments

Math graphs and Social Studies maps: checklist

Rubric to assess posters

Art Rubric to assess picture books

Active participation and PE skills checklist of physical education activities

Ag Word Wall spelling test

+Handouts

https://naitc-api.usu.edu/media/uploads/2014/06/19/little_red_hen.pdf

https://naitc-api.usu.edu/media/uploads/2014/06/19/bypound.pdf