Gather in the Harvest Using reference materials, researching local crop production We re Harvesting Good Books! Promoting an enjoyment of books

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1 Here s a bumper crop of harvest activities just ripe for your autumn classroom. ideas by Resa Audet and Kathy Wolf Gather in the Harvest Using reference materials, researching local crop production Harvesttime brings to mind many images Indian corn, yellow squash, orange pumpkins, and bushels of crisp, juicy apples. Introduce your students to harvesttime by reading the classic Autumn Harvest by Alvin Tresselt. Ask students what they think of when they hear harvest. Explain that the harvest happens when crops are ready to be gathered. Many crops but not all are harvested in the fall. Ask students to hypothesize why different crops are ready to harvest at different times. Have older students use encyclopedias and other reference books to find out when major crops are harvested in their own state. Call your local Agricultural Extension Service for additional information about crops grown in your area. As a class, make a list of crops along with the months in which farmers harvest them. If possible, ask a farmer to describe what harvesttime means to him. Are his crops harvested by machines or picked by field hands? Help students conclude that harvesttime means hard work. When crops are ready and the weather is right, farmers and helpers may work into the night to gather in the harvest. Mystery Fairy Tales Folk Tales Sports Animals Other We re Harvesting Good Books! Promoting an enjoyment of books To create an October reading-incentive bulletin board, enlarge one copy of the scarecrow pattern and six copies of the basket pattern on page 10. Color and cut out the scarecrow and mount it on the board. Program the baskets and cut slits in them as shown. Create a border of dried corn husks or twisted paper and corn cutouts. Add the title We re Harvesting Good Books! Duplicate the corn pattern on page 11 for each student. As each student finishes a book, have him fill in the information on an ear of corn and slip it into a basket. To vary the display, change the title to Something to Crow About! and display students good work. Or change the title to We re All Ears for Vowels. Label the baskets with vowels. Program 24 ears of corn with words or pictures for students to match. Laminate both baskets and corn for durability. Place the corn cutouts in a basket near the board. Students choose ears of corn and place the ears in the correct baskets. 4

2 King Corn Recognizing similarities and differences, identifying corn products Find out why corn is king when it comes to farming in America. Display foods such as corn chips, corn cereal, corn on the cob, popcorn, canned corn, cornmeal, corn bread, corn syrup, and corn oil. Discuss the similarities and differences among these foods. Explain that all of these foods come from the corn plant. To share corn facts with your students, make eight corn cutouts (see the pattern and note on page 11) and label each with one of the following facts: Corn is the most abundant grain in the Western Hemisphere. The United States produces more than half the corn grown in the world. Most of the corn is grown in the Corn Belt. Native Americans grew corn long before Columbus arrived. The kinds of corn grown today are improved for bigger and better harvests. Most of the corn grown today is field corn used to feed livestock. Corn is planted in long, straight rows to make it easier to harvest. Corn not fed to animals is made into other products in mills. Mount the corn cutouts on a bulletin board and provide each student with a blank copy. Have each student list as many corn products as he can find on his pattern. Students can read labels at home or in grocery stores. (Examples include cereal, syrup, cornstarch, and oil, as well as ketchup, candies, ice cream, margarine, and sausage.) Have students cut out and color their ears and add them to the board. From Field to Feast Sequencing steps to plant and harvest corn For a fascinating social studies lesson, follow the journey of corn from the field to the table. Read aloud Corn Belt Harvest by Raymond Bial. Have students locate the Corn Belt on a map of the United States. Then review the steps in the planting and harvesting of corn. To prepare, make one copy of the corn pattern on page 11, mask out the words, and duplicate ten ears of corn. Color and cut out the ears; then print each sentence below on an ear. Laminate the ears and place them in a basket. Provide ten clip clothespins and help students clip the ears in order on a line below the chalkboard. 1. A huge tractor pulls a disk to break up the soil. 2. The farmer loads a planter with seed corn. 3. By late spring, young corn plants sprout. 4. By July, the corn may be head-high. 5. In autumn, the green leaves turn light brown. 6. In late fall, machines called combines pick, shuck, and shell the ears. 7. Combines unload the corn into trucks or wagons. 8. The corn is stored in grain elevators. 9. Train cars take the corn to mills and processing plants. 10. At the mills, corn is made into corn products. You may wish to place the laminated ears and an answer key in a basket at a learning center for individual sequencing practice. As a follow-up activity, assist students in preparing corn bread from a mix. Serve it warm with butter as you review the steps from field to feast!

3 Crows in a Row Using manipulatives to reinforce sequencing skills Explain to children that farmers put scarecrows in fields to frighten away crows that might eat newly planted seeds or damage crops before they can be harvested. The crows learn, however, that the scarecrows are harmless. For this sequencing activity, students line up these crows in rows. To prepare, duplicate, color, and cut out the art on page 10 and mount it on a string-tie envelope as shown. Program the crow cards on page 12 with ordinal number words to sequence or sets of vocabulary words to put in ABC order. Duplicate each set of cards on a different color of construction paper. Laminate for durability, if desired, before cutting them apart. Program the backs of the cards for self-checking. Band the sets together and store them in the envelope. The student chooses a set of colored crow cards, puts them in sequence, and turns them over to check. Crows I n A Row Candy Corn Math 7+5= 6+6= 1. Choose a set of cro color w cards. 2. Put the ca in order. rds 3. Turn ca rds over to che ck. pump kin okra Using manipulatives to solve math facts, writing word problems Here s a math activity that s something to crow about! Program the crow cards on page 12 with addition or subtraction problems, and duplicate a sheet for each child. Provide pieces of candy corn for students to use as manipulatives to find the answers. Vary this activity by having students create math word problems about crows and write the problems on the crow cards. Put all the sets of cards together at a center, and have each student use the candy pieces to solve the problems posed by his classmates. When the math lesson is over, allow students to eat their candy corn. 8+3= squash

4 Animal Harvests Scarecrow Pals Responding to literature, researching animal harvesters Autumn is a time of harvest for people and for some animals too. As summer ends, squirrels, chipmunks, and certain types of mice begin gathering food stores for winter. Introduce your class to an animal harvester by reading Heetunka s Harvest by Jennifer Berry Jones. In this story Heetunka the Bean Mouse is busy gathering earth beans to store in her underground home. Trouble begins when a woman takes Heetunka s beans without leaving suet or dried corn to replace them. After reading this story, have each student illustrate Heetunka gathering her earth beans. Provide each child with a few dried lima beans to glue on his picture. Provide older students with a variety of reference materials to find out how other animals gather and store food. Making comparisons, writing from a character s point of view Share The Scarebird by Sid Fleischman with your students; then make scarecrow puppets to encourage creative writing. This heartwarming story is about a lonely old farmer who builds and then befriends a scarecrow. Eventually, Lonesome John realizes the value of human friendship when a young man comes to help him on his farm. After reading the story, ask students to compare the friendship that the farmer had with the scarebird to the friendship he developed with the young man. Ask students to tell why a scarecrow would or would not make a good friend. Then have each student create his own scarecrow pal. Duplicate the scarecrow pattern on page 10 for each child to color and cut out. Demonstrate how to attach it to a ruler with tape to make a stick puppet. To set the stage for creative writing, ask children how lonesome it would be to stand alone in a field all day. Who might a scarecrow talk to in a field? What might happen if the scarecrow ran away? On a copy of the reproducible on page 13, have each child write a story from his scarecrow s point of view. Bind the stories in a class book titled If Scarecrows Could Talk. Younger students can use their stick puppets to act out conversations between their scarecrows and other puppets that you provide. Here s Something to Crow About! I was tired of standing all day in a field. I asked the Corn Fairy to wave her magic wand. It worked! I jumped down and ran away.

5 Shine on, Harvest Moon Writing a poem Full moons are full of magic and mystery. They re made for storytelling and wishing, too! These harvest moons shine to inspire poetry. Explain that the harvest moon is the full moon nearest the September equinox (usually September 23), when days and nights are equal in length. To set the stage for poetry writing, read aloud the rhyming Barn Dance! by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, and point out the moonlit illustrations. With your students, make a list of words or phrases to describe the full harvest moon. Then have each child create a poem about the harvest moon. To make a harvest moon display, each child will need one 9 x 12 sheet of black construction paper, one six-inch yellow construction paper circle, one small index card, one paper fastener, gold and silver foil Harvest moon Shines down like a spotlight. Raccoons in the cornfield Are on stage in a yellow glow! stars, chalk or a white crayon; glue; and a pencil. Have each child write her poem on one side of her index card. Demonstrate how to glue the card to the center of the black paper. Cover the card with the moon cutout and attach it, as shown, with a paper fastener. For a final touch, stick the foil stars to the black paper. Have each child write her name on the back using the chalk or a white crayon. Display the projects where youngsters can turn the moons upward to read the poems. Indian Corn Mosaics Following directions Aw, shucks! These colorful corn mosaics will add a bright touch to your room. Purchase a supply of colored popcorn kernels. Fill each section of a muffin tin with a different color of kernels; then place the muffin tin, along with some glue, construction paper, and pencils, at a center. Instruct each student to draw or trace a simple seasonal design on construction paper. Then have him glue kernels of corn to the design. Allow the design to dry; then mount the projects on a bulletin board titled Indian Corn Mosaics. Pattern A Bushel of Harvest Books Add these titles to your basket of harvest books! Corn Belt Harvest by Raymond Bial Barn Dance! by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault The Scarebird! by Sid Fleischman 8

6 Get ready for a boot-stompin good time when you host a Harvest Hoedown in your classroom! Decorate your room with bales of hay, pumpkins, and a scarecrow. Invite parents to join you for storytelling and square dancing. Yeehaw! Scarecrow Announcements Following directions These inviting scarecrows announce a hoedown to culminate your unit! Provide a white, construction paper copy of the scarecrow invitation on page 14 for each student. Program the invitation with all of the necessary information before duplicating it. Have each student color and fold her scarecrow as shown; then send the invitations home. Confirm with parents who offer to donate goodies for the celebration. You re Invited to a Harvest Hoedown! Swing Your Partner! Developing gross-motor skills Plan some high-stepping activities that will have youngsters clapping their hands with delight! If possible, invite a local square-dance club to demonstrate and teach square dancing to your students. Or choose some recorded square-dance music. Play the music as parents and guests arrive. Read aloud Barn Dance! by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. In this story a young boy, a fiddle-playing scarecrow, and a passel of barnyard animals enjoy a rousing, magic-filled night of barn dancing. After reading the story, adjourn to the school gym and invite students and parents to grab a partner. Demonstrate how to bow to your partner, promenade, swing your partner, swing your corner, and do-si-do. With a bit of practice, your youngsters will be able to do-si-do like pros! A Guest of Honor Working cooperatively Gather some good books and bales of hay; then build a scarecrow pal for your reading corner. Have student and parent volunteers read aloud from your harvest collection (see page 8). End the story-telling session by reading portions of Scarecrow! by Valerie Littlewood. Discuss different ways of making scarecrows; then give parents and students an opportunity to make a classroom scarecrow. Provide a pair of overalls, a longsleeved shirt, a straw hat, a bandana, a pair of gloves, a pair of work boots, a paper bag, newspaper, twine, and a selection of scrap materials and craft supplies. With parents help, have students stuff the shirt, overalls, and paper bag with crumpled newspaper. Gather the top of the bag and secure it at the neck of the shirt with twine. Insert the gloves in the sleeves and the boots in the legs; then secure with twine. Using the scraps and craft materials, add features to the scarecrow. Put on his hat and bandana for the finishing touches. Give the guest of honor a name and set him in a chair or on a bale of hay in your reading corner. Sharing the Harvest Following directions to make a recipe As the hoedown hullabaloo winds down, treat your revelers to a hearty feast of vegetable soup. In advance, ask parents to bring or send in a bag of fresh or frozen cut vegetables (or a can of vegetable soup), disposable bowls, napkins, and plastic spoons. You will also need a large soup pot, a ladle, and the seasonings listed in your favorite recipe. Help children add the ingredients to a beef stock and simmer until snacktime. While the soup is simmering, read Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert to youngsters. Yummm! 9