Scott Foresman Reading Street Centers Survival Kit Use the The Gardener materials from the Reading Street Centers Survival Kit to organize this week's centers.
MATERIALS CD player, headphones, AudioText CD, Student Edition
Listen to The Gardener and "Worms at Work" as you follow or read along in your book. Listen for cause and effect relationships in The Gardener.
If there is anything you don't understand, you can listen again to any section.
MATERIALS Collection of books for self-selected reading, reading log
Select a book you have already read. Record the title of the book in your reading log. You may want to read with a partner.You may choose to read any of the following:
Leveled Readers
ELL Readers
Stories written by classmates
Books from the library
The Gardener
TEN IMPORTANT SENTENCES Read the Ten Important Sentences for The Gardener. Then locate the sentences in the Student Edition.
BOOK CLUB Pick out an assortment of books, magazine articles, and online articles to share with the group. Look for common themes and ideas in the selections.
MATERIALS Copy of sentences below, paper, pencils or pens
Read the following sentences that contain underlined idioms. Work with your partner to use context to create a definition for each idiom.
I didn't trust him when he said we wouldn't have to pay to see the movie. I knew he was leading me down the garden path.
We can't break ground on our research project until we check out books from the library.
She swims as well as her father does because the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
They wanted to eat the sandwiches we had instead of their own because the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
I'd like to plant some flowers, but I don't have a green thumb.
EARLY FINISHERS Write a story using the idioms above.
MATERIALS Paper, pencils or pens
Write a diary entry from the perspective of the gardener in the story The Gardener.
Look back through the story for details that tell about a typical day in the gardener's life. Think about what you know about gardening, or do some research on the topic. Add some ideas and details of your own.
Try to use words from your vocabulary list in your diary entry.
EARLY FINISHERS Share your diary entry with a group. Read someone else's diary entry. Comment on each other's entries.
MATERIALS Large plastic or wooden bin, shredded cardboard or newspaper, old leaves, dirt, water, earthworms
Create a miniature compost bin.
Select a warm spot for your bin, out of direct sun and away from direct heat sources.
Poke air holes in the container. Fill it with shredded cardboard or newspapers and old leaves.
Add a couple handfuls of dirt and spray to moisten.
Mix well.
Add worms—about 2 ounces of worms to one ounce of garbage.
Add garbage. Make sure you add only organic materials, such as vegetable peelings, leftover salad and greens, bread, and so on. Avoid meat or items with chemicals.
Maintain your bin. Check that the worms have food, and remove the composted material as needed.
EARLY FINISHERS Write a brief report about this project (include materials and how you set it up). Tell what you learned.
MATERIALS Computer, paper, pencil or pen
Use a search engine to learn more about gardening.
Use the keywords gardening, composting, and insects in the garden in the search field to find out more about these topics.
Go to interesting Web sites by clicking on the links that appear. Print any useful pages. If you cannot print the pages, write brief notes about the information on the Web site that you can refer to.
EARLY FINISHERS Collect all the information you have found in one place and read through it; underline or highlight useful information.
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