Scott Foresman Reading Street

The Gardener
Group Time

Reinforce Comprehension

SKILL CAUSE AND EFFECT Have students tell what a cause and an effect are. (A cause is the reason something happens. An effect is the thing that happens.) Ask them to list clue words that signal cause-and-effect relationships. (because, since, so) If necessary, review the meanings and provide a model. An effect is something that happens. A cause is the reason it happened. Write and read: The plant died because I forgot to water it. The plant died is the effect. I forgot to water it is the cause. The word because helps me know there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the two events.

Have students find the causes and effects in these statements:


	Lydia Grace was happy (effect) because her grandmother sent her bulbs. (cause)

	Uncle Jim put the poem in his pocket, (cause) so Lydia Grace thought he liked it. (effect)

The Gardener, pp. 292–297

BEFORE READING Have students retell what has happened in the
selection so far. Ask: What happened on September 3? Reread
p. 287 and model how to keep track of story events. As I read the letter
on page 287, I see that Lydia Grace was at the train station, ready to go
to her uncle’s place. She wrote him another letter on this date because
she forgot to mention important things in her first letter. Remind students
that the dates on the letters help us keep track of the order of events in
the story. Tell them to look for this time-ordered story structure as they
read the rest of The Gardener. STRATEGY Story Structure

DURING READING Follow the Guiding Comprehension routine on
pp. 292–297. Have students read along with you while tracking the print or do a choral reading. Stop every two pages to ask students what has happened so far. Prompt as necessary.

How did people in the neighborhood respond to Lydia Grace’s flowers?
What was Lydia Grace’s surprise for Uncle Jim?
What was page 297 about?

AFTER READING How does this story show how gardening enriches people’s lives? Reread with students for comprehension as needed. Tell them that tomorrow they will read “Worms at Work,” a how-to article that explains one way to have a great garden.

Extend Comprehension

SKILL CAUSE AND EFFECT Discuss with students how one cause can often have more than one effect, and how one effect may become the cause of another effect. Write Great Depression as a cause and challenge students to come up with as many story events from The Gardener that they think were effects of this one cause.

STRATEGY STORY STRUCTURE Have students identify the letters that mark the beginning of the story (August 27–September 5) and the letter that begins the middle of the story (December 25). Ask:

How do the letters and their dates help you keep track of the story’s events?
Can you think of another way this story could have been structured?

The Gardener, pp. 292–297

BEFORE READING Have students recall what has happened in the story so far. Remind them to look for causes and effects and to be aware of the story structure as they read the remainder of The Gardener.

CRITICAL THINKING Have students read pp. 292–297 independently. Encourage them to think critically. For example, ask:

What effect does Lydia Grace’s love of gardening have on the people around her?
For what reasons might more customers be coming into the bakery?
How does Lydia Grace seem to change in this story? What about Uncle Jim?

AFTER READING Have students complete the Strategy Response Log activity (p. 296). Then meet with them to discuss their reactions to the story and share their log entries. Ask students to imagine that they are Lydia Grace in the fall after she has returned home. Have them write a letter to Uncle Jim about the year she spent with him and what is happening in her garden at home.