 Lesson
2: Seedfolks
by Paul Fleischman
(recommended
for ages 10 and up)*
*Parents
and teachers: some of the stories in this book contain mature themes.
Please read and decide which of the stories
are appropriate for your child or class.
Objectives
After reading Seedfolks,
students will:
- Discuss
the ways a community garden changes a neighborhood.
- Discuss the
impact of the community garden on the book’s characters.
Standards
addressed: click
here
Central
Concepts:
-
Community gardens provide residents with a way
to beautify their neighborhoods and a reason to get to know each
other.
-
Gardens provide benefits beyond fruits and vegetables harvested
and landscape appeal.
- A copy of
Seedfolks for each student
- Paper
- Pencils
- Chalkboard
and chalk, or dry erase board and markers
Activity:
1.
As students read, ask them to think about and write down the
answers to the following questions:
A. What
are some of the reasons the characters become involved with the
garden?
B.
What benefits did the characters receive from the garden?
C.
Did the characters need to be physically involved in gardening
to receive
benefits?
D.
What challenges did the characters face?
E.
What does the title of the book mean?
F.
What ethnic groups are represented in the book?
2. Lead a classroom discussion sharing the students’ answers
to the questions above. Write the responses on a chalkboard or dry erase
board. Responses may include (although are not limited to):
A. What are some
of the reasons the characters become involved with the garden?
-
To
deal with sorrow from death of a family member (Kim)
-
To
take advantage of the opportunity to change/improve life (Wendell)
-
To
participate in an activity enjoyed in past (Tío Juan)
-
To
honor a dead relative (Leona)
-
To
support activities that bring neighbors together (Sam)
-
To
win the love of a girl (Curtis)
-
To
use the garden as therapy (Nora and Mr. Myles)
-
To
complete a school requirement (Maricella)
-
To
connect with neighbors (Amir)
B. What benefits
did the characters receive from the garden?
-
Beautification
of the neighborhood (All)
-
Removal
of unsightly and unhealthy piles of garbage (All)
-
A
connection with a deceased relative (Kim)
-
Hope
for a better life and the feeling of making a difference (Wendell)
-
A
chance to relate to an older family member (Gonzalo)
-
A
chance to share expertise, and enjoy memories of his native country
and former life (Tío Juan)
-
Opportunities
to bring people from all cultures together for a common
purpose
(Sam)
-
Healed
feelings of fear and loneliness; felt like part of a family again
(Sae Young)
-
Renewed
interest in life (Mr. Myles)
-
Discover
the wonder of nature and find personal
place in
the bigger picture
of
life (Maricella)
-
An
opportunity to meet and really get to know
neighbors
(Amir)
-
Improvement
in environment and
scenery (Florence)
C. Did the characters
need to be physically involved in gardening to receive benefits?
D. What
challenges did the characters face?
-
Trash
-
Finding
the right governmental office to clean up the lot
-
Locating a water source
-
Ethnic
groups separating themselves in the lot and initially hesitant
about getting to know each other
-
Litter
and vandalism
-
Lack
of gardening information
-
Theft of crops
-
Animal
pests eating plants
-
Criminal
activity
E. What does
the title of the book mean?
F.
What ethnic groups are represented in the book?
-
Vietnamese, Rumanian, Guatemalan, Haitian, Korean, British, Mexican,
Indian, and American
3. Ask
your students, Who started
the garden?
The character Kim, a nine-year-old child. Ask your students to
discuss their thoughts on the impact a child’s actions
can have on a community
4. Ask students
to brainstorm some follow-up activities
inspired by the stories in Seedfolks. Perhaps they'd like
to participate as volunteers at a local community garden workday,
or invite community gardeners to class to talk about their experiences.
They may even decide to create a community garden on the school
grounds!
Here's another
idea: Write
your own Seedfolks book!
For some
real-life community garden stories, we suggest Patchwork:
Stories of Gardens and Community.
Extensions
Science: Revisit
Kim’s method of planting lima beans, and Wendell’s comments and observations
of their growth. (Wendell said
she planted them too early, but the sun reflected off the discarded
refrigerator and heated up the soil, encouraging germination; it also
caused them to wilt when the weather became warm and dry.) Discuss
plants' needs with students, and have them consider some other methods
of altering the growing environment so that plants might grow in
otherwise
inhospitable conditions (e.g., how to provide needed light, warmth,
shade, moisture). Next, have students create experiments to test their
ideas with plants or seedlings. For some ideas, see NGA's Pondering
Plant Coverups and activities in our School
Greenhouse Guide.
History/Social Science:
The characters in Seedfolks came to Cleveland from
many different countries, and the plants in our gardens have, too!
Tell students
that
they’ll be exploring the origin and histories of a garden crop. Brainstorm
a list of food crops with students (be sure to ask if they know of
crops important in their own cultural heritage) and then have them
each choose
one to investigate. In addition to preparing written and oral
reports of their findings, compile the collected information on a large
world map. Students can place a picture of their plants (or of
its fruits or flowers) on
the country
of origin. You can find pictures in seed catalogs, or students
can draw their own.
English: Invite
a representative from a local community garden to your school
and conduct a class interview
to find out about the garden and how
it benefits the community. As a follow-up, ask students to practice
their skills
by finding a gardener in their own neighborhood to interview and
writing a newspaper article based on the information they collect.
Practice reading
aloud, having different students read the parts of different characters.
Encourage them to interpret the characters and imbue them with life.
To help students "walk in another's shoes," suggest that
girls read male parts, and vice versa. Discuss what impact this has
for them
in trying to understand others' points of view.
Nutrition:
- Talk about the traditional foods eaten by students’ families,
and use this as a springboard to discuss the various fruits, vegetables,
and grains cultivated and eaten by different cultures. Learn more
about foods enjoyed by the cultures represented in Seedfolks. Personal
interviews, Internet searches, and cultural reference books can provide
source material for their research.
- Check out Food
and Culture by the National Gardening Association for more
curriculum connections
and projects.
- If possible, host an International Feast in your classroom or school,
giving students the opportunity to prepare and taste foods from different
cultures.
Service-Learning: Ask
students to suggest ways to beautify your community. Ideas may
include organizing a trash pickup,
weeding
or renovating a current garden area, creating a new garden area,
leading a litter awareness campaign, or planting street trees. Be
sure kids are involved in all phases of the activity. You may want
to partner with your local Keep
America Beautiful affiliate
during the Great
American Cleanup event.
For more extension
ideas, visit audiobookshelf.com.
Copyright© 2005 National Gardening Association
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