Standards (Microsoft
Word Document)
Materials:
Exploration
1. Ask students
to read Seedfolks and think about or write down answers
to the
questions below. Or, introduce these questions before you read
the book aloud in class.
Consider having students take turns reading
chapters
aloud. 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.
Also, invite students to jot down their own questions to
bring to the
class.
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.
3. Ask your students, Who started
the garden? Elicit
students' thoughts about the impact
a child’s actions
can have on a community.
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! For some real-life community garden stories, we suggest
Patchwork:
Stories of Gardens and Community
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