For the past two weeks my 2nd grade small group reading students have been reading
The Pumpkin Seeds by Marjory Ulm. Since we recently studied and read about corn, it was the perfect time work on compare-and-contrast. First, we needed to activate background knowledge and learn/identify vocabulary words. We focused on only four words:
blossom, sprout, and vine. Sincere also suggested the word
prickly. One student had never seen the inside of the pumpkin. Unfortunately, Spring is not a good time to find and cut open pumpkins.
I went to the grocery store and found plain, unseasoned pumpkin in a can. I also found pumpkin seeds for the students to taste. The students were surprised that pumpkin that hasn't been made into a pie isn't sweet! I had seven thumbs up for the plain pumpkin and three thumbs down.
Sincere was disappointed the the pumpkin seeds had already been hulled. They thought that the pumpkin seeds tasted a little like corn. One person had a thumbs down for the pumpkin seeds, but everyone else gave them a thumbs up!
We also watched a movie clip about growing very large pumpkins. Students were surprised that the farmer took so much time and effort to grow his pumpkins. The largest pumpkin the farmer had grown was 428 pounds! The students were surprised that a pumpkin wouldn't grow unless the flower was pollinated. In the video clip, the farmer did the pollination by hand. This lead to a discussion about bees. Many students would like to learn about bees now. Since we are so close to summer I told them that would be a good thing to research at the library over the summer.
On three separate days students analyzed and synthesized the information and filled out an online graphic organizer identifying features about pumpkins and corn. We then evaluated the information we discovered from the text, video clips and background knowledge to compare and contrast corn and pumpkins with a Venn Diagram. Students used the information from the Venn Diagram to write a summary comparing and contrasting corn and pumpkins. Students had definitely made Text-to-Self and Text-to-World connections! Students were able to tell me that pumpkins grew on a vine, but corn grew on a stalk. Pumpkins were planted and harvested by hand, but corn is planted with a planter and harvested with a combine.
The most exciting stride for the students is the application of vocabulary words, used in context, to summarize information! Students are starting to question information and are getting excited to research new topics that are interesting! That is the best example of Text -to-Self and Text-to-World connection!
