Garden Theme

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Garden Theme
By MJH

We had a school-wide theme "Planting the seeds of knowledge" and that is how I came about doing my Reading Garden. My point of view was that just like plants, students minds grow. My students really enjoyed the center and
when spring came, our unit of study on plants, we planted our own flowers and sat the boxes in the reading area. I used the book "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle to help introduce the unit. The story is about a seed finding it's way to a place to grow. This led to discussion about "self". I also used the story of the "Giving Tree" by Shel Silversten for friendship. My 5 year olds really

debated whether the boy was a good friend or not to the tree.

How about doing a Mary Mary Quite Contrary board. Using pictures of your students from the first day of school and adding their faces to the flowers of Mary's garden. Throughout the school year you could even change the pictures and lengths of the stems to show the students growth.
If your students can write have them tell about how they have changed. My K students usually write what they have learned to do. Hope this can be helpful.