Super Fun Cross-Curricular Spring Plant Lesson Idea!
We love cross-curricular studies - especially combining literature and science! Applying learned skills/concepts to more than one subject simultaneously not only creates a more meaningful learning experience, it also creates a more fluid learning environment as classroom activities/experiments naturally flow into one another.
Alisha, second grade teacher and creator of The Bubbly Blonde, paired Lynne Cherry's "How Groundhog's Garden Grew" with her science unit on plants/flowers and it was a huge hit! Check it out...
How Groundhog's Garden Grew
Cherry's tale tells the story of a happy little groundhog who loves to eat fresh vegetables from his neighbor's garden until, one day, a friend shows him the joy of planting his own garden. With these new lessons in mind, the story then follows groundhog's gardening journey from start to finish; from seed gathering and planting, to tending the plants and gathering the produce.
Once Alisha and her kiddos read the book, she invites them to discus the problem/solution of the story. Isn't her anchor chart for the activity adorable!?
Learning About Plants/Flowers
Having been introduced to the concept of growing fruits and vegetables, the book provides the perfect segue into learning about what plants need to grow and the life cycle of a plant!
Alisha and her second graders compared what living things (humans/animals) need...
...versus the things that plans/flowers need to grow.
Then Alisha introduced the life cycle of a plant with this fabulous (and enormous!) display!
The learning experience is so much richer when students are encouraged to apply new concepts/knowledge across multiple disciplines/subject areas! And it certainly doesn't hurt when your teacher is super creative and can bring the subject alive with creative lessons/activities! We just love the anchor charts and colorful visual aids Alisha uses, and highly recommend that you check out her other learning ideas over at The Bubbly Blonde!
