This summer, students will use the Language Experience model to create their own texts based on their experiences in the garden. Below is a list of reading materials you can use in your classroom to support students' learning. Many of these books also work well as model texts for writing projects.
Plants
Investigating Your Backyard by Natalie Lunis
An introduction to the natural environment all around us. Could be a good read for the first day to introduce students to the concept of nature around our school and the school garden.
Living Sunlight by Molly Bang
This book shows how plants harness the sun's energy through photosynthesis and share that energy with humans by creating both our source of oxygen and also the fruits and vegetables we eat.
Seed, Soil, Sun by Cris Peterson
Seed. Soil. Sun. With these simple ingredients, nature creates our food. Noted author Cris Peterson brings both wonder and clarity to the subject of agriculture, celebrating the cycle of growth, harvest, and renewal in this American Farm Bureau Foundation's Agriculture Book of the Year.
What Do Roots Do? by Kathleen Kudlinski
This factual, rhyming picture book digs into the wonders of roots and the amazing things they do for trees, flowers, and all kinds of plants.
Where a Flower Once Bloomed by Lola Schaefer
In this engaging fold-out book, children can predict the food that will grow “where once a flower bloomed”. This book describes how raspberries, peanuts, corn and other foods are produced as various plants flower, create seeds, and finally bear fruit.
Growing Patterns by Sarah Campbell
This book might provide an extension for older students through its connection to Math. For younger students, it might prompt them to explore the patterns in our own garden.
Water
A Drop Around the World by Barbara McKinney
A Drop Around the World follows a single drop of water--from steam to snow, from polluted to purified, from stratus cloud to subterranean crack, linking the world from Maine to Mumbai in a living flow. Travelling with Drop inspires our respect for the water cycle and the unique role water plays on Earth.
All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon
This book describes the water cycle using fun, poetic text and engaging illustrations.
A Drop of Water by Walter Wick
The most spectacular photographs ever created on the subject of water appear in this unique science book by Walter Wick. The camera stops the action and magnifies it so that all the amazing states of water can be observed - water as ice, rainbow, stream, frost, dew.
Rain by Manya Stojic
When rain comes to the parched African savanna, the animals use all their senses to track the storm. The porcupine smells rain in the air. The zebras see lightning. The baboons hear thunder. The rhino feels the first drops. And the lion tastes the cool water.
Water Water Everywhere: A Book about the Water Cycle by Melvin Bergler
This book outlines the stages of the water cycle.
A Cool Drink of Water by Barbara Kerley
An Italian boy sips from a fountain in the town square. A hiker takes a refreshing drink from a mountain stream. Black-robed women in India stride gracefully through a field with brass water jugs balanced on their heads. Whether they squeeze it out of a burlap bag, haul it home from a communal tap, or get it out of their kitchen faucet, people all around the world are unified by their common need for water. (This book might be an interesting extension on the topic of water.)
Soil
A Handful of Dirt by Raymond Bial
Soil may not be alive, but amazingly, multitudes of microscopic creatures live there, battling it out in an eat-or-be-eaten world. These tiny creatures, invisible to our eyes, provide food for the insects that in turn feed the reptiles and mammals that live in and above the soil.
Dirt by Steve Tomececk
Informative text and playful illustrations explain how soil is made, how soil changes if you dig deep enough, what each layer of soil is called and its importance as a natural resource that living things need to survive.
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
The "New York Times" bestselling author of "Click, Clack, Moo" and "Giggle, Giggle, Quack" teams up with illustrator Harry Bliss for this hysterical journal about the daily doings and the hidden world of a lovable underground dweller. A great introduction to a unit on soil!
An Earthworm's Life by John Himmelmann
Simple text and realistic illustrations describe the daily activities and life cycle of the earthworm. Makes a good nonfiction companion to Diary of a Worm.
Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
This charming book explains how earthworms eat, move, and reproduce and how they help plants to grow.
Insects and Animals
Are You a Ladybug? by Judy Allen
Beginning with its title question, "Are you a ladybug?," this accessible book is perfect for reading aloud and tells young readers how they would experience life if they were a ladybug.
Ladybug by Karen Hartley
This book is a simple introduction to the physical characteristics, diet, life cycle, and habitat of the ladybug.
Ant Ant Ant! An Insect Chant! by April Pulley Sayre
Whether you love bugs or hate'em you won't be able to resist chanting this rowdy text. Bold and clever illustrations turn creepy-crawlies into hilarious, endearing creatures that will make even the most hardened non-bug-lover laugh and loud.
Insectlopedia by Douglas Florian
Children will delight in this collection of 21 buggy, itchy, scratchy, creepy, crawly poems.
The Buzz on Bees: Why are they Disappearing? by Shelley Rotner
This book could parallel students' own research on ladybugs and help them to develop ideas about how insect life is tied to environment.
Trout are Made of Trees by April Pulley Sayre
This book simply illustrates the interdependent relationship between all living things through the food chain.
Pass the Energy Please by Barbara McKinney
Rhyming text and illustrations present nature's food chains, from a simple seed to a top predator, demonstrating their natural links.
Who Eats What? by Patricia Lauber
The story of food chains and food webs.
Cooking
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
From the everyday apple to the exotic xiqua, colorful collages of fruits and vegetables will delight toddlers as they learn their ABC's.
The International Cookbook for Kids by Matthew Locricchio
Recipes from various countries. Could kids create their own recipe book of recipes from their cultures?
Cool World Cooking: Fun and Tasty Recipes for Kids! by Lisa Wagner
This international cookbook has over 50 recipes from 6 different cultures and introduces readers to world geography and authentic, easy-to-make recipes that taste great. Learn about African, French, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Japanese and Chinese cooking.
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam RubinThis scrumptious "New York Times" bestseller has a whole lot of kick
Dragons love tacos. They love chicken tacos, beef tacos, great big tacos, and teeny tiny tacos. So if you want to lure a bunch of dragons to your party, you should definitely serve tacos.
Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin
How does Racoon love pizza? Oh, let him count the ways. He loves the gooey cheesy-ness, salty pepperoni-ness, sweet sweet tomato-ness, and of course the crispity crunchity crust. But someone is always chasing poor Raccoon away from his favorite food with a broom! What's a hungry raccoon to do? Plan an elaborate secret pizza party, of course! But shhh! Its a secret! In fact, you should probably just forget I told you. Nope, no secret pizza party happening here. You didn't already tell all your friends, did you? Uh oh...Fans of Jon Klassen and Mo Willems's humor will gobble up this quirky ode to the lengths we will go to for our heart's desire.
Everybody Bakes Bread by Norah Dooley
A rainy-day errand introduces Carrie to her multicultural neighborhood and to many different kinds of bread. From Barbadian coconut bread to chapatis from India. Recipes included.
Growing Up with Tamales by Gwendolyn Zepeda
Ana envies her elder sibling and wishes she could do what Lidia does: put just the right amount of meat inside the tamales and roll them up; steam the tamales without scalding herself with the hot, hot steam; chop and cook the meat for the tamales without cutting or burning her hands.
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
An apple pie is easy to make...if the market is open. But if the market is closed, the world becomes your grocery store. This deliciously silly recipe for apple pie takes readers around the globe to gather ingredients. First hop a steamboat to Italy for the finest semolina wheat.
Math
Sorting Through Spring by Lizann Flatt
The second in the author’s “Math in Nature” series, this springtime tour of the outdoors offers kids a glimpse of the numbers, patterns and shapes that exist in the natural world, inviting readers to think about sorting and probability, among other concepts.
Plants
Investigating Your Backyard by Natalie Lunis
An introduction to the natural environment all around us. Could be a good read for the first day to introduce students to the concept of nature around our school and the school garden.
Living Sunlight by Molly Bang
This book shows how plants harness the sun's energy through photosynthesis and share that energy with humans by creating both our source of oxygen and also the fruits and vegetables we eat.
Seed, Soil, Sun by Cris Peterson
Seed. Soil. Sun. With these simple ingredients, nature creates our food. Noted author Cris Peterson brings both wonder and clarity to the subject of agriculture, celebrating the cycle of growth, harvest, and renewal in this American Farm Bureau Foundation's Agriculture Book of the Year.
What Do Roots Do? by Kathleen Kudlinski
This factual, rhyming picture book digs into the wonders of roots and the amazing things they do for trees, flowers, and all kinds of plants.
Where a Flower Once Bloomed by Lola Schaefer
In this engaging fold-out book, children can predict the food that will grow “where once a flower bloomed”. This book describes how raspberries, peanuts, corn and other foods are produced as various plants flower, create seeds, and finally bear fruit.
Growing Patterns by Sarah Campbell
This book might provide an extension for older students through its connection to Math. For younger students, it might prompt them to explore the patterns in our own garden.
Water
A Drop Around the World by Barbara McKinney
A Drop Around the World follows a single drop of water--from steam to snow, from polluted to purified, from stratus cloud to subterranean crack, linking the world from Maine to Mumbai in a living flow. Travelling with Drop inspires our respect for the water cycle and the unique role water plays on Earth.
All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon
This book describes the water cycle using fun, poetic text and engaging illustrations.
A Drop of Water by Walter Wick
The most spectacular photographs ever created on the subject of water appear in this unique science book by Walter Wick. The camera stops the action and magnifies it so that all the amazing states of water can be observed - water as ice, rainbow, stream, frost, dew.
Rain by Manya Stojic
When rain comes to the parched African savanna, the animals use all their senses to track the storm. The porcupine smells rain in the air. The zebras see lightning. The baboons hear thunder. The rhino feels the first drops. And the lion tastes the cool water.
Water Water Everywhere: A Book about the Water Cycle by Melvin Bergler
This book outlines the stages of the water cycle.
A Cool Drink of Water by Barbara Kerley
An Italian boy sips from a fountain in the town square. A hiker takes a refreshing drink from a mountain stream. Black-robed women in India stride gracefully through a field with brass water jugs balanced on their heads. Whether they squeeze it out of a burlap bag, haul it home from a communal tap, or get it out of their kitchen faucet, people all around the world are unified by their common need for water. (This book might be an interesting extension on the topic of water.)
Soil
A Handful of Dirt by Raymond Bial
Soil may not be alive, but amazingly, multitudes of microscopic creatures live there, battling it out in an eat-or-be-eaten world. These tiny creatures, invisible to our eyes, provide food for the insects that in turn feed the reptiles and mammals that live in and above the soil.
Dirt by Steve Tomececk
Informative text and playful illustrations explain how soil is made, how soil changes if you dig deep enough, what each layer of soil is called and its importance as a natural resource that living things need to survive.
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
The "New York Times" bestselling author of "Click, Clack, Moo" and "Giggle, Giggle, Quack" teams up with illustrator Harry Bliss for this hysterical journal about the daily doings and the hidden world of a lovable underground dweller. A great introduction to a unit on soil!
An Earthworm's Life by John Himmelmann
Simple text and realistic illustrations describe the daily activities and life cycle of the earthworm. Makes a good nonfiction companion to Diary of a Worm.
Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
This charming book explains how earthworms eat, move, and reproduce and how they help plants to grow.
Insects and Animals
Are You a Ladybug? by Judy Allen
Beginning with its title question, "Are you a ladybug?," this accessible book is perfect for reading aloud and tells young readers how they would experience life if they were a ladybug.
Ladybug by Karen Hartley
This book is a simple introduction to the physical characteristics, diet, life cycle, and habitat of the ladybug.
Ant Ant Ant! An Insect Chant! by April Pulley Sayre
Whether you love bugs or hate'em you won't be able to resist chanting this rowdy text. Bold and clever illustrations turn creepy-crawlies into hilarious, endearing creatures that will make even the most hardened non-bug-lover laugh and loud.
Insectlopedia by Douglas Florian
Children will delight in this collection of 21 buggy, itchy, scratchy, creepy, crawly poems.
The Buzz on Bees: Why are they Disappearing? by Shelley Rotner
This book could parallel students' own research on ladybugs and help them to develop ideas about how insect life is tied to environment.
Trout are Made of Trees by April Pulley Sayre
This book simply illustrates the interdependent relationship between all living things through the food chain.
Pass the Energy Please by Barbara McKinney
Rhyming text and illustrations present nature's food chains, from a simple seed to a top predator, demonstrating their natural links.
Who Eats What? by Patricia Lauber
The story of food chains and food webs.
Cooking
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
From the everyday apple to the exotic xiqua, colorful collages of fruits and vegetables will delight toddlers as they learn their ABC's.
The International Cookbook for Kids by Matthew Locricchio
Recipes from various countries. Could kids create their own recipe book of recipes from their cultures?
Cool World Cooking: Fun and Tasty Recipes for Kids! by Lisa Wagner
This international cookbook has over 50 recipes from 6 different cultures and introduces readers to world geography and authentic, easy-to-make recipes that taste great. Learn about African, French, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Japanese and Chinese cooking.
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam RubinThis scrumptious "New York Times" bestseller has a whole lot of kick
Dragons love tacos. They love chicken tacos, beef tacos, great big tacos, and teeny tiny tacos. So if you want to lure a bunch of dragons to your party, you should definitely serve tacos.
Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin
How does Racoon love pizza? Oh, let him count the ways. He loves the gooey cheesy-ness, salty pepperoni-ness, sweet sweet tomato-ness, and of course the crispity crunchity crust. But someone is always chasing poor Raccoon away from his favorite food with a broom! What's a hungry raccoon to do? Plan an elaborate secret pizza party, of course! But shhh! Its a secret! In fact, you should probably just forget I told you. Nope, no secret pizza party happening here. You didn't already tell all your friends, did you? Uh oh...Fans of Jon Klassen and Mo Willems's humor will gobble up this quirky ode to the lengths we will go to for our heart's desire.
Everybody Bakes Bread by Norah Dooley
A rainy-day errand introduces Carrie to her multicultural neighborhood and to many different kinds of bread. From Barbadian coconut bread to chapatis from India. Recipes included.
Growing Up with Tamales by Gwendolyn Zepeda
Ana envies her elder sibling and wishes she could do what Lidia does: put just the right amount of meat inside the tamales and roll them up; steam the tamales without scalding herself with the hot, hot steam; chop and cook the meat for the tamales without cutting or burning her hands.
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
An apple pie is easy to make...if the market is open. But if the market is closed, the world becomes your grocery store. This deliciously silly recipe for apple pie takes readers around the globe to gather ingredients. First hop a steamboat to Italy for the finest semolina wheat.
Math
Sorting Through Spring by Lizann Flatt
The second in the author’s “Math in Nature” series, this springtime tour of the outdoors offers kids a glimpse of the numbers, patterns and shapes that exist in the natural world, inviting readers to think about sorting and probability, among other concepts.