1 Michelle Ruiz Annotated Resource Guide Kirkbride 4th Grade Agriculture and the Community Resource

The Dirt Factory http://universitycity.org/dirt-factory Location

Medium

Annotation/Rationale
The Dirt Factory offers students a hands on experience in seeing the stages of composting and why eating organically and naturally is much safer for them and for the environment. Possibly could tie in a compost bin with inorganic materials compared to a compost bin with organic materials to emphasize the difference in our own classroom. Used for literacy lessons, it is what the students know and are familiar with. As much as I want to use this more as a supplement, curriculum restrictions may make this more a part of my literacy lessons than I would like. Gives students a better idea of the resources in their own community that offer food products safe for them and for the environment. Also allows them to leave the classroom and have a first hand look at their surrounding community. Gives students a look into what those around the world eat using pictures, facts, statistics, and so on of food and nutrition. Could use this as a way to tell the differences between what people eat around the world, what access they would have and why, and

Resource Limitations/Comments
Located in West Philadelphia, a good distance from the school, but could be a great resource for my own learning about compost to bring back into the classroom.

Trophies, Harcourt School Publishers, Grade 4 (2005) -

Textbook

Stories are limited to a few pages, very straightforward, does not necessarily differentiate.

Green Aisle Grocers

Location/Speakers

Only five blocks down the road from the school, very easy field trip to see where students can buy organic, farm fresh produce and ingredients.

What the World Eats by Faith DAluisio, Peter Menzel

Childrens Book

With so much information on what individuals from around the world eat, it is a lot of information to process on a much larger scale, but would fit in perfectly with Social Studies and mapping of food origins that we eat to see if that country even partakes in eating the item. Would need to use sections of it as well so as not to

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then can allow us to look deeper into how eating foods from those areas can have a larger impact on the world. Shows what can be grown in a garden, how the life cycle works for plant, but also emphasizes urban agriculture and farming from the perspective of a child. overwhelm the students.

Seed Folks by Paul Fleischman

Childrens Book

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child

Childrens Book

Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard

Childrens Book

Our Farm: Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Familys Farm by Michael J. Rosen

Adult Book

Useful for an introduction into the lesson on being kind to others about what they eat even if you do not like it about having respect for each other, especially when discussing food. Could be great for a quick read aloud to the class before discussing what the next two weeks will entail. Also lists a lot of different types of foods that people find in their kitchen. Discusses gardens in ones own backyard and the many different creatures that exist inside of them. Also goes through the process of creating your own garden, the life cycles of plants, what plants need to survive and many other details described with lots of pictures and explanations tied into a story about a girl learning all of this information with her family. Goes through the seasons of what happens on a farm with lots of information about animals, how to do many different chores on a farm, how to harvest plants, how

Simple story of how plants grow, lower reading level, but would be great for differentiation in the classroom to describe the life cycle of a plant as well as see how children can make a difference in their community. Could tie it in as a read aloud or even use to introduce designing gardens for their own community after scouring a spot near school on a class walk. Short read, not much substance to it besides discussing what individuals can find in their kitchen, but does have great photographs and illustrations that make it seem worthwhile.

Has a lot of information in one picturebook, but doing a read aloud during science would be a great way to begin to create this lesson, or even during literacy, this book could be used to introduce the vocabulary of the week since many of the words within the pages are quite difficult for some of the fourth graders to understand.

Very dense book with lots of accompany photographs of a working farm and the family that lives on the working farm with dialogue throughout. Difficult for some children to read, however, and very long so

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to store plants and what those that live on a farm do in their spare time. As a childrens version of the book, it gives information on the food choices around the world, especially focusing on the nutritional problems in the US. It also discusses global implications resulting from diet choices and have readers reflect on their own food choices. Could be used in writing persuasively, could also be used to create informational brochures on nutrition. I would really like to focus on life cycles in plants and the growing process with so much discussion of agriculture, turning the students into little farmers themselves to show them how easy the act of growing something can be. Using our own plants in the room also adds a sense of responsibility as well as ownership for what they are learner. As a urban farm in Philadelphia, taking students on a field trip here will not only give them an idea that gardens and farms are absolutely possible in the city, but that they arent as far away as they may think. All of my students claim they have never seen a farm, so this gives them a great opportunity to check it off their list of places theyve been and also connect to the material. The individuals that work at Mill Creek would also be a great resource for speaking to the I would need to section out parts to use possibly during guided reading groups. Higher level reading for the fourth graders, would need to pull out sections to use for guided reading groups.

The Omnivores Dilemma (Young Readers Edition) by Michael Pollen

Childrens Book

Plants in the Classroom

Plant

Gives students responsibility in the classroom, and also gives them a chance to see the process of plants changing and growing over time. Real experience of irrigation as well.

Mills Creek Urban Farm http://www.millcreekurbanfarm.org/

Farm/Speakers

The farm will not be open until March, which gives me very little time to make ties, view the farm and determine if a field trip would be possible for the unit.

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students about gardening/farming and the importance of eating fresh and local products. A book for grades K-3, still useful for many of the students who are not on grade level. Also plants the idea of question about food and its where abouts found in their own lunchbox. It is very straightforward and discusses the topic of food origins in an unbiased way. It also gives health tips for students. Useful for connecting math to food with problems relating around multiplication and division as well as subtraction and multiplication. Useful for connecting math to food with problems relating to addition and subtraction as well as counting and other simple mathematics concepts useful for differentiation for students at a low level in math. Introduces angles in a culturally diverse way by looking at origami. Does not necessarily pertain to my unit on agriculture and the community but I was thinking of it more as a way to connect to students culture in an interactive and fun way while learning about angles and geometry. Because who doesnt like building things? I thought it would be a great way to begin designing and building a community using geometry concepts and engineering ideas to construct

How Did that Get in My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food by Butterworth

Childrens Book

Written at a lower reading level for many of my students, some might find it to be a bit childish, however, the facts inside give straightforward details about food and will be useful in Social Studies when mapping our foods to determine where they come from.

Math Potatoes by Greg Tang

Childrens Book

The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang

Childrens Book

Origami: Identifying Right Angles in Geometric Figures by Barbara Linde

Childrens Book

Although it connects math and food, there is not much else of substance related to the overarching theme within my unit so I would need to determine how to put it into context more clearly. Matches with the above book, but at a lower level for students. Although it connects math and food, there is not much else of substance related to the overarching theme within my unit so I would need to determine how to put it into context more clearly. Difficult to find since it is not located in any Philadelphia library branches or any of my own counties branches, but I will still continue to keep searching and asking around for it.

Kinnex/Legos/Lincoln Logs

Building Materials

Hands-on experience of building and creating designs of buildings, houses, recreating their own neighborhood.

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their own community in Math where each group has to decide which resource they find necessary in a community and then persuade the rest of the class to allow them to build it like city permits! Useful for math and geometry when viewing the necessities of building, also simplistic enough for students who do not speak English or who have limit English abilities. Goes back to the idea of creating a community using geometry, engineering concepts and the idea of architecture to build up their notions of how communities are erected. Would be great for a read aloud in math prior to the lesson on building community Discusses how modern agriculture destroyed the tomato plant, but in a larger picture discusses how selling plants year round in supermarkets has a huge affect on our health and our economy. Emphasizes how we need to realize when growing seasons are, where our food comes from and what has happened to it before it ends up on our plate. Gives students information on what they should be eating, what kind of food they should be eating, and how they should eat it in convenient lists that do appear manageable for fourth graders even though it is an adult nonfiction book. Instead of discussing the negative

Architecture, Shapes by Crosbie

Childrens Book

Meant for Pre-Schoolers, very basic but could be useful for differentiation among the classroom. Still having difficulty finding this book as well, but am determined to track it down. Tracking down this book is also causing issues since it appears not to be in any libraries nearby. Written at a lower level as well so there is the fear that some students will reject it contents.

Under Every Roof: A Kids Style and Field Guide to the Architecture of American Houses

Childrens Book

Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook

Adult Book

High-level reading, would need to find sections of the book to use for guided reading sessions, or possibly to read aloud to the class since it is very dense.

Food Rules by Michael Pollan

Adult Book

Long, but easily portioned into sections for students to read during guided reading groups.

City Farmer: Adventures in Urban

Adult Book

Although a book for adults, many sections

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Food Growing by Lorraine Johnson side of eating and the global affects, this nonfiction book discusses the benefits of growing an urban garden, how it empowers individuals, how it can all be possible if we work together. Within blocks of the school, this gardening center is the go to place for any urban gardener in the city since it has everything one might need to make a vertical garden in a close-knit space. Could be an easy field trip to go on since it is so close, could also see if a representative wouldnt mind speaking to the class about growing plants indoors, could also see if they have supplies we could use when we do grow our plants in the classroom. Discusses the harms of industrial food and how its making us sicker, poorer and fatter. Also a documentary that could be useful to watch clips from rather than reading different parts of the book. Guide to growing plants indoors, useful for creating terrariums, caring for indoor potting plants and learning how to root plants from cuttings. are short enough to copy for guided reading groups, also a great resource for me to use in the classroom in case any one has any specific questions relating to urban gardening. Quite an expensive shop for gardening, however, it does promote everything that my lesson stands for including involving the community in on gardening.

Urban Jungle http://www.urbanjunglephila.com/

Urban Gardening Store

Food, INC by Karl Weber

Adult Book

More a resource for myself than the students, there is a documentary that students could find more interesting than reading the dense section in this mammoth of a book. Very large, dense book, not for students. More for my own use in expanding and reassuring myself about the proper care of plants in our classroom and what kinds of plants we will be growing.

Success with House Plants by Readers Digest

Resource Book for Classroom Plants