Early Science  /  Plants  /  Math  /  Activity

Growing Vegetable Soup

 

Plants
Books & Songs

Children listen to Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. Then they make connections to their own planting experiences.

Teacher shows book to students. Students listening to the story.

Introduce Growing Vegetable Soup to the class.

Read the story aloud.

 

Materials


  • Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert

Preparation

  1. Familiarize yourself with the book Growing Vegetable Soup before reading with children.
 

Directions: Lesson 7


Circle Time: Introduction
  1. Introduce the book Growing Vegetable Soup. Read the title. Possible discussion ideas:
    • Have you ever eaten vegetable soup?
    • Who can name a vegetable they like to eat?
    • Where does your family get vegetables to make vegetable soup or a salad?
  2. Read the story aloud. Pause occasionally to ask questions. Possible discussion ideas:
    • What did the child and her dad do first?
    • Where do they plant the seeds and sprouts?
    • What parts of the plants are growing above ground?
    • Did the plants grow quickly? Why or why not? Elicit the idea that seeds can take a long time to grow. Sometimes you have to wait and wait before a plant pops out of the soil.
  3. As you read, help children make and describe connections to their own planting experiences. Possible discussion ideas:
    • What happened first to the seeds the child planted? Has that ever happened to seeds you planted?
    • What do the child and dad do to help the garden plants grow?
    • Which of these things are we doing to help our plants?
    • Have you eaten any of the vegetables the child and her dad put in their soup?
    • What do you know about plants after reading the story?
  4. Flip through the illustrations again and have children clap when they see vegetables they like to eat.

Length of Play

5 min.

Group Size
In the Schedule

 
Vocabulary

  • above
  • describe
  • flower
  • fruit
  • leaves
  • plant (noun, verb)
  • seed
  • stem
  • under
  • vegetable
 
Learning Goals

Science
  • Observe and describe how plants change over time.
  • Observe and describe what plants need to live and grow.
Math
  • Use spatial vocabulary (under, over, above, below).