Explore the farm to table experience in a fast-paced lesson on gardening. The activity uses image sequencing to help young scholars understand the process of growing food from seed to harvest. Academics also participate in group...

After a grand conversation about seeds, adaptation, and dispersal, scholars work collaboratively to examine seeds and record their findings on a four-column chart.  Small groups share their observations and further discuss seed...

How do seeds get around? It's not like plants can control seed dispersal—or can they? Dig deeper into the amazing mechanisms of seed dispersal observed in tropical plants through interactives, a video, and plenty of hands-on data...

Students decorate their bags with crayons. In this art and science lesson, students go outside and collect seeds. Students come back inside and sort the seeds into flyers, riders, poppers, or floaters. Students discuss the differences...

Building on the previous activity in this series of lesson seeds, this plan focuses on the use of dialect in Theodore Taylor's novel, The Cay. Class members examine specific lines of text, use their reading journals to respond to the...

Students explore the process of growing plants from seeds. In this hands-on science experiment, students observe different seeds (store bought vs. those directly from food items) and predict growing patterns.

Students create their own garden. In this gardening lesson, students get a packet of seeds and plant them in a special part of the garden. They are responsible for watering, weeding, and caring for their plants. 

Calling all green thumbs! Using a clear plastic glove, pupils create a plant nursery. Learners plant different types of seeds in a moistened cotton ball that is placed into each of the fingers in the glove. Leaving the seeds there for...

If you're looking to set your class up for writing effective arguments, try out this idea. While originally created with freedom as a guiding idea, the activity could easily be adapted for other themes. As a class, create a chart of...

Focus on plot and the impact-specific events in The Cay. Class members use their double-entry journals, created in a previous lesson in this series, to record their thinking about the guiding question as they read chapters 15 through 17....

The Clark's nutcracker bird hides seeds in 25,000 different sites every year to save for winter. Lesson demonstrates how difficult it would be to find these seeds months later when they need them for food. In the first of five lesson,...

Students explore the concept of role playing and imagination.  In this role playing lesson, students use bird seed to imagin they are creating different dishes of food and serving them to each other.  Students can mix the bird...

Super scientists tests the toxicity of water using radish seed bioassays. Over the course of five days, scholars observe the germination process of several radish seeds, looking closely at their roots to determine the level of toxins...

It's time for a field trip! Scholars take their new-found knowledge of adaptations and seed dispersal on a field trip to a local botanical garden. They gain an up-close look at how ecological interdependence works in a distinct...

Celebrate fall with four pumpkin themed hands-on activities! After learning about pumpkins, scholars complete two activity sheets that reinforce estimation and word problems. They then plant pumpkin seeds and bake a pie in...

After planting a bean seed in a jar, young scientists observe the growth patterns over several days. As the bean becomes a sprout, and the sprout becomes a plant, partners measure and plot the data. They notice patterns, practice...

A Reading Adventure Pack invites scholars to start gardening. Following a reading of two books—fiction and nonfiction—young green thumbs repurpose food containers to grow an herb garden in their kitchen, plant seeds in starter pots out...

Build understanding of theme with an activity designed for The Cay and the Common Core. Small groups or pairs use graphic organizers to determine themes, find and record related details from the text, and formulate theme statements. In...

Look back at the third chapter of The Cay with your class. Pupils will conduct a close reading, taking a second look at a chunk of text and responding to a series of text-dependent questions. Wrap up with an analytical writing prompt...

Encourage your learners to examine the setting in Theodore Taylor's The Cay. Pupils work in small groups to put together a description of the setting before reading two more chapters of the book. They use their double-entry journals to...

Get started with The Cay. First, provide some background information and images that relate to the novel. Then pupils can create double-entry journals. Once that is complete, read the first two chapters, encouraging individuals to record...

Make a study of the First Amendment and its relationship to freedom. Pupils rewrite the amendment and discuss the central idea before focusing on a specific phrase. After discussing, class members write a journal entry about the included...

Use Langston Hughes's poem, "Words Like Freedom," to explore the concepts of freedom and liberty. Learners read the poem, determine the theme, and use the provided graphic organizer to examine the connotative and denotative meanings of...

Connect Martin Luther King Jr's famous speech, "I Have a Dream," to The Cay by Theodore Taylor. Taylor refers to the speech in his dedication, which creates a natural segue into talking about the speech and how it relates to the novel....