Overview

This teacher’s guide is broken into different sections with suggestions of how to use the reader in the classroom and provide ideas on how to extend the learning of your students. This reader can be used in small groups or a whole group for reading or science. Depending on your readers, this magazine would be more appropriate to be read aloud to your students.

Teacher Guide

Learning Outcomes

  • Students will have knowledge of the targeted vocabulary words.
  • Students will be able to understand the growing process of corn.
  • Students will have knowledge about harvesting corn.

Vocabulary Words

  • Planting: to put seeds into the ground to grow
  • Livestock: farm animals that are raised for their product – example: dairy cows raised for milk, pigs raised for pork, chickens raised for eggs • Harvest: to gather a crop, like corn
  • Seed: when planted can grow a new plant
  • Bushel: measurement for crops

Activity

Introduce these words before you begin reading. Ask students if they have heard or recognize the words. Then, read the definitions and talk about them as a class. Do more of the students recognize the words now? See if students can use the vocabulary words in sentences.

Front Cover

Allow time for students to share their thoughts on the question that was asked. Teachers can write down their ideas on the board so it can be revisited after reading.

Inside

  • When you come to a vocabulary word, take the time to stop and redefine the word.
  • After reading the content, revisit what students brainstormed from the front cover questions. Were any of their ideas mentioned in the reading?

One Little Kernel

In this section it is important that students realize most corn farmers are growing dent corn, not sweet corn, like we buy at the store. Dent corn is “dented,” as referred to on page 2. It is dry, hard and considered a grain. This can be fun to talk about with the students. Help them learn that the main use for corn is for feed and fuel but also for thousands of other products we use in our homes. Corn just isn’t found in food products!

To expand learning watch Farm to Plate Video.

Back Cover

Do You Remember: Farm Vehicles
Cross out any vehicle that is NOT used on the farm to grow or harvest corn. Students can revisit the inside of the reader to help with this activity.

Do You Remember: Drawing activity
Use the space below to draw three steps of growing corn. Students can revisit the inside of the reader to help with this activity.

Follow A Bushel:
Knowing what the measurement bushel means is TRICKY and hard to explain to little learners. The QR code leads to a video that explains what a bushel is and why farmers use this measurement.