Level 13

Big Red Tomatoes

by Pamela Graham

Overview
Use this book to show children how tomatoes begin as tiny seeds and end up as ingredients in different dishes.

Literacy Focus
High Frequency Words Content Words
tomatoes, taste, seeds, soil, sprout, seedlings, farmers, flowers, ripens

Word Count: 168 words Vowel Digraphs: oo, ee (good, smooth, cook, seeds, seedlings) Double Consonants: t, l, g, d (little, yellow, bigger, middle)

Text Features
Index

good, grow, them, then, they

Writing/Speaking and Listening

Writing words in context sentences Participating in discussions Explaining graphics that show a sequence of events

Decoding Skills
Initial Consonant Digraphs: th (they, that, them) Initial Consonant Blends: pl, fl, tr, gr (plants, flower, truck, grow, green)

Comprehension/ Thinking Skills

Following a sequence of events Using prior knowledge Using illustrations to understand text Summarizing main ideas

Observe/Assess
See Oral Reading Records in the Assessment Handbook.

Science Focus
Content and Thinking Skills
Understanding that plant life cycles are sequential Understanding how environment influences plant development Sequencing the stages of a plants growth

Background Information
People depend on living organisms for food. Tomato plants are living organisms that farmers grow. Farmers depend on the environment to help the plants through their stages of development.

Correlation to National Standards

Life Science Characteristics of Organisms
Life Cycles of Organisms
See Standards Chart on page 204.

42

Big Red Tomatoes

Literacy Focus
Set the Scene
Discuss prior knowledge of food sources. Ask: Where does food come from? Who has been to a farm? What happens there? Encourage children to make the link between farming and food in a grocery store.
Pages 612 What is happening on each page? Predict the stage of the process each time.

Show children how words with double consonants can be divided to make reading them easier.

Direct childrens attention to the words that indicate a sequence of events: soon, at first, and then.

lit/tle yel/low

big/ger mid/dle

Respond
Context Clues
Activity Master, page 44 Have children fill in the missing words in the context sentences on the Activity Master, page 44.

Read and Discuss

Cover and Title Page Identify the title page. Have children predict what the book will tell them about tomatoes. Pages 25 Have children read the text after previewing and discussing the illustrations. Discuss color, taste, and size of favorite foods.

Focus on the th digraph and the consonant blends. Ask children to name five words that begin with th, pl, fl, tr, and gr. Focus on the vowel digraphs oo and ee. Ask children to name five words with these vowel digraphs.

Meeting Individual Needs For specific teaching strategies for meeting individual needs, see pages 198203.

Science Focus
Science Concept
All living organisms have sequential stages in their life cycles.

Activities
A Tomatos Life Cycle
Activity Master, page 45 Have children use the Activity Master, page 45, to sequence the steps in the life cycle of a tomato plant.

Whats Inside? Cut up a tomato and show children the flesh and skin. Have children remove and examine the seeds. Watch It Grow Plant seeds in different environments (with water, with sun, without these factors, and so on) and watch them grow. Create a graph or chart to record the plants growth.

From Seed to Salad Ask children to show the stages of tomato growth. They can record each stage either as a drawing or in written form. To demonstrate the final stage, prepare a simple tomato salad or other dish and share it with the children.

Big Red Tomatoes

43

Name

B i g R e d To m a t o e s

Use a word from the Word Bank to complete each sentence.

Word Bank flower People seedlings seeds soil tomatoes

1. Where do

come from?

2. They are grown from

3. Tiny leaves push up through the

4. The little tomato plants are called

5. A tiny tomato forms in the middle of the

.
2001 National Geographic Society

6.

pick the tomatoes.

44

Activity Master

Comprehension: Context Clues

Name

B i g R e d To m a t o e s

Cut out the pictures. Glue them on another sheet of paper in the order that the tomato plant grows.

The seedlings get bigger.

The seeds sprout.

It gets bigger and turns red.

A tomato grows in the flower.

2001 National Geographic Society

Tomatoes grow from seeds.

Flowers grow on the plants.

Science: Life Science

Activity Master

45