I love finding new seasonal books to share with my students. If you haven’t read The Curious Garden, you will definitely want to check it out! This sweet story is actually based off of a real garden on the top of a railway in Manhattan. We love how this book emphasizes the importance of nature and being outside and think it makes a great read aloud for this time of year! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Liam lives in a city that is dark and dreary. He is the only one who ever seems to go outside. Liam enjoys exploring his city and decides one day to explore the old railway. When he reaches the top of the railway, he finds a small little garden. Liam realizes the garden needs help so he starts taking care of it. As Liam’s gardening skills grow, so does the garden.
Soon, the garden is spreading throughout the city. It ends up in expected places like outside people’s homes and on stop signs. The community starts to notice the garden, and people even start coming outside. New gardeners appear and plant their own gardens and enjoy the outdoors.
As time passes, the city changes and becomes more colorful. But the original garden will always be Liam’s favorite.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Even if your class is not taking a field trip, you can use this book to teach a great lesson in your classroom. We recommend using this book to teach your students reading comprehension strategies, integrate your units of study in writing, introduce new grammar skills, and teach students about social emotional learning.
- Use the author’s note at the back of the book to discuss author’s purpose.
- Teach students about analyzing illustrations to deepen their comprehension.
- Incorporate informational writing by asking students to write about plants.
- Ask students to write poems describing the garden.
- Teach a lesson on plural nouns.
- Review adjectives and compound words.
- Discuss why it is important to give your best effort.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
With so many great read alouds it is impossible to keep up your planning! There just isn’t enough time in the day to look for great mentor texts, plan lessons, and create activities. That’s where we come in! These activities are all thoughtfully designed to go with the book and teach the important skills the book best lends itself to. All you need to do is read the book and pick which resources you want to use!
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Mossy by Jan Brett
- The Empty Pot by Demi
- The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
- Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
