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In a world filled with negativity, it is more important than ever to spread positivity. By doing this, students will begin to believe in themselves. Soon after, they will have the courage to take this positivity out into their community. By changing the community in positive ways, students have safe, supportive places to be whenever the school day is over. Hence, the Harlem Grown Picture Book Unit is filled with encouragement in how one person can make positive changes.
Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood
Harlem Grown is all about inspiring others to make changes in their community through a true story. Harlem Grown all began with one man who knew his neighborhood was filled with restless people who did not have healthy food options. This man knew he needed to do something to help. Therefore, he invited students from an underfunded school to come to a vacant lot. Here, they worked together to turn the lot into a beautiful farm filled with healthy food. After a few years, kids, their parents, and the Harlem Grown staff began to grow thousands of pounds of healthy fruits and vegetables each year. To ensure everyone has access to healthy food, everything grown in Harlem Grown is free! This inspirational story will be sure to show students how they are capable of making great changes!
Harlem Grown Picture Book Unit
This easy-to-implement unit is filled with activities to bring the story to life. To do this, students will work on reading, writing, grammar, and character education activities. Thus, a real-life situation is embedded into the classroom in order to help inspire students to achieve greatness!
Comprehension
In order to ensure students truly understand the incredible message behind the story, there are many comprehension activities included. First, there are comprehension questions to discuss during or after the book. Then, there is a story map where students outline several literary elements, such as characters and setting. Furthermore, students will be able to compare and contrast themself to characters in the book.
Character Education
Teachers are responsible for helping students learn so many skills. However, education is more than just academics. It is about teaching students to be responsible, accountable, and positive members of society. Thus, character education is so important in schools today. In order to embed this into the lessons, students will discuss how the characters in the book demonstrate responsibility and perseverance. Thus, students will see how important it is to never give up and continue working towards positive goals.
Grammar
It is always helpful to embed grammar lessons into a unit. Therefore, students are not learning grammar in isolation. Thus, this unit covers the difference between common and proper nouns. In addition to making their own examples, there is also a grammar sort included for practice.
Writing Prompts
In order to practice writing, students will have time to reflect on different aspects of the story. For example, students will learn all about food deserts and how millions of people do not have access to affordable healthy food. Therefore, students will learn about the importance of a garden and community members helping each other. In order to help the importance sink in, students will be able to write and reflect upon their own thoughts.
Life Cycle of a Sunflower
It will be helpful for students to understand that planting and growing do not occur in one day. It takes several steps, time, and lots of care for fruits and vegetables to grow. In order to learn the life cycle of items that grow, students will explore the life cycle of a sunflower. Hence, they will see how healthy food takes time to grow just like beautiful flowers do!
It is tremendously important for students to see how capable they are of changing their community in positive ways. No matter where one lives, there is always room for improvement. In many places, urban gardens for kids are becoming more and more popular in order to help ensure everyone has access to healthy food. In other places, people are working for equal rights and eliminating discrimination. Luckily, this unit will be sure to help inspire the future leaders of the world!
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