AUTHOR CONNECTIONS:
Paul Fleischman learned to love storytelling because his father, Sid Fleischman, read his own books out loud to the family as he finished writing each chapter.
He is an avid audiobook fan and with his two teenaged sons listens to storytelling
programs on the radio as well. He lives in California.To learn more, click
here www.paulfleischman.net
CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:
 Create
Character Acrostic Poems: Using the thirteen characters’ names,
students will work in pairs to craft acrostic poems about these individuals’
particular attributes, quirks, qualities, and characteristics. Especially
short names may be added to—KIM’S LIMA BEANS or ANA’S BINOCULARS—so
that students have sufficient number of lines to discuss thoroughly the characters’
personalities. Have partners also create portraits of characters to accompany
their poems; display artwork and poetry on a classroom bulletin board.
Language
Arts Writing Activity: Have students imagine that it is one, two, and
three years later in Fleischman’s community garden in Cleveland. Students
will select—or the teacher may assign all thirteen to pairs of students—one
of Fleischman’s thirteen characters, and write three new entries in that
character’s “voice” that tells what might be happening in this
inner city garden—as well as with the character’s life—with each
season’s passage of time. Share entries orally, in the same way that
their stories have been shared on the audiobook; have library media specialist
record oral readings for others to listen to.
Grow
a Classroom Community Garden: Have students research their own family
histories to discover if there are any special plant foods or flowers that hold
particular significance for them. Have students prepare written reports
that share their findings; compile into a class book. Then do one of the
following suggested activities: Procure the seeds for each student’s
vegetable or flower, and plant in a garden plot on the school premises; students
will be responsible for maintenance of the project. If planting seeds is
not a possibility, have students create posters of their selected vegetable or
flower, and create a “garden” bulletin board from the sundry posters.
Researching
Victory Gardens during World War II: Students will conduct research
on the topic of victory gardens during WWII. Have students discover the
answers to the following questions: What is a victory garden? Who
and how many participated in growing these gardens? Who benefited from the
gardens? How did the gardens contribute to the war effort, both at home
and abroad? Have students look for facsimiles of posters and regular feature
articles in magazines and newspapers that were created by the Office of War Information
to promote the idea of victory gardens to American citizens. Students may
want to interview family members or older adult acquaintances that remember planting
and growing victory gardens.
Art
Project of “Seedfolks:” Combine a variety of dried seeds with
other natural materials, such as acorns, small pine cones, corn kernels, pumpkin
seeds, and dried beans to make mosaic pictures of “Seedfolks.” Have
students name their creations, and write a brief paragraph that shares details
of their person. Students should glue mosaics on 12” by 18” oaktag
sheets of paper; display in library or art room for other classes to admire.
FOR FURTHER
LISTENING AND READING:
  The
Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Available in unabridged
audiobook through Audio Bookshelf.
Onward
and Upward in the Garden by Katharine S. White; introduction by E. B.
White
My
Favorite Plant: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants They Love edited
by Jamaica Kincaid (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998)
Joyful Noise / I am Phoenix Poems for Two Voices; both by Paul
Fleischman (Published by Audio Bookshelf). Other
multivoiced narrations of Paul Fleischman's books are: Bull
Run and Whirligig
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