Lesson Two (optional)

Lesson Two (optional)

Finish Reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Lesson Objective: Students will continue to be introduced to the concept of community by finishing a book describing a community very different from Humboldt County. Guided by class discussion, students will begin to identify the characteristics of communities and the benefits of belonging to a community.

Materials:

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
Student Handout Master 1, "Seedfolks Diary" (enough copies to distribute to each student in the class)

Procedures:

Introduction

Begin the activity with a brief summary of what was read and discussed during the previous section. Explain that the class will finish reading the book today.

Development

Ask the students to continue writing responses to the chapter questions in the Seedfolks diary they started during Lesson One. Read the next three chapters of the book (Virgil, Sae Young, and Curtis). After finishing those chapters, use the student diary questions for discussion:

How safe do you think the people in the neighborhood feel? Why do you think that? The people in the neighborhood do not seem to feel very safe. Sae Young describes how she was robbed at gunpoint and beaten up. She was so scared that she did not want to leave her house for a long time (p. 37). Other people in the neighborhood also describe incidences. Someone is stealing the tomatoes that belong to Curtis (p. 43), Virgil sees drug dealers (p. 29), Leona believes that the people at City Hall only come to her neighborhood by mistake (p. 19), Wendell's son was shot in the street (p.9) and Ana assumes that Kim is burying drugs or guns even though she doesn't even know the little girl (p.6).

What was Sam's contest and who won? All of the gardeners were complaining because they had to carry heavy jugs of water to the garden to water their plants. Sam came up with the idea of allowing the children to try and come up with a solution. He offered $20 to the child who had the best idea (p. 38). Many of the children had ideas that were too expensive. The little girl who won the contest suggested letting the rainwater from the tops of the roofs pour through the rainspouts and drain into garbage cans down below (p. 39). Her idea was inexpensive and easy to use.

After answering the questions, read the final four chapters (Nora, Maricela, Amir, and Florence). After finishing those chapters, use the following questions for discussion:

What happened during the rainstorm? Nora describes that a rainstorm came while she and Mr. Myers were working in the garden. All of the people in the garden ran to a small dry spot in front of a store. Because all the people were forced together in a cramped spot, they got to know each other and realized that even though they came from different countries, spoke different languages, were different ages, and raised different plant, they had many things in common (p. 50).

What are some of the good experiences that Amir had in the garden? Amir had many good experiences in the garden. He was able to talk to neighbors that he had never talked to before (p. 59), all the neighbors pitched in to help remove dumped tires from someone's garden plot (p. 60), three men helped a woman whose purse was stolen (p. 60), Royce did work for people in the garden without being asked (p. 62), and all the neighbors in the garden held a harvest festival where they shared food and talked to each other (p. 63).

What happened to the garden in the winter? How did Florence feel? The garden was abandoned during the snowy Cleveland winter. Florence describes how the "green drained away" and "by November the cats were the only ones" in the garden (p. 67). Florence said that, "waiting for the snow to melt was like waiting for a glacier to move" (p. 68). When the snow did finally melt she was disappointed to see that the garden was still empty (p. 68).

What made Florence feel happy again? Florence saw a little Oriental girl digging in the garden and that made her feel as happy as if she'd just "seen the first swallow of spring" (p. 69). She knew that the garden, and all the good things that came with it, would come back again.

Why do you think the book is called "Seedfolks?" Florence describes that seedfolks are people who strike out on their own to be the first to try something new. They take the time, patience, and energy to plant seeds and care for the land. Florence calls her great-grandparents who walked from Louisiana to Colorado after they were freed from slavery seedfolks. She also calls the neighbors who started the garden on Gibb Street seedfolks.

Lesson Closure:

What changes took place in the neighborhood over the year? Many changes took place in the garden over the year, including:

- The neighborhood looked prettier after the neighbors helped clean up the garbage and planted vegetables and flowers in what was a vacant lot.
- People in the neighborhood began to talk to each other. They started out by talking about the different plants in the garden. Later, when they felt more comfortable, they talked about themselves and learned about each other. Many assumptions and stereotypes that people had about each other vanished.
- The neighbors began to help each other work and they felt safer in their neighborhood.
- The neighbors began to feel like they belonged to a community.

Students should turn in their completed Seedfolks Diary at the completion of the lesson.

Through reading the book, answering questions in their Seedfolks diary and participating in discussion, the students have begun to think about what the components of communities are and how to recognize them. The next two activities will help the students describe the specific components of the communities and how communities are similar and different based on those components. This discussion will prepare them to look at the network of communities in Humboldt County.

Modifications:

If a class set of the text is available, it is possible to assign reading and writing assignments as homework. The length of the activity would be extended to four overnight reading and writing assignments.
Each student would be given a copy of Student Handout Master 1, "Seedfolks Diary" to take home with them. Explain to the students that they are expected to read three to four chapters and answer the corresponding questions in their diary each night.
Even with a take-home reading and writing assignment format, it is important to be sure that the assigned questions are answered satisfactorily and that all of the student's questions regarding the book are answered. It is recommended that at least 15 minutes is set aside in

class after each assignment is due for class discussion.
It is possible to assign different books with a similar theme to be read by different groups of students in the class. One way to assign books to the groups would be based on their reading level. Students reading the same book could work in small groups to answer the questions in their diary. A classroom discussion could follow the readings so that the students could share interesting points about their book with the class.

Some suggestions for alternative or additional books based on reading level from less-challenging to more-challenging include:

- Stewart, Sarah. August 1997. The Gardener. Farrar Straus & Giroux.
- White, E.B. October 1952. Charlotte's Web. HarperCollins Children's Books: New York.
- Curtis, Christopher Paul. October 1999. Bud, Not Buddy. Delacorte Press: New York.

References:

Fleischman, Paul. 1998. Seedfolks. HarperCollins Publishers: New York.

Notes on the author and text:

Paul Fleischman is a Newbery Medal winner.

Seedfolks won the 1998 "American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults" award.