Apples, Apples, Apples and Pumpkin Day! Lesson
A Fall-Themed Exploration of Writer's and Illustrator's Craft
Sep 4, 2008
Lead students in an in-depth exploration of writer's craft and illustrator's craft by helping them compare and contrast how author/illustrator Nancy Elizabeth Wallace depicts two similar experiences: visiting an apple orchard in Apples, Apples, Apples [Winslow Press, 2000] and visiting a pumpkin farm in Pumpkin Day! [Marshall Cavendish, 2002].
Presenting the Books
- Display the covers for Apples, Apples, Apples and Pumpkin Day! side by side. Discuss the titles and what is shown in each picture. Ask children to identify what is alike about both pictures (each shows bunnies with the foods mentioned in the titles) and make predictions about the subject of each book.
- Read aloud Apples, Apples, Apples and Pumpkin Day! and check predictions.
- Remind children that the plot is the series of events that makes up a story. Work with children to summarize briefly the basic plot of each of these books. Then, provide each child with two blank sequence of events graphic organizers and work together to record the main events of each story.
Comparing Plots
- Study with children their completed sequence of events graphic organizers and help them identify similarities in the plots of the two books. For example, both books tell about bunny families that go to a farm/orchard to purchase fall crops to use for fall activities, and while the bunnies are at these places they meet farmers who teach them about the life cycle of each crop. Then, discuss differences, such as how each crop grows.
- Provide children with blank two-column charts. Have them head the columns Apples, Apples, Apples and Pumpkin Day! Help children use the information in their sequence graphic organizers to fill in several rows of their two-column charts with specific comparisons between events in the two books. Try to find pages in each book that show similar events (such as when each family pays for its purchases) and examine them side-by-side for ideas for comparisons to make.
Comparing Text Features
- Explain that text features are tools a writer uses to help the reader understand information better, especially information that may not be discussed in detail or at all in the text. Types of text features include illustrations, diagrams, tables, text boxes, labels, illustrated lists, and special text that is bolded, italicized, or a different color or size.
- Both books tell a fictional story, but they also use certain nonfiction text features to communicate scientific facts about pumpkins and apples.
- Have children list each book's text features. (Apples! Apples! Apples! contains illustrations, sequence of events diagrams, a data table, special text, a labeled cross-section diagram, a recipe and a craft each presented as steps in a process, a list of rebuses, and a copy of the sheet music for a song. Pumpkin Day! contains illustrations, sequence of events diagrams, recipes, special text, text boxes in the form of signs in the illustrations, and a labeled cross-section diagram.)
- Discuss what information each text feature contains and why the author might have chosen to include this text feature. Then, compare and contrast how the text features are used in each book. Note the fun ways extra information is incorporated into the story, like the facts about different kinds of pumpkins being communicated by picturing packets of different kinds of pumpkin seeds.
Art Extension Activity
Nancy Elizabeth Wallace uses such supplies as scissors, glue, origami paper, the insides of envelopes, and paper bags to construct her colorful, three-dimensional illustrations. Have children examine the illustrations and identify examples of places where she used different materials.
Assessment
If you can, visit a pumpkin patch and/or an apple orchard and have students make a short book about their own experiences, using the plot structures, text features, and illustrations from these books as a model. Otherwise, have students create short books based on a fictional trip that they imagine taking to a pumpkin patch or apple orchard.
For enrichment, try other apple orchard lessons and pumpkin patch lessons.
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