Fresh-Picked Poetry:
A Day at the Farmer’s Market
Written by Michelle Schaub
Illustrated by Amy Huntington
Adaptable Lesson Plan for Grades K-2
Purpose
Spend a day at a farmer’s market with two friends and their dogs as they explore all there is to see and do through at this community event. Eighteen poems take the reader through a day at the market with all of the sites, sounds, and adventures to be had. Lesson takes place over a three day time period. Students work through the list-poem, “Market Day Today”, to determine the author’s purpose and meaning. Teacher models and then students create a list poem on a specific item. Students then work in small groups to create a pretend version of a farmer’s market sharing their understanding of the author’s message. Link at the end of the lesson connects to additional lessons for different poems.
Standards (Ohio)
ELA
RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
RL.K. 7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
RL.2.7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
W.K-2.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects
SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
SL.1.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
SL.2.5 Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
L.K-2.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Social Studies
K.GO.9: Individuals share responsibilities and take action toward the achievement of common goals in homes, schools and communities.
1.GO.8: Individuals have a responsibility to take action toward the achievement of common goals in homes, schools and communities and are accountable for those actions.
1.GO.9: Collaboration requires group members to respect the rights and opinions of others.
2.GO.10: Respect for the rights of self and others includes making responsible choices and being accountable for personal actions.
Vocabulary
poetry
farmer
market
(various vocabulary for each poem)
Materials
- “Market Day Today” Poem (other poems can be read and modified to fit lesson)
- paper/pencil
- Craft materials to create displays for individual groups’ market stands.
Engage
Tell the students that you are going to read a poem to them called, “Market Day Today”. You want them to be still and listen to the words. Invite them to allow the words to form a picture in their heads. Explain that they will have a job to do when you have finished reading.
First Read: Read the poem aloud as students quietly listen. Do not show text or illustrations. Give students a few minutes to record with pictures, words, or phrases what they felt and heard while listening.
Second Read: Share the text and illustration with the students as you reread the poem. Read a line or two and have students repeat the words back to you until you are finished reading text.
- What did the students notice different between hearing the text read the first time and reading the text the second time?
Explore
Have children move to small groups. They are to brainstorm these questions:
- Has anyone been to a farmer’s market?
- What can be bought/sold at a market?
Students share their findings with the whole class.
Explain
Video and discussion
Students watch one or more of the videos:
Fruits and Vegetables at the Farmer’s Market
https://www.pbs.org/video/kidvision-vpk-farmers-market/
Math and Social Skills at the Farmer’s Market
https://www.pbs.org/video/adventures-learning-famers-market/
An Insight to an Urban Farmer’s Market Class on Healthy Eating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLhR5ZDp3Ss
Discuss:
- What is bought/sold at a farmer’s market?
- Where does the food come from that is at a farmer’s market?
- Why go to a farmer’s market instead of the grocery store?
Teacher rereads poem
Discuss:
- What purpose does this poem serve? How do you know that from the poem text?
- How does the author feel about Market Day? What words tell you that?
- What words or phrases stand out to you from the poem? Why do you think the author chose to use those?
- How do the illustrations tell you about what happens at the start of the Market Day?
- How does this text connect to the video(s) watched on farmers markets?
Elaborate
“Market Day Today” is a list poem which is used to introduce the reader to what goes on at a farmer’s market.
Day One
Teacher can guide students through creating a class list poem on what can be found or done at a farmer’s market.
Day Two
Students can choose an item to be sold at a farmer’s market. Have students write their own introductory list poems on their chosen items to introduce the reader to that item. Students add illustrations to their poem to match their text and/or to provide additional information.
Day Three
Children work in small groups to create a classroom version of a farmer’s market. Each group chooses an item to sell by doing research on what is grown on farms locally. Group creates a presentation on how their chosen item is grown and why it is important to purchase that item.
Evaluate
Day One
Students will be able to verbally share the author’s main idea and key details from the poem.
Students will be able to give connections between the illustrations of the poem to the text.
Day Two
Students will use their understanding of the command of the English language to write a list poem to be assessed.
Day Three
Students work in small groups to research an item and create a market stand to sell the item for an imaginary farmer’s market. Students will present a market stand and item to class.
Further Extensions
- Take a field trip to a local community garden to see how different foods are grown.
- Take a field trip to a nearby farm to see how different foods are grown.
- Visit a local farmer’s market.
Additional Lessons from “An Educator’s Guide to Freshly-Picked Poetry”
https://www.wisagclassroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Fresh-PIcked-Poetry-Teachers-Guide.pdf
Author Reading Story from a John Deere Tractor:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=833358477045665&ref=watch_permalink
Authors Shares Poem, “Wild Dream in Two Voices”
Additional Reading:
On the Farm, At the Market by G. Brain Karas
Farmer’s Market Day by Shanda Trent
At the Farmer’s Market With Kids: Recipes and Projects with Little Hands by Leslie Jonath
To Market, To Market by Nikki McClure
A Day at the Market by Sarah Anderson