- Hi readers, welcome to Read, Write, Roar.

Today, we're going to be reading a book all about gardens.

We'll find out what lives up in the garden and what lives down in the dirt.

We're going to learn some new vocabulary words and at the end, we'll write a sentence and draw a picture using the information from the story.

You'll need something to write on, like a piece of paper or a notebook and something to write with, like a pencil or a marker.

So go gather those things and then we'll start learning.

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by Michigan Department of Education, the state of Michigan and The Kresge Foundation.

Additional support for educational programming provided by... And by viewers like you.

(upbeat music) - Hi friends, I'm Mrs. Pung.

Have you ever seen a garden?

If so, what was growing there?

Were there vegetables or flowers?

Today we're going to be reading a nonfiction book all about gardens.

The title of our book today is Up In The Garden And Down In The Pit.

The author is Kate Messner.

Authors write the words.

This is a non-fiction book, which means we're going to be learning some information that's true.

And the illustrator of our story today is Christopher Silas Neal.

Illustrators draw the pictures.

Let's get started.

Up in The Garden And Down In The Dirt by Kate Messner.

Up in the garden I stand and plan, my hands full of seeds, my head full of dreams.

Spring sun shines down to melt the sleepy snow, wind whistles through last year's plants and mud sucks at my rain boots.

"It's not quite time," Nana says, "Down in the dirt things need to dry out and warm up."

"What's down there?"

I ask.

"Down in the dirt is a whole busy world of earthworms and insects digging and building and stirring up soil.

They're already working down in the dirt."

Up in the garden, we snap brittle stalks, scoop rustily armfuls, and wheel away weeds for the chickens.

Brittle means dry and easy to break.

While they squabbling and scratch, we spread compost over the soil.

Compost is like broken down leafs in old plants.

Down in the dirt pill bugs chew through last year's leaves.

I give a gentle poke and they roll up tight and hide behind plated suits of armor, roly-poly round.

Up in the garden, it's time to plant.

I trail a furrow with my finger and sprinkle seeds in a careful row.

"Give them a drink," Nana says.

We pat them down to snuggle in the dark.

Down in the dirt, a tomato horn worm rests, waiting for wings and the leaves where she'll lay her eggs.

Up in the garden, carrot plants sprout, pea blossoms bloom and wasps are on the prowl and honeybees visit, legs loaded with pollen.

Pollen comes from flowers.

I weed and wilt in the sun so strong, even Nana looks for shade.

Down in the dirt, earthworms tunnel deep.

I'm jealous of their cool damp dark.

It must be hot.

Up in the garden, "Rain shower," Nana turns the hose on me.

Do you see the water?

I hide behind the cucumber vines but their leaves can't save me.

I shipper and laugh drenched in Nana's rain.

Drenched means really wet or soaked.

Down in the dirt, water soaks cause deep, roots drink it in, and a long legged spider stilt walks over the stream.

Up in the garden, there's so much to eat.

Lady bugs feast on aphids.

Aphids are very tiny little bugs.

Nana crunches green beans, I bite a ripe tomato, warm from the sun, juice dribbles down my chin.

Down in the dirt, a robbins beak finds a cricket, a beetle, a grub.

Slugs are scrumptious too.

Up in the garden, we pick cukes and zucchini, harvesting into the dark.

Bats swooping through the sunflowers, I plucked June bugs from the basil until it's time for bed.

Down in the dirt, skunks work the night shift, they snuffle and dig and gobble cutworms while I sleep.

Up in the garden, a praying mantis wakes to hunt mosquitoes.

Nana sprays away the aphids and I'm after grasshoppers ready to smooch but...

Snap, someone else is faster .

Down in the dirt, a smooth shining garter snake crunches on supper.

Up in the garden, the wind grows cool.

Pumpkin's blush orange and some flowers bow to September.

Nana ties them together to build a house for reading.

That looks like fun.

Down in the dirt, an orb weaver spins her web, strand by silken strand.

She'll munch on moths tonight.

What do you think an orb weaver is?

A spider, you're right.

Up in the garden, colored leaves litter squash vines and we know the cold is coming.

Hurry, hurry, and harvest.

Harvest means to gather the crops or pick the vegetables.

There's enough for the neighbors too.

Down in the dirt, frantic ants gather what we leave behind.

They're storing food for cooler days ahead Up in the garden, frost draws lace on left over leaves where secret egg sacs hang waiting for the warm to return.

We say good bye and spread the winter blankets.

Down in the dirt, beetles burrow, Ants scurry home and earthworms curl tight in the dark.

When grandpa calls us in for soup, an autumn moon is rising.

Up in the garden, dry corn stalks tremble.

That means to shake.

And the wind smells like winter but the long ripe days of summer, still rest in the garden beds.

The lady bugs and bumblebees, earth warms and ants are hunkered down, hiding, biding their time dreaming of sunshine and blossoms and sprouts.

Under the bare arms of trees and the blanketing snow.

a whole new garden sleeps down in the dirt.

That was a great book.

All about the garden.

(upbeat music) Today, in our story, we met many new and interesting words.

Now it's time to learn more about three of those words.

Are you ready?

Let's get started.

Our first word is the word brittle.

Can you say brittle?

Great, brittle means dry and easy to break, brittle.

Let's see what the book said about the word brittle.

Up in the garden, we snap brittle stalks scoop rustily armFULS and wheel away weeds for the chickens, brIttle.

Now, let's clap the syllables in the word brittle.

Ready?

Bri-ttle.

How many syllables did you hear?

Two.

Two syllables in the word brittle.

Now let's use brittle in a sentence.

This stick is brittle.

It's easy to break, brittle.

What other things do you know that could be brittle?

Great, our next word is the word drenched.

Can you say drenched?

Drenched means wet or soaked, drenched.

Let's see what the book said about the word drenched.

I shiver and laugh drenched in Nana's rain.

Drenched, are you ready to clap the syllables?

Okay, drenched.

How many syllables did you hear?

One, just one syllable in the word drenched.

Let's use drenched in a sentence.

I hide under my umbrella so the rain doesn't make me drenched, drenched.

Our next word is the word harvest.

Can you say harvest?

Great.

The word harvest means to pick or gather the crops.

Sometimes, farmers are the ones doing the harvest and sometimes they use equipments like tractors, harvest.

Let's see what our books said about the word harvest.

In the book it says, up in the garden, colored leaves, litter the squash vines, and we know the cold is coming.

Hurry, hurry and harvest.

Let's clap the syllables in the word harvest, right?

Har-vest.

How many syllables did you hear?

Two, two syllables in the word harvest.

Let's use harvest in a sentence.

The farmer uses his tractor to harvest the corn, harvest.

What other crops might might've farmer harvest?

Great, we learned many new words today, let's say our new words one more time.

Brittle, drenched, harvest.

Try to use the new words with someone in your home today.

(upbeat music) Okay friends, It's time for our brain break.

Stand up.

Today, we're gonna be singing a garden song.

Are you ready?

♪ The aunts in the garden ♪ Go march, march, march ♪ March, march, march, ♪ March, march march, ♪ The aunts in the garden go march, march, march ♪ ♪ All day long ♪ The snake in the garden goes ♪ Snap, snap, snap ♪ Snap, snap, snap ♪ Snap, snap, snap ♪ The snake in the garden goes ♪ Snap, snaps, snap ♪ All day long ♪ The bees in the garden go buzz, buzz, buzz ♪ ♪ Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz ♪ ♪ The bees in the garden ♪ Go buzz, buzz, buzz, all day long ♪ ♪ The birds in the garden go tweak, tweak, tweak ♪ ♪ Tweak, tweak, tweak, tweak, tweak tweak ♪ ♪ The birds in the garden go tweet tweet, tweet ♪ ♪ All day long Ready to be aware?

♪ The worms in the garden go wiggle, wiggle, wiggle ♪ ♪ Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle wiggle ♪ ♪ The worms in the garden go wiggle, wiggle, wiggle ♪ ♪ All day long Thanks for brain breaking with me today.

(upbeat music) Hi readers, today, we learned about many things that live in the garden.

There are plants, animals, and insects living in the garden.

Next we're gonna blend some sounds and read some words and decide where those words belong in our garden.

They might belong up in the garden or they might belong down in the dirt.

Let's get started.

I'll need your help learning the words.

Our first word has three sounds.

Help me blend the sounds.

B-u-g, bug, where should I place the bug?

Do you see any bugs in my garden?

I see two red bugs.

Are they up in the garden or down in the dirt?

The bugs are in the dirt, bugs.

My next word also has three sounds.

Can you help me blend the sounds?

The first sounds is w, the next sound is er, then m. Help me blend.

Worm, worm.

Where do you see the worm?

Is there a word up in the garden or down in the dirt?

That's right, the word belongs down in the dirt, worm.

The next word also has three sounds, but this one has the magic E at the end.

Can you help me blend the word?

This magic E helps the I to say it's name.

Let's blend, v-ine, vine.

Do you see a vine growing in my garden?

I do too.

The vine is growing up into the garden, vine.

And our last word only has two sounds.

Help me blend the sounds, ready?

The first sound is B, and the second sound is E. Let's blend, bee, bee.

Do you see a bee in my garden?

The bees belong up in the garden or down in the dirt.

Bees have wings, that's right.

The bee belongs up in the garden.

Let's put the bee up in the garden, bee.

Now let's read our words one last time.

Bug, vine, worm, and bee.

Thanks for helping me blend sounds to read words and find out what lives up in the garden or down in the dirt.

Great job readers.

(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome.

I miss Amy, and I'm so excited to share some mindful practices with you today.

Mindful practices are tools we can use when we need to pause and take a breath, own what we are feeling, and practice, a deep breath or something that relaxes us.

We call this a pop check.

Sometimes I have a hard time listening to directions because my body feels so wiggly, and sometimes I forget to do something like brush my teeth before bed.

Do you ever feel that way inside?

So wiggly that it's hard to focus or listen?

That's when you can practice listening breath.

Let's try it first.

First, let's listen to some sounds around us.

What do you hear?

I hear some cars outside my window, oh, I hear a dog barking.

What do you hear where you are?

Let's listen.

I'll count to five, and you listen to the sounds.

When we're done, you can tell me what you heard.

Ready?

Go.

One, two, three, four five.

And open your eyes.

What did you hear?

It's fun to practice listening breath, and you can practice it anywhere you are.

Just take some deep breaths and listen.

Thank you for sharing this mindful practice with me today.

Let's get together again soon.

(upbeat music) - Friends, we've been having fun learning all about gardens.

Now it's time for us to write a complete sentence and draw a picture.

Do you have something to write on and something to write with?

Great, let's get started.

Our question we're going to try to answer today is, what lives up in the garden or down in the dirt?

You can write about anything you choose that you remember from the book.

It could be something that lives up in the garden or something that lives down in the dirt.

All you need to do is stretch out your words and write the sounds that you hear.

My sentence today is going to say, I see a vine in the garden.

Let's see if I have enough lines, ready?

I see a vine in the garden.

How many lines did I make?

Seven.

Seven lines for my sentence today.

You can go ahead and make lines for your words too.

Just remember leave spaces between your words.

Let's get started, my first word is the word I. I, that's just the capital letter I.

Remember, we always start sentences with capital letters, but I is capital all the time when it's standing by itself.

Start at the top, big line down, then cross it at the top and cross it at the bottom.

There's my capital I.

The next word is see, can you help me stretch out the sounds in see?

S-ee, two sounds in the word see.

The first sound is s, what letter makes that sound?

S, you're right.

Watch me make S. Around like an S. The next sound is ee, we use two Es to make the long ee sound, in this word, out, up and around, out, up and around.

There's the word see.

I see a...

The next word is just a lowercase A.

Why can we make a lowercase A.

A around like a C, close it up, little line down.

A, I see a vine.

The next word is vine.

We already read the word vine earlier.

Vine, let's stretch out those sounds.

V-i-ne, three sounds in that word.

The first sound is v, what letter makes that sound?

V, you're right.

Watch me make a lowercase V. Down, up, just like that.

Next is I, for this one, we're going to make the lowercase I.

Little line down with a dot on top.

V-i-ne, is the next sound.

What letter makes the n sound?

N, you're right, watch me make an N, little line down, up and around.

Now we need something at the end.

Do you know what it could be?

You're right, It's magic E. The magic E, helps the I to save it's name.

Magic E needs to be at the end of this word.

Watch me make an E. Out, up and around, there's my E. I see a vine in...

The next word is in.

I-n, two sounds, the first sound is i.

What letter makes the i sound?

I, that's right.

Let's make the lowercase I.

Little line down with a dot on top.

And the next sound is n, what letter says n?

N, you're right.

Let's watch me make a lowercase N, little line down, up and around.

I see a vine in the...

The next word is the.

You might already know how to spell the, because it's a high frequency word.

But let's stretch out the sounds.

Th-e, two sounds.

The first sound is th.

TH makes that sound.

Watch me make a lowercase t. Start at the top, big line down, cross it in the middle.

There's my T. Then we need lowercase H. Big lines down, up and around.

Th, and the next sound is er.

E is making the er down in this word.

So I'll make a lowercase E, out, up and around.

I see a vine in the garden.

Garden is a longer word.

Let's clap the syllables in the word garden, ready?

Gar-den, two syllables in the word garden.

Let's stretch out the first syllable.

Gar, gar, the first sound is g. What letter makes that sound?

G, watch me make the lowercase G. Around like a C, close it up and hook around, G. The next sound is ar, to make the ar sound in this word, we need AR, so we'll make a lowercase, A.

Around, like a C, close it up and line down.

GAR, lowercase R is next, little line down, up and around.

This syllable says gar, now we need den, garden.

Let's stretch out the sounds in den.

D-en, three sounds.

The first sound is d, that is lowercase is D. Great job.

Around like a C, close it up and a big line down.

There's my D. The next sound is e. Do you know what letter makes that sound?

E, lowercase E. Little line down, up and around.

There's my E. What sound do you hear at the end of garden?

N, what letter is that?

N. We'll end with a lowercase N. Little line down, up and around.

There's the word garden.

Now, friends, what should I put at the end of my sentence?

Is this a question or is it a statement?

I'm answering the question.

So this is a statement.

I'm telling you what I see in the garden.

So I need to put a period at the end of my sentence.

Make sure you put punctuation marks at the end of your sentence too.

You might be putting a period if you wrote a statement like mine, or you might be writing a question mark.

Let's read our sentence one last time.

I see a vine in the garden today.

Today, you can draw any picture that matches your words.

I saw by a vine in the garden.

What did you see?

Make sure you share your picture in your sentence with someone in your home today.

Friends that was so much fun learning about gardens today.

We learned about plants, animals and insects that live in gardens.

Have fun exploring and I will see you next time on Read, Write, Roar.

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by Michigan Department of Education, the state of Michigan and The Kresge Foundation.

Additional support for educational programming, provided by... And by viewers like you.

(upbeat music)