Holly Bloom's Garden, a literature-based unit study for the book by Sarah Ashman and Nancy Parent

Authors: Sarah Ashman and Nancy Parent
Illustrator: Lori Mitchell

Summary: Holly Bloom comes from a gardening family, but she seems to have a brown thumb. Her mother tells her that some flowers, like some people, are late bloomers, but no matter how hard Holly tries, she still manages to sneeze away the fertilizer and overwater the plants. Finally, Holly sees a way to grow flowers that plays to her strengths: shutting herself in her father's art studio, she makes brilliant paper flowers that fill up the room.

Unit prepared by Diana B.

Language Arts

Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the first consonant sound in a phrase. There are many examples of alliteration in this story, see if your student can find them. They include:

“And her dahlias drooped before she'd even had dessert.”

“Their bluebells were brilliant”

“their gardenias were glorious”

“and their daffodils were simply dazzling”

and there are more!

Choose some objects from around the house and have your student make up alliterations for them.

Idioms: In the story, Holly paints her thumb green. People who are good gardeners are said to have a 'green thumb'. This is an example of an idiom. An idiom is a phrase that only makes sense in a particular language.

Explain some of these other idioms to your student.

~a bad apple

~couch potato

~a frog in someone's throat

~play it by ear

Lots more examples of idioms and what they mean are available here.

Listmaking and Alphabetical Order: As expected, lots of flowers are mentioned and pictured in this story. Have your student make a list of the flowers he encounters in this book. Some of the flowers specifically mentioned include: dahlias, daisies, petunias, bluebells, gardenias, daffodils, snapdragons, tulips, chrysanthemum, and pansies. One of Holly's nickname is Sweetpea, another flower. Some of the flowers that are not mentioned, but are pictured include: Asiatic lilies, foxglove, gebera daisy, sunflowers, roses, primrose, grape hyacinth, and more.

If your student needs practice alphabetizing, write each flower name on an index card. Have him put the cards in alphabetical order. If you make a lapbook or notebook, store these cards in a pocket, and your student will be able to complete this exercise again later for more review.

Vocabulary

Drooped: to hang or sink down. Bend in a limp manner.

Wilted: to lose freshness and become limp.

Pathetic: something that causes you to feel sorry or pity.

Brilliant: wonderful or outstanding

Social Studies

Talents: Discuss how Holly's mom, sister and brother all have the talent for growing flowers. Holly really wants to grow flowers too, but she has to find her own way of having a garden. Holly's talent may not be growing flowers in the dirt, but she had found how she can use her talents to build a garden. Holly seems to take after her father, who is shown in the pictures painting the flowers instead of gardening and he also has an art studio. Discuss with your child the talents he or she may have. Also discuss how some in your family may have one talent and others have a talent in a different area.

Art

Paper/Craft Flowers: Holly made her flowers out of paper and other craft items. Try some of these various forms of making flowers.

Tissue Paper Flowers (easy)

What You Need:

Pastel colored tissue paper or tissues
Chenille stem or pipe cleaner
Scissors
Ruler

How To Make Them:

1. Cut tissue paper into rectangles of desired size (5"x7" works well), or use tissues, opening any folds.
2. Stack 4-6 pieces of tissue paper. Use the same color or different colors.
3. Fold the tissue in accordion pleats (like a fan), working from the long side.
4. Wrap one end of the chenille stem or pipe cleaner around the middle of the folded tissue paper.
5. Gently separate each layer of tissue paper by pulling upwards toward the middle of the flower.

(For more ideas in making tissue paper flowers check out Tissue Paper Flowers by Klutz.)

Construction Paper Daffodils (intermediate)

What You Need

Yellow and green construction paper
Scissors
Glue stick
a pencil
a ruler

How To Make Them:

1. Draw and cut out a simple flower with five round petals from yellow construction paper. This will be the base of the daffodil.
2. Cut a yellow rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches tall by 3 1/2 inches long. This will be the center of the daffodil.
3. Wrap the rectangle around two of your fingers (or around an adult's thumb) and glue it to itself to form a cylinder.
4. Make lots of little cuts in the top of the cylinder, to form skinny tabs. Make fewer cuts in the bottom for wider tabs.
5. Curl the skinny tabs outwards a little. Fold the wider tabs out too.
6. Glue the wide tabs onto the center of the 5-petal bottom piece.
7. This daffodil looks especially great if a simple green leaf or two is glued to the underside of the flower, sticking out a bit.

These flowers (with or without leaves) can be glued to a picture frame, placemat or notebook to decorate them.

Details in Art: Have your child find the pet chicken in as many pages as possible (there are only a couple that don't have the chicken).

Mosaics: On the 4th two page spread, where it shows Holly jumping off the steps, there are clay pots and a bird bath that all have geometric designs on them.   They look like they are decorated with mosaics around the top edges. A mosaic is a decoration on a surface made by setting small pieces of glass, tile, or stone of different colors into another material so as to make pictures or patterns.

Let your student liven up an old clay pot by trying this technique. Please read through directions before you start this project.

Note: This activity requires COMPLETE adult supervision.

Supplies needed:
~Newspaper
~Terra Cotta Clay Pot
~Plastic Putty Knife
~Ceramic Tile Grout
~Damp Sponge
~Broken pieces of ceramic tile, pottery, china, or seashells.   (Ask your local hardware store if they have any display samples or broken tiles that you can have for free.) If you don't want to use broken pieces, you can try smooth glass stones (found at most Dollar stores), buttons, large jewels (found in most craft sections of stores, etc.) instead.

Before starting-
If you need to break up the tile, pottery, etc., put a piece of tile between two newspaper sections. Hit it with a hammer one time. Take out any pieces that are about 1 inch by 1 inch. Repeat process until you have enough broken pieces to use.   Before your child starts the project, you need to take out any sharp pieces that will cut hands.

1. Prepare your area with newspaper.
2. Spread a heavy layer of tile grout onto the flowerpot with the putty knife (as if you are "frosting" the flower pot).
3. Press tile pieces into the wet grout. Encourage your student to place pieces close together.   An older student may even want to attempt to put a special design on his pot; this will require carefully planning before starting the project.
4. Spread a little more grout between the pieces so that broken edges are covered.
5. After your project is dry, wipe a damp sponge over the pot to remove the film the grout left.

Math

Counting: Using fresh cut flowers (or pictures) count the number of petals on different types of flowers. Depending on the age of the child, you can tailor this to their counting level, using flowers with only a few petals (daffodils, lilies, tulips, etc) or with many petals (Gerber Daisy, Carnation, Chrysanthemum, etc).

Addition or Multiplication: Use flowers with only a few petals, set up math problems. For example: “I have two flowers, one with 6 petals one with 5 petals, how many do I have all together?” or “I have 3 daffodils with 6 petals each, how many petals do I have all together?” This can be tailored to the math level of the child. Also works great if you have fresh cut flowers that can be used to check the answer.

Measurement: On the cover, Holly is shown measuring herself against a sunflower. How tall does a sunflower get? Measure your student and mark their height on the chart provided. Use seed packets to find the heights of various sunflowers and write the name of the sunflowers on the chart. Have your student mark the height of each sunflower on the chart.

Science

Parts of a Flower: Dissect a flower as you describe the different parts and what they are used for. A lily is recommend because it is easy to distinguish the different parts. More information can be found here.

Petal: This is what attracts the insects to the flower so pollination can occur. Usually brightly colored and there can be one petal to many petals.

Stamen: These contain the anther (pollen sacs) and filaments (hold up the anthers).

Carpel / Pistil: This contains the ovary (holds the eggs), the style (tube on top of the ovary) and the stigma (covered in a sticky substance because it collects the pollen).

Sepal: The little leaves at the base of the flower. Protected the flower when it was a bud.

Some flowers, called perfect flowers, contain all the parts listed above. Others, called imperfect flowers, contain only a Carpel or a Stamen.

Types of Flowers: Perennial and annual are two common words used to describe flowers. Perennial flowers are flowers that live longer than one growing season. Annuals on the other hand grow, seed, and die in one season. Another type of flower is a biennial. These flowers live for two years--the first year they grown, the second year they flower and go to seed and then die.

Extras:
Take a field trip to a local nursery or flower garden.

Grow your own flower garden.

Additional Resources:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/flowers.shtml

Gardening- Tools: Using the Right Tool
Many different jobs that we do (cooking, cleaning, working on a car, etc.) require a special set of tools. Discuss some of these as applicable in your student's life.

In this story, we see various garden tools used.

~In the garden, the family is shown with hoes and trowels. The sister is wearing what looks like waterproof shoes. The mother is wearing gloves and using snips (hand held pruners) to cut roses. Each person is wearing hats. On the next page, sister Rosie is shown at a potting bench, wearing gloves and potting up plants. On the shelves of the potting bench and on the ground nearby are clay and metal pots, potting soil, trowels, gardening forks, extra gloves and an extra hat.

Later in the book, her brother Bud tells tells her " 'You need to find the right tools.' So Holly looked in the shed." She uses a hoe and then a trowel. The shed is filled with all kinds of gardening tools--ladder, loppers, garden stakes, etc. Holly is shown as having just got out a spade, tamper, and rake. Her brother has a shovel. Holly's pockets are filled with a trowel, gardening fork, and a (hand-held) cultivator. Outside the shed is a wheelbarrow.

Is your student familiar with any of these tools? Take some time to teach your student about basic garden tools.

~Hat- to protect your skin from the sun (you may also want to consider using sun tan lotion)
~Gloves- to protect your hands from any sharp objects you may encounter (glass while digging, thorns on bushes, etc.); they also keep dirt out of your fingernails
~Wheelbarrow- a small cart that has two handles and usually one wheel, is used for carrying small loads, and is usually pushed
~Trowel- a small hand tool with a curved blade; this tool is designed for digging in small spaces; it is very handy for moving plants
~Rake- a garden tool with a long handle and prongs at the end; rakes help level soil and to gather up leftovers (weeds, lumps, etc.)
~Hoe- a farm or garden tool with a thin flat blade at nearly a right angle to a long handle that is used especially for chopping and loosening the earth
~Flower hoe- a smaller form of a hoe; this has a smaller blade and can be used in a tighter space than a traditional hoe
~Shovel- a broad scoop with a handle used for lifting and throwing loose material; a shovel with a round pointed end is good for digging up plants that need
~Garden Spade- a smaller version of a shovel; great for cutting, digging, edging, and lifting

Using Fertilizer: Holly thought that fertilizer would help her plants. Fertilizer is a substance (such as manure or chemicals) that is used to feed the soil -- making it a better place for plants to live by helping them to stay strong. When plants are stronger, they will be better able to resist disease and insects, and harmful environmental factors such as heat or drought. Putting fertilizer in the soil is like giving the plant a vitamin! We do have to be careful, though, not to give the plants too much. Too much fertilizer can harm a plant.

Sneezing: Holly sneezed when she smelled the fertilizer. Sneezing is our bodies' natural reflex to eliminate foreign material. Our bodies have some built in filters that clean the air before it gets to the lungs. Our noses have fine hairs and a thick layer of fluid to catch dust and pollen particles. When these particles tickle the fine hairs, our nosesinvoluntarily spasm and blow out the particles. We don't have to think about or plan a sneeze, it just happens. Some things other than breathing in foreign matters can cause sneezing. If you look at a strong light, the optic nerve can trigger a sneeze. And sneezes can also be caused by internal invasions, such as when you have a cold and excessive mucous is produced. Can your child think of anything that causes sneezing? Try inhaling a bit of pepper and see what happens!