A Cross Curricular Pack

Inspired by the Book

By Janet Stevens





By Nancy VandenBerge
Firstgradewow.blogspot.com
Graphics by djinkers, scrappindoodles
I love taking a piece of fabulous literature
and integrating the authors ideas
throughout our curriculum. This little unit is
intended to supplement your existing plant
unit using Janet Stevens very popular and
readily available book
Tops and Bottoms.
This unit includes some
Measurement and other
math activities, a few
ELA activities, and some
more fun learning
opportunities!

How does your
Garden Grow?
Play this game with a partner.
Pick a card. Measure the Tops and
Bottoms with snap cubes (or other
nonstandard unit). Record your
measurement on your recording sheet
by adding that measurement to the
previous ones. The first player to
reach 30 wins.
(Teacher-print cut and shuffle)
Name __________How Does Your Garden Grow?
Recording Sheet
1



2
Thats Just Plain Corny!
Use the two different sized
ears of corn. Measure the
items on the recording sheet
using the two ears. Record
the two measurements. Show
the difference.
Teacher- Print and cut apart ears of corn
Name ___________ Thats Just Plain Corny!
Recording Sheet
Desk
Chair Seat
Pencil
Door
Math Book
Small ear Large ear Difference
Root Prints in the
Garden!

Use the Root Prints Measuring Strips to
measure the vegetables on the
different pages.
Record your measurements on the
recording page.
Root Prints Measuring Strips- Nonstandard Units
Name _________ Root prints in the Garden
Recording Page
Measure carrot Strip Radish Strip Turnip Strip
On the back tell about the differences in the measurements.
Hare and Bear
Hi -Lo Game
Set out number line. Put Bear on the right side of the number line and Hare
on the left. The leader thinks of a number between 1 and 20 (or higher!).
Players take turns guessing the number. If the guess is too high, the leader
says, That number is too high. Player moves Bear over to cover that
number. If the guess is too low, the leader says, That number is too low.
Player moves Hare over to cover that number. Players continue guessing until
the leaders number is the only number between Bear and Hare.
(Small pictures can be used in a math tub with smaller numberlines. Large
pictures can be used with a whole group with a floor number line.)
Hare and Bear Hi-
Lo Game
Hare and Bear
Hi-Lo Game
Cut apart and tape together to form number line to 20
(or higher)
Name_____
Draw some bottoms in the garden.
Measure them with a nonstandard unit and label each plant with
the measurement.
On the back tell about what you grew in your garden.
Name_____
Draw some tops in the garden.
Measure them with a nonstandard unit and label each plant with
the measurement.
On the back tell about what you grew in your garden.

Hare and Bear
(Tune: "Old MacDonald Had A Farm")
Hare grew veggies on Bears land, EE I EE I O
Tops and bottoms in his hand, EE I EE I O
(Children take turns naming vegetables Hare grew)
With a carrot, carrot here,
and a carrot, carrot there
Here a carrot, there a carrot
Everywhere a carrot, carrot.
Hare grew veggies on Bears land,
EE I EE I O
Name ________________ Tops and Bottoms
Many authors have a message they would like their readers to
understand through the text. What do you think Janet Stevens is
sharing through Tops and Bottoms?
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Name _____________
Tops and Bottoms
Hare and Bear Compare
Name ________________
Put the Tops and Bottoms words in ABC order
Hare
Bear
tops
bottoms
carrots
broccoli
corn
trick
deal
lesson
Name _________________
Tops and Bottoms! Bottoms and Tops! Scrambled Words
Unscramble the words for Bear and Hare.
norc
eelcry
ooccrlbi
eettucl
steeb
aidshr
trroac
carrot radish beets lettuce broccoli celery corn
On the back, write a sentence using two or three of the words.
Name ____________ Sowing Some Spelling Words
Name _______ Think Outside the Box
What an you create?
Write about what you crated on the back!
h h a i l o c c o r b
e b c e l e r y a n e
c e r a r s a e b d e
u a s o f p c o r n t
t r t n b o t t o m s
t p l a n t h a r e u
e r e c a r r o t s a
l a d s e h s i d a r
Name ____________ Find all the Tops and Bottoms words
Hare Bear plant tops bottoms
carrots radishes beets celery
broccoli lettuce corn
Fun with Carrot Plants
From The World Carrot Museum
* Windowsill Carrot Plant - Cut the top off a carrot leaving about 1/2
inch of the orange part and the same amount of green stems if the
carrot has already started sprouting from the top. Press the carrot
piece into damp sand or soil in a saucer or bowl. Just put a little water
into the dish if sand/soil are not available. Soon pretty leaves could
appear and presto you have a nice plant to keep at a window in bright
light. The root will not regenerate itself. But if there is enough of
the root left, it is possible to plant it and get some foliage from it.
The plant will eventually produce a flower and then seeds. If you are
lucky the seeds will be viable and you can plant them in the ground to
grow real carrots.

Name ___________ Window Sill Carrot Plant
What we did:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
This is what it looked like on _______________.






This is what it looked like on _______________.