Skip to main content

New Jersey Agriculture in the Classroom

NJ AITC Lessons

Language Arts

Read and write while learning about agriculture

Photo

There are so many wonderful ways to link language arts to lessons about agriculture and the school garden. We start with our list of more than 150 fiction and nonfiction books about gardening and agriculture. Next there are ideas for linking the school garden to writing, and ideas for activities linked to favorite children books about farming and gardening. Each lesson is linked to the New Jersey Learning Standards for preschool through fifth grade. If you have questions about these lessons, please contact: njagliteracy@gmail.com.

Click on the lesson title to download the lesson.

First Peas to the Table
Books That Bring the Garden Into the Classroom

Our list of more than 150 children's fiction and nonfiction books about gardening and agriculture.

Writing in the Garden
Writing in the Garden

How to turn your garden into a hub for writing.

What Happens in the Garden When Nobody's There
What Happens in the Garden When Nobody's There

Fun garden fantasy writing for children of all ages.

Talia and the Rude Vegetables
Talia and the Rude Vegetables

A Rosh Hashanah book about root vegetables.

If you Plant a Seed
Books for Little Ones:
PreK-1

Wow your young students with these cute books.

Garden Poetry
Garden Poetry

Use these books to get started writing poetry in the garden.

Teaching Garden Idioms
Teaching Garden Idioms

Do your students know what these garden idioms mean?

Fun Books to Start a Conversation About Nutrition
Fun Books to Start a Conversation About Nutrition

Get your students talking about nutrition with these zany books.

Plays to Explain What Happens in the Garden
Plays to Explain What Happens in the Garden

Create plays to explain the plant life cycles, pollination, and more.

My Life As A Vegetable
My Life As A Vegetable

Students imagine they are their favorite vegetable. They write a short story about their life and create a portrait of themselves as their vegetable of choice!

You Are Made of Sunshine
You Are Made of Sunshine

Create a play to explain how photosynthesis works.

Grow Your Own Folk and Fairy Tales
Grow Your Own Folk and Fairy Tales

Use classic favorites to teach about the garden.

The Little Red Hen and Making Bread
The Little Red Hen and Making Bread

Read this classic story to learn how wheat is turned into bread.

Read About the History of Growing Food
Read About the History of Growing Food

Learn how people throughout history grew their food.

Sophie's Squash
Sophie's Squash

Learning the plant cycle by adopting a squash as best friend.

Seed School, Growing Up Amazing
Seed School, Growing Up Amazing

In seed school, all types of seeds learn how to grow up and become plants.

Karl, Get Out of the Garden
Karl, Get Out of the Garden

This charming book shows how Karl Linnaeus named every living thing.