Lesson 6

Hats Off to Farmers

Objectives:

• Students know and describe a farmer's job.
• Students understand that many people work in jobs in which they produce a special goods.

Time Required:

• 2  one-hour sessions

Vocabulary:

• farmer
• plows
• harvest

Materials:

• Family Farm by Thomas Locker
• Internet
• Acrostic Poem worksheet
• Word processing program

Procedures:

• Begin by asking children to talk about any tasks they are responsible for at home.  Do they set the table, feed or walk a pet, make their beds, etc?  Then discuss the jobs they may have in school such as erasing the board, putting books or manipulatives away, being the class line leader or door holder.
• Then discuss how many chores there are to be done on a farm.  Everyone in the farm family must work together to accomplish the great many tasks that running a farm requires.  Work with children to generate a list of farm chores such as milking cows and goats, shearing sheep, gathering eggs, plowing fields, planting seeds, harvesting and then selling crops, etc.
• Read Family Farm by Thomas Locker.   In this story the family is danger of losing their farm because they are not making enough money from the sale of milk and corn.  Father takes a job in a factory, and Mother and the rest of the family contribute by raising and selling pumpkins and flowers and doing chores around the farm.
• Discuss story and role play activities such as planting seeds, feeding chickens, fixing a tractor, selling pumpkins and flowers, etc.
• Copy this onto a chart and let the class help finish this list of chores done by the family members in the story and add other chores done at a farm.  (students will use this list later for the evaluation)

Evaluation:

• Students will write an Acrostic Poem about a farmer emphasizing the work done at the farm.  For Example, F - feeds chickens, fixing tractors, fields he plows, A - attends to the animals, assures animals are fed,   R - runs the farm, rides a tractor, ripe fruits he picks, M - milks the cows, milks the goats,  E - eggs he collects, early riser, excellent plower,  R - raises pumpkins, raises pigs.  Students can use the worksheet provided or type the poem using any word processing program.

Extension Activities:

• Visit Farm Life Style where children will learn about this family of farmers in Stanthorne, Cheshire.  You can find out about livestock, farm family life, and farm machinery.  Click on "Journal" to read about life on the farm.
• Invite a farmer to your classroom and have him/her talk about his or her job duties on the farm.  Students can also dress up as farmers by wearing overalls, hats, and bandanas.

Home Learning:

• Using a word processor students will write about what chore they would like to do if they lived on the farm such as feeding the animals, plowing the fields, milking the cows or goats, etc. and an illustration of them doing the job they described.

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