NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan
Time for Cranberries
Written by Lisl H. Detlefsen Illustrated by Jed Henry
Elizabeth Schrecengost
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Time for Cranberries introduces children to the interesting life of cranberry farmers, harvesting
season and how cranberries get to the dinner table. These lessons and extension activities
introduce students to the 2016 Notable Trade Book for Young People, as well as the journey of a
good and its lengthy process from the farm to the dinner table and how they would impact the
rest of the community. The students will work together to realize the different effects one good
can have and research a single product and its journey from being made to its final destination
in the home of the consumer. Designed to be flexible, the lesson and extension activities can be
completed over several days and are easily adapted for first and second grade.
Book Title Time for Cranberries
Author: Lisl H. Detlefsen
Illustrator: Jed Henry
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Recommended Age Level: 4-7 years
Notable Trade Book Year: 2016
ISBN: 978-1626720985
Book Sam and his family harvest a classic American fruit that we find in many different types
Summary of food. The story is about Sam and his first year of harvesting cranberries; Sam is finally
old enough to be able to help with the harvest and he is beyond excited to go on this
journey. The story takes the reader step by step from the moment the autumn winds
turn the leaves red to the processing of the fruit and their journey to the dinner table. It
is a great story to show readers where food comes from in a wondrous way.
NCSS I. Culture
Standards III. People, Places, and Environments
V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
VII. Production, Distribution, and Consumption
Other 2.E.1 Understand basic economics concepts
Standards 2.E.1.1 Give examples of ways in which businesses in the community meet the needs
and wants of consumers
2. E.1.2 Explain the roles and impact producers and consumers have in the economy
Materials General Materials:
Large construction paper
Pencils
Crayons
Markers
Glue
Scissors
Chart Paper
Other craft materials
Books:
Aliki. (1992). Milk: From Cow to Carton. Harpercollins.
Fullerton, A. (2008). Community Soup. Pajama Press.
Priceman, M. (2014). How to Make Apple Pie and See the World. Dragonfly
Books.
Priceman, M. (2013). How to Make Cherry Pie and See the USA. Dragonfly
Books.
Digital Resources:
Bubbl.us
Popplet
How Crayons are Made. YouTube. (2014).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xhbctEcAAA
Cranberry: How does it grow? YouTube. (2014).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZPXQ7nw_9Y
The Cranberry Harvest Experience. YouTube. (2015).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtzBCDaUNJo
How Do They Make Potato Chips?. YouTube. (2011).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdyDlMqcRUs
This Dad is Melting Down Crayons to Help Children in Need
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS779KmRw5A
Learning Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following vocabulary: consumers,
Objectives
producers, goods, services, and also wants and needs by applying the term in
their product journey poster.
Students will be able to select a product and examine its journey before it gets
to the consumers by collecting and organizing information found into a creative
display.
Procedures 1. Present students with authentic foods (i.e. potatoes, tomatoes, bread, apple pie,
cranberry pie, cranberry juice, etc.). Allow students some time to explore the
foods visually and physically as well.
2. Ask students Where do you think this food comes from?, How do you think
food travels? Who do you think grows the food you eat? Do you think your food
has one single ingredient? How do you think the ingredients come together?
3. Working in small groups (or partners) have students explore different types of
food and jot down where they think the different products come from and who
makes them.
4. Have students share with their peers and create a class chart
5. Watch t he following YouTube video How Crayons are Made
6. Have students discuss in partners what they learned and clarify any questions
they may have.
Exploration
1. Begin to make a bubble map with the picture of different foods (i.e. potatoes,
corn, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) in the middle, on the whiteboard or chart paper.
2. Proceed to ask the students how food is important to people and how farmers
affect others. Fill in the bubble map with responses that the students give you.
Some examples would be: provide nutrition, ingredients for other products(pies,
french fries, etc.), jobs, and food for animals.
3. Ask students to pause and think. For a Turn and Talk activity, have students
close their eyes and think of where our food (or ingredients) come from? After
a short time of thinking, have them turn to the person next to them and share
what they pictured in their heads.
4. Have students return to their seats and draw a picture of where ingredients or
our food may come from. Does it grow? Who grows it? Where is it grown? Do
people buy it? Where do people buy it? When they are finished allow for time to
share in small groups or altogether.
Development
Remind students of what they imagined about where their food comes from. Do
people or machines grow the food? How do you think they grow food? Refer back to
the How Crayons are Made. Explain to students that there are various goods that we
use every day that require more than one ingredient and each one of those ingredients
may come from various places. Additionally, teacher may show the Melting Crayons
video to demonstrate how products can be recycled to become other products that
consumers may want as well.
Show the cover of Time for Cranberries. Explain that cranberries are a small fruit that is
often seen during Thanksgiving (e.g., cranberry pie or cranberry sauce). Additionally, let
students know that the author of the book lives on an actual cranberry farm and is
located in the state of Wisconsin in the U.S. Use the globe, a map, or Google Earth if it
is available to you, to show students where Wisconsin is. Have students gather around
for a read aloud of Time for Cranberries by Lisl H. Detlefsen and illustrated by Jed
Henry.
When finished reading, ask students:
1. How do cranberries grow? Underwater? On trees? Bushes? (Cranberries grow
on low-lying vines in beds layered with sand, peat, gravel and clay. These beds
are commonly known as bogs or marshes and were originally created by glacial
deposits)
2. What does the harvesting process look at a glance? (The bog is flooded with up
to 18 inches of water the night before the berries are harvested. The growers use
water reels to churn the water and loosen the cranberries from the vine. Each
berry has a tiny pocket of air that allows it to float to the surface of the water.
From there, they are corralled together, loaded into trucks, and shipped off to
the receiving station)
3. Could one farmer do all the work on their own? (No, it takes a team of people to
flood the bog, corral the berries and take them to the receiving station to be
cleaned)
4. How does the work of the farmer and his family affect the community? (The
cranberries that have been harvested by the farmer and his family are soon
made into jam, juice, pies, and many more items that are sold at the grocery
store where others can enjoy the product. People continuously buy the product,
which is why farmers continue to grow and provide the consumers what they
want).
Put students in groups of four and give each group the journey steps of cranberries
from the bush to the dinner table (see Appendix A). Have students work in groups to
determine the correct order of the steps. Remind them to think about the story when
they are coming up with an answer. Share what each group determined the steps were.
If students complete the activity faster than other groups allow them to answer the
following question: What do you think would happen if there were no farmers to grow
cranberries (or other products)?
Expansion
Review with students the harvesting process of cranberries and how it travels to the
dinner table. Explain to the students that the author actually lives on a cranberry farm
and how it takes a team of people not only to harvest the fruit but to get it to the diner
table for others to enjoy as well (Read Authors Note). Discuss how a single product
(goods) can go through a long journey before it reaches us. Make a list on the board of
other products that go through a journey. Some examples would be: harvesting
potatoes and their journey to becoming french fries, the journey of oranges from trees
to orange juice, and many more! Watch the video How Do They Make Potato Chips
on YouTube. Discuss the process and how it affects us as consumers. Make sure they
understand that the farmers and company workers would be the producers because
they make the product and we are the consumers because we buy the product.
Assessment Place students in groups of 2-4 and have them select a good or product from the
approved list (Appendix B) and begin researching how this product is made, who is
involved in the making of this product, does it have any other ingredient, who are the
producers, who are the consumers, how does the product get sold,etc. Students will
then use the information they gathered (Appendix C) to create a poster to present their
findings. Students will use the rubric (Appendix D) to guide them.
How do you plan to have students demonstrate what they have learned from the
lesson?
Teacher Observation
Classroom discussion
Scoring Rubric
Extension 1. Personal Dictionary: Students will write words throughout the lesson that are
Activities new to them. They will then write the word, define it in their own words and
draw a picture.
2. Create a comic strip: Students will use Malkebeliefscomix to create a comic strip
on the process of cranberry harvesting (may be in story form).
3. Write a song on the journey of harvesting cranberries
4. Create a PowerPoint presentation on the journey of cranberries
Additional Producers and Consumers
References https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTx-co3t71E
Economic Concepts
http://www.lessonpaths.com/learn/i/social-studies-economic-concepts/econ-lowdown-
personal-finance-education-resources-economic-education-resources-st-louis-fed
Author Elizabeth Schrecengost is currently enrolled in the Masters of Education in Elementary
Education program at UNCW. She is a first-year teacher in the Union County Public
School System in NC and is looking forward to continuing her career as a teacher at the
conclusion of the program.
Appendix A
Cranberry Harvesting Process
Cranberry vines are flooded and Picking machine is placed near
ready to be picked. The tips of the the bed o f the water to keep
vines peek out from the water. flooding t he the bed. Vines are
completely covered and berries
can be seen bobbing on the water.
The boom is released in the water Corralling is when the farmers
bed (it is floating). Two people lasso the cranberries into a pot
drive trucks on opposite side and (where the boom is closed off into
as the boom moves it collects the a circle shape).
berries.
Cranberries are pushed by two Cranberries are cleaned and put
paddles into the cleaner where the into the delivery truck and taken
cranberries will be cleaned to the receiving station. At the
through metal grates. receiving station, the cranberries
will be made into other products.
Appendix B
List of Products to Research
Potato Chips
Raisins
Bread
Apple Pie
Cherry Pie
Orange Juice
Apple Juice
French Fries
Chocolate
Pickles
Ketchup
Appendix C
Product Checklist
Name of Product:
What ingredients does it have:
Where can we find those ingredients:
Where are those ingredients grown:
What is the process (steps) to make this product:
Who are the producers in this process:
Who are the consumers in this process:
Who buys this product and how is it used:
Can this product be recycled? If so, what other products are made from it?
Draw a sketch of the process
Other interesting information:
Appendix D
Product Journey Rubric
4. Distinguished 3. Proficient 2. Apprentice 1. Novice
Planning-Research & Notes: Used three or more reliable Used two sources of information. Used only one sources of Used zero sources of
sources of information. Notes One source of information was information. Source was not information, or did not use a
are clear, organized, and not reliable. Notes were organized reliable. Notes were not complete. reliable source. Notes were not
Quality and quantity complete. and complete. clear or missing.
Teamwork Cooperation: Was a team player. Always Was a team player. Did own work Was not always a team player. Did not act as a team player.
listened carefully to what others and helped other team members. Did not always listen to team Did not listen to others. Did not
said. Shared ideas and Listened to team members and members or share ideas and share ideas or resources. Did
Listens, shares ideas and work, resources. Finished own work on shared own ideas and resources. resources. Did own work but did not help other team members.
supports team time and helped other team not help other team members.
members.
Behavior Participation: Shared many ideas. Took part in Took p
art i n all activities. Did the Did most work assigned and took Did not take part in all of the
all activities and completed all work t hat was assigned. part in all activities. activities. Did not do much of
work. Took risks by trying new the work.
Took part in activities and did things.
work
Oral Presentation Content: All content directly related to the Content directly related to the Demonstrated basic understanding Few facts related to the topic.
Ask and answer such questions topic. Opinions were always topic. Almost all opinions were of the topic. Many opinions were Most information was opinion.
as who, what, where, when, supported by fact if possible. supported by facts. Students were not supported by facts. Students Student was unable to answer
why, and how to demonstrate Students were able to ask and able to answer few questions, were able to answer few questions any questions. Asked very few
understanding of key details in answer questions throughout however more questions were and asked very few questions. questions.
a text. Recall information from the presentation. asked.
experiences or gather
information from provided
sources to answer a question.
Design-Layout and Content was well organized with Project was organized with Most of the project was organized. Project was hard to read. There
Organization: Organized and headings and subheadings. Text headings and subheadings. Text The placement of text and is no clear structure. Text and
easy to read and graphics were neatly and graphics were placed to make graphics sometimes made the graphics were randomly placed.
organized and made the project the project easy to read. project hard to read.
easy to read.
Student knows the definition of
consumers, producers, goods,
services, wants, need, supply, Student displays full knowledge Student displays full knowledge of Student displays some knowledge Student does n
ot d isplay any
and demand. of the vocabulary, includes it in the vocabulary, includes it in the of the vocabulary. Uses it knowledge of t he v ocabulary
the display and uses it display but uses it sparingly sparingly during presentation.
throughout the presentation. throughout the presentation.
Identify the main purpose of a
text, including what the author
wants to answer, explain, or Student displays all information Student displays the information Student displays some information Student is unable to display the
describe. with a clear purpose and gathered in an understandable gathered in an understandable information gathered about the
information gathered is clear manner with a clearly stated manner. product in a clear and concise
and concise throughout the purpose. manner.
presentation.
Write informative/explanatory
texts in which they introduce a
topic, use facts and definitions Student uses a substantial Student uses facts and some Student uses some facts but no Student does not use facts or
to develop points, and provide amount of facts and definition in definitions in their explanatory definition in their explanatory text definitions in their explanatory
a concluding statement or their explanatory text (written text (written portions on poster) (written portions on poster) about text (written portions on poster)
section. portions on poster) about their about their product. their product. about their product.
product.
