Four Seasons Make A Year written by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by Megan Halsey is narrated by a young girl who lives on a farm. The story takes the reader from the first day of spring through the first day of winter, while explaining what effect each season has on the farm. In the spring, the fields need to be plowed, flowers begin to bloom, and the young girl plants a sunflower seed. In the early summer, green sprouts appear on the field, bees and butterflies are back, and the young girl’s sunflower seed begins to grow. As the summer goes on the young girl and her family pick corn, squash and summer flowers to sell at their stand and her sunflower has grown taller then she is. When fall arrives the young girl goes back to school. The pumpkins change from green to orange and her sunflower is heavy with seeds. The leaves begin to change, the bees and the butterflies are gone and as fall continues, the girl and her family now sell pumpkins at their stand. As it begins to look and feel like winter, the young girl notices squirrels gathering nuts and acorns and only evergreen trees still have their branches. Finally winter has come and there is a big snow storm one night. When the young girl awakes she finds out school has been canceled for the day! She goes out to make snowman, ice skate on the pond, and feeds sunflower seeds that she saved to the cardinals and decides next year she will plant 2 sunflower seeds.
Curriculum Connections
Four Seasons Make A Year is a great book to use to discuss the seasons and the changes they bring. This book could be used to discuss the changes in weather from season to season (VA SoL K.9a, 1.7a&b). The appearance and migration of the birds, and also the growth and changes of sunflower plant would be a good example of the effects the seasons have on living things(Va SoL 2.7a).
Additional Resources
- This lesson plan can be used along with the book.
- This website has themed activities for the fall season.
- This lesson plan is about the effects the seasons have on plants and animals.
Book: Four Seasons Make A Year
Author: Anne Rockwell
Illustrator: Megan Halsey
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 32 pages
Grade Range: K-2
ISBN-10: 0802788831