GUEST BLOGGER DARCY PATTISON
When kids think about the food they eat, do their thoughts turn to gratitude? They should! Farmers work year-round to provide a wide array of foods for your table. But how do you bring that reality home to elementary kids?
Thanks, Farmers! A Song of Celebration offers a musical and practical way to highlight the role of farmers in today’s society. For the book, I wrote new lyrics for the Shaker song, “Simple Gifts,” that shows the farmers’ tasks year-round, and give kids an opportunity to show gratitude to the farming community.
To facilitate discussion, here are some pre-reading and post-reading questions
- Pre-reading:
- “What do you think this book will be about?”
- “Did you eat anything today that came from a farm?”
- “The story is actually a song. How does that change the way you experience it compared to a traditional story?”
- Post-reading:
- “Why are farmers important?”
- “How can we show appreciation for people whose work we rarely see?”
- “Because this story is a song, is it something that you could sing to a farmer?”
Notice that some of these questions address the science/STEM of growing crops. This could include a huge variety of crops from orchards to bees to fruits and vegetables. Other questions, however, highlight the social-emotional learning aspect of gratitude. How do we show gratitude to workers whom we seldom see? The goal is for kids to actively do something for and with farmers to show gratitude.
A performance of gratitude
The story is perfect for kids to perform the song. Elementary music teacher Jeremy Doss arranged the music in a key that’s perfect for elementary voices. He also provides a downloadable accompaniment track so the song can be performed for a school assembly.
The performance can be anywhere from singing a simple song to a rich and fully developed performance. Our teacher’s guide offers three performance options, and all three build ELA skills:
- Simple Assembly — Students read thank-you letters aloud, practicing public speaking and audience awareness.
- Choreographed Song — Use simple choreography to connect movement to lyric meaning; this is great for vocabulary work and interpretation.
- Narrated Theatrical Performance — The guide includes a full script with distinct roles or ideas for a readers’ theater performance. Build fluency, expression, and close reading of dialogue through the performance.
Note that the full script, including costume ideas and stage directions, is in the downloadable guide.
For your English language arts class you may want to add some simple activities.
- Thank-You Letter Writing — Students write their own letters to local farmers, practicing persuasive and appreciative writing with a real audience in mind.
- Trace a Food’s Journey — The “Follow That Food!” activity doubles as a sequence and cause-and-effect writing exercise; students map a favorite food from farm to table, then write about it.
- Farm Strong Storyboard (grades 4–5) — Students plan a 30-second “Support Our Farmers” ad, incorporating claim, evidence, and call to action — persuasive writing in visual form
- Vocabulary Through Science Terms — The guide introduces words like germination, photosynthesis, and absorption in context; these work well as content vocabulary in integrated literacy units
- ASL Integration — Learning the sign for THANK YOU as part of the performance opens a brief but meaningful discussion of language, communication, and expression.
Thanks, Farmers! isn’t just a picture book. It’s a performance-ready, discussion-rich resource that meets students where they are emotionally and academically. The full educator’s guide includes lesson plans, worksheets, printable flashcards, and a downloadable musical accompaniment track. Whether you use it for a Thanksgiving program, an agriculture unit, or simply a well-timed read-aloud, it’s a story—and a song—that will stick in kids’ minds long after the performance ends.
Featured image credit:
Children’s book author and indie publisher DARCY PATTISON has written over seventy-five fiction and nonfiction award-winning books for children. Five books have received starred PW, Kirkus, or BCCB reviews. Awards include the Irma Black Honor award, six NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books, six Eureka! Nonfiction Honor book (CA Reading Assn.), three Best STEM Book, two Junior Library Guild selections, two CLA Notable Children’s Book in Language Arts, two Notable Social Studies Trade Book, a Green Earth Book Award Long List, an Arkansiana Award, and the Susannah DeBlack Arkansas Children’s History Book award. She’s the 2007 recipient of the Arkansas Governor’s Arts Award for Individual Artist for her work in children’s literature. Her books have been translated into eleven languages.
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