Book activities are my jam! This time I’m sharing a book called See Marcus Grow and giving you some printable literacy activities to extend the book with young children.
Jump Start for Reading sponsors Read for the Record Day. This is a day to see how many people can read the same book on the same day. It’s always great fun to see which book will be chosen and plan a whole day of book activities around the selected title. This year there will be a special 20 week celebration to celebrate the 20th anniversary culminating with Read for the Record Day on 2/26/26. The book pick is See Marcus Grow.
See Marcus Grow Book
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See Marcus Grow by Marcus Bridgewater and Reggie Brown is the story of a young boy and his grandmother set in a backyard garden. The two generations compare how plants grow to how children grow and the things that both need to thrive.
See Marcus Grow Literacy Activities
Discussion Questions
Use these questions to develop comprehension and vocabulary.
Before Reading
- Do you have a favorite fruit or vegetable? Do you know how it grows? Does it grow on a tree, underground, on a vine, etc.?
- Let’s look at the front and back cover of our book. What clues do you see that tell us where the setting of our story might be? (raised beds, trellises, grass, plants, tomatoes, worms, dirt, shovel, etc.)
During Reading
- On the first page spread we meet Marcus and Grandma. They are both wearing special things to help them with the activities they are doing. What do you notice? (Marcus is wearing a helmet while he rides his scooter for protection. Grandma is wearing overalls which are helpful when gardening.)
- Do you know which tool is which in the second page spread? (shovel, spade, and rake)
- Grandma said that worms help keep the soft and fertile. What does fertile mean? (Fertile soil means that it is capable of allowing lots of growth.)
After Reading
- How are the needs of a garden thriving and a child thriving the same? How are they different?
- What garden task/job do you think you would enjoy the most?
Make Salsa
Grandma and Marcus enjoy picking tomatoes, cilantro, and onions to make salsa together. Build literacy skills during the process my reading the recipe and following the steps. I’ve included a printable recipe for you in the free download packet below.
15oz can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel with green chiles (mild)
1 clove garlic
¼ of medium onion (red or yellow)
handful of cilantro
½ of a lime or lemon, squeezed
¼ tsp each of sugar, salt, and cumin
½ of jalapeno (optional)
Add all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Build a Garden Activity
Skills: Isolating sounds, letter sound correspondence
-Print the garden sheets. (see download below) Laminate for durability if desired.
-Gather a dry erase marker and eraser if using on laminated sheets and/or letter tiles.
Students start at the bottom of the garden. Identify the image. Stretch out the word and determine the beginning, medial, and ending sound.
Students can then either build the word with letter titles and/or write the word next to the image in the garden plot.
Continue up the garden plot repeating the same procedure.
Short a words: rat, cat, can, fan, pan, jam
Short e words: hen, pen, bed, net, pet, gem
Short i words: fin, lip, dig, pig, sit, six
Short o words: dog, log, pot, dot, fox, box
Short u words: cup, tub, bus, bug, nut, gum
See Marcus Grow Printables
Grab the printable activities shared above. It’s a thank you gift for becoming a free member of the Growing Book by Book community.
Keep the reading and learning going with related activities.