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The first European settlers that came to this country hardly knew how to get their living here. They did not know what would grow best in this country.

Many of the settlers learned to hunt. All the land was covered with trees. In the woods were many animals whose flesh was good to eat. There were deer, and bears, and great shaggy buffaloes. There were rabbits and squirrels. And there were many kinds of birds. The hunters shot wild ducks, wild turkeys, wild geese, and pigeons. The people also caught many fishes out of the rivers.

Then there were animals with fur on their backs. The people killed these and sold their skins. In this way, many made their living.

Other people spent their time in cutting down the trees. They sawed the trees into timbers and boards. Some of it they split into staves to make barrels. They sent the staves and other sorts of timber to other countries to be sold. In South Carolina men made tar and pitch out of the pine trees.

But there was a wise man in South Carolina. He was one of those men that find out better ways of doing. His name was Thomas Smith.

Thomas Smith had once lived in a large island thousands of miles away from South Carolina. On that island, he had seen the people raising rice. He saw that it was planted in wet ground. He said that he would like to try it in South Carolina. But he could not get any seed rice to plant. The rice that people eat is not fit to sow.

One day a ship came to Charleston, where Thomas Smith lived. It had been driven there by storms. The ship came from the large island where Smith had seen rice grow. The captain of this ship was an old friend of Smith.

The two old friends met once more. Thomas Smith told the captain that he wanted some rice for seed. The captain called the cook of his ship, and asked him if he had any. The cook had one little bag of seed rice. The captain gave this to his friend.

There was some wet ground at the back of Smith's garden. In this wet ground, he sowed some of the rice. It grew finely.

He gathered a good deal of rice in his garden that year. He gave part of this to his friends. They all sowed it. The next year there was a great deal of rice.

After a while the wet land in South Carolina was turned to rice fields. Every year many thousands of barrels of rice were sent away to be sold.

All this came from one little bag of rice and one wise man.

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read the story multiple times.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Learn the concepts.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Study the review questions.

Synopsis

The European settlers that sailed to the United States had a hard time growing crops in the new land. Settlers fished and hunted deer, bears, buffaloes, and other animals for food, but during the times a settler failed to catch enough fish or animals, they went hungry. Some settlers starved to death. Thomas Smith had an idea to solve the problem. He thought rice might grow well in the wet, swampy lands of South Carolina. He planted some rice in South Carolina, and the rice grew. He gave the rice he grew to others so they could also plant rice. Eventually Thomas Smith and his fellow settlers grew enough rice to both feed themselves and to sell to people who lived far away.

Vocabulary

Staves: A wooden plank, sometimes used for making barrels.
Seed Rice: The start of a plant enclosed in a protected outer covering that can develop into a full-grown plant.
Sow: Planting seeds by scattering them over the earth.

Concepts

Facts about rice:

  1. Rice is a seed of the grass plant.
  2. Rice requires a lot of water to grow.
  3. Rice requires a lot people tending the rice so it will grow.
  4. There are many types of rice including jasmine rice, basmati rice, wild rice, and forbidden rice.
  5. To grow rice, planters must battle weeds and pests including insects, worms, mice, and birds.
  6. The water-covered areas that rice is grown in are called 'rice paddies.'
  7. When the rice is ready for harvest, the rice stalks are cut and placed into a machine. The machine separates the rice seed from the other plant matter.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

  • After reading or listening to the story, narrate the story events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Act Out the Story

  • Sow rice like Thomas Smith.
  • First, make some pretend rice. Cut a small piece of paper into pretend grains of rice.
  • Next, make your rice paddy. Get a saucer or shallow bowl and put a small amount of water in it. Scatter your seeds in the water and imagine the rice growing into tall stalks of grass.

Activity 3: Color the Story   

  • Click the crayon above, and complete page 10 of 'History Coloring Pages for First Grade.'

Activity 4: Study the Story Picture

  • Study the picture of growing rice. Zoom in to see the details.
  • Describe the rice plants. (Tall, green shoots of grass sprouting from the earth.)
  • Describe the soil the rice plants grow in. (Very wet and muddy.)

Activity 5: Map the Story

  • Thomas Smith grew rice in the state of South Carolina. Find South Carolina (SC) on the map of the United States below.

Review

Question 1

How did the early settlers get food to eat?
1 / 4

Answer 1

The settlers fished and hunted, but were not very successful growing crops.
1 / 4

Question 2

Why did the early settlers starve?
2 / 4

Answer 2

At times, the settlers failed to catch enough fish and game to eat.
2 / 4

Question 3

What was Thomas Smith's great idea?
3 / 4

Answer 3

Thomas Smith wanted to grow rice in South Carolina.
3 / 4

Question 4

How did Thomas Smith help prevent the people in his community from starving?
4 / 4

Answer 4

Thomas Smith helped others in his community grow their own rice. The people grew enough rice to eat throughout the year, even if they couldn't catch fish or game.
4 / 4

  1. How did the early settlers get food to eat? The settlers fished and hunted, but were not very successful growing crops.
  2. Why did the early settlers starve? At times, the settlers failed to catch enough fish and game to eat.
  3. What was Thomas Smith's great idea? Thomas Smith wanted to grow rice in South Carolina.
  4. How did Thomas Smith help prevent the people in his community from starving? Thomas Smith helped others in his community grow their own rice. The people grew enough rice to eat throughout the year, even if they couldn't catch fish or game.

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