Three Names
Back to Five In A Row! We'll be working through Volume 2, (the only volume not found at our local libraries) this spring. We've already done The Giraffe that Walked to Paris, but I'm excited for the rest.
Our first story: Three Names, by Patricia MacLachlan. A story about changing times and the constancy of friendship. Patricia tells Great Grandfather's story from "a hundred years" ago about life on the prairie and his dog, Three Names. This story is fun, though kind-of random. The kids really liked the dog and Alexander Pertzoff's pictures are beautiful.
We were able to learn about the prairie this week. We marked off on our map the prairie of North America and Tristan put our story disk of Three Names in Nebraska.
For Social Studies we talked about how the prairie's of America became populated and what they looked like before being settled. We made dried apple chips, like the settlers would have made to pack in their wagons and we ate crackers for snack, discussing what basic foods might need to be packed and what things would we have to do without. I used Westward Ho! An Activity Guide to the Wild West, by Laurie Carlson for some ideas.
For Science we read an Encyclopedia Britannica book about animals on the American Prairie as well as discussed wind, storms and where does water come from? Our water discussion led to one afternoon of water play in the kitchen. The kids, even Gwendolyn, enjoyed scooping, sopping, splashing and pouring water, and this time provided many opportunities for vocabulary building as we observed water through play. We also learned about twins. I was interested to hear Tristan tell me what he thought twin meant. It's actually a difficult thing to explain, without experiencing it first hand.
For Art we chased shadows through the illustrations of the story. We talked about the vanishing point as well, and how to show distance on a flat piece of paper. We observed this in the story and then attempted our own picture. We made Tristan a pair of moccasins, which he is enjoying instead of house shoes on these cold days.
In math we learned ordinal numbers and named the letters of the alphabet in order and the months of the year as well as saying in which month each member of our family was born (sixth, eleventh, etc.). We also reviewed units of linear measure, centimeter, inches, feet, yard.
For language we focused on MacLachlan's use of descriptive writing and tried to describe something familiar. I also introduced hyperbole as a literary device and we talked about when is exaggeration appropriate to make a point.
Some of the stories we enjoyed this week as we attempted to understand prairie life:
The Wind Blew, Pat Hutchins
Laura's Pa, A little house chapter book, Heather Henson (I usually do not recommend cliff notes or abbreviated editions of literature, but in this case, it worked for us to read a few excerpts from the little house series. It's just a taste.)
el agua, Carme Sole Vendrell
The Water's Journey, Eleonore Schmid
A Prairie Alphabet, Yvette Moore (Love this one, as I love most alphabet books)
Water, Alun Lewis (This one is outdated, but interesting ideas about hydroelectric energy and conservation)
We are currently reading the biography of Jim Thorpe, Jim Thorpe Indian Athlete, by Guernsey Van Riper Jr. This story takes place on the prairie and Jim Thorpe was a twin. It ties in nicely with this week in school. I love when things work out like that!
Our first story: Three Names, by Patricia MacLachlan. A story about changing times and the constancy of friendship. Patricia tells Great Grandfather's story from "a hundred years" ago about life on the prairie and his dog, Three Names. This story is fun, though kind-of random. The kids really liked the dog and Alexander Pertzoff's pictures are beautiful.
We were able to learn about the prairie this week. We marked off on our map the prairie of North America and Tristan put our story disk of Three Names in Nebraska.
For Social Studies we talked about how the prairie's of America became populated and what they looked like before being settled. We made dried apple chips, like the settlers would have made to pack in their wagons and we ate crackers for snack, discussing what basic foods might need to be packed and what things would we have to do without. I used Westward Ho! An Activity Guide to the Wild West, by Laurie Carlson for some ideas.
For Science we read an Encyclopedia Britannica book about animals on the American Prairie as well as discussed wind, storms and where does water come from? Our water discussion led to one afternoon of water play in the kitchen. The kids, even Gwendolyn, enjoyed scooping, sopping, splashing and pouring water, and this time provided many opportunities for vocabulary building as we observed water through play. We also learned about twins. I was interested to hear Tristan tell me what he thought twin meant. It's actually a difficult thing to explain, without experiencing it first hand.
For Art we chased shadows through the illustrations of the story. We talked about the vanishing point as well, and how to show distance on a flat piece of paper. We observed this in the story and then attempted our own picture. We made Tristan a pair of moccasins, which he is enjoying instead of house shoes on these cold days.
In math we learned ordinal numbers and named the letters of the alphabet in order and the months of the year as well as saying in which month each member of our family was born (sixth, eleventh, etc.). We also reviewed units of linear measure, centimeter, inches, feet, yard.
For language we focused on MacLachlan's use of descriptive writing and tried to describe something familiar. I also introduced hyperbole as a literary device and we talked about when is exaggeration appropriate to make a point.
Some of the stories we enjoyed this week as we attempted to understand prairie life:
The Wind Blew, Pat Hutchins
Laura's Pa, A little house chapter book, Heather Henson (I usually do not recommend cliff notes or abbreviated editions of literature, but in this case, it worked for us to read a few excerpts from the little house series. It's just a taste.)
el agua, Carme Sole Vendrell
The Water's Journey, Eleonore Schmid
A Prairie Alphabet, Yvette Moore (Love this one, as I love most alphabet books)
Water, Alun Lewis (This one is outdated, but interesting ideas about hydroelectric energy and conservation)
We are currently reading the biography of Jim Thorpe, Jim Thorpe Indian Athlete, by Guernsey Van Riper Jr. This story takes place on the prairie and Jim Thorpe was a twin. It ties in nicely with this week in school. I love when things work out like that!
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