Meteor!

Today, we read Meteor. Tomorrow, we meet Patricia Polacco! This was the first book she ever wrote, and it's based on a true story about a meteor that fell from the sky into her grandparents' backyard. Since we just finished up our astronomy unit, my students thought that it was the coolest thing ever. 

Did you know that Patricia and her hometown hold a Meteor Festival every year in July in Michigan?! You get to visit Meteor Ridge Farm, 

see where the meteor landed in her grandparents' backyard when she was a child, 

eat "Thunder Cupcakes" (Have you read Thundercake?! That was my first Polacco book), visit Patricia's Art Studio, 

the Graves House,

and the GAW Center for Arts. You also can listen to Patricia talk about her life and books. Admission is only $10 for adults and free for kids under 12. You can see pictures from the Meteor Festival here.

I promised my students that I'd post pictures of meteors I saw over spring break at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. They're pretty large and come in many colors and shapes!

The Keeping Quilt

We just finished reading The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. It's a touching story of her family's journey to America and their celebrations that have occurred with the quilt, from weddings to births to deaths. 

Since she's visiting our school on Friday, (I can't believe it's so soon either!) we made a class quilt out of pictures students had drawn since we started reading her books. Here are a few of the "squares" we made.

and her is most of our quilt:

The Butterfly

In preparation for our butterfly study, we read Patricia Polacco's The Butterfly. It's an account of the Holcaust from the point of view of a child - Patricia's great-aunt Monique - in France as she helps Jews escape and hide. Monique becomes friends with a girl named Severine, who is hiding in her cellar with her family. The butterfly in the story symbolizes freedom, as the girls pray that Severine and her parents may one day return to their normal lives. Eventually, Severine must leave Monique's home as their cover has been blown. She loses her parents to a Nazi concentration camp, but survives and reunites with her long lost friend.

Here is a clip from a play that was adapted from the book:

We watched this YouTube Monarch Butterfly video

as well as this time lapse video of a butterfly emerging from its crysalis.

We created these cute butterfly life cycle plates that I started making with my class years ago. (This pic is from Somewhat Simple though. Click the pic to see how to make them!

We also created symmetric butterflies.

Butterfly Quiz

The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman

This week's reading story is called The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman. It's an adorable book about an uncle and his niece who write letters to each other. Uncle Ray lives in South Carolina and works in his wood shop. He can't take time off work to visit his niece Tameka in California, so he creates Oliver K. Woodman, a wooden statue he hopes people will take along on their trips across the US. He puts a letter in Oliver's backpack and makes him a wooden sign that says, "California or Bust!" The book's pages are a mixture of letters between Uncle Ray and Tameka as well as letters from travelers explaining their stories and Oliver's journey to Uncle Ray. As we read the book, we tracked Oliver across the country.

It also has a sequel called Searching for Oliver K. Woodman. Our friend Oliver has gone missing, so Uncle Ray sends his friend Imogene Poplar, a private detective, out to find him. It's a fun story with great little geographical tidbits. I can't wait to read it to the kids!

This book reminded me of Flat Stanley. It's a perfect time to start our Flat Stanley project! If you and your family or class is interested in receiving Flat Stanley from us, leave a message below and / or send me an email at AlysiaBattista@yahoo.com!

Cherry Blossoms Say Spring

I'm off to Washington, DC to visit my college roommates, do some exploring, and see the Cherry Blossom Parade and Festival (Saturday, April 14 from 10:00am-12:30pm). The trees were donated to the US by Japan as a symbol of friendship, but their blooming signifies spring. I found these great books to read to my students to tell them about what I did before they do their "What I Did on Spring Break" writing when we get back.

Cherry Blossoms Say Spring

The Cherry Blossom Festival

Eliza's Cherry Trees

Here's a little info on the 2012 parade:

Honorary Marshals include singer and actress Marie Osmond; Olympians Benita Fitzgerald Mosley and Kristi Yamaguchi; astronaut Buzz Aldrin; Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo; and Ichiro Fujisaki,Ambassador of Japan to the United States. The parade is co-hosted by ABC’s Katie Couric with special correspondent Alex Trebek of Jeopardy and ABC7’s Alison Starling and Leon Harris. Standing room along the Parade route is free and open to the public. 

If you can't attend, but would like to contribute to the beautification of Washington D.C. or buy a cherry blossom tree for your own home, check out the Arbor Day Foundation website.