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Patricia Polacco – University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum

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Patricia Polacco tells warm family tales drawn from her own childhood among an extended immigrant family of grandparents and cousins. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Patricia Polacco talks about writing and illustrating and the passing down of family history whose themes resonate with readers of all backgrounds.

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Read Aloud: Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco | Stories with Star

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A young white girl and her two black “brothers” devise a plan to raise money to buy the boys’ grandm

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President James Rhein and Vice President Naomi Clark attended the 2024 North American Honey Bee Expo. They had a great time making connections, talking to fellow beekeepers, and learning from experts from all over the world!

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President James Rhein and Vice President Naomi Clark attended the 2024 North American Honey Bee Expo. They had a great time making connections, talking to fellow beekeepers, and learning from experts from all over the world!

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Our local library has a great, new feature - a live honey bee hive inside the kids area! The hive is enclosed in glass so kids can view what goes on inside. There is a pipe leading from the hive to the outside. The honey bees are free to come and go.

My kids are bee fanatics, so they are thrilled by having a bee hive right in their section of the library. The kids aren't afraid of bees at all. In fact, they will go as far as to pet them. Yep. They pet the bees. They say they are fuzzy. I'll take their word for it.

Honeybee Unit Study Ideas and Links

Even though my kids are bee-crazy, they don't know a lot about them, so we've been reading some books from the library about bees and looking up some information online. They are fascinating creatures. A honey bee unit study would be a fun project for all ages. You could...

build a huge beehive out of plastic milk jugs

visit a local beekeeper

study honey

eat honey

put double-sided tape on a glove and then dip your hands in feathers or cotton balls to show how pollen sticks to bees legs

make a chart about the honey making process

visit a flower garden and observe bees in action

Here are some FREE online resources you might consider.

Honey Bee Anatomy Lesson and FREE Printables
Studying Bees In Your Backyard
Honeybee Creature Feature from National Geographic for kids

Honeybee Teaching Guide from the National Honey Board (great download with lots of information and activities)

Honeybee rhymes, worksheets and crafts for younger scientists from DLTK-Teach.com

Honeybee Lesson Plan from Scholastic.com

has lots of honey information from the National Honey Board

The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive - Our favorite science book series!!!

The Honey Makers from Gail Gibbons, one of our favorite children's authors.

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Honey Bee Unit Study Resources - The Homeschool Scientist

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Honey bee unit study ideas and honey bee life cycle worksheets. Links to other honey bee lessons and resources

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The European honeybee is not native to Arkansas. However, many native bee species work to pollinate crops and plants in our state so you don't have to be a beekeeper to encourage bees in your yard.

Solitary bees make great pollinators.

Unlike honey bees, they do not live in large colonies, don't produce honey and they do not sting. They are important pollinators of wildflowers across North America. Because they tend to forage in the area near their nests (usually within 500 yards), they can serve as efficient pollinators of small gardens and orchards. Many solitary bees nest in the ground, but bees in the family Megachilidae seek cavities in dead wood in which to build their solitary nests. These nests are provisioned with pollen and nectar, eggs are deposited, and then they are sealed off and abandoned. After overwintering as pupae, the adult adult bees will emerge from the holes in early spring and begin to forage. Male bees will die shortly after mating. Female bees will soon seek a cavity in which to to prepare their own nest. They will often remain in the vicinity of the nest from which they emerged. By providing numerous nesting blocks near garden spots or orchards, solitary bees can be encouraged to remain and reproduce year after year.

What types of bees help pollination?

Bees in the diverse family Megachilidae include the mason bees and leafcutter bees. These bees lack a pollen basket on their hind legs, as honey bees have. Instead, they carry pollen on the underside of their abdomen.

At least 40 species of bees in this family can be found in Arkansas.

All will seek out cavities in which to dwell, and can be encouraged as pollinators by providing them with suitable habitats. Leafcutter bees use their sharp mandibles to cut circles from plant leaves with which to line their nesting holes. They are sometimes considered a pest by gardeners because of aesthetic damage to ornamental plants, but they rarely remove enough leaf material to damage plant health. Mason bees get their name from the way they seal their nesting holes with mud after eggs have been laid in the provisioned cells. Many of these bees are excellent early season pollinators of fruit trees and garden vegetables. If you want to encourage mason bees for pollination, be sure there is a source of mud nearby, such as a stream or pond, or you may need to provide them with a source through irrigation.

Osmia ribifloris, the blueberry bee.
(Photo by Jack Dykinga, bugwood.org.)

Osmia lignaria, the blue orchard bee.
(Photo by Scott Famous, bugwood.org.)

A simple solitary bee habitat (Photo by Robert Engelhardt).

Megachilid bees do not bore their own nesting holes, but are opportunistic house-hunters. Suitable nesting blocks can be easily built by drilling holes in practically any piece of untreated wood. Different species prefer hole diameters ranging from one-quarter of an inch to three-eighths of an inch, and spaced at least three-quarters of an inch apart. Blue orchard bees are prefer hole diameters of five-sixteenths of an inch. You can experiment with different sized holes, in increments of one-sixteenth of an inch, and see which ones appear to attract the most bees in your area. Holes should be three to five inches deep, and should not be drilled all the way through the wood. Bees will lay male eggs toward the front of the hole, and female eggs behind them. Deeper holes will accommodate more female bees, and therefore increase the number of pollinators for next season.

Create nesting blocks to encourage native bees.

Sections of hollow bamboo or cane can also be bundled together to provide solitary bee nests. Some people use paper tubes or straws to line the nesting holes, so that they can be removed and the blocks can be cleaned. Occasionally solitary wasps will also take up residence in these holes, but are rarely a problem, and may also contribute to pest control and pollination.

These nesting blocks can be placed around an area to attract bees, and moved to a new area (such as an orchard or garden) before the spring emergence to encourage pollination.

Nesting blocks should face the morning sun, and be sheltered somewhat from rain, either by adding an overhanging "roof" to keep rain from soaking the wood, or placing the blocks under the eaves of a barn or shed.

Blocks containing dormant pupae can be brought into a shed or barn to protect them extreme cold during the winter, and placed outside again in early spring for pollination.

Read more about how solitary bees may play a bigger role in pollination than previously thought.

Read more about native bees in Arkanasas.

Learn how to help bees find water to stay cool.

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The European honeybee is not native to Arkansas. However, many native bee species work to pollinate crops and plants in our state so you don't have to be a beekeeper to encourage bees in your yard. Unlike honey bees, they do not live in large colonies, don't produce honey and they do not sting.

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From the mini bulletin board kit I chose

three elements to discuss....

characters, characterization, and symbols.

I gave each person in the class some post-it notes.

As I read the story we identified each character.

Someone would write the name of the person on a post-it note

and attach it to the character piece of the bulletin board.
The quilt passed through 5 generations so there were several characters.

Anna is one of the main characters of the story so we did the "post-it note thing" to identify the character qualities of Anna. She was brave, smart, poor, happy, hard-working, loving, and more.

Then we talked about the symbolism of the quilt....again with the post-it notes! We decided that the quilt symbolized many things including faith, love, comfort, joy, family......

We challenge you to make your own quilt!

The kids offered to write testimonials

about how much fun they had.

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Challenge of the Week! ﻿﻿ The challenge was to take these two products and build a lesson around them. At the top is one...

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Kids Book Read Aloud: Fiona's Lace by Patricia Polacco

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If you've stumbled here from Pinterest, or some other site ... welcome! While each of these books/lessons can stand alone, they are also a part of a year-long series that we have taught at our homeschool co-op. Each lesson builds in part on the one before. Some stories also have similar themes with the books that go before/after them. If you are interested in more information, or to see the complete booklist, check out our main page, More FIAR - Inspired Literature-Based Lesson Plans, especially for homeschool and homeschool co-ops. Thanks for looking around, and welcome to the site!
**If you already know Patricia Polacco's books, this one will not disappoint. (If you don't, what?!?!?) I'm actually surprised it is not more popular than it is, but this is another true story, passed down from great-grandparents who lived long ago. Like so many of her other books, this one will be hard to read out loud without shedding a few tears.

Fiona's Lace

by Patricia Polacco

What I Need:

Fiona's Lace Book
Fiona's Lace Handwriting Sheet
Lace Samples (to show the class)
Map of the World that shows Ireland, Europe, United States
Dice for the Shake and Share Game

Optional: Book of the Day reading comprehension worksheet

Review:

If you are following along with the year-long curriculum, take a moment to review last week's book, The Memory Coat, which has many similar themes to Fiona's Lace, especially the concept of immigration, leaving one place and going to settle in another.

Who were the main characters in last week's story (Rachel and Grisha)

What country were they leaving? (Russia)

Why were they leaving? (Cossacks wanted all the Jews gone, under heavy persecution)

And what Country did they come to?

Does anyone remember the name of the island they landed on when they first arrived in America (Ellis Island)

And what did they see as their boat was approaching the island? (The Statue of Liberty)

I don't usually do such a thorough review of last week's book, but because the themes of these two books are so closely related, a good review will help us go faster in today's lesson.

Introduce Today's Story:

Our story today also has to do with a family who grew up in one country but moved to another.

Now - who can tell me a reason why someone may want to leave their country? This is where they have lived their whole life. They have family here, their houses, their friends, everything they've ever known - so why would they want to leave?

famine

persecution

poverty/loss of employment

sickness

the promise of a better life

In today's story, we have a new set of Immigrants, this time they are leaving Ireland. (find Ireland on the Map) and Emigrating from Irland and Immigrating to America. In this case, they can't find work anymore. And there are promises of jobs in America and even jobs that will pay their way to cross on a boat to America. So Fiona and her family are going to try it.

Take a moment to show Ireland on the Map (and the flag, if you'd like). Then, using the map...

Explain again that Ireland is a COUNTRY
It is located within the CONTINENT of EUROPE
They were going to cross the ATLANTIC OCEAN
To travel to the COUNTRY of the United States
in the CONTINENT of North America
to the STATE of New York, then to the STATE of Illinois
Then finally to the CITY of Chicago
Located right on LAKE Michigan
And the STREET called, Dekonen Street*

This a perfect time to emphasize again, these geographical differences, especially since Polacco highlights all these locations in her story

*There is a real DeKoven St located in Chicago, where the real Great Chicago Fire started in 1871. I'm not sure if Polacco got the name of the street wrong, if the road was renamed, or if this was a separate street that doesn't exist anymore. Either way, the story is based on facts.*

Read the Story

If you'd like to preview the story, I like the recordings on YouTube, below (part 1 and part 2). There are several recordings on YouTube, but in this one she uses a real Irish accent (awesome!), and also explains a few of the lesser-known details of the story as she is going. (Like - what is a Blarney stone??). This is great to show your kiddos if you can't get the book, but even if you are reading out loud - the details she gives are helpful for you to know as well.)

As you read the story, be sure to explain things like, "Textile Factory" (produces fabrics), "Blarney Stone" (Irish stone they would touch if telling a lie) and "Spark Her" (trying to get a girl to notice him / start a relationship) - or, if you'd like, you can probably leave them out.

Other things to emphasise/make sure are understood:

Was it hard to leave? How do we know?

Was America what they expected? (no)

Why / Why not?

And in the end - Why was Fiona willing to give up her valuable lace? Is there something more important than money?

*If you are following along with this or any other type of read-aloud curriculum, it is good to begin to encourage the class to give answers back to some of these questions. Can they hear the "why" in the story? True, these stories are well above 1st-grade reading level. But can they pull out anything from the comprehension to understand what you are reading? Pause often to help them understand and emphasize hard passages, but also keep asking questions as you read to keep them engaged, and see if they are able to practice figuring out things from the context.

*When I read this book, I chose to leave out just a few parts. There is one part where the dad is telling a story on All Hallows Eve. He doesn't end up finishing the story, but for my littles, even a hint of scary is too much. It's just a paragraph or two, and we left it out. You decide what's best for your crew.

Classroom Games on Comprehension - Language Arts

For our Language Arts Activity this week, we chose to focus on reading comprehension. If you have a class (or student) writing simple words, this worksheet is a fun way to encourage a simple recall / remember the story.

BUT - if you don't have a class full of writers (and if you work in a homeschool co-op, oftentimes you have a mixed class, a multi-age class, and at least some students ... who often are not writing yet)

Then - this idea, called, which I've called, Shake and Share (also called Roll and Retell, there are similar concepts located here, and all over the web), is a great way to introduce the class to comprehension.

Draw 6 squares on the board, filled in with 6 numbers like the six sides of a die.

1. If you have a large class, divide the class into smaller groups. If you less than 8, or a younger class, just stay as a group and do the activity together

2. Explain that depending on which number they roll, they are going to answer a question about the story we just read

1. Who are the main characters?

2. What is the story about?

3. When does the story take place?

4. Where does the story take place?

5. What happens at the beginning/middle/ and end of the story?

6. What was your favorite part of the story?

3. Going down the line of kiddos, Roll Away

In our class, we have a number of shy kiddos, and a few that dominate. This was helpful to get a few other voices talking, and give the kiddos a more equal opportunity to get involved.

Reading Comprehension Worksheet

This worksheet, below, is a simple and light way to begin to introduce the class to reading comprehension, without the pressure of having to know how to write well. If you have students that don't write at all, not a big deal - because they can express most of their thoughts with pictures and by circling stars, happy faces, etc. It is a great exercise to follow the "Shake and Share"game and to get them thinking about what they have read. I created this worksheet for Fiona's Lace, but left it blank - because this is probably one I will come back to again for others books.

Handwriting

If you're following along with this plan for the year, hopefully copywork should be getting a little easier by now. Remind the class to start their letters at the top, and then trace this verse from Proverbs 21:5A, a fitting go-along verse with the story.

If you have a few extra minutes, talk about the verse and what it means, and try to memorize it as a class.

That's it for this week! To see what we've done so far in our Homeschool Co-op's Literature Series this year, click here. Each lesson builds on the one before and seeks to cover basic geography within the book, historical contexts, a handwriting sheet, and a language arts lesson, as it applies to the book.

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If you've stumbled here from Pinterest, or some other site ... welcome! While each of these books/lessons can stand alone, they are also a part of a year-long series that we have taught at our homeschool co-op. Each lesson builds in part on the one ...

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John Philip Duck_"Music with Joe" Read Aloud #10

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The Peabody's story as one of the grandest, most historic hotels in downtown Memphis dates back to 1869 when the original Peabody Hotel opened on the corner of Main & Monroe, immediately becoming the social and business hub of Memphis. In 1925 a newer, grander Peabody was built at its present location of Union and 2nd Street, continuing the legacy of the "South's Grand Hotel." It was 1933 when ducks were originally placed in the hotel's lobby fountain, setting in motion an 85-year tradition that continues today with the March of the Peabody Ducks.

The company that brought The Peabody back to life when they purchased the hotel in 1975 is Belz Enterprises, a highly successful, multifaceted real estate development and management firm based in Memphis, Tennessee. Starting out as one of the largest Holiday Inn franchisers in the business and then moving on to full-service luxury hotels, Belz Enterprises has a long-standing history within the hotel industry.

Most recently, Belz Enterprises has established Peabody Hotels & Resorts, a hotel and resort management venture that will leverage the ongoing Peabody brand success. Peabody Hotels & Resorts provides solutions for raising brand awareness and increasing financial performance via its long-standing tradition of providing exceptional hotel experiences and creating memories that last a lifetime. Legendary, charming, elegant, and grand are just a few words that describe what sets Peabody Hotels apart from other hotel brands.

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The History of The Peabody Memphis | Historic Downtown Memphis Hotel

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Dating back to 1869, The Peabody Memphis is steeped in rich history and has become an established institution in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee.

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Something About Hensley's by Patricia Polacco