Five in a Row "The Rag Coat" Unit Study

1.15.2013

We began the New Year with a row of "The Rag Coat" by Lauren Mills.

I bought a used copy of this book via Amazon or another site (don't remember) and I opened it to find that it's a signed copy!  Pretty cool, huh?!

The Rag Coat Five in a Row Activities
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My son was interested in a lot of the lessons we did for this book, but the book itself didn't captivate him.

It was a longer book, and during our readings he typically played on the floor and then would come sit with me for the last page or two.

I grew quite fond of the book after a week of reading it.  It was a beautiful story of a little girl who lost her father, but never forgot what he taught her-- "Minna, people only need people..."

Social Studies: Appalachian Culture & mapped the Appalachian States.
Language Arts: Storytelling; T made up his own story about a dancing giraffe that gave a tiger dancing lessons!  Copy work & vocabulary words.
Art: Facial Expressions, Quilts- colored the quilt pattern, Joseph's Coat of Many Colors
Science: Read books about Coal & answered: What is it?  Where is it found? What it's used for? Etc.
Math: Geometric Shapes/ Tangrams

"The Rag Coat" FIAR Go Along Activities

The Rag Coat Five in a Row Activities

Working with his new Tangram Set that I made from paint chips.  

The Rag Coat Five in a Row Activities

Copy work and books we read and/ or looked through during our "row."

T also made his own rag coat from pieces of scrapbooking paper.

He took a long time doing this project, which was a pleasant surprise.

We talked about what each piece of paper could represent: road sign paper for his love of cars, blue baby feet for his new baby brother, blue plaid because he is a boy, etc.

The Rag Coat Five in a Row Activities

He also did a fantastic job writing his copy work.

He copied my handwriting, which I wrote using an orange colored maker.

When he has letters to copy, his handwriting looks very neat, but when he is just writing on his own, his letters are pretty sloppy.
  
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Making Memories
While T took a rare nap, I turned our basement into a Coal Mine!  

I hid peat (crumbled paper bags), coal (tissue paper), and anthracite coal (yellow eggs) in the basement.  He woke up to find a yellow hard hat, flashlight, and CAUTION! sign on the basement door.  

He was very curious to see what I had in store for him!  

This idea came from the FIAR Forums, which I highly suggest you check out because there are just pages and pages of information, ideas, and encouragement.  
The Rag Coat Five in a Row Activities

Then taking an idea from Satori Smiles, we practiced place value.  Peat were units, black coal was tens, and anthracite was hundreds.  

 The Rag Coat Five in a Row Activities

And finally, we ended our row with a dessert I dubbed "Coal in a Mug," but it was really an eggless chocolate cake recipe-- and it was quite yummy!!

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