Five in a Row: The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
Oh my, Ping-a-ling! Sorry for the Friends reference. You know… when Janice calls Chandler Bing-a-ling. 😂
Anyways, I got tired of reading this story after the second day. The activities were fun but I was. not. into reading it again and again.
Ping doesn’t hear the call of the wise-eyed master. He realizes he will be the last duck to cross the bridge. The last duck always gets a spank on their back. Ping doesn’t want to get spanked so he hides in the grass. The next day he goes on an adventure on the Yangtze River looking for his family.
Day 1
Social Studies: Geography
We went into a deep dive on China and the Yangtze River. We talked about what China is known for…
where it’s located
their flag
their language
what it’s like to live on a river
how long the river is
comparing the river’s distance to driving to their grandparents house (20,000 drives!)
popular landmarks (great wall of China)
pandas
And then we watched a video of a National Geographic adventurer explore the Yangtze River and its communities.
Day 2
Social Studies: Culture
The next day we went through the pictures and observed the differences/similarities in clothing, hairstyles, homes, food, and other ways of life. I decided to focus more on their clothing than food like the curriculum suggests. We colored men’s and women’s traditional clothing. Then the girls “designed” their own paper doll clothing. I would have liked to do more of an art project with the paper dolls but I didn’t have the time to set it up last minute. It would be fun to paint and collage a dress for the doll.
We also watched another part of a video series on youtube about life on the Yangtze River.
Day 3
Science: Buoyancy
I had the girls collect items from around the house. I took a photo of each object, air dropped, and inserted the pictures into a table. The girls made a prediction on whether or not each thing would float or sink. Then we tested and wrote the final results! Easy.
Day 4
Art: Drawing Water
I did direct instruction for each drawing. We folded the paper into fourths. I modeled each drawing one at a time. We drew examples of reflections, puddles, ripples, and trailing lines. They did not have to copy my drawing. They could draw whatever they wanted as long as each element was represented.
VOCABULARY
I can’t find the picture/definition cards. They are somewhere around here.
Day 1: introduction to word and definition
Day 2: examples and non examples of each word with a simple thumbs up or thumbs down
Day 3: match a vocabulary word to a picture and explain
Day 4: fill in the blank with the correct vocabulary word
OTHER FIVE IN A ROW LESSONS
Lentil by Robert McCloskey (Why I only do four days mentioned in this post.)
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References:
“Country Coloring Pages.” 123 Homeschool 4 Me, https://www.123homeschool4me.com/free-18-countries-of-world-book_30/. Accessed 10 August 2023.
“Paper Dolls Around the World.” Education.com, https://www.education.com/slideshow/exploring-cultures-paper-dolls-world/. Accessed 28 August 2023.
“Traditional Chinese Clothing.” Education.com, https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/traditional-chinese-clothing/?epik=dj0yJnU9azVLZ0xUTHROUC1feDhYcGw5MXQ1bERKTWxCYmZXSmYmcD0wJm49amREWWQ0VXh6bE1SN2txVFgtUlltdyZ0PUFBQUFBR1R0YUFn. Accessed 28 August 2023.
“An Adventurer Journeys through the Chinese Region Where His Ancestors Grew Tea Crops | Connections.” USA Today, YouTube, 25 Apr. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5k3gRUOo78&list=PLlvHlI3rc2tM3yxtM9szmLJKq-m4AYlz_&index=16. Accessed 28 Aug. 2023.
“An Exploration of the Yangtze River and the Communities and Traditions along Its Path | Connections.” USA Today, YouTube, 9 May 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEhn_CWTn0A&list=PLlvHlI3rc2tM3yxtM9szmLJKq-m4AYlz_&index=15. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.
“White Sugar Sponge Cake.” The Woks of Life, https://thewoksoflife.com/bai-tang-gao-white-sugar-sponge-cake/. Accessed August 2023.
