Five in a Row: Lentil by Robert McCloskey

I cannot remember how I came across Five in a Row. Once I saw that it was literature based, I was sold. I love children’s picture books. I thought this was a fantastic way for my girls to learn and have exposure to social studies, science, and art.

We read Lentil first only because it was the first book available for pick up at our library. Lentil lives in a made up town called Alto in Ohio. He learns to play the harmonica and saves the town band from Old Sneep who is a total grump. I’m not sure why the lemon made everyone unable to play their instruments. They didn’t even taste the lemon! But I guess the thought of sucking on a lemon makes your face want to pucker. Good thing Lentil was never able to pucker his lips or else the town welcoming would have become a disaster.

We read the story for four days. The curriculum recommends to read the story for five days (hence its title). We only do school four days a week. Sorry Jane Lambert! (By the way, are we related?? My maiden name is Lambert and I have an aunt named Jane Lambert. She lives in Florida. Weird, right? Call me.)

Day 1

We looked at a globe and found Ohio. It was itty-bitty but we found it! We discussed the distance from where we live (Alaska) to Ohio. Though it doesn’t appear that far away it is actually on the other side of the country! They were mind blown. Then we talked about what Ohio is known for and colored in interesting facts about Ohio. Emme pasted it into her notebook and wrote a sentence about the setting. And I quote, “The story takes place in Alto, Ohio.”

Day 2

We live in a small town like Alto. We discussed how our town might be similar to Lentil’s. We have some of the same buildings as Lentil like grocery stores, libraries, barber shops, schools, and churches. We also discussed the downfall of living in a small town. Because it is small town, we don’t have as many stores as larger cities so we have to drive into town often to get the things we need or to visit other places.

We have a main road where most of the stores and shops are located—just like Lentil! The girls drew a picture of Main Street from the story. They don’t like the black and white pictures so they decided to color in their picture.

Day 3

Emme is pretty familiar with our state flag. She sings the state song pretty regularly around here. But as the town of Alto is getting ready for Colonel Carter’s arrival, they decorate the town with American flags, a flag my girls have seen here and there.

I found a free foldable book that we used to learn about the American flag. It explains the stars, stripes, colors, and meaning of the flag. Then we painted our own American flags using tempera paint, glossy modge podge, and a white pastel.

Day 4

We looked at the pictures and the girls made guesses as to what material was used to draw the pictures. Emme thought a black sharpie or some other kind of black marker. Violet said, “Same as Emme.” I told them charcoal was used to create the pictures. And since we don’t have charcoal we used black pastels to draw Lentil’s face.

I took some instruction from Nana on how to draw Lentil’s face. Nana explained the direction of the sun will cast shadows so we looked at the pictures again to find the shadows and determine the placement of the sun. Then we drew happy Lentil, sad Lentil, angry Lentil, and surprised Lentil.

VOCABULARY

I added my own vocabulary cards that I made for funsies. I went through the story and selected words I thought would be beneficial for my girls to know so they could better understand the story. In my opinion, these books offer great opportunities for direct vocabulary instruction. Otherwise, most stories we read together are for pure entertainment. 😁

Day 1: introduction to word and defintion

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

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References:

Foody, Jo-Ellen. “American Flag Flip Book FREEBIE.” Teachers Pay Teachers, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/American-Flag-Flip-Book-FREEBIE-3174446. Accessed 17 August 2023.

“Free Stock Photos.” Pexels, https://www.pexels.com/. Accessed 17 August 2023.

Hodges, Tricia. “ Five in a Row Art in Five Minutes.” Your Best Homeschool, https://yourbesthomeschool.com/five-in-a-row-art-in-five-minutes/. Accessed 17 August 2023.

“Printable Map of The USA.” Mr. Printables, https://mrprintables.com/printable-map-of-the-united-states.html. Accessed 17 August 23.

“State Coloring Pages.” 123 Homeschool 4 Me, https://www.123homeschool4me.com/free-state-coloring-pages_24/. Accessed 17 August 2023.

Vandenbush. “5th Grade American Flags.” Greenbay Art Room, http://greenbayartroom.blogspot.com/2013/04/5th-grade-american-flags.html?m=1. Accessed 17 August 2023.