Five in a Row: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel Mary Ann work so hard! Together they can dig in a day as much as a hundred men can dig in a week. Unfortunately for them, the Industrial Revolution is about to put them out of business! Mary Ann is about to end up in the junk yard unless they can find a job. The people of Popperville give them a chance because they desperately need a digger to make their town hall. There, they are adored by the torn and Mike and Mary Ann start a new life with the people of Popperville.
Day 1
Social Studies: History
Art: Motion
We went back through the book and looked at the pictures to see how the illustrator showed things in motion. Then we brainstormed more things that moved. We discussed ways we could show someone riding a bike, how a snow plow moves, someone running etc. We divided the paper into fourths and labeled each box. They chose four things they wanted to draw and they had to show movement in their drawing.
Day 3
Social Studies: Character - Stewardship
I don’t know how many times I’ve had this conversation with my kids—about taking care of their things. They were like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah…”. I’m serious though. If/when it breaks, we aren’t always able to replace it. (So stop stretching it apart to see what will happen. It will snap. Girls, with headbands anyone? 🙋🏻♀️) But we also talked about the importance of taking care of others—being kind to people, helping someone in need, valuing people more than our stuff. And also, the impact we have on our environment. We went over the things we can recycle and reuse and when we are at other places we need to leave the space better than when we found it.
Day 4
Science: Road Engineering
We saw how Mike and Mary Ann carved out of the side of hills to make new roads. We saw steam shovels carving out the side of a mountain to make railroad tracks back in the day. So we looked up pictures of roads where we live that were similar. The Old Seward Highway is a great example of land being cut away for new roads and train tracks.
OTHER FIVE IN A ROW LESSONS
Lentil by Robert McCloskey (Why I only do four days mentioned in this post.)
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha
A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
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References:
“Simple Machines Worksheets.” 123 Homeschool 4 Me, https://www.123homeschool4me.com/simple-machine-worksheets/. Accessed November 2023.
“Simple Machines for Kids.” 123 Homeschool 4 Me, https://www.123homeschool4me.com/simple-machines-printable-mini-book_98/. Accessed November 2023.
