How to use this Page

I realize it is a few short days before winter break. You may not read this post until doing a search for lesson plans for supply and demand or if you decide to use my book in your classroom or home school program, and you are looking for lesson ideas. But either way, you can use Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg to teach supply and demand concepts.

The first place to do this would be with the fact that throughout the story, Grant and the Yankees are blocking supplies from getting to the citizens of Vicksburg. They are running out of everything. They are using substitutes instead of the real product: acorns instead of coffee grinds, sassafras for tea, berry juice for ink, and wallpaper for newspaper. When Mrs. Lohrs brings six apples over to the Franklins after Anna’s ma was hit by the shell, everyone is pleased and happy–about 6 apples. Can you imagine kids being excited about that today? So, that’s one thing you can ask children while reading this book–why was Anna happy about a gift of apples? The discussion should lead children to realize that when supplies are low, demand is high. When food is low–especially fresh food–then demand for it is high, and people will be excited about getting a gift of fruits and vegetables.

Then you can go on to the more economic lesson of what happens when there is a low supply and a high demand. In Finding My Place, this is addressed with the discussion about the prices at the General Store. Prices for almost all supplies are up–Mrs. Franklin talks about how it’s unfair and wrong, but that’s what happens when the supply for goods is down or low. You can ask children to think about popular gifts at Christmas time–like the newest video game system. When it is first out and there are a limited amount and NO ONE HAS ONE YET, demand is high and prices are high. As people buy them and they become more common and new systems are made, the demand is lower, the supply is still there, and so the price goes down.

In Finding My Place, you can even address how the price of goods being high creates tension and bad feelings and was probably the reason for someone setting fire to the General Store, which by the way did actually happen during the Siege.

When using books to teach a concept such as supply and demand, start with the events in the book and get students to discuss them–since they are already interested in the characters and the story. Then always try to find similar examples from the real world that students can relate to.

If you are reading this post during December–happy holidays to you and here’s to a great New Year in 2013.

PS: Also, there’s still time to win Angela Shelton’s mg, fantasy book: The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton (contest closes on 12/23) by going here.

I have so many books to review that it’s time to do a round up! First, I must apologize to all three of these lovely authors that it has taken me this long to mention your books and showcase them on my blog. I am working on a new, better system (aren’t we all?), so that I will not get so backed up in the future. Anyway, let’s get on to these lovely books. I will share a brief summary, who should read, and a couple discussion points for them. Here we go!

Chigger by Raymond Bial is a well-written book with a touch of humor about a new girl moving into town (in Southern Indiana) in the 1950s, and she is not readily accepted, especially moving in April and starting school “about seven months late.” She insists on being called Eddie and on wearing jeans to school, and she cusses (word of warning–read this book before your children/students to make sure you are okay with language or want to talk to them about it), and fights. So, she’s not your typical girl, which makes her a great literary character! The point of view character has a great voice–he’s a fifth-grade boy, Luke, so this book will appeal to boys (it’s probably more upper mid-grade or tween), and he kind of likes this new girl, which makes him a great character, too. She gets the nickname Chigger from a humorous character, Buzz, because “you’re just a dang bug and you sure get under my skin.”

This book has some serious issues in it and is inspired by actual events. Chigger is obviously poor and always hungry, although she is super independent. She and her mom are running from an abusive father. She is picked on and ostracized for being different and new. It also explores friendship and standing up for what’s right. I see this as the perfect book for a parent and child to read together and discuss because it will bring up issues that the child may be dealing with in a non-threatening way!

The Wild Soccer Bunch Book 3: Zoe the Fearless by Joachim Masannek and illustrated by Jan Brick is part of a series of books titled, The Wild Soccer Bunch. These books are endorsed by a professional soccer player, Landon Donovan, and have quite a bit of merchandise to go with them, which can be found on an extensive website here. In the third super cute book, Zoe’s mother has passed away, and she and her father are moving to Chicago. Zoe wants to play on the boys’ team–not on the girls–and so her father signs her up with the Wild Soccer Bunch, who aren’t too crazy about playing with a girl. She has to prove herself. Plus there’s Grandma, who is busy trying to get Zoe to be more like a girl.

Obviously this is the perfect book for anyone who likes soccer. (There are quite a few illustrations, so this would probably be beg. middle-grade/maybe even chapter book.) I also like it because it showcases girls in sports. We all know girls play and love sports! So why not have a book to celebrate this?! You can discuss all sorts of things with this book, including death and dying, sportsmanship, moving, practice for sports (hard work), individuality, being true to yourself, and more.

Pipper’s Secret Ingredient by Jane Murphy and Allison Fingerhuthand illustrated by Neal Sharp is a delightful chapter book with plenty of illustrations for readers who are ready to step into something harder than a picture book, but still feeling apprehensive about reading novels. Pipper is a dog who blogs! She blogs about food–of course–and the book starts out with her blog. She is actually looking for an interesting blog post topic, and she decides that she will search for a secret ingredient. As she travels around and blogs, she visits some interesting places such as Egypt, New York City, Paris, and the Orient Express. She has her friends, too, a cast of characters who readers are introduced to in the very beginning that help her with her adventure.

This is the perfect book for children to learn more about places all over the world, blogging and using the Internet for research, and what is truly important to an individual. I’m telling you that kids will LOVE THIS BOOK! I love holding it and looking at it. It is so shiny. You definitely don’t want to miss this!

*Picture book for preschoolers through third graders, history?–you’ll see what I mean. . .
*Man’s best friend as main character/topic
*Rating: Do You Have a Dog? is one of those books I wish I would have written. Brilliant!

Short, short summary:

So what do I do with this book?

1. Use the poems and illustrations in this book as a starting point for students to research more about each individual. Give them extra points or some kind of bonus if they can find out any more about the person’s dog or other pets.

2. Try to find out other famous people–either historical or contemporary–and their dogs. When students find someone and do a little research, have them write up a page about the person and their dog. They can also illustrate it. Or do pets of presidents–our current president has a dog.

3. For younger children, talk about the characteristics of a dog. Compare and contrast dogs and cats using a Venn diagram. Allow children to choose which one they would rather have for a pet.