First FIAR

Prior to purchasing Five in a Row, I wanted to try out the concept first. We checked out the first book "The Story About Ping" from the library and found some online activities to go along with it.We made it 3 days before I heard  "not that book again Mom". **Update 11/4/12- I found the Story About Ping at a used bookstore and purchased it for our collection even though the kids said they were tired of it. That night the kids pulled it out of the bag and begged their grandpa to read it. The kids also were excited to tell grandpa about our Ping activities. The three days we used it made a lasting impression!**

 Day one we read it and discussed ducks-preening, air bladders and webbed feet. We followed this with a visit to feed the ducks and how to tell the drakes from the hens. We made a duck craft we found on enchantedlearning.com and did an experiment on bouyancy.
 Day two we curled up on the couch and read it again. This time we also read a small book on China, located it on the map, and made egg rolls and egg flower soup (not very original, but best I could do on short notice). We could have spent the whole day discussing maps.
Day 3 we discussed rivers and dams. We watched a short video on the 3 Gorges Dam that was built on the Yangtze and talked about extinction. Did you know the Yangtze river dolphin was the first mammal declared extinct because of pollution? Me neither.

I love the concept of Five in a Row. There is so much more we could have pulled from the book, and may have to "row" it again. I am excited for the official guide to get here on Friday!! I bought the combined volumes 1-3, so we can row whatever books I have available.And I have found a wonderful blog with a lot of ideas for "Lentil", that may be our next.