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Roxie Munro is not only an excellent writer, but also an amazing artist. Her talent for painting with words as well as on the canvas bring rich materials to use in the classroom. Don't miss her newest title, Masterpiece Mix, to get students as excited about art as they will be about the story! |
English/Language Arts
Explore Introductory paragraphs
Social Studies
Explore primary sources
STEM
Explore the science of flight
Research Skills
Explore the connections
Explore Introductory paragraphs
- Author Munro starts her Minute out with a brief introductory story on a contemporary example of animals used to test the safety of air travel before she brings the reader back to the story of the first “manned” balloon flight. Have students try using this kind of parallel story as an introduction in some of their content area writing.
- Because this Minute introduces not one, but two stories about animal travel, as well as describing the process of making a hot air balloon, this is a good Minute to have students “unpack” and make decisions about exactly what the purpose, or main idea of the Minute is supposed to be. Have students use their close reading skills and some text-dependent analysis to justify their thinking.
- This is a terrific Minute to use for students who struggle with picturing what they are reading. Before you share artist Munro's beautiful visual , challenge students to draw a picture of the scene based on the words included.
- One of the inventors includes an imagined conversation between the animals in the balloon. Have your students write some dialogue that may have occurred if only animals could talk.
Social Studies
Explore primary sources
- Author Munro mentions a letter that the inventor writes to his wife following the successful flight. Use this opportunity to share the importance of letter-writing in history, and the value of personal correspondence as primary documents that historians continue to use to examine historical events.
- Have students look at the transportation options prior to the hot air balloon as well as following. Did the successful launch of the hot air balloon impact the future of transportation? Why or why not?
- King Louis XVI was the last king of France before the French Revolution. Have students look at the events leading up to and following his execution. Take a look at the importance of the French Revolution in the history of democracy establishment around the world.
STEM
Explore the science of flight
- Beyond investigating the historical aspects of flight is the science. How exactly do we get these heavy things off the ground? Experiment in the classroom with the science behind the hot air balloon.
Research Skills
Explore the connections
- This a great Minute to use to ask students to generate a list of related topics to explore. Take a class period to have students brainstorm topics and do some quick searching to fill in related information.
© Karen Sterling, 2017 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission
