Bergen, Norway 

(Tor-Fgil Farestveit, 2006) Wikimedia Commons 

    

 LET YOUR SPIRIT TRAVEL!

BOOK REVIEW AND TRAVEL written by Penny Taub 

Julie Augensen has followed the old proverb to write what you know. Her ancestral homeland is the strawberry farms surrounding the city of Bergen, Norway. Travel along with Julie as she explores Norway’s varied landscape of mountains, meadows, lakes, and fjords. Like many of Norwegian traditional tales of trolls, this story has a magical flower searching for her family.

"Strawberry flower". 

Licensed under Wikimedia Commons

Julie Augensen, picture book, IDA LOUISE AND THE LUCKY  SWEATER, is an exceptional multicultural book that illuminates how children and their families live in many different places around the globe- BUT kids everywhere have similar interests and problems. On Ida Louise’s tenth birthday, she gets two presents a sweater and a dog. Once Ida begins to wear the sweater she feels more confident.  Then her school grades improve and she makes a new friend. Ida wonders is this sweater really bringing me good luck? 

Ida Louise and The Lucky Sweater is a whimsical tale that whisks readers across the Atlantic Ocean to the beautiful country of Norway. American school children will delight in learning about Ida Louise’s life on a strawberry farm in the outskirts of the city of Bergen, Norway. Follow along as she goes to the Art Museum on the weekend with her grandpa.  While looking at the paintings she imagines all the countries to visit in Europe- like France and England. 

AUTHOR INFORMATION

IDA LOUISE AND THE LUCKY  SWEATER  written by Julie Augensen and illustrated by Cartalya Davis was published by Father and Son Publishing. Visit their web site to learn more about this publisher: http://www.fatherson.com/   OR read Julie’s full biography go to her website www.JulieAugensen.com

MAP SKILLS IN THE CLASSROOM

Map of Norway (Wikimedia Commons)

 Ida Louise and The Lucky Sweater is a great choice to kick off your unit on learning about map skills and traveling the globe. This includes learning about the seven continents, names of four oceans, and many other countries around the globe. The first step begins by selecting one bulletin board to display a huge map of the world.  Label each of the seven continents and oceans. To focus on vocabulary, put up photographs as a border. These can include mountains, fjords, meadows, and rivers. As additional countries are explored over the year add more terms like volcanoes, geysers, canyons, and ice floes.  In the lower right hand corner display a Compass Rose with the four directions: north, south, east, and west. Challenge the students to name the direction to travel from Norway to their own country or to get to the Arctic Ocean. 

 Thinking about how fiction fits into the core curriculum?

This book is a great addition to classrooms looking to strengthen the use of the core curriculum in the classroom. Remember the core curriculum is about introducing more expository texts.  These can include biographies, but also realistic fiction and historical fiction.  The key is classroom libraries only need 50% of the reading material needs to be non-fiction.   

Remember Common Core Literature Standards includes:

• Asking questions about key details in a text
• Demonstrating an understanding of central message of story
• Comparing and Contrast the experiences of the character in the story with your own.  

Norwegian landscape

(Edward Dalmulder, 2009)

TRAVEL TO NORWAY

After reading Ida Louise and The Lucky Sweater delve into learning more by reading the non-fiction picture book Norway by Deborah Kopka (2010). This title is part of the Country Explorers series published by Lerner Publications Company.  The book is illustrated with beautiful photographs on every page. This matches the Core Curriculum Standard to increase Historical Knowledge. 

By the end of both books students in your classroom will:

1. Recognize food and clothing from another culture;

2.     Recognize differences in food and clothing from other cultures,

3.     Use a picture as a source of information

4.    Locate the seven continents and four oceans

5.    Increase Geography Vocabulary 

MUSIC IN THE CLASSROOM 

 A fun song to teach the children the names of the continents:

Continents, Continents, do you know your continents?

Continents, Continents, all around the world.

There’s Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, Antarctica, and Europe, too.

Repeat two times.

Using music to teach social studies helps refocus many kids and respects every child's individual learning style.  More songs can be found at

http://www.songsforteaching.com/socialstudiessongs.htm

TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

Interested in learning more about Leif Erickson travels from Norway, Greenland, and the Vinlands? Than watch this History Channel video on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61MBhvISXvw

Viking Embla (Richard at Flickr: Wikimedia Commons)

                      COME SAIL AWAY!

Take your own Viking cruise and travel along the many rivers and fjords of the mythical lands of Norway, Denmark, and other European cities. Thank you Julie for sharing this wonderful travel destination and book with my followers.  I look forward to feeling the chilly air on my face and eating many different kinds of fish!