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Annika's Secret Wish

Literature Based Unit Study written by Rick and Oney Jones; Lapbook by Jodi Small

Lapbook Templates

If your older student is interested in learning more about Sweden, try our Country Lapbook

SOCIAL STUDIES

Geography: Sweden 
We made a story disk with an almond and a holly berry and placed it on the country of Sweden.  Sweden is northeast of France.  Sweden borders Norway and Finland. 

Sweden Facts  
Capital: Stockholm
Langauge: Swedish
Population: 9 million
Area:  450, 000 km2  (174,000 square miles)
Political System:  Parliamentary democracy

information about Sweden  
Sweden's Flag
Outline Map of Sweden
Swedish Learning Page at Enchanted Learning

Culture—Traditions
Discuss the word tradition with your student.  What are some of the Christmas Eve traditions in your home?  There is a    
Christmas tradition in Sweden. A Christmas Eve dinner is served with traditional Swedish foods completed by rice pudding
for dessert. There is but one whole almond dropped into the rice pudding before serving and fun is in the anticipation of getting
the bowl of pudding with the almond.  Read page 32 of Annika's Secret Wish with your student; it tells of more Swedish    
traditions.  

Relationships: Brother/Sister
Annika loves her brother very much and even wonders what Jesus would do if He got the almond!  She chooses to switch
bowls with her brother so that he may have the joy of finding the almond.  She does it “secretly” so as not to call attention to herself and maybe so that her brother doesn’t feel he is given special treatment or favors because of his disability.   What can your
student do this year to show his siblings that he loves them?  Help him think of some special things he can do (maybe even secretly!). 

Bible Study: Faith
While it’s fun to have games like finding the almond (which means a wish will come true), that’s not how it really works. 
On page 10 Papa’s teachings are remembered by Annika:  “Papa says it is God who grants our wishes. But it’s fun to dream, “
she whispered.    You may want to talk to your student about bringing our wishes before God.    You may want to read, explain,
memorize John 14:14.  Make sure your student understands that God grants our pleas based on His will; He knows what we
really need. 

LANGUAGE ARTS

Story-telling
Writing stories is a great way to keep family traditions and history alive through many generations.   Let your student write a
story about an incident that happened at your family Christmas this year. 

Open-ended stories
This story ends without us being told by the author what Davy’s wish is or if he received his wish.  How does not knowing make
you feel?  Sometimes it’s fun to decide what happens next.  What do YOU think happened?    Leaving the story open-ended
allows you, the reader, to use your imagination.  Have your student narrate the "rest of the story" for you.  Then, re-read the story
with the new ending.  What does your student think?  Can he think of another possible ending?

Punctuation: The Ellipsis
[ . . .] (three periods, evenly spaced in a sentence) This mark at then end of this story is called an ellipsis.  An ellipsis is used
to indicate a pause in the flow of a story.   Find the ellipsis in the story with your student.

Vocabulary
Mantel- a shelf above a fireplace
Gleaming- a glow
Scurried- to move quickly
Tapers - small or very slender candles
Hearth- the stone in front of a fireplace
Truffles- chocolate confections made with chopped nuts, rolled into balls and covered with cocoa powder
Enormous - huge
Glee - delight or pleasure
Scarcely - barely; hardly
Concealing - To keep from being seen or found
Swift - quick or prompt to act
Triumphantly - having achieved victory or success

ART

Notice the use of yellow shades (from very light to dark) to show lighting and shadows in the pictures.  You may also want to point out the
smaller pictures on new pages that highlighted something from the text of the story. 

The medium used is watercolor.  Maybe your student would like to get out his watercolors and create Christmas cards.

MATH

Probability
Only one almond was put into the big pot of rice pudding!  What are the chances (probability) in your house that your bowl would be
the one that would get a ladle full of rice pudding and the one, lonely almond?   Think about this:  What would be so fun about
having 50 almonds in the pot of rice pudding?  It wouldn’t be a game then would it?  When there is only one of something, it
tends to make that one thing more valuable.  Just like you!  There is only ONE you...and YOU are valuable, wanted, and loved!    

Probability lesson with M&Ms

Calendars
Christmas is always on December 25 every year.  Look at this year’s calendar.  What day of the week is Christmas on this year?  What date is Christmas Eve?  How many days are there in the month of December?  What month of the year is December?

SCIENCE

Anatomy
Sometimes a person’s body doesn’t work like it’s supposed to work.  Little Davy had to use a crutch to help him walk.  We don’t
know why...it doesn’t say but sometimes doctors who are scientists can figure out what’s not working; why it’s not working and
do surgery or give medicines to fix what doesn’t work.  Sometimes they can’t.  God has His reasons for allowing some people’s
bodies to be fixed while others’ are not. 

Experiment
Why does a sleigh not sink in the snow? 
We did a mashed potato experiment to show how when weight is dispersed evenly
over a larger area it’s less likely to sink than if the weight was concentrated in one spot.  We made a large batch of very thick
mashed potatoes (with instant potato flakes) and used action figures to “walk” over the “snow”.  When the
figures walked (with our help) the weight caused the feet of the figures to make foot prints in the snow.  Then, we tried it again
with Popsicle sticks taped to the feet of the action figures and had them “walk” that way too.  Since the weight was spread out
over the sticks the prints didn’t go as deep.  

Just For Fun

        Make Swedish Rice Pudding!

               You need:
                1 cup rice
                            2 cups water
                            1 cinnamon stick
                            3 eggs, beaten
                            4 cups milk
                            1/2 cup sugar
                            1 teaspoon vanilla
                            2 tablespoons butter
                            1 almond (whole)

Directions:
Cook rice in water with cinnamon stick until done. Remove cinnamon stick and let cool slightly.Preheat oven to 325°F.  Mix rice with beaten eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. Pour into baking dish, drizzle melted butter over top.  Bake 1 hour in 325°F oven. Ten minutes before baking is done, insert almond. Serve warm.