Busy Monday Morning Author

Author: Janina Domanska
ISBN: 0688038366

Summary: A father and child work together out in the field each day of the week. Can be read, but it’s more fun to sing the song.

Social Studies: Human Relationships- Working Together
Discuss the different jobs on a farm. Discuss how it is necessary for a family to work together on a farm in order to keep things running
smoothly. How does the father and son in this story work together? Why does it take "team-work" to run a farm? Does it take team-work to run
a house/family even if you don't live on a farm? Discuss the different jobs that each person in your household has. Why is each job important?

Social Studies: Past and Present
Notice the outfits in the pictures as well as the tools. Is this in this set in the present? Or past?

Social Studies: Poland
As you discuss past and present (see lesson above), you may also want to discuss the following with your student-- Is this America? Or another country? Compare and discuss.

The author of this book is from Poland. The song (from which this story is based) is a Polish folk song. It's pretty safe to assume that the setting of this story is Poland and that Janina Domanska only saw Poland in her mind as she gave the lyrics of this song life with her illustrations.

Make a story disk and find Poland on the map.
Outline Map of Poland
Poland Flag Minit Book

Language Arts: Vocabulary
hauled – to carry a large load
pitched – to move an object from one place to another by tossing
stacked – to place objects on top of each other
hay bale – a large bundle of hay bound for storage or transport.

Language Arts: Re-write the Lyrics
Re-write the lyrics of the song/book to fit your student's responsibilities at home
(i.e. Monday – Mother washed laundry, Tuesday - folded laundry, Wednesday – vacuumed, Thursday - straightened house, Friday - watered plants) Sing it as you work together! This is a fun way to introduce new responsibilities as well; or, if you don't have responsibilities for your student, you may want to create a chore chart together.

Language Arts: Prepositions
Using the word stacked as a springboard, review prepositions.
With your younger student, you may want to grab a toy and something else to represent a bale of hay (a couch cushion, perhaps?). Ask your student to stack the toy (or toys) in various positions relating to the bale of hay--
beside the bale
on top of the bale
under the bale
behind the bale

With your older student, you may want to review (or introduce) the idea of what a preposition is. A great book for this is Behind the Mask: A Book about Prepositions by Ruth Heller.

Prepositions
A preposition connects a noun to other words and shows the relationship between them.

For better understanding, tell your student to think in terms of a mouse and a hay bale. Where can your student put the mouse (noun) in relation to the hay bale? (inside, onto, above, beneath, over, around, etc.). This will help your student grasp the definition.

Examples of prepositions
We ran around the farm yard.
(around shows relationship between we and farm yard)

The cows went inside the barn.
(inside shows relationship between cows and barn)

The rooster was on the roof.
(on shows relationship between rooster and roof)

List of Simple Prepositions

Comprehensive List of Prepositions
Prepared Preposition Worksheet (Ami made this specifically for this lesson)
Sing the Prepositions

If you want to introduce the idea of prepositions to a young children, you could instead call them /positional words/ and focus on just the prepositions which show where. above, around, below, beside, in, inside, on, over, through, under, etc. If your student did B4FIAR's /We're Going on a Bear Hunt/, remind how "We can't go OVER it, we can't go UNDER it, We've got to go THROUGH it!"

Language Arts: Copywork
Ask your student to copy the days of the week (see math lesson). You may even help your child make a calendar or chore chart (see math lesson).

Language Arts: Usage (he and I)
You may want to review the proper usage of he and I (this story is filled with examples).

Applied Math: Calendar Skills
Discuss the days of the week. Memorize the days of the week using this song and/or the following: (sung to “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”)

And (hold this, too) I can say them all (this phrase is fun if you take it fast).

And (hold this, too) I can say them all.

If you student did his copywork on a piece of paper, you may wish to cut it out and have student put the days in the correct order to see if he remembers. If they would like, have them use a calendar to help do this. Then only use the calendar to check their work and finally, do without help.

Make this minit book for your lapbook or notebook-- Days of the Week Book by Bryback Manor

Applied Math: Ordinal Numbers
Use the days of the week on a calendar to teach ordinal numbers (August 1st, August 2nd, etc). If child is ready, also show them how the month has a first week, second week, third week and fourth week.

Applied Math: Shapes
Can your younger student find shapes in the pictures?

Applied Math and Art: Symmetry
The illustrations in this book are reminiscent of Polish Folk Art which includes symmetry. We say that an object is symmetrical when an exact reflection of form is seen on opposite sides of a dividing line. This principle is especially noted on the back cover of the book. Can your student see the symmetry? Can your student find examples of symmetry throughout the illustrations? Your student may want to try her hand at making her own symmetrical drawing.
Remember, if something is symmetrical, you should be able to hold a mirror on the dividing line and see the image as you would without the mirror.

Science/Language Arts: Introduction to Research/Inventor -- Cyrus Hall McCormick
If you student is ready, introduce him to the concept of research. When we have questions or want to find more information on a particular
topic, we usually conduct a close study on that topic. The dictionary definition of research is, "To study (something) thoroughly so as to present
in a detailed, accurate manner." So, when we research, we are carefully studying something in order to present the facts (our findings) in some
sort of record (usually written). Does your student know where to go when he has a question on a certain topic? What does he do when he
wants to find out more about a particular subject? If your student hasn't had any experience with research, you can help him start by working
through the following exercise together in order to study Cyrus Hall McCormick more closely...and record your findings. You can start with an
encyclopedia or some websites, or you can go all out and take your student to the library!

Give your student the following questions (prepared page here) and help him research to find the answers.
When was Cyrus Hall McCormick born? When did he die?
What did he invent?
What impact did this invention have on farm life?
What other interesting information did you learn about Cyrus Hall McCormick?

Here are some links about Cyrus Hall McCormick to get your student started.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/page/m/mccormick.shtml
http://www.vaes.vt.edu/steeles/mccormick/bio.html
http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/101.html

Make a farm animal list or chart with your student. What makes each one unique? (describe each animal) Also, try to determine why a farmer has each animal on the farm? (what are they raised for?). You may want to check out some books from the library to learn more about the animal your student is most interested in. Enchanted Learning has great information for just about any farm animal you can imagine! (See links below)

Label the Farm Animals Print-out
Farm Animals Coloring Pages and Shape Books (make your own book!)
All About Farm Animals

Art/Music: Basic Music Theory
Look at the different notes in the music. Observe the notes that look the same (either the same place on the line (staff) or the same shape). You could certainly continue this lesson by teaching your student about half, quarter and eighth notes. Enchanted Learning has a treasure trove of information for you to help you teach basic music theory lesson.

Art: Imitating the Illustrator
Your older student may want to try to draw in this style--especially the birds flying and the patterns used to make the hay.

Art: Comparing Illustrators
If you have rowed books by Patricia Polacco, your student may note that this artwork looks similar to hers. One thing Polacco and Domanska have in common is their Slavic background. Your older student may want to do more research on both illustrators to find out what else they may have in common. What techniques are similar? Why? (Maybe this question can be answered through the research.) Can your student try to use techniques like Polacco and Domanska in his own artwork?

Bible Study: Diligence
The father and his son work hard on the farm. You may wish to use the following passage to discuss diligence with your child-- Psalm 90:16-17

Bible Study: Resting on the 7th day
Discuss your family's routine on Sunday. Why did God make a day of rest (refer to the Genesis creation account)? Exodus 20:9-11 is another passage that you may use to discuss resting on the 7th day.

Take a camera and go for a drive through the countryside. Take pictures of any bales of hay you see. Print them out and use them as regular pictures or make a collage of hay bales.

at	but	by	down	for
on	out	over	under	through
from	in	like	of	off
below	to	up	with	above