Author: Remy Charlip
ISBN: 0689716605 Summary: Good and bad luck accompany Ned from New York to
Florida on his way to a surprise party.
Unit Study Prepared by Andrea Dean
Social Studies-
Geography: New York and Florida- The boy was in
New York, find New York on a map. Learn about the state of New York, Color
a map or flag of New York. The party he was invited to was in Florida.
Find Florida on a map, Color a map or flag of Florida. Find a route Ned
would have to take from New York to Florida to get to the party,
Human Relationships: Disappointment- This story is
a good example of how to deal with disappointment. The boy gets
disappointed many times as he's attempting to get to the party. When you
or your child are disappointed, what are good ways to express that
disappointment? Tell your child about a time when you were disappointed,
and what you did about it. Remind them of times that they have been
disappointed. Disappointments happen in all our lives, but somehow we have
to get past them and continue on with our goals. Traditions: Birthdays Discuss the different birthday traditions in your own home. Why
does your family celebrate birthdays?
Note: You may NOT want to read this to your child
especially your young child—it may frighten! However, I think you (as the
teacher) may find it interesting. The other explanations for traditions
are a bit more mild. Edit and discuss as you see fit.
This would also be a good time talk about what you believe regarding luck
and the
sovereignty of God.
Have you ever wondered why we put candles on a cake or play games? Who
started birthday parties and why?
Birthday celebrations started for kings in Europe (credit is given to the
Germans) when people were very superstitious. Before the rise of
Christianity, Pagans used to believe that good and bad spirits appeared when
a child was born and that they followed the child throughout their lives.
They also believed that it was dangerous for a person to have a change in
life, and a birthday was one of those changes. To protect against these
spirits and the harm they would cause, friends and family would spend time
with the birthday person—they would bring good thoughts and wishes. They
believed that bringing gifts would bring even more good cheer to ward off
the evil spirits.
Candles on the Cake The tradition of placing candles on birthday cakes started about 200 years ago in Germany (Germans were
known to be excellent candle makers). The candle makers decided that if you
could blow out all the candles on your cake in one breath that it meant good
luck. (Luck is always a man-made idea-- you may want to discuss this with
your student. Who decides what gives us luck or what makes us
unlucky?).
What are your cake traditions? Does your student receive a decorated cake
for his birthday? Do you put candles on it to represent his age?
The Happy Birthday Song Mildred and Patty Hill (American sisters) wrote this song in 1893, and
it was a huge hit all over the world. It is used in many countries—sang in
many languages.
Birthday Cards This tradition started in England about 100 years ago.
Birthday Games Two popular games played at birthday parties are “Pin the Tail on the
Donkey” and piñata breaking.
Pinning the Tail on the Donkey was based in superstition. When a
blindfolded player tries to pin the tail, people likened it to being
blindfolded for the upcoming year—not really knowing what your future would
hold. (This would be a good opportunity to talk to your student about Who
knows what the future DOES hold.)
Breaking the piñata is a game that came from Mexico about 300 years ago. It
was believed that whoever broke the piñata would receive good luck. (again,
you can discuss with your student how silly this is).
Story Pattern- this is a FUN story to imitate as a
writer. Have your child write their own Fortunately story. They
could narrate it to you, or they could make it in the form of a book complete with
illustrations if that interests them.
Repetition and vocabulary- the words "Fortunately"
and "Unfortunately" are repeated throughout the story. Does your child know
what they mean?
Prefix- Un- for older students who are reading
well, this would be a good time to introduce the concept of the prefix UN.
Make a list of all the words you can think of that start with un-.
Your older student may also enjoy finding other prefixes that are frequently
used in the English language and making lists for each prefix.
Drama- Fortunately is a fun story to act out. You don't need
a lot of characters. One child can be Ned-- any other children could be
tigers or sharks (or both).
Art
Pattern The pictures in this story have a pattern-
can your child figure out the pattern? (Black & White/Color)
All the Black and White pictures are "unfortunately" and the color ones are
"fortunately"
Why did the author/illustrator choose this pattern?
Chalk- on the page where Ned is flying his
airplane, there is a rainbow drawn that looks as though it's drawn in
chalk. You can see the texture in the rainbow. Draw some chalk rainbows
with your children-- on paper or on the sidewalk outside.
Math
Counting- there are many opportunities for
counting in this book. Sharks, Tigers, Clouds, People at the party. How
old is Ned? (trick question- in his imagination at the beginning of the book
the cake has 11 candles, at the end at the party the cake has 13 candles!)
If you have some birthday candles, use them as math manipulatives-- count
the candles, add and subtract with them.
Calendar Skills- Each year we have a birthday.
There are 365 days in a year. Does your child know when his birthday is?
Count how many days until his birthday. Count the months until his
birthday. Count the weeks until his birthday. Learn the names of the
months or the names of the days of the week if your child doesn't know them
yet.
Sharks-- Sharks would be an interesting topic for
your older student to study on his own. Sharks are not members of the fish
family, and they are not mammals, they are in a family of their own. Sharks
have cartilage (like your nose and earlobes!) instead of bones. Sharks
come in all sizes from 7 inches to 50 feet! Find one species of shark to
read more about. Shark
Information at Enchanted Learning
Tigers-Ned was chased by Tigers. You could study
more about tigers. Tigers are members of the cat family. They
are carnivores (meat eaters). They are primarily nocturnal (come out at
night). Adult tigers range from 4 feet to about 9 feet long! If
you are notebooking or lapbooking, you may want to make a minit book on the
different kinds of tigers.