Goody O' Grumpity Free Unit Study and Lapbook

Author: Carol Ryrie Brink
Illustrator: Ashley Wolff
ISBN: 1558586148
Summary: Goody, a Pilgrim, bakes a spice cake and the children come running, first to lick the bowl and then, best of all, to sample the cake.

History -- Pilgrims: Goody O'Grumpity was what we now call a Pilgrim. The Pilgrims were a group of early American settlers. They came to America in 1620 aboard a boat named the Mayflower. They were originally from England, where they were called Separatists. Their beliefs about worshipping God did conform with the Church of England and they were forced to flee England and go to Holland (The Netherlands) in order to freely worship God as they wished. In 1620, they agreed to go to America, to establish a colony where they would be free to worship God as they chose.

They settled in what is now Massachusetts, at a place called they called New Plymouth. Many of the Pilgrims did not survive their first winter in America. The following spring, they befriended some local Native Americans, and in particular a man by the name of Tisquantum (or Squanto), who taught them how to plant corn and how to hunt for food. Without their help, the colonists would probably not have survived. After their first harvest, in 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated the goodness of God with a harvest feast in which the local natives also brought food and participated in the games to celebrate. That celebration was America's first Thanksgiving.

Today, people can visit the site where the Pilgrims settled. It is called the Plimoth (Plymouth) Plantation. Many people work there. They dressed, act, and cook just as the Pilgrims and Native Americans did back in the 1620s.

The website for the Plimoth Plantation is: http://www.plimoth.org/ There is plenty to explore there! Here are links to specific areas at the Plimoth Plantation website: Kids and Teachers

"Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?" Mini book to make (find more printable books at Hubbard's Cupboard)

Oklahoma Homeschool has a lot of links, book suggestions, and ideas for Pilgrims/Thanksgiving.

Geography/Mapping Skills- Cardinal Directions
Our story mentions that the children "came from the north, the east and the south." North, east, south, and west are the cardinal directions. Show your student a compass rose from a map and point out the cardinal directions. Starting with north, and continuing clockwise, the cardinal directions in order are: N, E, S, W. Use a mnemonic to help your student learn them in order.....Never Eat Soggy Waffles or Never Eat Shredded Wheat....or perhaps your student would like to make up his own! Explain that the intermediate points are located halfway between each cardinal point. For example, between N and E is NE. Print out a blank compass rose and have your student label it.

History- Time Period (compare and contrast)
Draw a Venn Diagram (two circles that overlap in the middle). Look through the illustrations with your student and make a Venn Diagram. On the left side write things unique about the time period from the book. In the middle write things that are the same now as they were then. On the right write how things are now.
Examples:

Left

Cook on open fire
Milk cows by hand
Oven is outside
Fishing with a string

Middle
Children love to lick the bowl!
Cakes smell good

Right
Cook on stove

Milk cows with machines
Buy butter and eggs at the store
Use bread machines (it kneads the dough for me!)

Language Arts

Poetry- Rhyme Scheme
With your older student, discuss rhyme scheme-- any pattern of end rhyme in a stanza. For purposes of study, the pattern is labeled with the first rhyme labeled a, as are all the words rhyming with it; the second rhyme labeled b, the third rhyme labeled c, and so on. Then, label the poem accordingly. (You may wish to type out the poem to do this or just write the rhyme scheme on a piece of paper.)

Reading Poetry Together
If you are using this book as a Thanksgiving study, you may enjoy reading some poetry together. You may also want to encourage your student to choose one to illustrate (and hang it up as part of you Thanksgiving décor); you could also have your student choose part of a poem for a copywork assignment.

Here are some book suggestions for Thanksgiving Poetry:
Thanksgiving: Stories and Poems by Caroline Feller Bauer
It’s Thanksgiving by Jack Prelutsky.
Thanksgiving Poems selected by Myra Cohn
Thanksgiving Day at Our House: Thanksgiving Poems for the Very Young by Nancy White Carlstrom
Don't forge to include various Psalms from the Bible (Psalm 100, etc.)

Vocabulary
Prepared Vocabulary Cards
nuzzling- to push or rub with the nose

        wishful- having a wish
        grated- to make into small particles by rubbing against something rough
        haunting- to come back to the mind again and again

Applied Math

Dozens and Tens
”by dozens and tens”
This phrase opens the door for a variety of math lessons with your student. To teach the concept of one dozen, please see the math lesson in Rechenka’s Eggs (another HSS unit).

Skip counting by 12’s
Teach skip counting by 12's this week.

Skip counting by 10’s
Teach skip counting by 10's this week.

Story problems (tailor these to suit your own needs)
If two dozen children came to smell Goody O’Grumpity’s cake, how many children came?

If three dozen children came to smell along with two tens, how many children were there altogether?

If five dozen children came to smell along with ten more PLUS eight adults, three roosters, five chickens, a dog, and seven cats…how many people and animals were there in all?

Counting
Your younger student may enjoy counting different items throughout the book.
Ideas--
children on any given page

chickens (page opposite "the dogs ran sniffing and so did the hens")
pigs (page opposite "pigs came nuzzling out of their pens")
Indians (page opposite "a wonderful haunting perfume wove")

Comparing Ingredients
The recipe for the "cake" on the last page of the story calls for 1/4 cup sugar. Compare this to the amount of sugar in your family's favorite cake recipe (or any recipe in your cookbook). If your recipe calls for 1 cup or 2 cups, ask your student to guess how many times 1/4 cup will fit into the 1 cup or 2 cups. Measure it out to see. Wow! If your recipe calls for 2 cups, that's EIGHT TIMES more sugar! With your older student (who has learned the ins and outs of fraction multiplication and division), do the work on paper as well.

Art

Linoleum block prints painted with watercolors
Linocut is a printmaking technique. An artist will take piece of linoleum (often attached to a piece of wood) and carve it. They carve out the areas they do not want, leaving raised areas that create a picture. The linoleum is then inked with a brayer (roller). Then linoleum-picture can be "stamped" on a piece of paper, making a print of the picture. Point out to your student that when the artist carves the linoleum, he or she must make the picture opposite of how they want it to look when printed! Your older student may wish to try his hand at this interesting technique this week! A younger student could instead "ink" his rubber or foam stamps with a washable paint and create a beautiful picture.

Warm Color Palette
Look through the illustrations and make a list of the colors that you and your student see. Discuss cool colors with your student (greens, purples, and blues). Did you see very many of those? Discuss warm colors with your student (reds, yellows, oranges). Did you see many of those? Why do you think the illustrator chose a warm palette?

Science

Hibernation
Our story says that the children were as hungry as bears in the spring. Why would bears be hungry in the spring? Because bears hibernate and do not eat in the winter! During the winter, the main food sources for bears become scarce, so God designed the bear to sleep during the winter and not need to eat. During the fall, the bears will eat lots and lots of good, and they grow very fat. Then when they settle down for their winter's nap, their body will use all that fat to keep them alive during the winter months. When the bears wake up in the spring, they have used up all that fat and they are very hungry! (Note: Bears are not true hibernators because it is possible to wake a bear, but they do sleep many months in winter.)

Spices
There are many spices (flavorings) used in the cake Goody O'Grumpity made: citron, cinnamon, lemon rind, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, clove. A spice is a dried seed, fruit, bark, root, or vegetable that is used to add flavor to a dish. Throughout history, spices have been valuable. In the ancient and medieval world, spices were often used for trading. In the Old Testament, we read about how Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery to spice merchants. In the New Testament, we read about the Magi bringing gold, myrrh, and frankincense to baby Jesus--myrrh and frankincense were very expensive spices. Christopher Columbus wished to discover a closer route to India, where many spices could be found.

Help your student learn about each spice Goody O'Grumpity used. If possible have as many of these spices on hand so that your student can smell each as you discuss them.

Citron is a kind of citrus fruit. What other citrus fruits does your child know: oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, etc. Sometimes its rind (the outside peeling) is candied and eaten. It is grown in the Mediterranean areas, as well as Central America and South America.

Cinnamon In ancient times, the only true cinnamon came from Sri Lanka (Ceylon). If you rowed How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, your student may recall where cinnamon is found.

Lemon Rind is the grated pieces from a the peeling of a lemon. Lemons originally came from southeast Asia.

Nutmeg In ancient times, nutmeg was found on the Banda Islands of Indonesia. Nutmegs are the seeds of an evergreen tree. Now nutmegs are also grown in the Caribbean, New Guinea, and India.

Allspice is the dried, unripe berries of an evergreen tree. It is found in Jamaica in the Caribbean. Christopher Columbus found allspice when he landed in the Caribbean and took it back to Spain with him. During WWII, many Allspice trees were cut and production still has not recovered.

Ginger comes from a dried "root" (with your older student you may wish to use the correct term, rhizome). It is believed to have originated in southern China.

Cloves are the dried, unopened flower buds of an evergreen tree. In ancient times, cloves could only be found on two islands: Ternate and Tidore in the Moluccas (Maluku) Islands south of Indonesia. These islands are known as the Spice Islands and lie on the equator. Cloves were so valuable, that wars have been fought over the clove business! Zanzibar and Madagascar now also produce cloves.

Geography: Label a blank outline map of the world to show where the various spices came from.

What's that Smell? Game: Sprinkle a small amount in individual baby food jars or other very small containers with lids. Let you student smell each one as you discuss them. Later see how many he can recall just by scent. Practice daily until he can identify most by scent.

Language Arts: Practice dictionary skills by alphabetizing the above list of spices.

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