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| Author: Virginia
Lee Burton ISBN: 0395840031 Summary: Maybelle is a San Fransico cable car. She rings her gong and sings her song from early morning until late at night. This is her true story about how she got to stay in San Fransico. Unit by Melissa Crabtree |
Maybelle is always cheerful and polite. There are times she is suffering, but she chooses to not complain. Read Philippians 2:14-16a with your child and talk about their level of cheerfulness. Is it more fun to be around cheerful people or grumbling ones? Is your child’s attitude typically a cheerful one? Remind them that the Holy Spirit wants to help them have a cheerful spirit if it is something that is hard for them.
Big Bill, the bus is jealous of Maybelle and all of the attention she gets. He is boastful and wants to prove that he is better than she is, and when he tries, he is unsuccessful. Read Proverbs 16:18 with your child and explain that this is a perfect example of this. In the end, Big Bill is humbled and chooses to be happy for Maybelle and her continuing presence in San Francisco.
When the town fathers are counting the votes, they do so using tally marks on a blackboard. Tally marks are a way to note something being counted. One writes four vertical lines and the fifth line is a diagonal mark across all four lines, making a group of five. Then one can count by fives as opposed to counting each individual line by ones. Find some opportunities for your child to make tally marks this week… number of birds you see, number of people in your house, number of spoons in your drawer, number of days until vacation, etc.
On the page with the tally marks, there are three blackboards with marks on them. Practice counting by fives (after you explain the concept of tally marks).
Maybelle wins the election by a ratio of three to one. A ratio is a way of noting one amount in relation to another. It is written with a colon separating the two numbers, 3:1. Have your student note some ratios this week… number of girls to boys in his Sunday school class, number of cats to dogs, number of adults to children, etc.
Onomatopoeia is when the word written actually imitates the sound it is describing. Some examples are crash, BOOM, cling-clang, ding-dong, meow, splash. Maybelle’s bell is a great example of onomatopoeia. Typically, it is a cheerful ting-ting-ting! Have your student point out all the times he sees onomatopoeia when you read Maybelle today! (Notice also that on the day the Big Bill yells angrily at Maybelle and tells her the town fathers want to eliminate the cable cars, her bell sang her heart’s sad song: dong ding ding dong.)
Personification is when an author ascribes attributes typical of a person to an inanimate object. This is a great way of bringing a story to life. Maybelle and Big Bill clearly have been given a heart and feelings, not to mention the fact that they speak! The sun and moon have happy faces on them in the illustrations, and if you look carefully at the front of the buses and Maybelle, they definitely have a “face” look on them.
Maybelle was set in San Francisco, in 1947, though the book does not state the year. It is a true story that is well documented.
If your child is interested, check out a book or two on San Francisco, its major earthquake and subsequent fire, and the character the cable cars have brought to the town. If you are near San Francisco, take a ride on a cable car!
For further study:
Compare/Contrast
Have your older student research and compare and contrast cable cars, trolleys, and buses. How they run (gasoline, electricity), are they attached anywhere (electric wire, underground), their brake system, size, etc.
A cable car is pulled along by its heavy, underground cable that is in constant motion. The cable is gripped by a vise-like part that is controlled by the grip lever in the front of the car. (This is the gripman’s job.) There are three separate braking parts for each cable car, the main track brakes, the front wheel brakes and the rear wheel brakes. All are controlled by their own levers or cranks.
For a demonstration of this, go to this site.
A cable car’s main brake system is basically a piece of wood pushed down hard on the track, creating friction. Friction is the rubbing of one object or surface against another. To illustrate friction, go to a place that has a slide. Send your child down the slide with his knees bent and his feet flat on the surface of the slide. Have him go down three times: once with his rubber soled shoes on, once with his socks on, and once barefoot. What happened? Which way did he go fastest? Which way did he go the slowest?
Vocabulary:
Citizen – a resident of a city or town, one who holds the right to cast a vote, once they are 18 years old
City Father – the city officials, like a council member
Committee – a group of people who come together for one express purpose, in Maybelle, the purpose is to keep the cable cars running
Democracy – a government in which the citizens are allowed to participate in the decision making process by voting
Election - the decision making process where citizens vote on a concept or person
Petition – A formal written document that presents a request
Polls – the place where one goes to vote
Vote – to go and formally express your preference (by casting a ballot) on a matter up for decision
Hold a mock election in your house to help your student understand how it works. You could vote on: Friday night dinner, a movie for movie night, a special night of bedtime, who does a certain chore for a week, etc. (It is important to explain to your child that while our country’s government holds elections in order to make decisions, houses do not run this way!)
Art
Virginia Lee Burton’s illustrations always have incredible detail in them. In Maybelle, she draws very specific pictures that explain the workings of a cable car. If you can get copies, look also at Katy and the Big Snow and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. These specific details are included in those illustrations as well.
Resources
Book List
Cable Car Carnival by Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg
Anatomy of the San Francisco Cable Car by Frank Parker