Law – The mayor’s wife thought there should be a town law against Miss Twiggley living in a tree, sleeping in her hat, and being a “nuisance”. Ask your child if he thinks there should be laws about such things. Do you think these would be good laws? Talk about what makes a good law. To be a good law, it must not go against our Constitutionally protected rights, and it must be able to be followed by all people. It cannot take away the rights of one person to benefit another. As long as Miss Twiggley is not hurting the person or property of another, she is not breaking any laws. Town governments can write and vote on codes, which would apply to the citizens of their town, but even these codes should be within the guidelines of the Constitution. Have child make up a set of laws for home. Are they good laws? Are they able to be followed by all family members? Have a family vote to see if the laws should be passed. Compare to God’s laws and discuss why he chose to make them.

Science

Hurricanes –The mayor feared that the town was in for a wild hurricane. Hurricanes are powerful, whirling storms. They form over the warm oceans close to the equator and can travel hundreds of miles. As the sun heats up the seas, warm water vapor rises into the air forming large thunderclouds. Wind causes the masses of clouds to whirl strongly. The hurricanes move across the ocean creating huge waves that can crash on the shore. Often times, the hurricane never makes it to land. When they do come to land, they bring high, destructive winds and heavy rains.

To learn more about hurricanes, read these informative books:

The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane by Joanne Cole

Hurricanes and Tornadoes by Norman S. Barrett

Or these picture books about children experiencing a hurricane:

Hurricane by David Wiesner

Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey

Wind – “The wind blew a gale.” What causes the wind? Air is made of tiny particles called molecules. As these molecules heat up, they expand, move faster, and spread out. When the molecules get cool, they contract, move slower, and stay together. So as the sun warms the air, the air rises. The cold air rushes in to take the place of the warm air. We feel this movement of air as wind. For further research, study the Beaufort Wind Scale to see what constitutes a fair breeze, moderate gale, or storm winds.

Spyglass– Puss used a spyglass, also called a telescope, to look for the coming guests. Telescopes were first invented about 400 years ago to make objects appear closer than they were. Telescopes such as the one invented by Galileo in 1609 were “refracting telescopes”. They had two lenses, a larger objective lens and a smaller ocular lens, which was held near the eye. Rays of light would enter through the objective lens, and as they passed through the second lens, the light was bent again to magnify the image. The image, while appearing to be up to 33X closer, actually appeared backward and upside down. This design was later improved by the addition of mirrors. Just for fun, maybe your child would like to make a spyglass.

Buoyancy – As the floodwater raised, the townspeople used whatever they could for a boat. With your child, identify the different items the folks used. Can he spot the tub, mailbox, or the hat? Why do some things float, while others sink? Discuss the term buoyancy, the capacity to float, with your child. When a boat floats, it pushes some of the water under it aside. The water around the boat pushes back. This force of water holds up the boat, letting it float. If the boat becomes too heavy, from something such as too many people aboard, or rain filling the boat with water, the weight of the boat is too much for the force around it, and it will capsize or sink. Fill your bathtub up with water and ask your child to grab various items from around the house to drop in the water. Have him make a list of the items, and think about whether they will sink or float. Try things like a penny, marble, toothpick, rock, a piece of paper, etc. Also have him try a dry sponge, and see what happens when it absorbs all the water and becomes too heavy for the water to hold up. If he would like, have your child make a little boat and float it in a pan of water, like the one pictured on the first page of our story. Read The Magic School Bus, Ups and Downs by Joanna Cole to learn more about things that sink and float.

Trees – Miss Twiggley lived in a tree. There are many different species of trees throughout the world. They all have three main features in common, the crown, the trunk, and the roots. The crown is the top of the tree where the branches and leaves are found. The trunk is the stem of the tree, helping food to travel from the roots to the crown. It is covered with bark for protection. The roots are underground and absorb the water and nutrients that feed the tree. The roots are also what hold the tree in place.

Trees belong to one of two groups. First, there are deciduous, or broadleaf trees, which have leaves that lose their color and fall from the trees in the winter. They have seeds that grow inside fruits, nuts, pods, or berries. Then there are evergreen trees, which have needles that stay green all year long and have their seeds inside of a cone. Looking through Fun with Nature Take Along Guide or another field guide, can your child identify what type Miss Twiggley’s tree is? Have your child look at the features such as the leaves, bark, twigs, and/or buds throughout the pictures to decide what he thinks it might be. Miss Twiggley’s tree is a deciduous tree called a willow (found on pages 238-239 in Fun with Nature). Research willow trees and have your child fill out this prepared Willow Notebook Page

if desired.

You may want to extend your study of trees into a deeper study of plant life and/or the many uses of trees. Here are some extra links for you to explore:

Free Working Trees Coloring/Activity Book

A great Homeschool Share unit on Leaf Man can be found here.

Rainbows – Can your child find the rainbow over the tree house at the end of the story? Rainbows are arcs of color that we see in the sky opposite of the sun. As sunlight shines through small drops of water, the water acts as prisms and divides the white light into different colors. Teach your child how to remember the colors of the rainbow – ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) These colors of the rainbow will always be in the same order, with red at the top and indigo at the bottom. Read with your child The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow by Joanna Cole to learn more about rainbows. Have your child draw a picture of a rainbow, coloring it the correct colors.

Language Arts

Poetry – This fun story is written in verse. Did your child enjoy having it read to him? The story is actually one big poem. Discuss with your child the parts of a poem:

Title – Usually at the top of the work, some poems have a title and some don’t. The title of this poem is the same as the title on the book, Miss Twiggley’s Tree.

Stanza – A stanza is a group of lines in a poem, often separated by a space. Have your child look for the stanzas throughout the book.

Line – Poems are made of lines. Stanzas sometimes organize lines. Each of the stanzas in this poem has four lines, except for a couple occasions. Can your child find the stanzas that don’t have four lines?

Rhyme scheme – Pattern of rhyming lines is called the rhyme scheme. Not all poems have a rhyme scheme, but this one does. Every second and fourth lines rhyme.

Poet – Usually you will find the author’s name at the bottom of the poem, but on occasions where the poem is made into a book, you’ll usually find it on the cover and title page. Have your child locate the name of the poet.

Poetic Devices – An author sometimes use poetic devices to jazz up a poem. They lend to the readability and excitement of the verse. The author of this poem has chosen to use many poetic devices. We will discuss them here:

Metaphor – A metaphor is a comparison of two or more things not using “like” or “as”. After the rains started coming down, “the road and the meadow were one stormy sea”. The author wanted us to visualize a stormy sea to get a full appreciation for just how much water had come down on the town.

Internal rhyme – when the rhyming words appear in the same line of poetry. When the author writes, “I slept in my hat” and “For a wet friend or two” she is using an internal rhyme.

Personification – When an author gives human characteristics to a non-human object, it is called personification. The author of this poem has used personification throughout this story. Can your child figure out where? The author has given a dog and bears some human like characteristics such as clothing to wear, and has them doing things such as shopping and playing games that an animal can’t ordinarily do.

Alliteration – Alliteration is when two or more words with same beginning sounds are placed together in a line or sentence. The title itself is alliterative, with Twiggley’s and Tree next to each other. See if your child can pick out any others. Some examples are:

When company came

“They shed on the sofa,” she said,

The town dogs teased

To his safe-and-sound tree

When I come to call

But more pressing problems

Repetition – Another device an author will sometimes use is repetition of words or phrases throughout the poem or story. On one of the days you read through the story, have your child count the number of times Miss Twiggley sleeping in her hat is mentioned. Also point out who is sleeping in the hat at the end of the story!

Onomatopoeia – Words that imitate sounds are called onomatopoeia. The author used this poetic device towards the end of the story when describing how the rain sounded, “splittery-splat”.

Vocabulary –

Disgraceful – “Simply Disgraceful!” – shameful; unacceptable

Mayor – “The poor mayor sighed.”

Nuisance – “Miss Twiggley’s a nuisance.” – something that irritates and/or causes trouble

Bough – “her wash on a bough!” – large branch of a tree

Battened her hatches – battens are thin strips of wood and hatches are doors or openings. The phrase “batten down the hatches” means to secure anything outside that might blow away or get damaged in a storm.

Bedraggled – “looking bedraggled” - wet, soiled, untidy

Math

Calendar – “It did rain for a week and a month and a day”. Use this as an opportunity to teach your child calendar skills. How many days in a week? In a month? How many hours in a day? Have your child figure out how many days the rain lasted if the storm came in April. (7+30+1) How about July? (7+31+1) Older children can figure out how many hours it rained. Use poems from here to help your children learn calendar skills.

Graphing – Go for a walk in an area that has lots of different trees, maybe on your property, or at a nature center or park. Make a list of the kinds of trees (using a field guide as needed) and show your child how to make tally marks to collect data while you are on your walk. Explain that tally marks are an easy way to add up by fives a quantity of things. When you get back home have your child convert the tally marks to a graph, which is easier to look at than just tally marks or numbers. Identify which tree there were the most and least of. Use Tree Graph as desired.

Playing Store – Isn’t it funny seeing a dog go shopping? Well, you might not take your dog shopping, but you could surely have your child help with the task. Teach your child how you make up a shopping list, taking into consideration the items you need, the items you want, and the amount of money you have to spend. Give them a certain amount of play money and let them “go shopping” in a supermarket ad. Set up a play store and let them take turns being the customer and the cashier. Here is a Shopping List you can print out if you’d like.

Art

Tree Houses – Does your child think a tree house would be a fun place to live? Maybe he has a tree house that he can climb into and play in. Most children just love climbing trees, and especially enjoy tree houses. If it weren’t possible to actually build a tree house with your child, maybe he would enjoy designing one on paper or with craft supplies. Have him pick a type of tree from the field guides to use as a reference to draw his tree. What would he like his tree house to look like? How will he get up and down? Will it have windows? If desired, read some other books featuring tree houses. Some possibilities include:

Tree House Fun by Rose Greydanus (Troll Easy Reader)

Miss Suzy by Miriam Young

Swiss Family Robinson

Reflective Images – Have some fun with this easy art lesson. Turn to the page where the mayor is looking out the window. Take notice of the window itself. From inside looking out the letters all appear backwards. Have your child write backwards on a window with window markers, and then go to the other side of the window to see how he did. Another way to do this is to write a message backwards, and then look at the reflection in a mirror. You may also want to mention that ambulances have the words written on their front ends backwards so that when someone is looking in their rearview mirror, they can read who is behind them.

Bible /Character

Noah’s Ark – While the animals and folks were all staying in Miss Twiggley’s tree, they pretended it was like Noah’s ark. What was Noah’s ark like? Read the story of Noah’s Ark recorded in Genesis 6-9. A beautiful picture book about Noah’s ark is The True Story of Noah’s Ark by Tom Dooley.

Hospitality – Hospitality is the act of taking care of guests or strangers. The people who invite the guests to the home are the hosts. A good host(ess) will make sure her guests are cozy, warm, sheltered and fed. She will see that they are having fun and will take care of all their needs. Were Miss Twiggley and Puss good hosts? The next time you have guests over to your house, let your children practice being a good host.

Teasing vs. Kindness – Has your child ever been teased, or possibly been the teaser himself? It is no fun being teased, and the old saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me” doesn’t really stand to be true, does it? Being called names does hurt. The town dogs teased poor Puss. They were not very nice to him. What does the Bible say about how we are to treat others? In I John 4:20 our love for one another proves that we love God. Our acts of kindness toward one another reflect our kindness toward God. Ask your child if he tries to show kindness to everyone or is he a teaser? Discuss how it is sometimes hard to be kind to those who are mean to us. How did the teasing pups treat Pus after he was kind to them? A little bit of kindness goes a long way.

Miscellaneous

The weather report said it was going to rain. The person who reports the weather is called a meteorologist. After watching the weather report on the news, encourage your child to play meteorologist, giving the daily weather report to the family.

Let your child help to make a pot of stew. For your early reader, a good book about a boy who wants to play host and serve beef stew is Beef Stew by Barbara Brenner.

Pretend to have a stormy night. Turn off the lights and play games and sing till after dark.

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