The Story About Ping

We just finished a unit with the book Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese. It is a story about a little duck from China who lives on the Yangtze River. I based our unit on the story and then taught things that go along with the book. Here are some of the things we learned about…

We learned about where China is located, and memorized all the countries in Asia.

We colored pictures of the Flag, and learned about the people.

We made egg drop soup.

We learned to write and count to 10 in Chinese,
Sagwa help them pronounce them at
http://pbskids.org/sagwa/games/index.html

We learned about the Chinese New Year. The Chinese calendar rotates every 12 years. Every year is named after an animal. Lauren is a boar, Madison is a Tiger, Sarah is a Dragon, Jared is a Horse, Mijken is a Rooster, and I am a RAT! What are you?
http://www.phillychinatown.com/chinese_topic/chinese_zodiac/chinese_zodiac_index.htm

We learned about the Great Wall of China and built one of our own out of blocks.

















We learned about why some things float and why others sink. Did you know that an orange will float, but if you peel the orange it will sink?

We learned why the same object will sink in fresh water, but will float in salt water.



We learned all about ducks and we ended the unit by feeding the ducks. While at the pond, Jared commented, “Mom it smells like poop!” But despite the smell he loved it and wanted to go home for more bread.







It was a great unit and we had a lot of fun. After they learned in ancient times that the fathers would sell their daughters to pay taxes, the girls decided that China was beautiful but they would not want to live there. Jared enjoyed dressing up in his karate outfit and declaring it Chinese day! It was fun and now we are going to enjoy the holiday with a unit on Halloween.

The Wedding

Friday night after work we drove to Utah for the wedding of Ryan and Alexis. We left 90-degree weather and ended up in a snowstorm. I was not well prepared in my very cold sandals. The wind was so cold at the temple, I was afraid that I would not catch my breath. However, the wedding was beautiful and the sealer gave wonderful words of wisdom. After the wedding on our way to the reception, it started to snow hard. They moved the tables into the garage of the house. Despite the unexpected weather, it turned out great. They both looked beautiful and very happy.

Fortunately, no one hired me to take pictures. I usually take pictures as an after thought. So here are a few pictures, but there are many people and moments that I missed. You will see how great the bride and groom looked, the kids willing to help at the reception, part of the family watching the football game, and in the end Jared shows us how we felt. It was a lot of traveling in a short amount of time. However, it was worth it to be there for such a special occasion and to be with family. It was a great weekend.