The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar

This week's FIAR book was The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar by Natalie Kinsey-Wornoc. It's a sweet book about a girl whose family moves to an isolated island for a year. As the title suggests, there are wild horses on this island. The boys loved shouting out "FLORA" or "FAUNA" during our science discussion of the book. (My ears are still ringing! When will I learn not to encourage them to shout out answers? lol) My favorite part was that the girl, after she grew up, decided against visiting this favorite place of hers for fear that it isn't quite all that she remembered. Besides the flora & fauna discussion, we also talked about the pros & cons of living in isolation, first person narration, similes & metaphors, paint spattering for effect, & food preservation (canning & drying are both discussed during winter preparations on the island). We didn't get a chance to put together a lapbook for this book, so we will definitely revisit this for an afternoon of cutting & pasting.

I'm on the verge of Spring Fever Burnout (as evidenced by the many learning activities crossed out in my lesson plan book), so we're going to take a Teacher's Inservice next week. Haha! We'll visit Grandma & Grandpop, I'll read gobs of books, and we'll all take a much-needed break from school.