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Classroom
Connections
Activities
to use with
High
Tide in Hawaii
Pre-Reading Activities
Begin by having students
share what they might already know about Hawaii, our 50th state.
What words and images come to mind? Locate Hawaii on a world
map. Is it where students expected it to be? What ocean surrounds
it? Identify its longitude and latitude. Using the mileage key,
estimate Hawaii's distance from the students' home state. If
they were going to visit, how would students get there? How
many islands comprise Hawaii? What are their names? Which is
the biggest? The smallest? How were the Hawaiian Islands formed?
Aloha, Hawaii!
- Geography
- Social Studies
- History
- Art
Divide the class into eight groups, assigning one of the
Hawaiian Islands to each. Using Internet, library, and classroom
resources, each group will be responsible for researching
their island, providing information on relative location,
size, population, topography, natural resources, native
plants and wildlife, major cities, primary industries, points
of interest, and interesting facts. Each group will prepare
an "Aloha Hawaii" brochure to introduce classmates
to the individual islands of Hawaii through words and pictures.
"Pourquoi?"
Myths Take Stage
The legend of the
Fire Goddess Pele and her enduring rivalry with her sister,
Hi'iaka, traces the lineage of the Hawaiian people and illuminates
their powerful relationship to the land. Passed down for generations
through traditional hula dances and mele chants, this epic struggle
is played out to this day as the lava flowing from ongoing volcanic
eruptions becomes beds for 'ohi'a seedlings, symbolizing the
eternal cycle of destruction and renewal.
Using Internet and
library resources, share the legend of Pele with students.
Place this legend in the context of other "Porquoi?"
myths offering explanations for aspects of our natural world
(Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema, The
First Strawberries by Joseph Bruschac, etc.). Have students
role-play recreate the drama of Pele and her sister. Then,
ask students to write original "Pourquoi?" folktales
in which they offer imaginative explanations for things in
our natural world-for example, Why Fish Swim in the Sea, How
the Stars Were Placed in the Sky, How the Ocean Was Made,
or Why Grass Is Green.
Celebrate,
Hawaii!
- History
- Art
- Science
- Music
The culture of Hawaii
is a rich one, filled with customs and traditions that draw
from its diverse heritage and its natural island environment.
Students may become better acquainted with many of these customs
as they prepare for an authentic Hawaiian luau, complete with
leis, music, hula dancing, and typical foods all in a colorful
Hawaiian ambiance.
Transform your classroom
into a tropical paradise with colorful murals depicting the
environment of the Hawaiian Islands and its animal inhabitants.
Using paints and markers on large sheets of poster paper or
butcher paper, students may include mountains, waterfalls,
volcanoes, flowers (hibiscus, orchids), ferns, banana plants,
tall grasses, trees (palm, mulberry, breadfruit), bamboo,
peacocks, sea turtles, birds, butterflies, sandy beaches,
ocean shores, and seashells to recreate the unique beauty
of Hawaii.
The Hawaiian lei
represents "welcome." Have students make and wear
their own floral garlands around their necks. For each lei,
you will need:
- a length of heavy thread on a needle or shoestrings
- colorful drinking straws cut into one-inch pieces
- pre-hole punched construction paper flowers (approx.
two inches in diameter)
- colorful beads
Make a knot about
two inches from the bottom and then thread a flower, a bead,
a flower, and a straw until about two inches of string is
left, making sure the last piece is a straw. Tie the two ends
and trim them. Collect completed leis to give out at class
luau.
To Hawaiians, music
and dance are as much a celebration of life as they are a
proud statement of cultural identity. After reviewing music
and dance from their own cultures, have students listen to
traditional Hawaiian music. What instruments do they hear?
What qualities make this music different from others? Provide
students with percussion instruments (drums, gourds, sticks,
rattles) and set the stage for hula entertainment and storytelling.
As Jack and Annie
learn, the hula is more than just entertaining dance and chanting;
it is the method by which Hawaiians passed along stories and
legends.
Prepare students
to sway their hips to Hawaiian rhythms with hula skirts. Use
several long strands of raffia, knotted together about three
inches from each end to serve as a belt. Additional raffia
strands are used to make the skirt. Fold a strand in half
and slide the loop under the belt. Insert the ends of the
strand into the loop and pull tight to form a knot around
the belt. Repeat and push knots together to complete skirt.
Tie the skirt above the hips and you are ready to hula!
On the day of the
luau, the teacher may welcome students by placing their leis
around their necks and greeting them with "Aloha!"
Tables set for this cultural feast may include many typical
Hawaiian fruits and nuts such as pineapples, coconut, macadamia
nuts, bananas, breadfruit, poi (vanilla pudding may substitute),
and taro chips. Macadamia Nut-Coconut Cookies and a Hula Cooler
drink of tropical fruit punch offer delicious complements.
With rhythmic beats,
the swaying of hula skirts, and delicious foods to share with
friends, students will have all they need to "Celebrate,
Hawaii!"
 Check
out Hawaiian Eyes
Match Up
Certificate
of Achievement
* All activities
require Adobe
Acrobat
Activities
to use with
Tsunamis
and Other Natural Disasters
Classroom
Connections
- Language
Arts/Storytelling
Ask
the class about how we tell stories. In High Tide in Hawaii
, Jack and Annie learn how hula dancing is often used to
tell a story. Set the students to task telling the story of
the 2004 tsunami in the way they find most appropriate.
Use
a world map and the nonfiction guide to point out the places
on the earth where tsunamis have occurred.
Scientists
use the moment magnitude scale to describe the strength of an
earthquake. Discuss with the class what other scales we use
on a daily basis.
How
are plate tectonics, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes related?
Have students create a presentation using models and drawings
to explain the cause and effect relationship between each factor.
To simplify this idea, create a cause and effect chart to show
relationships between plate tectonics, earthquakes, tsunamis,
and volcanoes.
Have
students take turns role playing as a scientist making an announcement
about a tsunami on the way. Include what causes a tsunami, what
people could expect, and how they can keep themselves safe.
Create
a class book of disasters. Each event can be described as before
and after with pictures or diagrams. Organize
the events according to natural disaster type, and preface each
disaster with a page description of how and why the disaster
occurs. Add the good news about the warning systems in place
today to prevent deaths in similar disasters.
Using
the time line of “ Some Modern Disasters” in the Tsunamis
research guide, graph the casualties from each event as
a class.
Fact
or Fiction Challenge!
Host
a classroom Fact or Fiction Challenge! Ask students to read
High Tide in Hawaii and Tsunamis , paying
close attention to details like places, times, character names,
and vocabulary. Distribute a Fact
or Fiction Challenge Template to each student and have
them write down three facts and two fictional (false, made-up)
pieces of information. (They can alter information from the
books or bring in previous knowledge for the fictional cards).
Have students trade cards with one another and seek to determine
which cards are facts and which are fiction. The student being
quizzed should use the books to verify the facts on the cards.
This activity can be modified to include an entire class.
This
activity works with any of the Magic Tree House fiction adventure/nonfiction
research guide set.
Read
& Respond with Questions
- Example Questioning Based on Bloom’s
Taxonomy
Lifelong
learners critically evaluate ideas as they read. Model-read
a paragraph from High Tide in Hawaii or Tsunamis
and then verbalize related questions that you have as a
result of the reading. Create a bulletin board of questions,
linking questions to Bloom’s Taxonomy levels. (Some primary-age
children are ready to answer higher-level thinking questions,
so it is valuable to expose them to the process of thinking
on high levels, even if they cannot provide answers to the questions
yet.)
Knowledge:
What causes a Tsunami?
Comprehension:
Why were people in the fictional
story frantic when they realized a tsunami was coming?
Analysis:
What is the difference between
a tsunami, earthquake, or volcano and natural disasters like
hurricanes and tornados?
Application:
Apply what you read about disasters
to create a theory about what makes a building protected from
natural disasters.
Synthesis:
Can you design a disaster-proof
building? What would be unique about that building?
Evaluation:
Are we more vulnerable to natural
disasters than we used to be when all the continents were one
land mass? Why or why not? What if the continents broke apart
but stayed closer together?
Click
here for a thorough list of verbs related to Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Fact
or Fiction Challenge Template
Prepared
by Beth Fawley, the 2006 Magic Tree House Educator of the Year,
who is the K–12 Gifted and Talented Coordinator at Columbia
Heights Public Schools in Minnesota. |
About
the Magic Tree House . . .
