Five In A Row: The Very Last First Time

This week, we enjoyed another new-to-us book called the Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews, which is about an Inuit girl named Eva who walks on the bottom of the sea for the first time in search of mussels for her family.  LittleBear, LadyBear and I all enjoyed it and I think this is going to be one we'll have to add permanently to our library :)

This week we learned all about the Inuit people group, the Arctic, a bit about Canada, igloos, polar wildlife and more!  I think the kids really enjoyed it and I know I did.

Some highlights this week include:

Making Inuit paper dolls!

Creating scenes with an Arctic Toob set that found at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon!

One of the big highlights of the week was our own search for mussels!  Granted, here in Central Texas we aren't exactly able to walk on the bottom of the sea, but the Lord was so kind as to make it super cold outside (19 degrees, I think), so our trek to HEB in search of mussels did seem more authentic today than it normally would have. 

We actually found them and bought half a pound to bring home.  The kids really enjoyed holding them, looking them over, getting to touch and smell them, etc.

 Fun with mussels!

 Mussels on ice!

 Of course, Orbit wanted to know what we were all so interested in and LittleBear happily taught him what he had learned...
 
After exploring and talking about the mussels (they were still alive), I steamed them in a garlic herb butter and we had them for lunch alongside some super yummy crab cakes.  The mussels weren't everyone's favorite, but the crab cakes went over really well.  In fact, LittleBear ate two!

I really wanted to try and build an igloo this week with either sugar cubes or marshmallows, but we didn't get to it.  Hopefully, I'll squeeze that in tomorrow and update this post with pictures :)

Resources and printables I used for Very Last First Time can be found at:

Five In A Row Teacher's Manual

My Five In A Row Pinterest Board

Race Against the Frozen Tide- Human Planet- BBC on Youtube (seriously, watch this, it's amazing!)

How to Build an Igloo- A Boy Among Polar Bears- BBC on Youtube

Following His Father's Footsteps- A Boy Among Polar Bears- BBC on Youtube

 

Go Along Books we used for Very Last First Time (* indicate ones we especially liked):

*The Inuit by Kevin Cunningham and Peter Benoit

*Igloo by Yasmine A. Cordoba

*Polar Wildlife by Kamini Khanduri

*Building an Igloo by Ulli Steltzer

*Children Just Like Me by Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley (pg 23)

*My Arctic 1, 2, 3 by Vladyana Krykorka

*Where Do Polar Bears Live? by Sarah L. Thomson

*Here is the Arctic Winter by Madeleine Dunphy

Putting our story disk on Ungava Bay in Canada...