Cherry Blossom Friends

Are you aware this year is the centennial celebration of the Cherry Blossom Trees given to the United States by Japan as a sign of friendship?  In honor of this remarkable event, Corkey DeSimone wrote a fabulous book called Cherry Blossom Friends perfect for spring.  Click image below for more information.

I love how the book features wonderful riddles perfect for primary students and rich history of the National Mall including the Tidal Basin and all the memorials of Washington DC for intermediate students.  The author also does a wonderful job of explaining the shipment of the 3800 tress from Japan to DC.

This past year, I recommended this magnificent read to my principal for one of our books of the month.  I was even more excited to hear the book was purchased for each teacher to feature in January.  My school looks so pretty decorated in pink.  I've been working with my students on a cross-curricular unit to align with the story. 

Included in the unit: Cherry Blossom Friends vocabulary flashcards, vocabulary response sheet, and vocabulary concentration, picture of schema chart and graphic images used for the chart, blossom KWL, Haiku poetry lesson, pictures of student poetry, and poetry reproducible, Non-Fiction Cherry Blossom book, Life cycle of a blossom tree poster, Non-Fiction vocabulary using Frayer Model, blossom artwork inspired by First Grade Best with graphics printable, pocket chart riddles to sequence, animal flashcards to match to riddles, pictures of the sequence activity, Monument'al Tour Guide book of all the memorials featured in Cherry Blossom Friends (written for primary and blank for intermediate classes).  

 

If you are interested in celebrating with my class, you can purchase this unit from my store.  

Click image above to link.

If you'd like more information on the 2012 Festival, link here