Mirette on the High Wire

Title: Mirette On the High Wire

Author/Illustrator: Emily Arnold McCully

Copyright: 1992

Caldecott Medal

Summary: A young Protegee of the famous Bellini ends up encouraging her teacher.

This Book was not originally the next book I was planning on reading to the kids but on our last field trip to the library Lily found  Mirette on the High Wire and wanted to read it. Well.... We did and she loved it! I decided to do some activities along with the book! Check out all the fun we had.



Social Studies:(France)
We placed our Story disk on France because that's where the story took place. We colored a map, flag and a picture of the Eiffel Tower. We also read some books about France.




Art:(Circus poster)
The kids designed their own circus posters using crayons and markers.


Science:(Metal-copper,cleaning money)
In the picture on the first page of the book their are copper pans. They are made from copper because they conduct heat so well. We examined copper pans in our own house, did an experiment using money and learned about the different properties of copper by reading books.

Examining copper pans-



This Science Experiment was fun for my kids and kept them busy cleaning coins. We used salt, white vinegar and coins. They first used paper towels to dip into the vinegar and salt to rub and clean the coins. They got the coins very shinny. Then they dumped all of the remaining coins in a bowl with the vinegar and salt. This process was exciting to them. I explained how over time copper oxidizes.(Oxidation is caused by exposure to oxygen!) We also talked about the Statue of Liberty and how it is made from copper and over time it turned green.


Books Read-



Science:(Balance,Gravity)
We made a simple scale out of pudding cups and a hanger. The kids hung it on a door in the kitchen. Then they used the coins from the previous experiment to weigh items found around the house. They started by balancing and making the scale equal then they determined which items where heavy or light. We also read books about balance and Gravity.

Scale Experiment-


Books read-


Mathematics:(Money,Counting)
We reviewed money skills. We counted the coins to see how many we used in our science experiments and how much money they where worth.

Language arts:(Compound words)
Their are many compound words in this book. We learned that a compound word is made up of two different words put together. Lily and Aj drew pictures of words on flash cards then we played a game where we matched the words up to make compound words.


Field Trip 1-(playground)
We went to the playground to try balancing just like Mirette did.



Field Trip 2-(Gymnastic studio)
We were lucky enough to go to a gymnastic studio this month to practice balancing on a balance beam and try other gym equipment.



Extra fun: (Art,coloring,tightrope walkers)
We colored a picture of a girl on tight rope! We also watched two u-tube videos on tightrope walking.