The Salamander Room
Last week we “rowed” The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer. It was a cute story, and Ian really got into it, but we didn’t do a whole lot of extras. We did some of the activities in the Five in a Row manual (Vol. 3), watched the Reading Rainbow episode that featured the book, and read About Amphibians by Cathryn Sill (love this series!). There’s also a nice reading of the story on YouTube.
We also acquired a new pet, though it’s a reptile. Grandpa caught a gopher snake, and as with the bullfrogs we raised from tadpoles over the spring and summer, it’s proving to be quite the educational pet. Learning about our snake just as we were rowing this book provided a chance to talk about the differences between reptiles and amphibians. The boys are quite fascinated by “Rocky,” especially when it comes to watching him eat his weekly pinkies. (Having to buy live food also means trips to the pet store, so we got to see some live salamanders as well, which was a nice bonus.) Ian was quite inspired by The Salamander Room and has enjoyed creating a little world for his snake.
To see what other FIAR books we’ve rowed, see my “Index of FIAR Posts.” Also, a great place to see what other people have done with FIAR books is the FIAR Blog Roll at Delightful Learning.