Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey is a classic children’s tale. The story is fun and full of surprises, and the illustrations in the book are well done and draw the reader in. Even young readers will enjoy reading about Sal and her mother, and there are some fun activities that can extend the learning after reading the book.
This post is part of the 31 Days of Literature Unit Ideas. You can find all of the books in the series here. You can get this literature unit study as well as 44 others and lots of great literature unit study resources here in my free ebook The Ultimate Book of Unit Studies for Literature Lovers.
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About the book…
Little Sal heads off to pick blueberries with her mother. Her mother tells Sal they are going to can their berries to keep for winter. As they’re picking, Sal wanders away picking and eating blueberries. When she hears a sound, she thinks it’s her mother. But she and her mother are both surprised by a mother bear and her cub who are also preparing for their long winter.
Learning activities…
- Hands-on: Go on your own “blueberry” hunt. Get a package of blue pom poms and hide the pom poms around the house. Take a bucket and go on a hunt to find all of the blueberries.
- Math: After you’ve found all the “blueberries” use them for some math practice. Young children can count them or count out numbers that they are given. Older children can use the “blueberries” to practice addition and subtraction.
- Hands-on: Make your own blueberry pie craft.
- Hands-on: You can use your blue pom poms in this great Feed the Bear game.
- Hands-on: Make your own blueberry crisp with this recipe.
- Science: Learn more about bears with this video.
- Science: Print this activity book about bears for bear facts, coloring sheets, crossword puzzles and more.
- Science: The bears Sal and her mom saw were getting ready for winter. You can find fun activities to learn about hibernation here.
- Hands-on: You can read more about canning and try your hand at canning your own fruit with the information here.
- Language arts: The author writes about the sound the berries make when they hit Sal’s pail. Read about onomatopoeia here and find some fun examples kids will enjoy.
Other resources…
- Homeschool Creations has a great free printables pack to go along with Blueberries for Sal.
- Find the Audible version of Blueberries for Sal here.
- Watch a video of the story being read aloud.
- Royal Baloo also has a free printables pack with great activities for PreK and K.
Booklist…
- Jamberry by Bruce Degen
- One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
- Bears: Polar Bears, Black Bears and Grizzly Bears by Deborah Hodge
- Grizzly Bears by Gail Gibbons
You can get this literature unit study as well as 44 others and lots of great literature unit study resources here in my free ebook The Ultimate Book of Unit Studies for Literature Lovers.
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