Nim's Island

We started a CurrClick Live Class on Nim's Island this week. We've been looking forward to this unit for a while. Somehow I thought it was starting later than last week and I had some trouble getting a copy of the book. I could hardly believe it. With a copy safely in my hands, we have begun the fun!

We read the book for the first time back in the spring and since then have watched the movie which really was very good. Wendy Orr is the author of Arabella as well which has been one of our favorite FIAR titles of all time. Our absolute favorite is Night of the Moonjellies which we row every year about this time. You can bet we'll do some moonjelly work during our visit with Nim and her island.

The live class is designed so that you can participate in a forum (if you choose) and work at your own pace by watching the videos of the teacher showing the activities and projects and how to put the notebook together. Here they are watching how to build a wind vane to determine wind direction. This ties in with our interest in learning more about weather and weather forecasting.

After we watched the video, we decorated the front cover of our Island Log. I chose a dot painting medium. Mine is at the bottom. Tip: whenever art is pulled out it's a good idea to make your own. Creative energy spent is never wasted friends!

The class assignments for each week only get posted one at a time on a weekly basis. While we wait, we'll take the map of Nim's Island found in the book to make our own island. Salt dough is always a favorite, but someone might want to make a diorama of the island. We'll see what moves us. We'll be taking a break twice during the unit for camping trips. This one might take a while. It is summer after all.