April 2014 Volume 2 Issue 4
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Cover art by: Copyright © 2014 Brooke Parr
Kid's Imagination Train
April 2014 Volume 2 Issue 4
ISSN 2333-987X
Editor-in-Chief: Randi Lynn Mrvos
Book Reviewer: Donna Smith
Illustrator: Brooke Parr
Marketing Director: Rosemarie Gillen Illustrator: Brooke Parr
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All across the United States
Publishing Office:
4637 Spring Creek Drive
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Mission Statement:
Welcome to the Kid's Imagination Train, where children can take the journey of reading in a brand new way. KIT offers book reviews, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction for kids ages 5 - 12. It’s unique in that it engages children by providing the opportunity to illustrate their favorite features and have them published online.
We invite you to read, to learn, and to draw!
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http://kidsimaginationtrain.com
CONTENTS
Volume 2 Issue 4
What's New This Month?
3...Poetry
Seasons
by Nanci Moklak
4...Poetry
Stormy Weather
4...Poetry
Stormy Weather
by Lisa Hart
5...Nonfiction
Cooking on the Range
Cooking on the Range
by Donna Smith
6...Book Review
Buddy and the Bunnies in Don't Play with your Food
Buddy and the Bunnies in Don't Play with your Food
by Donna Smith
7...Lesson Plan
Estimation
by Randi Lynn Mrvos Estimation
8...Lesson Plan Activity
The Estimation Game
The Estimation Game
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
Seasons
Seasons
come and seasons go.
But
when they come,
how
do they come?
By bus, by truck, by car, by plane?
Carried by a crane?
By bus, by truck, by car, by plane?
Carried by a crane?
Aboard a ship? Hot air balloon?
A
submarine?
Big
spoon?
Or
maybe something magical...invisible, unseen?
Seasons
come and seasons go.
But when they go,
But when they go,
where
do they go?
Beyond the meadow grassy tall?
Upon
the backs of ants so small?
Up
high toward sky, so vast, so blue?
'Cross
land so vivid green?
Hop-hopping
with a kangaroo...
...or
somewhere in between?
Seasons come and seasons go.
I'm
glad they do.
That
much I know!
Written by: Nanci Moklak 3
Stormy Weather
Written by: Lisa Hart
Art by: Asa 4
Art by: Asa 4
Cooking on the Range
The smoke makes your eyes
tear. It catches in your throat and causes you to cough. You reach for
the crane. You swing it out of the fireplace to check on your pot of stew and
to see if the water in the kettle is boiling. After swinging the crane back
over the fire, you use the poker to stir the logs to create more heat. Your
cooking tools include long-handled shovels and tongs along with a bellows. On
other days, you will use a spit for roasting meat or a grill that sits over a
small fire for broiling. Cooking in the late 1700s is a laborious task.
But in the early 1800s, a man named Count Rumford comes up with a new way of
cooking. His invention, the Rumford range, is the first step in modernizing the
American kitchen.
Rumford’s Range
Rumford considered cooking over
an open fire to be “uncontrollable and inefficient and the fire cooked the cook
almost as much as the food.” Rumford’s range consisted of vertical holes built
into a brickwork structure. The size of the holes corresponded with different
shaped pots, pans, kettles, double boilers, and pressure cookers. Each hole
contained its own separate fire. Ash pit doors included a register that opened
and closed to allow more or less airflow. A damper located on individual flues
connected to the same chimney. The range fires were extinguished by placing
earthenware covers over each hole and closing the register.
Fast Food in the 1800s
John Scanlon is a
preservationist and the vice president of the Friends of Hearthside, a historical
home located in Lincoln, Rhode Island. He
believes that a home with a fireplace, beehive oven, and a Rumford range could
cook food simultaneously. He goes on to say, “This could have saved hours in
cooking and fire setting time and the cook could always have something on hand
for the family or farmhands.”
Scanlon adds, “Due to the way
the system works, there could be hot meals at different times of the day,
without having to start or keep large fires going all the time, thereby
enabling shifts of people to eat.” Scanlon’s view echoes Count Rumford’s reason
for inventing the Rumford range. Rumford wanted to create a way to feed a large
number of people.
Evolution of the Cooking Range
By
1830, the cast iron stove replaced hearth cooking and the Rumford range. The
mass-produced cast iron stove became a kitchen staple due to its affordability.
Throughout the centuries, the stove continued to evolve into the modern gas and
electric range. Count
Rumford’s preoccupation with improving cooking methods led him to also invent
the double boiler and the drip coffeepot. His studies of heat and friction focused
on improving the efficiency of fireplaces and chimneys. He also worked on rendering early
versions of central heat and thermal clothing.
The Man behind the Range
Count
Rumford was born Benjamin Thompson in Woburn, Massachusetts on March 26, 1753.
His father was a farmer who died when Thompson was almost two-years old. Though his
formal schooling ended at the age of thirteen, Thompson
became a soldier, a statesman, a scientist, an inventor, and a world traveler.
He was also an advocate for the social reform of the poor. Count Rumford was
sixty-one when he died, on August 21, 1814 in Auteuil, France. Franklin
Roosevelt believed that Count Rumford was just as important in history as Thomas
Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. He considered Count Rumford “the greatest mind
America has produced.”
Sidebar: Benjamin Thompson married a rich widow and lived in Rumford, Massachusetts. After the Revolutionary War, he sailed to England. In 1783, he traveled to Germany. There, he was given the title of Count in recognition of his civilian and military services.
The author wishes to thank John Scanlon, Vice President, Site Management at Hearthside for his expertise.
Written by: Donna Smith 5
Book Review
Name
of Book: Buddy and the Bunnies in Don’t Play with your Food
Author: Bob Shea
Year
Published: 2014
Age
Range of Book: 4 - 8 years
Publisher: Disney - Hyperion
ISBN: 978-1-4231-6807-2
Price:
$12.73
If
you’re a monster, you should read this book because even monsters can be
fooled.
Bob
Shea’s book is filled with bunnies that multiply throughout the story. These
bunnies aren’t dumb. They come up with clever and fun ways to discourage Buddy
the monster from eating them. They encourage him to eat cupcakes, join them in
a game of hide and seek, and ride the gut-turning Whip at the carnival.
Real
monsters eat before they swim, but they don’t play with their food and they never become
friendly with their meal. Buddy really isn’t a monster at all. He’s just lonely
and the bunnies, while tricking him, teach Buddy to think with his heart
instead of his stomach. When the bunnies encounter Buddy, they’re fearless and
unflappable. Buddy yells at the bunnies, “Hop in my mouth so I can eat you!”
The bunnies reply, “It is too hot to be eaten...Can we go swimming instead?”
The book
is a colorful blast from the first page to the last. The illustrations convey
the joy that the bunnies are experiencing while they outsmart Buddy. The
loosely sketched bunnies are adorable and Buddy goes from menacing to a
lovable, striped, furry giant.
Shea is
the author and illustrator of Don’t Play
with Your Food as well as Unicorn
Thinks He’s Pretty Great and his series of Dinosaur picture books. His
Dinosaur books include Dinosaur vs.
Bedtime, Dinosaur vs. the Library,
Dinosaur vs. Santa and Dinosaur vs. the Potty. He also wrote Big Plans with illustrations done by
Lane Smith.
Rating for the book: *****
Donna
Smith is a freelance writer. You can visit her website at www.smithswritingstudio.com
6
Lesson Plan: Estimation
Sometimes
in mathematics only estimates are needed. An estimate is a good guess, a quick guess. They are not the exact answer, but close to the correct answer.
If the number in the ones place is a 1, 2, 3, or 4 round down to the nearest ten. For example, the number 22 would be rounded down to 20. The number 53 would be rounded down to 50.
You can
estimate just about anything: the number of people on a beach, the amount
of money in a stack of coins, what time someone will arrive, and so on!
In
estimating amounts, we usually round off to an approximate number.
Rounding off helps you estimate
more easily.
If the number in the ones place is a 1, 2, 3, or 4 round down to the nearest ten. For example, the number 22 would be rounded down to 20. The number 53 would be rounded down to 50.
If the
number in the ones place is 6, 7, 8, or 9 round up. The number 76 would be rounded up to 80. The number 18 would be rounded up to 20. When a number is 5 in the ones place,
it may be rounded up or down.
Written by: Randi Lynn Mrvos 7
Lesson Plan Activity: The Estimation Game
Materials: Items listed below, paper, pencil
Directions:
1. Gather the items listed below. Do not count the items.
2. Look at the items in the left column. Estimate the number of each.
3. Write the estimates on a piece of paper. Round up or round down the numbers.
4. Then, count the items and compare the number to the estimate.
5. After completing the first list of items, estimate the items in the column on the right.
Pennies from a
piggy bank Socks in a drawer
Marbles, beads, or
jelly beans in a jar Books on a shelf
Mini
marshmallows in a bag Words on a page of a book
Cotton balls in a
bag Hangers
in a closet
Envelopes in a
box Spoons
in a drawer
Blueberries in a
carton or grapes in a bowl Cans
in a pantry
Written by: Randi Lynn Mrvos 8
For more details contact: Randi.lynn.mrvos@twc.com
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