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Blueberries for Sal Unit Study

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Exploring Blueberries with Sal

As the sun rises higher in the sky the blueberries start to ripen. Plump, ripe and delicious blueberries are one of my children's favorite berries to pick so when we discovered Robert McClosky's classic tale, Blueberries for Sal, we just had to turn it into a Unit Study.

We will read about blueberries and learn about blueberry plants. We can write with blueberry juice and unscramble the blueberry words. As we pick more and more blueberries we will be counting, adding and multiplying the blueberries and then divide them evenly to practice skip counting.

So pick up your tin pail, and tie up your shoes, we're going blueberry picking with Sal and her mother on Blueberry Hill....

Photo Credit: Picking Blueberries by saltaylorkydd
Used under creative commons

Language Arts

Blueberries for Sal

by Robert McCloskey

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk go the blueberries into Little Sal's tin pail. Sal and her mother are picking blueberries up on Blueberry Hill and today we will join them as we begin this unit study. Let's start by reading Blueberries for Sal.
Blueberries for Sal

Blueberries for Sal

by: Robert McCloskey

Amazon Price: $3.41 (as of 05/29/2012)Buy Now

Blueberry Fiction

Language Arts for Multi-Ages

Here are some of our favorite blueberry books. We love to read them over and over again. For the little ones just learning letters we sometimes point out a letter such as the letter b for blueberry and after reading a story go back and look to see how often we can find it on a page or through out the book.

Children who are learning words might look for the word blueberry rather than just the one letter. This age group loves to use Highlighter Tape to find words in books. You could ask your beginning readers to put a piece of highlighter tape on the word blueberry each time they run across it as an independent activities while working with your other children.

Older children could write stories that take place after the story that you just read, research information about blueberries or read a favorite blueberry story onto a tape for the younger ones to listen to.

No matter what age your children are they will love listening to long chapter books such as the The Bobbsey Twins on Blueberry Island. Listening to books with high vocabulary levels is the best way of increasing children's vocabulary.
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The Letter K

Blueberries for Sal Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

Rated: 5 of 5 stars
"Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk" As I was working on a unit study for Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey, it stuck me that the words "kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk" all began with the letter K. Now wasn't there another book that had letter K words? Oh, yes, it was Klippity Klop by Ed Emberley

The letter K was used in each of these books I believe to highlight the fact that these words are not actually considered words but letter sounds that represent a sound heard. kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk are the sounds heard as Sal drops blueberries into her tin pail. Klippity Klop is the sound of the horse's hoofs as the little Knight sets off on an adventure.

Both delightful tales that children of all ages will love, the connection between these two books will be appreciated by older children struggling to spell our complicated English language.

View all my reviews >> on GoodReads

Little Sal learns the Letter K

Letter K in Print and Cursive

Letter K

Photo Credit: Letter K
Used under creative commons



When you are homeschooling children of various different ages it is wonderful to find materials that can be enjoyed by all of them. Blueberries for Sal and Klippity Klop are just such books.

Use these books as an excuse to talk about the Letter K. It is used infrequently. Was that the reason that Robert McCloskey and Ed Emberley used it when inventing words to represent the sounds.

Children love practicing cursive or print when writing fun words like klippity klop or Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk.

Have your younger ones practice making the letter k in print while the older ones practice writing the k words using their best cursive.
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Change Blueberry to Blueberries

Changing 'Y' to 'I': Using Finger Pencils to Teach Plurals

Finger Writing

Photo Credit: Finger Writing
From WPClipart


In this classic picture book, little Sal becomes so involved in her blueberry picking, she doesn't notice that she's following the wrong mother, an equally startled mother bear! Amusing and suspenseful and entirely childlike in appeal.

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Blueberries for Sal: Changing -y to -i: Using Finger Pencils to Teach Plurals

Activity for teaching the rule to turn blueberry to blueberries by changing the y to i and adding -es. As you explain the rule have the children write the word blueberry, erase the y, change it to i and add -es using fingers to write on each others backs, legs etc.1 point

Blueberry Words!

Create a Blueberry Word Wall!

While searching for more language arts activity ideas for the Blueberries for Sal Unit Study I ran across this craft blog by Susan. Susan created the blueberry pie paper craft so that the crust can open up. That gave me the idea of using the idea to create a word wall of blueberry words.

Blueberry PieBlueberry Words

Photo Credit: Blueberry Pie Craft
on Busy with Cricky by Susan
Used by Permission


Fill the pie with blueberry words! Activities to accompany Blueberries for Sal! Make a paper pie crust and then cut out blue circles. Write a word related to the story Blueberries for Sal on each circle. Paste the blueberry words onto the pie crust. Can you fill the pie?

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Blueberry Word Searches

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Blueberry Word Search

Blueberry games are a great way to teach kids about nutrition and the benefits of eating blueberries.1 point

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Berries Word Search

Food and cooking word search. Free berries word search, free to print!1 point

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Berry Word Search

Can you find these words hidden in the square? Includes blueberries.1 point

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Berries Word Search Puzzle

Free Printable Wordsearch Puzzle about Berries1 point

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Nuts and Berries word search puzzle

Food and Cooking word search, all about Nuts and Berries! Play this fun Food and Cooking wordsearch! Would these be the things that the Three Bears would put in their porridge?1 point

Blueberry Poems

Poems for Increasing Vocabulary

Picking Blueberries
BLUEBERRY POEM - An amusing blueberry poem by Robert Frost.
"You ought to have seen what I saw on my way
To the village, through Mortenson's pasture to-day:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb, ...
Not Enough Blueberries (poem) by Mary E Lacey on AuthorsDen
We walked and picked berries, and
ate almost every one, than when we
got home we realized what we had done.
Mom looked at our empty baskets, and
asked us ...

Photo Credit: Blueberry Picking by bgreenlee
Used under creative commons

Math

Regrouping with Blueberry Math

Blue Ribbon Blueberry Pie is the best-but do these bear cubs have enough ingredients to bake one? Regrouping their berries, nuts, and seeds by tens and ones reveals that one cub has not done her fair bear share. John Speirs's irresistible bear cubs make this lesson in regrouping one children will enjoy. - Product Discription
A Fair Bear Share (MathStart 2)

A Fair Bear Share (MathStart 2)

by: Stuart J. Murphy

Amazon Price: $2.96 (as of 05/29/2012)Buy Now

Product Description

Blue Ribbon Blueberry Pie. If the bear cubs gather enough nuts, seeds and blueberries, Mama Bear has agreed to make her special, lip-smacking-good pie.

Each time they fill their baskets, the cubs count berries, seeds and nuts by putting them in groups of tens and ones to see if they have enough for pie.

Blueberry Picking Game

Blueberry Place Value Game

Pretend that the cherry trees are blueberry bushes.

Each bush has ten holes for placing up to 10 blueberries. Spin the spinner or roll some dice to see how many blueberries to add to your tree. When a tree is full, pick those blueberries and add them to a tin pail. (Only ten blueberries to a pail.)

When you have ten pails you will have counted out 100 blueberries.
Hi Ho Cherry-O

Hi Ho Cherry-O

Amazon Price: $7.72 (as of 05/29/2012)Buy Now

Hi Ho a Cherry Oh comes with four cherry trees, each with ten holes for plastic cherries. The game includes a total of 40 cherries.

Wooden Blueberries

Blueberries for the Place Value Game

These wooden blueberries can replace the cherries in the Hi Ho Cherry O game so that you can play the Blueberry Place Value Game.
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Small Tin Pails for Collecting Blueberries

Blueberry Place Value Tin Pails

Time to pick some blueberries and learn place value. Though children can count to 100 they may not truly understand what the digit in the tens place means. By counting groups of 10 blueberries and then 10 tin pails containing 10 blueberries each, children will develop this concept in a concrete way that will eliminate the problem that students have in higher levels of math because they will realize the digits in the tens column actually represent 10, 20, or 30 rather than 1,2,or3.
Mini Metal Buckets (1 dz)

Mini Metal Buckets (1 dz)

Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 05/29/2012)Buy Now

Tiny tin pails for the Blueberry Place Value Game

Place Value beyond the Blueberries

More Place Value Games and Activities

You can find even more activities for helping your children learn place value on the following page. Children need lots of concrete, hands-on experiences with counting and place value in order to truly understand the concept.
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More Blueberries for Sal Math Activities

Linen Tea Towel

Photo Credit: Linen Tea Towel
Use as a Mathmat for Blueberry Math

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Blueberries for Sal: Counting and correspondence

This lesson is designed to aid the teacher in teaching the math skills of one to one correspondence, number recognition, and matching numbers to sets. It is also a great lesson to integrate into a unit on Bears or the color Blue.1 point

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Blueberries for Sal -- Math Mat

1. Print math mat, math mat numbers and math mat counters on card stock. Laminate if desired.
2. Cut out the math mat number squares (1 to 20) and the blueberry counter squares.
3. Place a math mat number on the indicated blue square of the math mat.
4. Have the child place the correct number of blueberries in the pail.1 point

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Blueberries for Sal - Numbers and Operations

Gone Berry Pickin' and practicing addition or subtraction facts.1 point

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Blueberries for Sal -- Math Mat

Place the correct number of blueberries in the tin buckets.1 point

Science

Bake a Blueberry Pie

The Science of making a Blueberry Pie

Now you can put it all together.

How many of your five senses can you use to explore the ingredients needed to make a blueberry pie?

Cat Cooking a Pie

Cat Cooking a Pie
Buy at AllPosters.com


Use math to measure the ingredients accurately, set the oven temperature, and measure the time needed to bake the pie. Later on you will be able to use your knowledge of fractions and division to cut the pie into enough equal pieces for all the members of your family.

Use your knowledge of science to observe the way that the skin of the blueberries break down when heated. Notice that the juice coming from the berries mixes with the sugar, they become a sweet solution, a physical reaction, not a chemical reaction. When the crust browns that browns on top, that is a chemical reaction.
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Mother Bear

Here is a plush Mother Bear big enough to realistically act out the story of Blueberries for Sal and Sal and her mother and Little Bear and his mother get mixed up on Blueberry Hill.
Big Teddy Bear - Papa Browser - 4 FEET 6 INCHES

Big Teddy Bear - Papa Browser - 4 FEET 6 INCHES

Amazon Price: $164.99 (as of 05/29/2012)Buy Now

4 feet 6 inches tall

Little Bear

This plush American Black Bear is just the right size to pretend to be Little Bear as you recreate the scene where Mother Bear and Sal's Mother, and Little Bear and Sal get mixed up on Blueberry Hill as they are picking blueberries for winter.
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Mother and Little Bear's Den

Bear Cave

Stuffed Animal Storage
Safari Tent and Tunnel Combination
Link to Tent and Tunnel on Amazon


This tent and tunnel combination are the perfect place to store all your stuffed bears. Mother Bear and her cub can crawl inside with all their favorite blueberry books to read and learn all about how blueberries grow.
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Social Studies

History of Wild Maine Blueberries

Even very small children will listen to stories told in an interesting voice. This book is written for adults but as a read aloud, it is a delightful tale enjoyed by children of all ages. Incidentally, they will also be learning about the history of Maine, the towns that grew up around the blueberry farms, the social life of the people there and the industry that grew up around blueberry picking.

As homeschoolers of children of multiple ages, I find that one of the best resources for teaching history and social studies is through read aloud chapter books that spark imagination, create pictures in your mind and enhance the theme of our unit study. Blueberryland is just one of those books.
Blueberryland: Taming the Maine Wild Lowbush Blueberry

Blueberryland: Taming the Maine Wild Lowbush Blueberry

by: Walter Staples

Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 05/29/2012)Buy Now

Product Description
What Walter Staples had intended was for this book to be a compilation of unusual circumstances, anecdotes, and stories from his personal experience during a period of twenty years of managing a relatively small blueberry farm. It has become a description of an intimate association with the people and the land of the small town of Wesley in Washington County, Maine, a town not unlike every other blueberry growing town in the state. The industry developed over a period of fifty years from berries picked for family use to more than 100 million pounds produced annually and marketed internationally.

Blueberies of Maine

Blueberry
Blueberry
G. Phillips
Available on Allposters

Blank outline map of the Maine
Use blue a blue ink pad and the eraser of a pencil to mark where blueberries are grown in Maine.
Wild Blueberry Factsheets from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Challenge your older children to create a board game that reflects the change in wild blueberry production over time.

Wild Blueberries

Growing up in Vermont we had a few commercial blueberry bushes that grew big, fat blueberries on tall bushes, but the best blueberries were the ones that grew up on the hill. Those wild blueberries were tiny but had more flavor than a whole basket full of the big ones.

Blueberries are ripe during the hot days of July and into August.

Have you ever picked wild blueberries?

Which kind of blueberries do you prefer?

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Tiny Wild Blueberries are the Best

virtualboy says:

wild berries

RobinDM says:

I love tiny ones, but I'm much to lazy to go and pick them! ;-)

ResearchAddict says:

And then there's huckleberries! Very dark blue, that grow on very small shrubs low to the ground. Yummy!

Momsbusy247 says:

Nothing is better than blueberries found in the wild and picked fresh.

SofiaMann says:

I love it all.

Big Blueberries are the Best

scarlettohairy says:

I've never picked blueberries and have only had big blueberries. I'm sure I'd love them though!

LaraineRose says:

I've never tasted wild blueberries .. although the ones in my garden could be called 'wild' as they want to go everywhere they shouldn't. I'm going to have to pick the 'Big Blueberries are the Best."

bethd821 says:

The bigger and juicier the better!

 
view all 12 comments

Art

Blueberry Patch Collage

Blueberries for Sal Bulletin Board and Word Wall

Tear green construction paper to form the shape of blueberry bushes. Use the hole punch to punch out blueberries and glue them onto the bushes. These can be used to create a Blueberry Hill Bulletin Board. Think of all the other plants and animals that might live in the meadow. Label each plant and animal with words large enough for your children to read from where they sit to write and you will have created a Word Wall that will help your children be able to write stories using words that they might not otherwise remember how to spell correctly as well as encourage the use of a greater variety of words.

One time we found some black fur, cut it out in the shape of Mother and Baby Bear and added them to the scene. How could you add Mother and Little Sal?
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Blueberry Coloring Pages

Coloring Pages to Accompany Blueberries for Sal

Maine Secretary of State Kids Page: Fun & Games
Blueberries on a branch.
Box of Blueberries
Basket of Blueberries. This could be the cover of a book about picking blueberries.

Music

Tin Pail Kurplunk Music

kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk

Music is about orchestrating sounds. Hold a tin pail by the handle and drop wooden beads (Blueberries) into the pail one by one. Listen to them make the sound, kurplink, kurplank, kurplunk.

How else could you make music using the tin pail and the wooden beads?

Start a rhythm and have each person create their own sound while following along with the music.
Galvanized Tin Pail 3-3/4

Galvanized Tin Pail 3-3/4

Amazon Price: (as of 05/29/2012)Buy Now

Sal listened to the sounds of the blueberries dropping into her pail.

Singing about Blueberries for Sal

Blueberries for Sal
SINGING THE STORY
Fill in the missing words. Sing the song to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean".
Oh, Sal and her (1) M _____________________________ went walking
All over the Blueberry (2) H ______________________________________
They wanted to pick sweet, ripe (3) b ______________________________
And each had a tin pail to fill.

Physical Education and Health

Ride a Blueberry

Children need lots of exercise and as a fun way to add imagination as well as exercise to this unit study I decided to add a metalic Blueberry Hop Ball. My children loved hopping on balls with handles. With a hop ball for each child you can have blueberry races, follow the leader games or even make paths with sidewalk chalk in a large parking lot and hop on vocabulary words from the Blueberries for Sal story.

Make sure that you write the words in very big letters. We found that writing in cursive made the paths more clear and that it was fun for the onlookers to stand on the second floor of our house as one child hopped on the word. Video taping is also another way to get onlookers involved.

The next child gets to run down the stairs as soon as the first child has gotten to the end of the word. (More Exercise)
Gymnic / Hop-55 22

Gymnic / Hop-55 22" Hop Ball, Metallic Blue

Amazon Price: $24.75 (as of 05/29/2012)Buy Now

Imagine hopping on a giant blueberry!

Blueberries for Sal

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Blueberries for Sal Lapbooks

Blueberries for Sal Activities

Blueberries for Sal Lapbook
-
Who is a girl named Sal and what does she have in common with a baby bear? Written in 1948 "Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey is a classic tale about a girl picking blueberries with her mom and is a must read for you and your students. In Blueberry Sal, you will find a 7-page Research Guide dedicated to the story, including questions to ask your student, mini-research about bears, blueberries, and Maine and 29 hands-on activities that cover the story and the concepts of the story! This is a must have for students Pre-K to 3rd grade!
Picture Book Study- Blueberries for Sal
Blueberries for Sal is a sweet story by Robert McCloskey that takes place in Maine. Sal and her mother go blueberry hunting and run into some bears along the way.
Bears Unit Study Activities
Activities to accompany a unit study of The Three Bears

Robert McCloskey wrote Blueberries for Sal

Biography of Rober McCloskey

"Blueberry Hill", August 13, 1955
"Blueberry Hill",...
by John Clymer
Available at Allposters


Did you know that Robert McCloskey grew up in Maine and played the harmonica? I bet he picked and ate a lot of blueberries as well.
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Unit Studies about Meadow Creatures

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Come explore the Meadow

Meadow Habitat

Meadow of Wild Blueberries

Photo Credit: Meadow just before Minotaur Lake
on Flickr, Creative Commons.



Unit Studies to Learn more about the animals, plants, and weather of the meadow habitat.

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Whitefoot the Wood Mouse: A Mouse Unit Study

Whitefoot welcomes homeschoolers, teachers, parent more...1 point

Tales of Blueberry Picking

Have you ever picked wild blueberries?

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Blueberries for Sal
Link to Blueberries for Sal on Amazon



Tell us all about the activities that you have tried with your children. Have you read Blueberries for Sal? Have you canned blueberries? Have you followed a bear?

  • Kim @ The Educators Spin On It May 15, 2012 @ 3:57 pm | delete
    These are all great activities, we've linked them up to our post Little Hands that Cook with Books and Blueberries. We shared books, songs, picking fun and 30 recipes all about Blueberries. http://theeducatorsspinonit.blogspot.com/2012/05/30-ways-to-eat-blueberries.html
  • oceansky Apr 26, 2012 @ 10:04 pm | delete
    I have not heard of Blueberries for Sal. It looks like it would be a great book to read.
  • virtualboy Apr 8, 2012 @ 9:53 am | delete
    I have followed a cub before and the mother chased me.
  • iijuan12 Mar 27, 2012 @ 1:06 pm | delete
    I'm featuring your excellent unit study on my lens on Maine (for teachers and students): http://www.squidoo.com/maine-lesson-plan . Thank you for your wonderful work!
  • vallain Dec 14, 2011 @ 7:17 pm | delete
    I always liked that story when I was a children's librarian. Now I get out my blueberry buckets each summer and go pick some myself in New Hampshire. Great fun and so tasty.
  • tokyonights7 Nov 30, 2011 @ 4:32 am | delete
    I've never read the book, but it looks very cute. :)
  • traveller27 Nov 29, 2011 @ 11:46 pm | delete
    Very well done - blessed by a travelling angel.
  • Showpup Nov 29, 2011 @ 11:08 pm | delete
    I've never read this book but looks adorable. I adore unit studies! Such a God-send when homeschooling.
  • iijuan12 Aug 21, 2011 @ 9:55 pm | delete
    This was one of my favorite books as a child, and now I love reading it to my children. We have wild huckleberries (yucky) and blackberries (delicious) growing in our yard, so that's what we pick. Though my oldest son swears he's seen bear tracks near the blackberries, I'm not so sure. Great lens! Thank you!
  • scarlettohairy Aug 21, 2011 @ 7:04 pm | delete
    This sounds like a lovely book!
  • TeacherRenee Jul 9, 2011 @ 11:47 am | delete
    This book was always one of my favorites. Such a charming story!
  • Momsbusy247 Jan 30, 2011 @ 9:00 pm | delete
    What a wonderful and fun lens. Nicely done!
  • SofiaMann Dec 27, 2010 @ 6:06 pm | delete
    With my brothers got together blueberries and mom made marmalade. It was the best jam of life because we had taken several scratches. I love your lens.
  • poutine Sep 8, 2010 @ 3:41 pm | delete
    When I was a young child my parents took us
    blueberries picking. It was a lot of fun as they
    made a pic nick out of it.
  • kajohu May 16, 2010 @ 7:29 am | delete
    I loved this lens! When my boys were little we went blueberry picking each year for a few years at a blueberry farm -- buggy, but so worth it! I also love Robert McKloskey's books.
  • aj2008 May 12, 2010 @ 7:34 am | delete
    Oh Evelyn, you have really evoked some childhood memories with this lovely lens about Blueberries :)
  • Wednesday_Elf Apr 9, 2010 @ 12:49 pm | delete
    You come up with the most interesting 'unit studies' for teaching children. This one on blueberries based around the book "Blueberries For Sal" is just full of great ideas. Every activity sounds like such fun for children, and for the teacher too!
  • OhMe Apr 6, 2010 @ 9:36 am | delete
    I sure enjoyed reading this lens about Blueberries for Sal and other great blueberry resources. A delightful read. Thank you.
  • LaraineRose Apr 6, 2010 @ 5:23 am | delete
    Sure wish I had taken lessons from you. You truly have a gift of making things interesting! 5*s and fav.
  • bethd821 Apr 4, 2010 @ 3:36 pm | delete
    I haven't picked wild blueberries, but I went to a u-pick blueberry farm last year. I learned I'll pay the price for them to be already picked! LOL It's a lot of work for a small reward.
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About the Author of this Blueberry Unit Study

Find out what I'm doing when I'm not eating blueberries.
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Sal and the Blueberries

Writing about Blueberries


Come write about your experiences with blueberries on Wizzley, a fun and easy place to express your opinion:
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Evelyn_Saenz

My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning... more »

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