Louisiana

 A highlight of our Louisiana experience was listening to the music of Louis Armstrong while we did our art projects. The kids also really enjoyed using Google Earth to explore the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Books:

• Dropping In On New Orleans

• Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford

• Jenny Giraffe’s Mardi Gras Ride by Cecilia Casrill Dartez

• Mimi’s First Mardi Gras by Alice Couvillon

• Little Pierre: A Cajun Story from Louisiana by Robert D. San Souci

• The Louisiana Purchase by John Churchill Chase

• Meet Cecile (American Girls)

• Meet Marie-Grace (American Girls)

• On Mardi Gras Day by Fatima Shaik

• A Penguin Named Patience: A Hurricane Katrina Rescue Story by Suzanne Lewis

• A Place Where Hurricanes Happen by Renee Watson

• P is for Pelican: A Louisiana Alphabet by Anita C. Prieto

• Louisiana (A True Book: My United States) by Jennifer Zeiger

• Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans by Phil Bildner

• The 5 O’Clock Band by Troy Andrews

• Mississippi River by Paul Manning

• Where is the Mississippi River? By Dina Anastasio

• Just a Lucky So and So: The Story of Louis Armstrong

• The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

Art Project:

Mardi Gras Bead Trees

For Louisiana the kids decided to depict Mardi Gras Bead Trees in New Orleans. The trees were made with sharpie and oil pastel, then water color blue sky back ground, and lastly (once the water color is fully dry) dots of tempra paint (using q-tips) for the beads.