• Home
    • Praise and Press
    • About
  • TLB Classes
    • Class Descriptions
    • Online Parent Education Classes
  • Blog
    • Homeschooling
    • Charlotte Mason
    • Booklist
    • Reading and Storytelling
    • Cultivating Love of Learning
    • Parenting Thoughts
      • Memory-Making
    • Five in a Row
      • Before Five in a Row
  • Shop
    • Request/Pre-Order Books Here
    • TLB Gift Card
    • My Account
    • View Cart
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Lost password
  • Book lists
    • Living Books Planning Tool
    • Filipino Living Books Book List
    • Philippine History: A Booklist
    • Catholic Homeschooling Booklist
  • Search the TLB Book Shop
    • Picture Books By Age
      • Board Books
      • Ages 0-2
      • Ages 2-4
      • Ages 4-6
      • Ages 6-8
    • Chapter Books
      • Ages 8-10
      • Ages 10 up
    • Homeschooling
      • CM Homeschooling/Living Books
      • Five in a Row
      • Before Five in a Row
      • Math Books
      • Catholic Books
    • Philippine Published Books
      • Free Downloads
      • Ages 0 to 2
      • Ages 2 to 4
      • Ages 4 to 6
      • Ages 6 to 8
      • Ages 8 to 10
      • Ages 10 and up
      • Chapter Books
      • Board Books
    • Classics
    • Award-Winning Books
    • Recommended Reads for Parents
    • Educational Toys and Materials

The Learning Basket

You Are Your Child's First and Best Teacher

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Lentil: Harmonicas, Lemons, and Charcoal Pencils

June 24, 2012 by The Learning Basket 8 Comments

  • Total44
  • 10
  • 0
  • 34


Lentil, published in 1940, is a classic picture book by multi-awarded author-illustrator Robert McCloskey. Lentil is a young boy who decides to become an expert at playing the harmonica after realizing that he can’t sing, or even whistle! His harmonica-playing leads him to become the town hero when the town band fails to welcome a very important person at the train station.

The Five in a Row manual is sooo rich in material that we can go as light or as deep as we want to. I am trying to slow down a bit because Little T is just four, so I chose the easier topics from the wonderful manual. We will definitely row this book again! Here’s a peek at the fun we had…


MUSIC      Music was a natural choice because we just love music around here! After looking at the drawing of the different instruments that the town band members are holding in the book, we got our own and talked about the four instrument families: percussion, string, woodwind, and brass. 



Of course, we also played our harmonicas! The two that we have are part of Kindermusik’s Away We Go home materials. I tasked Little T to learn how to play Hey, Tswana using the activity guide (blow for a triangle, and suck for the inverted one) with the objective of playing from memory.



CHARCOAL PENCIL     Robert McCloskey’s drawings in Lentil were done in charcoal. Five in a Row encourages experimentation with the material, so we bought ONE charcoal pencil at National Bookstore – just one because it costs 98 pesos! We drew, shaded, and smudged to get the same effect as the book illustrations. We also compared two boxes that we shaded with lead pencil and charcoal pencil.

TASTE     The town band musicians fail to play their brass instruments because they see Old Sneep sucking on a lemon. (Now, doesn’t the mention of lemon make you sour-mouthed too?!) We experimented with different tastes and then made some lemonade. Little T got mad that I made her taste “bitter.”

MEMORIAL PARK     Lentil passes by Carter Memorial Park while playing the harmonica on his way to school. So, we went to Quezon Memorial Park and looked at the shrine dedicated to President Manuel Quezon. We also made it a point to look at several monuments or statues in Makati City when we went there as Lentil also passes by a monument in the story. In all of those outings, we talked about how we remember and honor heroes in our history through monuments and statues. I love it that we were able to connect elements of this story with the books we just read: The Chair King (heroes) and The Red Carpet (welcoming important people).
WHITTLE     The “villain” in the story, Old Sneep, grumbles and whittles wood all day. I wondered how I could show Little T what “whittle” means, and came upon the idea of carving soap – hello, or rather goodbye, Perla!

LENTIL DINNER     We finished our week with Lemonade and Chicken Lentil, which was quite easy to make… and yummy too, I think!
All in all another wonderful week full of fun and learning, care of Five in a Row!
Make magic!

Related Posts

  • 8 Mom-Daughter Date Ideas8 Mom-Daughter Date Ideas
  • 8 Books To Introduce Numbers8 Books To Introduce Numbers
  • 15 activities to strengthen pre-writing skills15 activities to strengthen pre-writing skills
  • Exploring Egypt With “The Giraffe That Walked To Paris”Exploring Egypt With “The Giraffe That Walked To Paris”
  • Loving Pre-Loved BooksLoving Pre-Loved Books
  • Celebrating World Read Aloud DayCelebrating World Read Aloud Day
  • Links for you as we all take a breakLinks for you as we all take a break
  • How I played with my one-week old babyHow I played with my one-week old baby
  • Total44
  • 10
  • 0
  • 34
«
»

About The Learning Basket

TLB is composed of two moms who love to read and are homeschoolers.

Welcome


Hi there!

Whether you are a busy working mom, a work-at-home mom, or a stay-at-home mom, you are sure to find parenting and learning inspiration on our pages and parent education workshops to empower you to be your child’s first and best teacher.

Make magic with your child!

Search for Blog Posts

Search Learning Ideas

  • Before Five in a Row
  • Booklist
  • Charlotte Mason
  • Cultivating Love of Learning
  • Educational Materials
  • Five in a Row
  • Fun Friday Ideas
  • Homeschooling
  • Memory-Making
  • Parent Education
  • Parenting Thoughts
  • Past Parent Education Classes
  • Reading and Storytelling
  • Uncategorized

Upcoming Events

preschool homeschool

NOW OPEN — Everything you need to start homeschooling your preschooler is right here (Feb 11 to March 4 2023)

In these uncertain times, we can still enjoy our children while helping them to love learning. Learn everything you need to know to start homeschooling your preschooler in this comprehensive online parent education program.

Subscribe

Get updates on learning ideas, parenting events & shop offers!

Copyright © 2023 · Web Design by Fancy Girl Design Studio · Shop Set Up by Marge Aberásturi

Copyright © 2023 · Learning Basket Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in