19 Sep Unit Study of Paddle-to-the-Sea (Chapters 1-3)

I clearly remember, over 30 years ago, sitting in my elementary class, listening to the teacher read the book, Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling. Her enthusiasm for the story was directly conveyed to us, her students, as we listen enraptured by the story of small canoe carved by an young boy, drifting through the Great Lakes out to the Atlantic Ocean. Imagine my excitement when I found this very book on the list of reading material for my children’s homeschool curriculum this year! I couldn’t wait to start our Paddle-to-the-Sea unit study!

Our “unit studies” are perhaps a little different than others. My purpose with a unit study is to answer questions that the children may have, developing a deeper understanding of the story and most of all creating an entire experience around the story so that the children remember the story vividly. This often takes us on interesting adventures of all kinds – additional reading, crafts, map exploration, nature walks, science experiments etc.

Chapter 1:  How Paddle-to-the-Sea Came to Be

The first chapter was about how Paddle-to-the-Sea was created. A young Indian boy, whittled Paddle out of wood. Luci wanted to know what “whittling” was. I thought knives and wood might be a bit much for a 4 yr old, so we tried carving a Paddle Person out of a bar of soap instead.

Clark and Luci drew the shape of the canoe onto the soap with a sharp nut pick.  They then began the carving process with several different tools. The process was not nearly as simple as they originally thought and after over an hour of some serious work, we may or may not have decided that whittling was not our gift.

Chapter 2:  Long River Reaching to the Sea

The second chapter describes the route Paddle-to-the-Sea will be taking, through the Great Lakes, down the Saint Laurence River, out to the Atlantic Ocean.  We found each of these locations on our map and will follow along with Paddle on his adventures.

If you would like a map, I’ve made an 8.5″ x 11″ PDF version for you. Sign up for our VIP list in the form below and you will get the download for free. There are 2 versions – one with Paddle’s route, as a guide, and one without.

Chapter 3:  Paddle Starts on His Journey

I love the author’s descriptions.  They paint a vivid picture of what is happening in the story.  This chapter describes the scene as Spring begins to emerge, melting the snow and eventually releasing Paddle from his perch.

Clark and Luci were very interested in what a canoe was.  They have never had the opportunity to ride in one, so we watched some videos of canoes being carved out of wood and of people enjoying the more modern canoes.  We even made our own canoes out of paper.

To make the canoe, I drew a simple template which I have since made into a FREE download.  You can download it simply by filling out the form below and becoming a part of our VIP list. If you have already done this, you will get an immediate download. The instructions on how to put the canoe together are found below.

Paddle-to-the-Sea Canoe Instructions

Before you start, download the FREE printable template for the canoe by filling out the above form.

• Fold the paper in half, along the dotted line. I suggest using a firm cardstock.
• Cut out the curved edge, as indicated.

• While keeping the paper folded in half, cut along the short straight lines on each end.
• Now fold both ends along the dotted line.  Glue the folded ends together.
• Glue the end tabs, bringing them up along the side of the canoe.  You may need to hold these tabs in place for a few seconds while the glue sets.

Here is the end product –  a Paddle-to-the-Sea canoe!  You can now name it and decorate it however you like!  If I was a better planner, I would probably do the decorating before all of the gluing.  It would be easier when the paper was flat.  Clark named his canoe The Floating Rose.

Luci named her canoe Cat Canoe because she had a couple of little stuffed animal cats that would fit perfectly.  She played with the canoe and cats for hours!

Be on the lookout as we continue our story of Paddle-to-the-Sea.  We’ll keep you updated on our projects and unit study!

Let’s keep going! Here’s our next Unit Study of Paddle-to-the-Sea, Chapters 4-5.