Chris RossettiTIONESTA, Pa. – West Forest Elementary third and fourth graders recently had the chance to bring a reading lesson to life.
The students recently finished reading the book “Miracles on Maple Hill“, which was written in 1956 by Virginia Sorenson. The book takes place near Edinboro, Pa., and won the 1957 Newbery Medal, which is given for “the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children”.
The students have been learning about making maple syrup and one day, after reading a chapter named “Pancakes,” they ate pancakes topped with real maple syrup. In order to bring the book to life, the students went on a field trip and got a chance to tour the real Hurry Hill Farm located in Edinboro and visit an exhibit dedicated to the book.
They listened to a presentation from Jan Woods about the evaporator and how it works. While there, the students got to hold the actual Newbery Medal given to Sorenson and sample some foods made from maple syrup. Students also saw the “sugar house” with various artifacts from the book.
As part of their lesson, the students chose one of their favorite scenes from the book and created a diorama.
