Cherry Blossom Cross Curricular Unit

Are you aware this year is the centennial celebration of the Cherry Blossom Trees given to the United States by Japan as a sign of friendship?  In honor of this remarkable event, Corkey DeSimone wrote a fabulous book called Cherry Blossom Friends.

Here is my unit...

This marvelous 68 page cross-curricular unit aligns with Corkey DeSimone's Cherry Blossom Friends and perfect for spring. This book is written to captivate primary and intermediate readers. Primary students can learn about the animals that thrive in the Cherry Blossom trees through riddles, rhyming, and repetition. I incorporated the riddle in my unit by teaching Haiku poetry which is a short form of Japanese poems with 17 syllables. Intermediate students can learn about the great gift of the Cherry Blossom Trees from Japan as a sign of friendship and the journey to get 3800 trees to Washington DC in 1912. As well, students will learn about the National Mall and all the exquisite memorials featured along the Tidal Basin. What a wonderful way to incorporate discussion for President's Day! Also included in my unit is a 'Monument'al tour guide to assist in these discussions. This year marks the centennial celebration of the Cherry Blossom Trees. I included a book talking about the life cycle of the cherry tree with vocabulary to align. There are so many more wonderful components to my Cross Curricular unit. 


I've featured a fabulous unit and post about this upcoming event on my blog.  Link here to read all about it!