At the Illinois Reading Conference back in March I, Carie Ramirez of Washington Elementary, had the chance to go to a session with, Author/Illustrator/Song-writer, Debbie Clement. It was in her session that she introduced me to a book that will now and forever be a favorite! The book is titled Red, White and Blue. The book is about our country and what represents our country and how to say thank you for all those who have fought for our freedom. The Author did all of the illustrations by making a quilt piece for each page. This prompted me to have my class make their own quilt to go with the book. We started by marble painting (white paint on red and blue paper and then white paper with red and blue paint). Then I cut out the stripes and the stars and then my students glued the stars and stripes onto the other pages. Along with making the quilt, they have learned words by singing them (there is a CD in the back of the book) and they have also learned to sign the song.

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