A unit study based on the book, The Giant Jam Sandwich, written by

John Vernon Lord. Unit and printables created by Ami Brainerd.

Materials and information may be used for your own personal and school
use. Material may not be used for resale or shared electronically. © HSS
SOCIAL STUDIES

Map Skills: Land of Imagination

Let your student create a small map of Itching Down from her imagination, and
include it in your lapbook. Simply cut out book, fold in half, and draw a map
inside. Be sure to add a compass rose with cardinal directions (north, south, east,
west).

Problem Solving
Discuss the problem in Itching Down (wasps!). How did the town people solve this
problem? (they held a meeting and asked for help). Problem solving is an
important life skill to possess. Discuss some problems your family has
encountered (maybe during a power outage or maybe something as simple as
when your child is trying to build a train track and can't get the ends to connect)
and how you used problem-solving skills. You may also want to continue your
discussion by determining other ways the people of Itching Down could have
solved their wasp problem-- have fun with this!

Human Relationships: Community and Teamwork

Can your student remember some of the different ways the people worked
together to get rid of those pesky wasps? Could one man have done this job
alone? No way! Not even ten men could've done this job alone; it took everyone
working together including those who--

 mixed ingredients to make the bread dough (have your student count all
the people who are on this page)
 sewed a tablecloth
 transported the loaf to the old brick mill to bake
 cut the slices of bread off the loaf
 cheered others on
 took the bread to Farmer Seed's field
 buttered the bread
 brought the jam
 spread the jam
 were in flying machines waiting to lower the top piece of bread on the
wasps
Use the Teamwork Matchbook for your lapbook. You may want to let your
student write the definition, or you may want to write down all the examples of
teamwork from the story that your student can remember.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Vocabulary List
pate- the top of the head
drove- to force
nuisance- annoying or troublesome
hitch- to catch, fasten, or connect by or as if by a hook or knot
swell- to expand gradually beyond a normal limit
"piping hot" - very hot
spoil- to damage
spade- a digging tool; like a shovel
whir- to fly, turn, or move rapidly with a buzzing sound

Rhyming Words and Listmaking

Ask your student if he notices anything special about this story and the way it
reads (it's written in couplets-- rhyming words at the end of two successive lines).
List some of the rhyming words and see if you can think of MORE words that
rhyme with those words. Add the words to the Rhyme Time mini book.

If you'd like, extend your learning by completing the "Rhyme Time" mini-book.

Creative Writing: Problem-Solution Story

Encourage your student to write her own problem-solution story. First, you will
need to do a bit of brainstorming (answer the following questions):

1. What's the name of your town going to be?

2. Think of a pest (cockroaches, goats, mice, or even peacocks or kangaroos!)

3. What is the problem with the pest? (this can be realistic like it was with the
wasps or ridiculous)
 4. What is the solution going to be?

Your student is ready to write! After the story is completed, fold it like a letter (in
thirds), and then fold it again in half. Store it in the lapbook in the pocket
provided.

ART

Perspective
Look at the illustration for, "They dived and hummed and buzzed and ate..." Ask
your student, "Which wasps in the swarm look like they are closest to you? (the
larger ones at the bottom of the page) Which ones look as if they are far away?
(the smaller ones at the top of the page) Artists make things appear at different
proximities by varying their size. As your student creates illustrations, encourage
her to use this same technique in order to make things seem close or far away.
Can your student find other illustrations of the wasps in this book where the artist
used perspective? (Look at the one on the page that reads, "Suddenly the sky was
humming!"

APPLIED MATH

Calendar Skills: Weeks/Years

At the end of the story it says, "And had a feast for a hundred weeks!" Does your
student know how many weeks is in a year? If not, teach him that there are 52
weeks in a year. Then ask him, "How long did this sandwich last?" You can go
about the math in many different ways, but your student should realize that it
lasted at least one year. Did the sandwich last two years (52x2= 104 weeks)...not
quite, but almost!

Favorite Jam Graph

Poll friends and family members and find out what their favorite kind of jam is.
Record the data in the mini-book provided.
SCIENCE

Wasps
This story is all about the WASPS! Some of the most popular species of wasps are
mentioned below along with their defining characteristics.

Paper Wasps

 Have a very thin waist

 Are brightly colored, smooth, and somewhat shiny
 Have sharply contrasting black-and-yellow patterns
 Have two sets of dusky-colored wings
 Have narrow cylindrical legs and no pollen baskets
 Mandibles are used for biting and chewing
 Build their nest out of paper made from plant fiber or wood
 Like to position nest in a hollow tree, in the ground, or beneath the eaves
of a house
 Are predators and eat insects and spiders
 The females can sting repeatedly

Yellow Jacket (I believe these are the type found in our story)

 Are a type of short, stocky wasp

 Have a cross-banded black-and-yellow abdomen
 The head and thorax are black with yellow spots and bars
 Have a broad abdomen that tapers off conically to a sharp point where the
stinger is concealed
 When not in flight, the wings are folded lengthwise down the middle and
are held slightly out to the side
 Are quick to attack when disturbed near their nest
 The females can sting repeatedly
 Like to nest in weedy brush areas on the ground or underground in an old
animal burrow or crevice
 More interested in food and garbage than flowers
 Aggressive by nature and especially persistent when foraging for limited
food at the end of summer
 Prefer sweets -- ripe fruit or other sugar solutions

Your older student may also want to research Mud Dauber Wasps.
Wasp Stings
Normal reactions to stings includes pain, redness, itching and swelling at the sting
site. Ice, table salt, and products like Sting Kill® are helpful in managing the
symptoms. Symptoms can occur immediately after a sting, or may take longer to
appear. They last for several hours.

Benefits of Wasps
A few species pollinate plants and crops. Most eat pests such as flies and
caterpillars. Wasps should be left alone where they are if they are not bothering
people.

Venn Diagram or Chart Project

What are the major differences between bees and wasps? Your student may want
to make a Venn diagram or chart comparing/contrasting the similarities and
differences in Honey Bees and Yellow Jackets (they look very similar). Here is
some Honey Bee information if your student would like to do this. He could also
research on his own to find out more (if he wants to make a chart with Mud
Daubers, Yellow Jackets, Paper Wasps, as well as different species of bees.

Honey Bees

 Are about one-inch long

 Are reddish brown with black encircling their abdomen
 Have a subtle striped appearance
 Have two sets of wings
 Have short hairs all over their body - even on their eyes
 The females stings once and then dies
 The whole colony can live through the winter
 Build the inside of nest out of beeswax
 Are smaller than the bumble bee
 Eat nectar and pollen and make honey
 Have pollen baskets on their hind legs to carry food
 Do dances to tell other bees how far to fly for food

Chemistry in the Kitchen: Baking Bread

Mix 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F) with 1/3 cup white sugar and 1 (.25
ounce) package active dry yeast in a glass jar (so you can see the action!). Leave it
alone for 15 minutes then watch what is happening. Do you see the bubbles?
They are caused by gas-- since yeast is alive, it can grow (when mixed with
warmth, water, and sugar) and make the bubbles. Yeast is the ingredient in
dough that makes it grow (and grow!).

If you'd like to make some yummy bread (dinner rolls) continue on. However, if
your yeast mixture is not bubbling, do NOT continue on with the recipe as your
yeast isn't active (this happens sometimes when it's too old or the water is too
hot).

Add the yeast mixture, along with the rest of the ingredients to your bread
machine pan (if you don't have a bread pan, you can do things by hand); select
the dough cycle.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

1/2 cup warm milk

1 egg (room temperature)
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

When the cycle finishes, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide
dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle and spread 1/4 cup softened
butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at
wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie
sheet. Measure each roll and record your measurement. Cover with clean kitchen
towel and put in a warm place, let rise 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Measure each roll again. What happened to the rolls? Are they the same
size? (record your answer if you are going to use the minit book below) The yeast
is causing them to grow. Bake the rolls in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until
golden. After the rolls have cooled, break one apart. Do you see the small holes
inside? These are a result of the gas bubbles the yeast made.

After you complete this lesson, you may want to add the yeast mini-book to your
lapbook.
Your student will be asked to answer the following questions:
Why were there bubbles in the yeast, sugar, water mixture?
Why did the dough grow?
How much did the dough grow?
Why were there holes inside the baked rolls?

JUST FOR FUN

Make some strawberry jam! If the time of year is right, go strawberry picking and
come home and make some jam (you can find recipes on the Sure-Jell box).
Freezer jam is *very* easy. If it's not strawberry pickin' time, you could always
buy some frozen strawberries and make some jam. Make sure you eat a bread,
butter, and strawberry jam sandwich, too (perhaps on homemade bread)! You'll
find out why those wasps could not resist! Add copies of your recipes to the
recipe pocket and put it in your lapbook.

Teach your younger student how to make his own sandwich (it doesn't have to be
a jam sandwich); my five year old LOVES to make his own peanut butter and jelly
sandwich! :)

You can have your younger student explain to you the steps involved in making a
jam sandwich. Record what he says in the "How to Make a Jam Sandwich"
accordion book.

Materials and information may be used for your own personal and school use.
Material may not be used for resale or shared electronically.
© Homeschool Share
Cut on solid lines. Fold on dotted.
BOTH
wasps bees
If desired, discuss insects with your student and have him complete this wasp
diagram.

Body parts include:

head, thorax, abdomen, wings, two compound eyes, six legs, two antenna
Cut out the cover piece on this page. Cut out the graph on next page. Poll friends and
family members to gather data for your graph. Complete the graph. Fold graph in half
like a hotdog. Paste cover to the front.

Favorite
Jam
Graph
10

Strawberry Grape Other

Jam Jam Jam
Cut out book as one piece. Fold in half. Reopen. Cut on solid lines to form flaps.
Paste cover piece (“Rhyme Time”) in the blank area at the top. Write rhyming
words under the appropriate flaps.
Fold paper into thirds. Cut around the
piece of bread. Be careful on the left side.
Do not cut through all the paper, simply
round off the corners and only cut off the
excess on the first piece. Do not cut on
the fold. When you finish, you should
have a book that unfolds into three slices
of connected bread.
 Why were How much
there did the
bubbles in dough grow?
the yeast,
water, sugar This is the back of your book;
mixt ure? glue this side down to your
lapbook.
Why did the Why were
dough grow? there holes
inside the
baked rolls?
Cut out rectangle as one piece. Cut dotted lines. Fold outside
flaps in. You will have four different sections to write on.
© www.homeschoolshare.com
Cut book out. Fold on lines (matchbook style).
Cut pocket out as one piece. Fold back up. Wrap flaps around the back and glue down.
Cut pocket out. Fold back flap up and wrap side flaps around the back and glue
down.
Words to Find:
JAM BREAD WASP MAYOR

GIANT LOAF BIRDS SANDWICH

BUTTER PICNIC SLICE STRAWBERRY

P S L I Y G I A N T
L T W A S P K N S P
M R B I R D S Y L I
S A N D W I C H I C
M W U Q N C H X C N
N B R E A D C Z E I
P E F L O A F H D C
O R B U T T E R T O
D R W J M A Y O R L
Z Y P D G J A M X H