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Keep The Lights Burning, Abbie

Language: English

The true story of a young girl who kept her lighthouse burning during a tremendous storm. LeVar travels to the rocky mid-coast of Maine for a tour of a modern-day lighthouse. He also takes a trip on a 100-foot Maine coastal schooner and joins an authentic sailing family for a day at sea. As a final highlight, viewers learn about the mystery of putting a ship in a bottle.

Here are activities to do after watching this episode:

Lighthouse Night Light

The lights from within a lighthouse bring comfort and show the way for passing ships. Bring a little comfort to a young child in your family who is not too sure about night-time darkness.

To make a lighthouse night light, you will need:

  • an empty, cleaned quart-size milk carton
  • construction paper
  • scissors
  • tape or glue
  • crayons, markers
  • small knife (for an adult to use)
  • small flashlight
  1. After thoroughly rinsing out a carton, use tape to seal the top.
  2. Cover the carton with construction paper. Tape or glue in place.
  3. Use crayons or markers and additional construction paper to decorate the carton to resemble a light house.
  4. Ask an adult to cut a window in each side of the lighthouse and a hole in the bottom, large enough for a small flashlight to fit through.

To use at night:
Place the flashlight up through the bottom and see how the light shines through the windows to guide your way in the dark, just as in a real lighthouse.

  

Scratch-Off Art

You will need:

  • heavy white paper or posterboard
  • crayons
  • newspaper
  • black tempera paint and paintbrush
  • liquid soap
  • paper clip

 

Directions:

  1. Color the top half of the poster board with a yellow crayon. Below that yellow area, color a picture of your house. Press heavily.
  2. Mix a small amount of liquid soap with the black paint and paint over the yellow section.
  3. Let the paint dry for at least one day
  4. Unbend the paper clip and use it to scratch into the black paint, creating the look of a nighttime sky with a moon and stars.

Check out some of these books on your
next trip to the library:

  • Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews
  • The Little Red Lighthouse And The Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift and Lynd Ward
  • Sailing With The Wind by Thomas Locker

READING RAINBOW has a resource library that includes teacher guide materials as well as reading programs for use in the public libraries. You can download these resources from GPN at:
www.gpnresources.com

If you would like more information about READING RAINBOW or if you would like to learn more about other educational products please visit the GPN web site.

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