Find BooksActivitiesGames
Reading Rainbow
Parents & Teachers
About Reading RainbowAbout LeVarContestPrintable Song Lyrics

Tar Beach

Language: English

A young girl dreams of flying above her Harlem home, claiming all she sees for herself and her family. Everyone has a need for a special place where they can think and daydream. LeVar takes viewers up on the roof to a “tar beach,” an urban oasis in the sky. A pigeon keeper and a rooftop gardener are interviewed and explain why they have chosen their respective hobbies. LeVar tells about the George Washington Bridge that was constructed in 1928. Viewers are taken to new heights as present day bridge workers explain their jobs.

  

Here are activities to do after watching this episode:

Tissue Dreams

You will need:

  • colored tissue paper
  • scissors
  • string or yarn
  • clothespins or paperclips

Directions:

  1. Using brightly colored tissue paper, show your child how to cut one large sheet into smaller squares and then to fold each square three or four times.
  2. Using scissors, cut out designs along each of the folded edges. When the paper is unfolded the designs will appear in interesting patterns.
  3. Give your child a length of string or yarn to tie across a corner of the bedroom. Your child can hang each tissue dream on the string using a clothespin or paperclip. Add several pieces of varying colors until the string is full.
  

A Perfect Hideaway

It’s always fun for children to have their very own special place during quiet moments when they want to be alone or to share a place with a special friend when company is needed.

To make a hideaway indoors, your child will need:

  • large cardboard boxes
  • blankets
  • chairs or a small stepladder
  • a rope

Help your child cut doors and windows in large boxes to make “rooms” for the hideaway. Tie a rope from the bed to a chair or from one chair to another and drape a blanket over it to form a tent. A stepladder can also be used for draping. Now your child is ready to fill the hideaway with special belongings, some books, and maybe a pillow or two.

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

  • I’m Flying! by Alan Wade
  • On Grandma’s Roof by Erica Silverman
  • To Sleep by James Sage

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.

Books | Games | LeVar | Contest | TV Times | Parents & Teachers
http://www.pbskids.org/readingrainbow
© 2007 Educate Media-Reading Rainbow, LLC. All rights reserved. | PBS KIDS Privacy Policy