Mrs. Katz and Tush

If you’ve stumbled here from Pinterest, or some other site … welcome! While each of these books/lessons can stand alone, they are also a part of a year-long series that we have taught at our homeschool co-op. Each lesson builds in part on the one before. Some stories also have similar themes with the books that go before/after them. If you are interested in more information, or to see the complete booklist, check out our main page, More FIAR – Inspired Literature-Based Lesson Plans, especially for homeschool and homeschool co-ops. Thanks for looking around, and welcome to the site! 

 

Mrs. Katz & Tush

by Patricia Polacco

Things I Need:

Mrs. Katz and Tush Book
Mrs. Katz and Tush Handwriting Sheet
World Map that Shows Poland, and NYC

Ahead of time:
Have kiddos/parents discuss where their family is from
and bring any known history in to share

Review & Story Introduction:

If you have been following along with this years co-op curriculum,there are two similar themes that we’ve share before that are mentioned here as well.
First, I didn’t plan it this way, but it just so happens that both of our last two stories, The Story of St. Patrick, and Follow the Drinking Gourd, both cover themes having to do with slavery.
If you choose to connect this theme, take a moment to ask the class,
  • Who remembers the names of the last two books we read?
  • Who can tell me a common theme in these two books?
In Mrs. Katz and Tush, she makes the statement, “our people are alike”. The Jews were enslaved in Egypt, and murdered in the Holocaust.  The blacks taken into slavery, both banned from various places at different points in history. 
 
Another similar theme that we’ve done before is that of immigration. Remember, The Memory Coat by Elvira Woodruff or Fiona’s Lace by Patricia Polacco. Both of these books that we did a little earlier in the year went through some of the difficulties encountered by families coming here from another country. They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson and Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say, also covered these themes, but not quite to the same extent.
If you choose to connect this theme, take a moment to ask,
  • Who remembers what an immigrant is?
  • Why would an someone emmigrate (leave their country) and immigrate (arrive in) to a new country

Before You Read Geography Activity:

Ahead of time, ask the parents to talk to their kiddos about their family history.
Do they have a relative from another country? What country did their family come from? Does anyone know any stories? If no, does anyone know where their family origniate from?

Mrs. Katz mentions that her family came here from Poland. You can mention that, similar to the characters in Fiona’s Lace or The Memory Coat, one of the characters in today’s story also immigrated to the USA from another country (show Poland on the map)

Flag of Poland
Poland in the Context of Europe. Do a quick Seven-Continents Review if you’d like

Read the Story

As you read, the Yiddish words are both fun to read and hard to ignore. Take a moment to explain that Yiddish is the language of the Jewish people, and encourage the kids to pronouce the words after you. If you are using the FIAR/Five in a Row manual with this lesson, Jane Lambert included a great pronounciation guide for all of the words. If you are able to preview this before class, it will help with pronoucing the words as you read aloud.

Things to Point out as you read:

  • Larnel’s parents care for Mrs. Katz in her saddness. (this will go along with the lesson following)
  • Even a young boy like Larnel can bring encouragement through his gift and his visits
  • The comparison between Jews and Blacks that Mrs. Katz makes

Mrs. Katz and Tush Reading Comprehnsion Activity: Bring JOY!

Following the story, ask the class:
Why was Mrs. Katz sad? (her husband had just died)
What made her feel better? (visits, the gift of the cat, Larnel and his family caring)
How could a young little boy help a big, old, woman?
Do you think its possible for even small kiddos like you do bring joy?
How?

Make a list on the board of answers. Some possiblilities could include, visits, bringing dinner, cookies, etc to someone, writing a letter or card, giving a hug, surprising mom with a clean room, doing something your parents would like you to do without being asked, sharing, etc.

After you have made a list, hand out the “Bring JOY!” Handout below. Let them trace the words and draw their own picture, answering two questions
WHO could they bring joy to and
WHAT could they do.

If they’re stumped, have them draw what Larnel did to bring Mrs. Katz joy. But brainstorming as a class should help them to get some ideas going.

Click here for printable version

Handwriting Sheet

Remind the class to start their letters at the top.

For the verse, I personally prefer the better know translation of  “blessed are those who mourn”, as it seems to convey the sense of being with a person – that they are truly blessed of the Lord, as opposed to “a blessing”, that is seemingly conveyed with the NLT. Maybe I’m just being too technical, or maybe it is something lost in translation, either way, it couldn’t hurt to mention another translation of this verse as you share it with the class.

Did God take care of Mrs. Katz in her lonliness and mourning? He certainly did. He sent her joy through a little boy named Larnel. Remind the class again that even though they’re small, they truly can bring joy and bless those much older than themselves.

Click here for printable version

Extras!

Mrs. Katz and Tush was on Reading Rainbow! 
The full story can be heard here in the first 10 minutes,
plus lots of fun extras that come with this old classic show

More Extras

This story talks sooo much about Kugel. I wanted to make it to share it with the class with “a big glass of milk”. If you have time, check out a recipe for Kugel and share it with the class. The combination of noodles, cinnamon, and sugar is unique – but yummy, and sure to be appreciated.
That’s it for this week! To see what we’ve done so far in our Homeschool Co-op’s Literature Series this year, click here. Each lesson  builds on the one before and seeks to cover basic geography within the book, historical contexts, a handwriting sheet and a language arts lesson, as it applies to the book. 

Or, you can check out the complete Learning the ABC’s through Literature Series, which is a similar series that we did with this same group of kiddos a year earlier. Both of these series of books have been inspired by the Five in a Row curriculum, with many of the books being the same. The ideas, implementation of it for a co-op, and printables are all my own, unless otherwise indicated. 
 

Also – I would love to hear from you! If you have feed back, suggestions, or questions … or if you have used this in some way … please, share a picture, post a note, or just say hi.  Especially if you’re using this for a co-op … it’s great to get ideas and share them around to help each other! 

 
Thanks for reading!