Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney: Discussion & Activities
In Miss Rumphius Barbara Cooney tells story of a young girl who had two dreams: to travel far and wide and live by the sea. She also had a mission to fulfill a request from her grandfather to do something to make the world a more beautiful place. When Miss Rumphius grows up, she does indeed travel far and wide and then comes home to a house on the sea. But she still needs to find a way to make her grandfather’s wish a reality. She soon finds a way, using lupine seeds to make the roadsides and other places bloom with color. Miss Rumphius is based on a real-life woman–Hilda Edwards Hamlin, aka “The Lupine Lady”–who was an avid gardener and spread the colorful lupines across coastal Maine in the 1950’s.
Grades K-5
Thank you for the Read-Aloud, Read Right Now!
Set the Stage
- Circle up to set the stage for the lesson.
- Have students do a brain dump/brainstorming or shout out of things they think are beautiful about their world.
- Introduce the book.
- Read or play video for students.
Discussion
- What are some of your observations of the book/story?
- What did you think of the main character?
- What are your opinions of the illustrations?
- If you were able to, what questions would you ask Miss Rumphius?
- Did Miss Rumphius accomplish her goal of making the world a more beautiful place?
- What challenges did she have to overcome?
- In what ways can you make the world a more beautiful place?
Writing Activities
- Choose a place you’d like to travel to.
- Who would you bring?
- What would you do there?
- Why is this place special or important to you?
- How would you make the world more beautiful?
- Make your plan.
- Who would you convince to help you?
- Why did you choose this as a way to make the world more beautiful?
Art Activities
Lupines made with tempera paint. Students can use a small piece of bubble wrap or “stamp” the paint with their thumbs in order to created the blooms around the painted stems.
Tissue paper lupines. Students can glue small pieces of construction paper or small bunches of tissue paper to create the lupine blooms.
Show students pictures of lupines.
Discuss the shape (cone)-wider at the bottom, gently getting slimmer near the top; talk about the smaller blooms that make up the larger full stem bloom.
- Tempera paint
- Construction or painting paper
- Thin paint brush
Add some leaves with green paint.
Tissue Paper Lupines
Supplies:
- Green construction paper stems
- Construction paper, various colors
- Glue
- Tissue paper
- Crayons, markers, colored pencils, pastels or other mediums optional
Do a paper cutting with construction paper. Cut out stems and glue stick down on paper. Take pre cut small squares of colored tissue paper and gather into a small bunch. Glue blooms on and around the stem to mimic the shape of the lupine.
OR
Tear pieces of construction paper in teardrop shapes and glue them on the stems to create blooms. Do this by holding your thumb nail and the top part of your thumb on the small square of construction paper and pulling the top towards you. You should have a feathery teardrop shape. Cut out leaves and fill in around the blooms
OR
Mix your mediums: cut out the stems and glue on, then color on the blooms with colored pencils, paints, crumpled tissue paper or crayons.
Older students can fill in the paintings with lots of additional foliage to give it a complete look.
Other "We Need a Break" Activities
These are plans that have been culled and cobbled from various sources and meant to be easily implemented as a sub plan or if you or your kids are stressed and need a break from the regular routine or you’re at a point where you can’t start the next lesson or unit today…a snow day schedule, or maybe an unplanned assembly changes your schedule.
If you have a favorite activity for teacher or classroom “regrouping,” or sub activities, share with us!
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