Oh Canada!

At first, there was not a lot of snow on the ground,
so we made this little snowman.


Hi Kids!


 I am visiting a city called Toronto.

It is the biggest city in Canada, so

it is very busy with many people,

 tall buildings, and a lot of traffic.

There are other cities in Canada, too,

like Vancouver and Montreal.  

Millions of people live there.

Canada also has more open space t

han in the USA.

Canada is bigger - it has more land,

but it doesn't have as many people

 as our country does.

Later it snowed a lot, and we made this giant one.
I am having fun. The big buildings behind me let you
know that I am in a city.

 

Look at a map or a globe. You can see Canada is near the top. That means it is in the north.

The further north you go, the colder the weather gets. It is much colder here than at our home in Rock Hill. Here is another picture that shows the cold weather. I was taking a hike in the park with my friend, Dr. Dooling. Look how deep the snow is!

 

 

Canada has a lot of animals. Many animals that live in South Carolina can also be found in Canada. For example, you can see squirrels and raccoons in cities.
Some of the other animals that live in the wild in Canada are the beaver and the moose. In the far north of Canada you can find polar bears and reindeer.

I haven't seen animals outside yet, but I went to a museum, and saw this moose. I could get close to it because it is not alive any more. The museum guide told us that there are lots of them out in the woods.



Did you see a lot of mounted animals on your field trip
to the Museum of York county?

Here in Canada, there are two official languages. One is English. The other is French. All children learn these languages in school. You can see signs printed in both languages. I saw this sign where people were buying tickets to go on a boat ride.

Another thing that is different here is the money. Their dollars are coins, not paper. The gold colored one on the left is one dollar. It is called a "loonie" because the bird on the front is a loon. The coin on the left with a ring around it is a 2 dollar coin. They do have paper money for $5, $10, and larger bills. Their paper money is a lot more colorful than  ours.

Kids in Canada enjoy playing a lot of the same things that you do, like video games, soccer, and making art. Some popular winter activities are ice hockey, figure skating, and skiing.



These boys and girls are having a ski lesson.   See the teacher in the red jacket?
All the kids have to wear blue vests so that she can find everyone in her class!  
Sometimes they would fall down but the snow was soft so they were okay.

I have loved my visit to Canada. I will be coming home on Friday. I can't wait to see you all again!

Your Friend,

Flat Stanley

 

Atlanta, Georgia!

Hi Kids,

This is the first car trip that I have taken this year. I came here to Georgia for Thanksgiving break
On Wednesday, after we arrived, we went to for a walk in Piedmont Park, and I saw some animals in the water.

 

 

The ducks and turtles live together in a pond. They seem to get along well. How many turtles can you count in the picture? How many ducks? Which is more? How many more?

 

 

 Here is something else we saw in the park - a beautiful fountain. The blue sculpture in it is made of glass.

 

 

I know that Rock Hill has a Fountain Park too. I hope that you'll all get a chance to go there - especially in the winter when they make an ice skating rink!

 

 

Thursday was Thanksgiving, so we stayed at home. In the morning I watched the Macy's Parade. I liked all of it, but my favorite part was seeing the high school marching band from Fort Mill. That is the town right next to us!

 

After that we had a big dinner. As soon as the turkey came out of the oven, I hopped right up on the counter to take a look.

 

Mm-mm, it smelled so good!

Atlanta is a large city - bigger than Charlotte, so there are lots of big city things to do that are very different from Rock Hill. On Friday we went downtown. We rode there on the subway. In Atlanta it is called MARTA. It goes a lot faster than a car, because it doesn't have to stop for red lights, and there are never any traffic jams.

 

 

 I didn't meet any famous people while I was here, but I did see a famous place. This is the house where Dr. Martin Luther King was born and grew up. It is on Auburn Avenue. You might have seen it in a book about Dr. King. We went in and had a tour. They show the rooms and talk about his life there as a little boy, and the work he did later when he grew up.

  

 

On Saturday went to the Georgia Aquarium. It has so many kinds of fish, eels, turtles, dolphins, and even whales! It has pretty much anything that lives in water. Before we went in, I posed for a photo with this dolphin statue.

 

 

Inside, we watched the fish swimming. This is the biggest tank. It is three stories tall! The big fish is called a whale shark. The name is confusing - it IS a shark, but it is NOT a whale. In fact, it is the largest kind of fish in the world.

 



The next picture is kind of tricky. It looks like a lot of underwater plants and rocks. Actually, it is a lot of underwater plants and animals! There are some types of seaweed (plants), but the things that look like gray rocks and the light green rock in front are really animals called coral. Taken together, these plants and coral form an underwater habitat called a coral reef. 

 

Can you find the seahorses? 

This is Sunday.  Mr. and Mrs. North are driving back to Rock Hill, but I am staying behind. Every other time, I have come back to school between my trips, but not this time. That is because Dr. Kevin is bringing me on another trip next week. On December 3rd we will go to Canada! I can't wait! I'll be sure to send you pictures.

Your friend,
Flat Stanley

 

 

 

More from Connecticut

Hi First Graders,

 Today we went down to the water. Connecticut has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean, like South Carolina does. There are 14 lighthouses here.  They do an important job - keeping ships safe in the night or in the fog. I had a chance to visit one. It was fun to go inside.



I learned that the sperm whale is the state animal. I didn't see one of those, but I found this picture on the internet to share with you. Do you know that South Carolina has a state bird, and a state dog?  Ask your teacher about those.

 

We went to the marina, and walked on the docks. Lots of people have motorboats and yachts  moored here.

 

 

After spending time on the waterfront, we drove inland again, and took a walk by the Housatonic River. Some of the bridges were built long ago. They are called covered bridges, and are built to look like long houses or barns, with open ends for cars to enter, but with walls and roofs to keep out the snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I loved going through this covered bridge to get to the other side of the river.

We stopped to see one more sight before we went home. This is the oldest house in the state. It is made of stones. It was built in 1638 - almost 400 years ago.  The house has lasted a very long time!

That is all for now. Tomorrow Mrs. Clarke will take me to the Post Office to mail me back home to Rock Hill.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing some things about Connecticut - one of our 50 states.

 



Your friend,
Flat Stanley