Lesson ideas in this thematic unit are based on the whole language approach which encourages cooperative learning.

"Join in the rainy-day fun as kids splash through the puddles, affecting another weather enthusiast, a nearby worm. The worm delights in the weather just as much as the kids"--

The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers. Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. Something has to be done in Chewandswallow...and in a hurry.

When Groundhog realizes he needs helpers all over the country to accurately forecast the weather, he establishes a school to teach young groundhogs how to properly determine when spring will arrive.

Thirteen-year-old Rosie Beckett has never strayed further from her family's farm than a horse can pull a cart. Then a letter from her Aunt Euterpe arrives, and everything changes. It's 1893, the year of the World's Columbian Exposition-the "wonder of the age"-a.k.a. the Chicago World's Fair. Aunt Euterpe is inviting the Becketts to come for a visit and go to the fair! Award-winning author Richard Peck's fresh, realistic, and fun-filled writing truly brings the World's Fair-and Rosie and her family-to life.