Well since summer is almost over I have began outlining my unit for next year. So far I have probably ordered over 20 books. Looking back I should have ordered these books a lot earlier in the summer so that I would have had time to read them all. 

Today I received some of the mysteries I ordered from the Carole Marsh series and I already finished reading The Mysteries of the Graveyard of the Atlantic. These mysteries are centered around real events and places. Although she has about 40 different books in the series I only ordered the books that occur in North Carolina.

I also researched famous authors in North Carolina and came across Shelby Stephenson's work. He grew up on a small farm in southeastern North Carolina so I knew his work would be perfect. Of course I had to order his greatest hits. My favorite poem of his is called Balm and it is written about a hummingbird although he never says what he is describing. This poem reminded me of some of the poems from Jacobs Ladder, so I have created a Jacob's ladder style activity to go with some of his pieces.