Who are these characters? What are their names? What do they desire, fear, need? Where do they live, and how? These questions account for the many hours of research I do. Often it’s an article in a newspaper that motivates me.

THE SINGING MOUNTAIN drew upon some of my own experiences in returning to traditional Judaism. ESCAPE FROM EGYPT came to me in the middle of night, the story of the Exodus, the Jews’ escape from slavery in Egypt as told in the Bible. DREAM FREEDOM was inspired by a seminar on modern day slavery in Sudan. One picture book, THE MAN WHO KEPT HIS HEART IN A BUCKET” actually came to me in a dream. To access all of the lessons in this Nine for California unit study, grab an easy-to-print file at the end of this post.People often ask me, “Where do you get your ideas?” It varies. Does your student know how long a minute is? Hour? Day? Week? The children would recite what they knew to pass the time. Stagecoach, shotgun, outlaw, without, goodbye, cowboy, grownups, hummingbird, milkweed Can your student find any compound words in this story? What makes a word a compound word? Two separate words put together as one. Write about the book you’re studying this week and tell them your favorite part of the story. Practice the old fashioned skill of handwriting a letter to a distant family member. Ma couldn’t pick up her cell phone and call him back, she had to hand write a letter and send it through the United States Mail System, the Post Office. Pa sent a letter by stagecoach to tell his family to move to California. Someone made a pygg jar in the shape of a pig. By the 18 th century the word pygg sounded the same as the word for pig. Used in the 15 th century in Old England, potters made all kinds of objects out of pygg, including dishes and jars to keep spare change. Has your child ever wondered where the idea for a piggy bank came from? Nobody actually invented the piggy bank. It was always a big ordeal to see the stage in town! Before the stagecoach routes west, it would take up to a year to travel across the country from coast to coast! The stagecoach cut this time down to just 32 days! The mail was delivered by Wells Fargo stagecoach. In our story, we see the family at a Missouri post office receiving a letter from Pa. 1785, just two years after the Revolutionary War, The United States Mail used stagecoaches to carry mail. Stagecoaches were very important part of our American history of over 100 years. Stagecoaches were used throughout history as a means of transportation. Here is a sample of the lessons found in this Nine for California unit study: This unit study includes lessons and activities based on the book Nine for California by Sonia Levitin. Thanks to Lisa Dickinson for preparing this Nine for California unit study.