The Story of the Statue of Liberty

I love learning new information through picture books and so do kids!  When I was teaching, the non-fiction section of my classroom library was always the most used section.  One of my favorites is The Story of the Statue of Liberty by Betsy and Giulio Maestro.  The Statue of Liberty has always fascinated me and this book does a great job of telling the story behind The Statue of Liberty!

The Story of the Statue of Liberty will build your child's schema (background knowledge).  It will probably add to your schema too!  You and your chid will learn new information about The Statue of Liberty.  However, it is too hard to remember everything.  You will have the opportunity to practice the comprehension strategy of determining importance.  Determining importance is often a challenging skill for kids.  Before children can determine what information they need to remember, they need to know their purpose for reading.  When reading The Story of the Statue of Liberty your purpose is more than likely going to be to find new information and/or answer questions you have about the Statue of Liberty.


As you read the story with your child point out your new learning and encourage your child to share when they learn something new.  Some question stems to guide your conversation when reading the story are:

• This is new learning for me.  I learned...
• I want to remember...
• It's interesting that...
• One thing we should notice is...

If you read this book, I HIGHLY encourage you to do an extension activity.  Children have a hard time understanding how big That Statue of Liberty really is.  They read the dimensions, but they cannot conceptualize 151 feet (the height of the figure)!  The best way to help them understand is to compare the length to something they know!  


Statue of Liberty Dimensions

• Her forefinger is 8 feet long.  Cut a piece of yarn 8 feet long.  Explain to your child this is the length of The Statue of Liberty's finger.  Cut a piece of yarn the length of your child's finger.  Using the cut string, have your child measure how many of their fingers it takes to make one of The Statue of Liberty's finger.  
• Her eye is 2 feet, 6 inches across.  Cut a piece of yarn 2 feet, 6 inches long. Explain to your child this is the width of The Statue of Liberty's eye.  Cut a piece of yarn the width of your child's eye.  Using the cut string, have your child measure how many of their eyes it takes to make one of The Statue of Liberty's eye.  
• Her mouth is 3 feet wide.  Cut a piece of yarn 3 feet long. Explain to your child this is the width of The Statue of Liberty's mouth.  Cut a piece of yarn the width of your child's mouth.  Using the cut string, have your child measure how many of their mouths it takes to make one of The Statue of Liberty's mouth.  
• The actual figure of The Statue of Liberty is 151 feet tall!  Cut a piece of yarn 151 feet long. Explain to your child this is the height of The Statue of Liberty.  Cut a piece of yarn the length of your child.  Using the cut string, have your child measure how many of them it takes to equal the height of The Statue of Liberty.

Your child will be impressed at the massiveness of Lady Liberty!