A Green Place To Be: The Creation of Central Park Activity

Summary

Imagine a contest where you get to design a community park. What would you include in your plan? In 1858, architect Calvert Vaux had great ideas for a park in New York City. He entered a contest with Frederick Law Olmsted, a landscape expert. Together they submitted grand plans for a park, and they won! They were awarded the job of designing and developing Central Park.

A Green Place to Be is a fascinating story. Author Ashley Benham Yazdani did an incredible job delivering information through text and illustrations. Readers will learn how the park evolved. They will see how it was designed so everyone could enjoy it.

Yazdani reminds me of Vaux and Olmsted. She created a book that everyone can appreciate. Budding architects will love the double-page spread that features the park’s bridges. Detectives will have fun finding the twenty-two squirrels hidden in the pages. There are also some facts and ideas for artists and gardeners to explore. And of course, there are plenty of interesting details to satisfy history buffs.

A Green Place to Be Activity

AASL Standards Framework for Learners: I.A.1 Learners engage with new knowledge by formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.

Prepare learners for the story by asking what they know and wonder about Central Park. Record questions on chart paper.

Encourage learners to ask “I Wonder” questions during and after the reading. Allow time to explore questions by visiting CentralPark.com. Here they’ll find events, tours, and historical information. There is also an interactive mapping tool that learners may enjoy investigating.

Visit the WhatWasThere website to see how Central Park has changed over the years. Start by typing in New York City, NY and find Central Park. You’ll see old pictures layered on top of current images. The older pictures can fade, revealing a current image underneath. Learn more about this AASL Best Website for Teaching and Learning by reading a KnowledgeQuest post from Heather Moorefield-Lang.

Share Up In The Leaves: The True Story of the Central Park Treehouse by Shira Boss and Jamey Christoph. This story will appeal to the arborists in your class. Click here to find lesson ideas for the book.