Hoosick Falls Fourth-Grade Crew Sails with Henry Hudson!

Today, I was honored to spend time with inquisitive students in Ms. Katie Brownell's fourth-grade classroom at Hoosick Falls Elementary School.

We talked about explorer Henry Hudson and his third voyage, which took him up the Hudson River in search of the northwest passage.

We learned about relief maps, and then designed maps of our own.

In six groups, the talented youngsters built their own 3-D maps using hand-made salt dough. (We had to figure out recipe ratios to do this.)

Some included the source, which is Lake Tear of the Clouds, high in the Adirondack Mountains.


Others spotlighted a middle section of the 315-mile river.






And yet another group featured the mouth as the river enters the Atlantic Ocean in NYC.


The program was inspired by my chapter book about the explorer.

We had a messily good time, and I thank Carol Gaillard from the Cheney Library in Hoosick Falls for making this happen.

Happy Sailing to the Fourth Graders! You crewed like pros!