73. Mirette On the High Wire, by Emily Arnold McCully

 

73.   Mirette On the High Wire, by Emily Arnold McCully

McCully, E.A. (1992). Mirette on the high wire. NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 

 Mirette was a young girl whose mother owned a boarding house in Paris in the late 1800s.  Famous acrobats, jugglers, actors, and mimes stayed at their boarding house.  One evening a sad-faced stranger, Monsieur Bellini arrived at the boarding house wanting a room.  The next day, Mirette found Monsieur Bellini walking across a tight rope in the courtyard.  She wanted to learn, and finally Monsieur Bellini said he would teach her.  With practice, she became very good. One night, Mariette found out that Monsieur Bellini was famous for his high wire stunts.  She asked him why he didn’t tell her about his adventures, he said he had become afraid. He didn’t want to disappoint Mirette, so he faced his fears and performed a show at the boarding house.  He froze on the wire but Mirette ran out onto the wire and helped him refocus.  Monsieur Bellini lost his fear and he and Mirette went on tour. 

I found a lesson plan that has a writing activity.  A piece of yarn is stretched across the room.  Students walk along and attach note cards with details from the story.  They use the details to create a story web, then write a paragraph on how Mirette learned how to walk the rope.  You could also use this book with a science lesson focusing on balance.  You could incorporate it into a social studies lesson and research famous high wire acts from the past.

 http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/lessons/lesson.asp?ID=1014

 

 

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