Our class read Chester The Worldly Pig to begin our study of the world. This book is about a pig that wants to become famous. He teaches himself how to do a "nose stand" and waits to be discovered by the circus. After becoming a part of the circus, he is thrown into a cage with fierce tigers and dressed up in baby clothes! This is not Chester's idea of being a star, so he escapes from the circus and continues to have one adventure after another. Finally, an educated man notices something very special about Chester - his spots are in the shape of a world map. Chester becomes famous by just being himself!

After reading this story our class wondered if Chester would like being a famous pig. We brainstormed ideas about what life would be like for Chester now that he is famous. Then we wrote a letter from Chester to tell everyone about his new life.

Dear friends,

        I am having so much fun at the carnivals!  Being a star is just as much fun as I always dreamed it would be.  Thousands of people come to see me from all over the world and I don't even have to wear baby clothes!  My favorite part is when they give me a bath to prove that my spots are real - I never knew how good it felt to be so clean!  I don't have to sleep in barrels on streets anymore.  Now that I'm a famous pig, I have my very own bed.  I've become so famous that I get to travel around the world and visit schools.  The teachers love for me to come in and teach the children about the continents.  I think its just fun to go and play with all of the kids!  Maybe I'll come to your school one of these days.  I hope you are already learning about the world and maps so that when I come I don't have to work too hard.  I like to leave lots of time for lunch - as long as you're not having ham!

                                                Sincerely,

                                                Chester (The Worldly Pig)

Our next activity was to make our very own Chester the Worldly Pigs.  Our teacher gave us pink paper and pigs to trace.  After cutting out our pigs, she gave us a map of the world.  We cut out all of the continents and glued them on our pig in the correct "spots". 

 For the next couple of weeks, we learned about all of Chester's spots (the continents!)  Our class divided into groups and each group researched a continent to present to the class.  After learning about each continent's people, languages, customs, and animals we completed the Kidspiration activity below.

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