The+Star+of+Kazan

by Eva Ibbotson
 * //The Star of Kazan//**

Abandoned as a baby, Annika is found and adopted by Ellie and Sigrid, cook and housemaid for three professors. Growing up in early 20th century Vienna, she learns to cook and clean and is perfectly happy until a rich beautiful woman claiming to be her mother appears and takes her to live in her cold, crumbling castle in the north. With the help of Ellie, Sigrid, the professors, and friends old and new, Annika escapes from a ruinous fate and learns to face the truth about her relatives. Annotation from Virginia State Reading Association http://www.vsra.org/VRC/elementary_annotations08.html

__PhotoStory 3 Introduction to Vienna__ Most modern elementary school students are not familiar with what life was like in the city of Vienna one hundred years ago. One way to introduce them to the historical city would be to gather some pictures depicting various aspects of Vienna and create a PhotoStory video. You can create an impressive product in a very short amount of time with PhotoStory 3, a free download from Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx

Interactive Venn Diagram Compare the setting of Vienna 100 years ago to our city today. http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/venn/index.html

__Web Resources:__
 * http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-kazan.html Provides discussion questions
 * http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/shadowingsite/teachers/resources/Carnegie_book_sheets.pdf Provides discussion questions