We compared Duck to a counting book Quack and Count by Keith Baker that we had read with me reading a line and them repeating. They loved participating in Quack and Count and doing the math with me. They manipulated plastic duck figures as we learned that various combinations add up to the same number. We talked about how there really are few problems in counting books. You just kept figuring out the math until the end.
Robert McCloskey. One of the teachers whispered that she thought it was a boring old book (maybe she read all the criticisms in the Wikipedia article). Hah! The students surprised her.
They immediately noticed the Caldecott Medal and demanded to know just how old the book was. We pulled out our Caldecott posters (from Follett and Perma-bound) and they found Make Way for Ducklings all the way down at the bottom. We discussed how the pictures were illustrated and I showed them different art tools like charcoals and pencils. I sketched a simple copy of duck and they marveled at my ability. (That’s why I love kindergartners since I HAVE no ability.)
utilizes satellite images for older students, check out this lesson by Stephen Young and tailor it to your location.
I showed the class a postcard from my trip to Boston
for ALA Midwinter several years ago. On the postcard are the statues of those ducks. I shared how traveling has always been a dream of mine. I would read books as a little girl in Iowa and dream of going to far away places to see the settings. As a little girl, I wanted to see the sights of Boston. I wanted to visit the Lincoln Memorial. I wanted to travel a riverboat, to see Paris, and to watch the giraffes in Africa.
I’m still working on making some of those dreams come true. Five years ago I attended National Library Legislative Day in DC. I was so excited, but didn’t have any time for 
sightseeing. Penny Frere and I were returning to our hotel room at 11:30 p.m. when I suddenly announced that I’d been waiting ever since I was 5 years old to see the statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial and I wasn’t going home without a glimpse.
We dashed outside and into a taxi. For $25 he agreed to drive us all over DC at night for an hour. He even stopped the cab so we could get out and climb the 
Lincoln Memorial steps. Standing at the top of the steps gazing at the statue and the view, I was so thrilled. One of the greatest wishes of my life had been fulfilled. I have returned to that Memorial each time I visit DC and my love for that statue still grows.
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