Dear Mr. Blueberry, by Simon James, is a fantasy story written as a series of letters between a girl named Emily and her teacher, Mr. Blueberry. In the letters, Emily tells her teacher there is a blue whale living in the pond in her backyard. Mr. Blueberry writes back and tells Emily that what she has described is impossible, giving her facts about whales to prove his point. At the end of the story Emily tells Mr. Blueberry her whale has gone back to sea. He wisely replies that Emily should consider a career of studying and protecting whales.

Your child can review and practice the vocabulary words and definitions for Dear Mr. Blueberry by clicking the Java Games link in the Quia activities section. It may be helpful to print out the list of terms (vocabulary words and meanings) from the game choices page so your child can refer to them as needed during practice. Once your child can easily match the words and definitions, have him/her try playing the Columns Game where vocabulary words are used in the context of sentences.

Have some fun with the Useful links section at the bottom of the Class Page. It features hyperlinks to other sites that contain background materials and enrichment activities that go along with this week's story. These links are provided as an extra opportunity for fun and learning for you and your second grader.