Postcards From Buster

This is another example of great resource "transfiguration." I'm using that word because my family had dinner at a Chinese restaurant near Transfiguration Church in Chinatown. I don't know what the favorite buzzword of the talking heads is, but what I'm referring to is when accessible and motivating multimedia curriculum appear on the scene and teachers can take advantage of it and modify it for their students. That's the case with Time Warp Trio and here with Postcards with Buster. The pbs show has a great site with games and songs. This link takes you to the episode that the show above refers to Perfect for geography and perfect for third grade social studies' themes. They even have the lyrics of the songs so kids can read along

Buster's Lucky Year Chinatown, San Francisco
Where's this place? See my map! It was Chinese New Year when we visited Chinatown in San Francisco. It's a time to wish for good luck in the new year. I hope it works for me - I've been having terrible luck. How bad has my luck been? Well, my potato chips got stuck in the vending machine. The cheese slid off my pizza. I left my doughnuts in a taxi. Aaargh! Bad food-luck is the worst kind of bad luck there is!
Listen
Los Viajeros wrote a song about bad luck. It's called Turn My Luck Around. That has to help me at least a little bit! We met Hayley and Kary in Chinatown. They showed me some yummy Chinese desserts called dim sum. Dim sum (which can be food, too) means "touch the heart." That sounds pretty... but I want them to touch my stomach first. Many things are lucky for the Chinese New Year. Tangerines are lucky. The color red is lucky. Bamboo is lucky, too, because it is so strong. Plus, you wear new clothes so the bad spirits can't find you. Muffy
Muffy e-mailed to say she always has new clothes, so she's always lucky. Hey! Maybe she's hogging some of MY good luck. We saw the Chinese New Year's parade. There were lots of dragon floats, dancers, and firecrackers. Each year is represented by a different animal. This was the Year of the Monkey. That sounds like a fun year!
Turn my luck around,
From bad luck to good luck.
Friends are there to help you through
On good-luck days and bad ones, too!
Friends can bring good luck your way.
Somehow they know just what to say, too.
Oh, yeah!
I've turned my luck around,
You betcha!
From bad luck to good luck, now.
Sure you might be feeling down,
But don't plan on getting stuck!
Take it away, guys!
Whoo-hoo!
Turn my luck around
(Whoo-hoo!)
From bad luck to good luck.
(Good luck at last!)
Turn my luck around
From bad luck to good luck.
Turn my luck around
From bad luck to good luck.
Shoogie-doogie
Doogie-doogie!