America's 4th of July is a great celebration! But why? Here are some of the Who, What, Where, When, and Whys that will help lay a foundation for understanding this national holiday.
For many families, the learning really begins in the excitement of the fireworks, in the parades and the candy,
in the waving of flags.Then the kids ask, "What's so special about the Fourth of July anyway?"
1. What: The Declaration of Independence was ratified on this day in 1776. Older students can delve into the actual words of this document and discover its purpose as stated in the words of the very Founders of the United States. Younger students can be told why the 4th of July is considered the "birthday" of the United States. Students of a variety of ages can memorize the introduction and/or the preamble, or read them out loud with some patriotic music playing in the background.
2. Who: Thomas
Jefferson gets a lot of attention regarding the Declaration of
Independence, and very rightfully so. BUT students can also hear about John Adams and Benjamin Franklin and their roles in the creation of this document. Students can make sense of Benjamin Franklin's feelings at this time that the colonists must "hang together" or surely "hang separately". Very often overlooked in the study of the Declaration is also the person of King George, but in some ways, there would have been no Declaration had it not been for the choices of King George. (You've
got to love the rather lengthy list of grievances the Founders had
against the King, as listed directly in the text of the Declaration.)
3. When: Though July 4th is the date celebrated as the birthday of the United States, the work of writing took many days during that summer of 1776. Also, investigate why John Adams predicted that the 2nd of July would be a day of "pomp", "parade" and "illuminations".
4. Where: Though Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an obvious choice of locations to mention, it is the perfect chance to point out all 13 of the original colonies and also the location of England.
5. Why: The very best way to see the answer to this question is to read the text of the declaration itself, which explains right at the outset what the reasons were for the 13 colonies to declare their independence from England. Older students can contemplate the questions of whether the decision was justified and imagine whether or not such a document would ever be needed in the future.
6. Effects: What different reactions did colonists have when this document was read aloud throughout the colonies? What was King George's reaction? Also important to note here is that in some ways, the United States Declaration of Independence became the groundwork for many other countries in the years following. See, for instance, France a decade later.
7. Where does it fit? Some people mistakenly remember the Declaration of Independence as the beginning of the American Revolution, but studying the events ten years before and after 1776 help put the Declaration in perspective.
8. Visualize the Declaration: John
Trumbull, for example, painted "The Declaration of Independence" in
which he paid attention to detail as to the location and appearance of
people's faces. Look, also at a copy of the original document. Some students may wish to copy a small part of the Declaration onto some parchment or "aged" paper.
9. Other resources: There are so many great books written for children about the Declaration of Independence, the Fourth of July, and the people who had a hand in making the history of this date. There are also videos that might be appropriate for your children (as always, you may choose to preview these first yourself). Liberty's Kids has an episode about the Declaration of Independence, and the History Channel made an "American Revolution" series which more advanced students might find useful.
10. Other ideas: Of course, finding ways to celebrate the 4th of July as the birthday of the United States leaves plenty of room for fun! Red, white, and blue food and crafts, local parades and fireworks, and patriotic music set the stage for creating a feeling that "There's something special about the 4th of July!"
Showing posts with label Celebrate and Educate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebrate and Educate. Show all posts
Monday, July 4, 2016
Friday, April 6, 2012
Sign of the Beaver and Native Facepaint
I had to share the pictures from one of today's highlights.
We recently finished reading "The Sign of the Beaver" by Elizabeth George Speare. It's a Newberry Honor book set in the 1760's.
My dd6 was unsatisfied with the ending. She would have preferred that the Indians come back to live in Maine instead of moving west. She made a plan to change the ending.
She asked if I could put Indian facepaint on her. (We found a pretty design on YouTube.) She would also make signs so that the Indians felt welcomed back.
She feels much better about the way things turned out now!
We recently finished reading "The Sign of the Beaver" by Elizabeth George Speare. It's a Newberry Honor book set in the 1760's.
My dd6 was unsatisfied with the ending. She would have preferred that the Indians come back to live in Maine instead of moving west. She made a plan to change the ending.
She asked if I could put Indian facepaint on her. (We found a pretty design on YouTube.) She would also make signs so that the Indians felt welcomed back.
She feels much better about the way things turned out now!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Celebrating Presidents Day--Lincoln in Perler Beads!
Just in time for Presidents' Day, my ultra-talented Dh came up with a project for making a portrait of Abraham Lincoln in perler beads. It turned out really well so he even put a video on YouTube showing how he did it. Find it here!
If your kids like using Perler beads I think it's a pretty do-able project. Let me know how it goes!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Unit Study Week-Detectives and Mysteries
The case files are ready.
The credentials are ready to be filled in.
The goals:
-To learn about and do something fun
-To follow an interest that we all share
To prepare, the kids spent the last school day last week covering math, grammar, piano practice, Latin, and Spanish. These are subjects that won't get much coverage with the detective unit.
Subjects that will get a lot of coverage this week are Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, History, Science, Logic, and PE.
I did some looking for resources online and have four major sources:
Squidoo
Homeschool Share
Scholastic (and search detective)
FBI (fun and games section)
I added other activity ideas as the inspiration hit.
I've inter-library loaned a couple of non-fiction books about detectives and science projects related to detective work.
I've also collected our dozens of detective books and inter-library loaned some more. These include Cam Jansen, Jigsaw Jones, Encyclopedia Brown, Concord Cunningham Scripture Sleuth, High Rise Private Eyes.
I'll report back on the activities we use.
Activity #1 For Fun: Watch G-Force, Disney's (PG) movie in which an elite team of special agent guinea pigs has to save the world. The kids really enjoyed the movie despite a few scary parts and typical PG-ish humor. It was a good way to get a "spies in action" feel. We also talked a little about detective-themed words like what a "mole" is (not the mammal).
Thursday, January 5, 2012
One reason I'm thankful that I get the chance to homeschool
I have to say that I sometimes enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" just as much as the kids. By this I mean that when we discover an interesting tidbit of history, for example, I'm just as excited and interested as them.
Sometimes these tidbits are just that--interesting tidbits. Today we learned that the mayor of London during the plague had all cats and dogs destroyed (thinking that these animals were spreading the disease). London rats, then, were able to multiply without their natural enemies and, whoops, they were carrying the fleas which actually caused the plague.
At other times we learn about things that make me stop and think more deeply about life. According to memoirs of the time, there was a Moghul emperor in India who used to weigh himself or one of his sons yearly. (Some reports say that this was done on a "new year" holiday. Other reports say that it was done on a birthday.) An equal weight of gold, cloths, grains, or other goods would be distributed to the poor. That's an interesting idea! Would I do such a thing today?
Today I'm thankful for this opportunity to share moments of learning with my kids.
Sometimes these tidbits are just that--interesting tidbits. Today we learned that the mayor of London during the plague had all cats and dogs destroyed (thinking that these animals were spreading the disease). London rats, then, were able to multiply without their natural enemies and, whoops, they were carrying the fleas which actually caused the plague.
At other times we learn about things that make me stop and think more deeply about life. According to memoirs of the time, there was a Moghul emperor in India who used to weigh himself or one of his sons yearly. (Some reports say that this was done on a "new year" holiday. Other reports say that it was done on a birthday.) An equal weight of gold, cloths, grains, or other goods would be distributed to the poor. That's an interesting idea! Would I do such a thing today?
Today I'm thankful for this opportunity to share moments of learning with my kids.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Celebrating 11-11-11: Just For Fun
Just for fun, the kids didn't get started with any schoolwork until 11:00.
Also, we're doing "eleven" activities both today (11-11) and tomorrow. We just had too many ideas that the kids wanted to do. So we'll celebrate both days.
Also, we're doing "eleven" activities both today (11-11) and tomorrow. We just had too many ideas that the kids wanted to do. So we'll celebrate both days.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Celebrating 11-11-11: Compiled List
As promised, here's our starter list of things to do with "elevens".
Ds8 decided that we could do 11 minutes of each subject. He also thought we could get 11 minutes of something extra-special. Maybe it could be electronic time, reading time at night, etc.
Other ideas:
MATH:
-Can you use 11 coins to pay for these items in our pretend store?
-List 11 or more ways to make $11.11.
-Practice these 11 addition (or subtraction, multiplication, division) facts.
-How much money is in 11 pennies? What about 11 nickels, 11 dimes, 11 quarters, 11 half dollars, 11 ten-dollar bills, or 11 hundred-dollar bills?
-How many minutes are in 11 hours? How many seconds?
HANDWRITING:
-Practice writing (print/cursive) these 11 letters.
-Use these 11 letters to come up with at least 11 different words. Use them to practice handwriting.
WRITING:
-In your journal, write about what you will be able to do when you're 11 that you can't do now. What won't you be able to do anymore that you can do now?
-Write a paragraph (topic, details, concluding sentences) about why I should give you 11 (fill in the blank).
SPELLING:
-Use 11 spelling words this week.
VOCABULARY:
-Put these 11 words into a vocabulary crossword puzzle using definitions as clues.
-Look up the definitions of these 11 words.
GRAMMAR:
-Find 11 nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns...in these sentences.
-Put these 11 words into alphabetical order.
-Make complete sentences with 11 words.
GEOGRAPHY:
-Locate these 11 world capitals on the wall map.
-Find out what locations are within 11 miles of your home.
HISTORY:
-Find out who was president 11 years ago. Ask someone to tell you what they remember about that person's presidency.
MUSIC:
-Use Finale Notepad to make an original song using these 11 notes (the notes can be repeated more than once).
LIBRARY SKILLS:
-Locate these 11 books at the library using their letter/number codes.
PE:
-Do an 11 minute walk/jog.
-Do sets of 11 jumping jacks, windmills, toe touches, etc.
OTHER LANGUAGES:
-Count to 11 in the language you're studying.
-Count to 11 in 11 different languages.
LIFE SKILLS:
-Bake 11 (pretzels...) or make pancakes with 11 chocolate chips each. How many chips will we need for 2 pancakes each and 5 people?
-Estimate and check: how many M&Ms in 11 grams?
Ds8 decided that we could do 11 minutes of each subject. He also thought we could get 11 minutes of something extra-special. Maybe it could be electronic time, reading time at night, etc.
Other ideas:
MATH:
-Can you use 11 coins to pay for these items in our pretend store?
-List 11 or more ways to make $11.11.
-Practice these 11 addition (or subtraction, multiplication, division) facts.
-How much money is in 11 pennies? What about 11 nickels, 11 dimes, 11 quarters, 11 half dollars, 11 ten-dollar bills, or 11 hundred-dollar bills?
-How many minutes are in 11 hours? How many seconds?
HANDWRITING:
-Practice writing (print/cursive) these 11 letters.
-Use these 11 letters to come up with at least 11 different words. Use them to practice handwriting.
WRITING:
-In your journal, write about what you will be able to do when you're 11 that you can't do now. What won't you be able to do anymore that you can do now?
-Write a paragraph (topic, details, concluding sentences) about why I should give you 11 (fill in the blank).
SPELLING:
-Use 11 spelling words this week.
VOCABULARY:
-Put these 11 words into a vocabulary crossword puzzle using definitions as clues.
-Look up the definitions of these 11 words.
GRAMMAR:
-Find 11 nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns...in these sentences.
-Put these 11 words into alphabetical order.
-Make complete sentences with 11 words.
GEOGRAPHY:
-Locate these 11 world capitals on the wall map.
-Find out what locations are within 11 miles of your home.
HISTORY:
-Find out who was president 11 years ago. Ask someone to tell you what they remember about that person's presidency.
MUSIC:
-Use Finale Notepad to make an original song using these 11 notes (the notes can be repeated more than once).
LIBRARY SKILLS:
-Locate these 11 books at the library using their letter/number codes.
PE:
-Do an 11 minute walk/jog.
-Do sets of 11 jumping jacks, windmills, toe touches, etc.
OTHER LANGUAGES:
-Count to 11 in the language you're studying.
-Count to 11 in 11 different languages.
LIFE SKILLS:
-Bake 11 (pretzels...) or make pancakes with 11 chocolate chips each. How many chips will we need for 2 pancakes each and 5 people?
-Estimate and check: how many M&Ms in 11 grams?
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Celebrating 11-11-11
Next up this week--the kids are helping brainstorm ways to celebrate 11s for this out-of-the-ordinary day.
We'll update you when we've got our list ready!
We'll update you when we've got our list ready!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Edible History "Report"
My kids are a little young yet to do formal history reports. Yet they are old enough to learn a lot of good information about the history we read. So how do they share that information?
Last week we learned about Martin Luther and the Reformation. I happened to find some cookie cutters at an estate sale this summer that were perfect for a tie-in: Robin Hood (probably the person sent in UPCs from Robin Hood flour years ago).
We used the Friar Tuck cookie cutter to make Martin Luther the monk as well as John Tetzel. The castle and the knight cookie cutters became Martin Luther as Knight George hiding at the Wartburg. The Maid Marion and lute-player cookie cutters became Katie and Martin the family man. To fill in some dates the kids used number cookie cutters. We used a knife to cut out a church and a paper for the 95 theses.
We took the cookies to a get-together (with good friends) and they presented the recap of Luther and the Reformation. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures *before* we started eating them. It was great oral-presentation practice. Yummy, too!
Last week we learned about Martin Luther and the Reformation. I happened to find some cookie cutters at an estate sale this summer that were perfect for a tie-in: Robin Hood (probably the person sent in UPCs from Robin Hood flour years ago).
We used the Friar Tuck cookie cutter to make Martin Luther the monk as well as John Tetzel. The castle and the knight cookie cutters became Martin Luther as Knight George hiding at the Wartburg. The Maid Marion and lute-player cookie cutters became Katie and Martin the family man. To fill in some dates the kids used number cookie cutters. We used a knife to cut out a church and a paper for the 95 theses.
We took the cookies to a get-together (with good friends) and they presented the recap of Luther and the Reformation. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures *before* we started eating them. It was great oral-presentation practice. Yummy, too!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Messy Art-Jackson Pollock
There are a considerable number of messy projects on my to-do-with-the-kids-before-they-graduate bucket list. Many of the fun ones are accompanied by fair amounts of clean-up afterward. This week we tackled one of those projects.
After reading the Mike Venezia biography about Jackson Pollock I showed them a 2 minute video clip of him working on one of his big splatter paintings. I was sure to point out Pollock's messy work boots so the kids knew what kind of fun awaited us.
Then I found the biggest pieces of paper I could and we went outside to "work". (Really we went outside to get messy and laugh.) The paper was about 3 feet x 4 feet.
It was great fun for all three of us to make our own large-sized art.
The one thing I didn't plan for was how to get these projects into the house for drying and safe-keeping! If we had done this project in the morning, the paint would have had 10 hours to dry before we picked it up. We did it around 4:00, though, and had a tough time maneuvering through doors and down stairs without smearing the paint.
After reading the Mike Venezia biography about Jackson Pollock I showed them a 2 minute video clip of him working on one of his big splatter paintings. I was sure to point out Pollock's messy work boots so the kids knew what kind of fun awaited us.
Then I found the biggest pieces of paper I could and we went outside to "work". (Really we went outside to get messy and laugh.) The paper was about 3 feet x 4 feet.
ds8's project
dd5's project
It was great fun for all three of us to make our own large-sized art.
The one thing I didn't plan for was how to get these projects into the house for drying and safe-keeping! If we had done this project in the morning, the paint would have had 10 hours to dry before we picked it up. We did it around 4:00, though, and had a tough time maneuvering through doors and down stairs without smearing the paint.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Review Game--Good Idea that Never Materialized
At the beginning of the last school year I thought it would be fun to keep a running list of things the kids had learned so that we could play various review games during the year and at the year's end. I thought it would be fairly easy to jot down something at the end of every couple of school days on an index card for this purpose. My goal was to write down a new vocabulary word, science or history fact, math topic, etc. on these cards.
While I still think it was a good idea, it just never really happened. As I was looking ahead to the coming school year, I wanted to use the idea but actually carry it out.
What would have worked better? Was it just a habit that I never formed? Was it something I should have assigned to the kids at the day's end? Has anyone ever succuessfully carried out this type of idea? I'd love to make this work.
While I still think it was a good idea, it just never really happened. As I was looking ahead to the coming school year, I wanted to use the idea but actually carry it out.
What would have worked better? Was it just a habit that I never formed? Was it something I should have assigned to the kids at the day's end? Has anyone ever succuessfully carried out this type of idea? I'd love to make this work.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Enjoying "Summer"-Music Game
When you're on school break, what do you do? Are your kids completely free? Do they have certain times when they're allowed to have screen time?
I find that my kids usually get along better when we limit time on the Wii/computer. They also get a little tired of sibling togetherness. So during our "summer" break I've tried to have some other fun things available for them to do.
Today we played a fun music game from MakingMusicFun. It was a break-the-code game using simple rhythms and pitches on the piano. It was great for ds8 to practice his note reading. It was also good for dd5 to be involved as well. She caught right on to which notes on the piano to use and also reviewed some rhythms and note reading. (She just began piano lessons a couple months ago.)
It's a real hit. I'm sure we'll be playing it again. If your kids have basic skills in note-reading they may enjoy it as well. (I was thinking it would be fun to re-play the game with tougher note combinations as well. Maybe in the future...)
I find that my kids usually get along better when we limit time on the Wii/computer. They also get a little tired of sibling togetherness. So during our "summer" break I've tried to have some other fun things available for them to do.
Today we played a fun music game from MakingMusicFun. It was a break-the-code game using simple rhythms and pitches on the piano. It was great for ds8 to practice his note reading. It was also good for dd5 to be involved as well. She caught right on to which notes on the piano to use and also reviewed some rhythms and note reading. (She just began piano lessons a couple months ago.)
It's a real hit. I'm sure we'll be playing it again. If your kids have basic skills in note-reading they may enjoy it as well. (I was thinking it would be fun to re-play the game with tougher note combinations as well. Maybe in the future...)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Turn out the lights, the party's over
I've often been one to spend the last couple days of a vacation feeling a little sad to see it go. In my head I know it's silly--I'm still on vacation. Why waste the last moments because you're disappointed that they're over?
I'm trying to have a much better attitude this time around. After a nice week-long spring break it's time to get back to school. None of us are really itching to do it, but we all know it's time. After all, we only have about 40 school days left before a longer summer break.
Here's my plan for a successful first day back, and hopefully then, a great start to the rest of our year:
*Be clear about expecations.
-I've mentioned the end of break a couple of times so that it wouldn't come as a surprise.
-We'll talk after dinner tonight about getting back into the swing of things and put it in a positive light.
-I'll remind the kids where to go tomorrow morning to find their assignments (they'll be taped to the fridge).
*Have something to look forward to.
-When laying out tomorrow's assignments I've tried to plan a couple less "booky" subjects in addition to their more academic subjects to ease back into schooltime.
-I'll plan an extra family movie night for something to look forward to. (We usually do movie night on Fridays.) It's a good reminder that we "work while we work so we can also play while we play".
*Be patient, be patient, be patient.
-I'll remember to do my deep breathing and you remember to do yours. After all, one of our reasons for homeschooling is to develop a strong family relationship. We're in
this together. Time flies. We're going to enjoy each other while we can.
I'm trying to have a much better attitude this time around. After a nice week-long spring break it's time to get back to school. None of us are really itching to do it, but we all know it's time. After all, we only have about 40 school days left before a longer summer break.
Here's my plan for a successful first day back, and hopefully then, a great start to the rest of our year:
*Be clear about expecations.
-I've mentioned the end of break a couple of times so that it wouldn't come as a surprise.
-We'll talk after dinner tonight about getting back into the swing of things and put it in a positive light.
-I'll remind the kids where to go tomorrow morning to find their assignments (they'll be taped to the fridge).
*Have something to look forward to.
-When laying out tomorrow's assignments I've tried to plan a couple less "booky" subjects in addition to their more academic subjects to ease back into schooltime.
-I'll plan an extra family movie night for something to look forward to. (We usually do movie night on Fridays.) It's a good reminder that we "work while we work so we can also play while we play".
*Be patient, be patient, be patient.
-I'll remember to do my deep breathing and you remember to do yours. After all, one of our reasons for homeschooling is to develop a strong family relationship. We're in
this together. Time flies. We're going to enjoy each other while we can.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
100th day of school--List 1
READING
* Read a book with more than 100 pages.
* Work together as a group to read more than 100 pages.
* Read today for 100 minutes.
* How many 100 point books can you read and test on bookadventure.com?
* There is a sampling of books you may be able to get from your library:
* 100 Monsters in My School by Bonnie Bader
* 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days by Bruce Goldstone
* The 100th Day of School by Angela Shelf Medearis
* 100th Day Worries by Margery Cuyler
* 98, 99, 100, Ready or Not, Here I Come by Teddy Slater
* Counting Our Way to the 100th Day by Betsy Franco
* Emily's First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells
* Jake's 100th Day of School by Lester Laminack
* Many Ways to 100 by Betsy Franco
* Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
* The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History by Jennifer Armstrong (Note: Some of you may wish to scan this one on your own before you give it to your kids. There are some tales that may be disturbing to young children.)
* Young Cam Jansen and the 100th Day of School Mystery by David Adler
WRITING
* Handwriting: Make a list of 100_____. This could be animals, places, numbers, anything you decide. You could also write 100 words that start with a vowel or 100 words that come before kangaroo in the dictionary.
* Help mom blog about the 100th day by writing about your favorite things you did to celebrate. How about writing about your least favorite 100th day things, too?
* Journal entry: I am 100% _______ (excited, scared, mad...) about __________ (going to the dentist tomorrow, having my friend over this afternoon...)
* Story starters: There once was a dragon with 100 teeth... There once was a girl with 100 brothers...There once was a dog with 100 fleas...There once was a rabbit with 100 carrots...
*Journal: Make a list of 5 things your parents must have told you a hundred times.
GRAMMAR AND OTHER LANGUAGE ARTS
* Find at least 100 mistakes in this letter I've written to you.
* Parts of speech practice: Write 10 proper nouns, 20 common nouns, 20 action verbs, 10 helping verbs, 10 pronouns, 20 adjectives, and 10 interjections (100 total).
* Put these 100 words in alphabetical order.
MATH
* How high can you count in 100 seconds? Or how many seconds does it take you to count to 100?
* Fill in the missing numbers on a 100 chart.
* Sort and graph these 100 M&Ms (or Skittles, or Fruit Loops).
* Make a 100 cm line and a 100 inch line. Compare.
* How tall is 100 inches. Do people grow to be that tall?
* The 100th day is a great opportunity to practice decimals.
* What number is 1/4 of 100? 1/2 of 100?
* Find people in your acquaintance whose ages exactly equal 100.
* Estimate which weighs more--100 _____ or 100 _____. (This could be pieces of cereal, paperclips, etc.) Weigh and record to check your estimate.
* Put these 1-100 number cards in order.
* Find out how many _____ you could buy with $100.
* Pretend you have been given $100 to help someone else. Make a list of things you could do or buy.
* Complete this list of 100 math facts.
Note: Some of these ideas are ones that I collected when I was teaching in the classroom. Others are new ones that we've added this year.
* Read a book with more than 100 pages.
* Work together as a group to read more than 100 pages.
* Read today for 100 minutes.
* How many 100 point books can you read and test on bookadventure.com?
* There is a sampling of books you may be able to get from your library:
* 100 Monsters in My School by Bonnie Bader
* 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days by Bruce Goldstone
* The 100th Day of School by Angela Shelf Medearis
* 100th Day Worries by Margery Cuyler
* 98, 99, 100, Ready or Not, Here I Come by Teddy Slater
* Counting Our Way to the 100th Day by Betsy Franco
* Emily's First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells
* Jake's 100th Day of School by Lester Laminack
* Many Ways to 100 by Betsy Franco
* Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
* The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History by Jennifer Armstrong (Note: Some of you may wish to scan this one on your own before you give it to your kids. There are some tales that may be disturbing to young children.)
* Young Cam Jansen and the 100th Day of School Mystery by David Adler
WRITING
* Handwriting: Make a list of 100_____. This could be animals, places, numbers, anything you decide. You could also write 100 words that start with a vowel or 100 words that come before kangaroo in the dictionary.
* Help mom blog about the 100th day by writing about your favorite things you did to celebrate. How about writing about your least favorite 100th day things, too?
* Journal entry: I am 100% _______ (excited, scared, mad...) about __________ (going to the dentist tomorrow, having my friend over this afternoon...)
* Story starters: There once was a dragon with 100 teeth... There once was a girl with 100 brothers...There once was a dog with 100 fleas...There once was a rabbit with 100 carrots...
*Journal: Make a list of 5 things your parents must have told you a hundred times.
GRAMMAR AND OTHER LANGUAGE ARTS
* Find at least 100 mistakes in this letter I've written to you.
* Parts of speech practice: Write 10 proper nouns, 20 common nouns, 20 action verbs, 10 helping verbs, 10 pronouns, 20 adjectives, and 10 interjections (100 total).
* Put these 100 words in alphabetical order.
MATH
* How high can you count in 100 seconds? Or how many seconds does it take you to count to 100?
* Fill in the missing numbers on a 100 chart.
* Sort and graph these 100 M&Ms (or Skittles, or Fruit Loops).
* Make a 100 cm line and a 100 inch line. Compare.
* How tall is 100 inches. Do people grow to be that tall?
* The 100th day is a great opportunity to practice decimals.
* What number is 1/4 of 100? 1/2 of 100?
* Find people in your acquaintance whose ages exactly equal 100.
* Estimate which weighs more--100 _____ or 100 _____. (This could be pieces of cereal, paperclips, etc.) Weigh and record to check your estimate.
* Put these 1-100 number cards in order.
* Find out how many _____ you could buy with $100.
* Pretend you have been given $100 to help someone else. Make a list of things you could do or buy.
* Complete this list of 100 math facts.
Note: Some of these ideas are ones that I collected when I was teaching in the classroom. Others are new ones that we've added this year.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Celebrating 10/10/2010 Idea List 2 and Update
My second grader did several "10" activities today.
-Find the 10 errors in this story.
-Find the time in 10 minutes, 10 minutes ago, in 10 hours.
-Put these 10 words in alphabetical order: kitten, kite, kaput, krill, knuckle, knock, kindness, Korea, kangaroo, kumquat. I thought his mind was really working when he said to me, "Why didn't you give me words starting with the 10th letter of the alphabet?" He's always thinking!
-Answer these 10 history review questions.
-Match these 10 world countries with their capital cities.
-Make any combination of these notes (whole notes, half, quarter, eighth, rests) which equal 10 beats total.
-Compose an original song using only these 10 notes on the piano.
So far, this has been a fun diversion from our regular lessons. He's completing tasks which meet state standards, too!
Here are some other ideas we came up with, but haven't used yet:
READING:
-Read up to chapter 10 in our current read-aloud book.
-Find 10 books on your shelf written in the last 10 years.
GRAMMAR:
-Find 10 abbreviations and 10 homophones in the newspaper.
WRITING:
-Add 10 adjectives to liven up the story you wrote last week.
-Journal topic: What would you like to be able to do by age 10?
-Journal topic: I wish I knew 10 _______... If I swallowed 10__________...
MATH:
-Count the number of days until we can celebrate 11-11-2011!
-Write ten < > = number sentences.
-Count out 10+10+10 pennies. Make a graph to show how many were minted within the last 10 years and how many were minted before that time. Were there any surprising results?
HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY:
-Name 10 countries in the northern hemisphere.
-Put these 10 events from the Middle Ages (our current history time) in chronological order.
SCIENCE:
-Find 10 constellations or heavenly bodies in the night sky. (We're currently studying space science.)
-Take a 10 minute nature hike.
INTEREST/HOBBY:
-Take 10 minutes to do some outdoor photography. Look through the pictures and choose 10 you'd like to keep and print.
EXTRAS:
-Do something very special on 10-10-2010 at 10:00.
-Find the 10 errors in this story.
-Find the time in 10 minutes, 10 minutes ago, in 10 hours.
-Put these 10 words in alphabetical order: kitten, kite, kaput, krill, knuckle, knock, kindness, Korea, kangaroo, kumquat. I thought his mind was really working when he said to me, "Why didn't you give me words starting with the 10th letter of the alphabet?" He's always thinking!
-Answer these 10 history review questions.
-Match these 10 world countries with their capital cities.
-Make any combination of these notes (whole notes, half, quarter, eighth, rests) which equal 10 beats total.
-Compose an original song using only these 10 notes on the piano.
So far, this has been a fun diversion from our regular lessons. He's completing tasks which meet state standards, too!
Here are some other ideas we came up with, but haven't used yet:
READING:
-Read up to chapter 10 in our current read-aloud book.
-Find 10 books on your shelf written in the last 10 years.
GRAMMAR:
-Find 10 abbreviations and 10 homophones in the newspaper.
WRITING:
-Add 10 adjectives to liven up the story you wrote last week.
-Journal topic: What would you like to be able to do by age 10?
-Journal topic: I wish I knew 10 _______... If I swallowed 10__________...
MATH:
-Count the number of days until we can celebrate 11-11-2011!
-Write ten < > = number sentences.
-Count out 10+10+10 pennies. Make a graph to show how many were minted within the last 10 years and how many were minted before that time. Were there any surprising results?
HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY:
-Name 10 countries in the northern hemisphere.
-Put these 10 events from the Middle Ages (our current history time) in chronological order.
SCIENCE:
-Find 10 constellations or heavenly bodies in the night sky. (We're currently studying space science.)
-Take a 10 minute nature hike.
INTEREST/HOBBY:
-Take 10 minutes to do some outdoor photography. Look through the pictures and choose 10 you'd like to keep and print.
EXTRAS:
-Do something very special on 10-10-2010 at 10:00.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Celebrating 10/10/10 - Idea List 1
I know 10-10-2010 is on a Sunday, but I couldn't resist...
I usually stick pretty closely to our curriculum, but after 50 school days we're all ready for something a little different.
Today we started brainstorming a list of ways we can celebrate 10/10/10 across all curriculum subjects. Everyone in the family from 5 to adult was giving input. I'm so excited that I had to share what we've come up with so far. And we're just getting started! We're on such a roll, I fear it may take us 10 days to celebrate all of our ideas! I hope there are at least a couple of ideas here that help you! Have fun learning!
(These ideas are for our second grade and kindergarten levels, but I tried to make some notes on how they could be adapted for higher levels.)
WRITING:
-Do handwriting practice with 10 letters.
-Do handwriting practice with words that are 10 letters long.
-Write a 10-line poem.
-Write a complete sentence which is 10 words long.
READING:
-Have three free reading sessions, 10 minutes each. Or do 10 minutes independently + 10 minutes listening to me + 10 minutes reading with your reading partner.
-Read 10 picture books. Older students could read 10 chapters. Choose your favorite and write or draw about your favorite character or favorite part of the book.
SPELLING:
-Practice 10 new spelling words.
-Do a crossword puzzle with 10 clues about a theme you're studying. I love to use puzzlemaker. Other types of word puzzles are available for you to make (for free!) there, too.
VOCABULARY:
-Learn 10 new words.
-Practice dictionary skills with those 10 words.
(Puzzlemaker puzzles are good for these, too.)
GRAMMAR/OTHER LANGUAGE ARTS:
-Name 10 nouns (or pronouns, verbs, adjectives...).
-Find and recite several 10-line poems.
-Find 10 proofreading errors in this letter I wrote to you.
MATH:
-Create a design with 10 pattern blocks. Older students create a design with 10 each of the different shapes of blocks.
-Younger students can practice counting out 10 of all sorts of things. These can be used later for the art activities, snack times, etc.
-Solve my pre-made design using 10 pattern blocks.
-Find the full date 10 days from now.
-Use a newspaper grocery ad to make a meal plan for less than $10. Older students can be challenged to make a whole day's meals for under $10.
-How much do 10_____ weigh?
-Write 10 math problems that =10.
-How much would 10 ______ cost?
-Estimate: Will these 10 _____ weigh more or less than 10 g (or 10 pounds)? Advanced: Fido weighs 3.5 pounds. Are you heavier or lighter than 10 Fidos?
-Find 10 things around the room that are less than 10 inches long. Record what you find and their lengths.
-Show a clock. What time will it be in 10 minutes? What time was it 10 minutes ago?
-"If you pay for a $3.99 pumpkin using a $10 bill, how much change should you get back?" and similar making change problems.
-Measure 10g + 10g + 10g of three different cereals for breakfast or a snack.
-Practice fractions with denominators of 10.
HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY
-Find 10 world capitals or countries of the world. This can be done using rivers, bodies of water, mountain ranges around the world, too.
-Find 10 new facts about a country of your choice.
-Find a list of grocery prices from the 1920s. What could you buy with 10 cents? How do each of these items compare with their prices today. Older students can find the difference between the prices or compute the percent increase in price.
SCIENCE
-Try 10 new foods. (My picky-eater son came up with this one!)
-Learn 10 new facts about your current science topic (ours is space).
-Health: How many calories in 10 carrots? 10 Tootsie Rolls?
-Collect 10 different kinds of leaves.
ART:
-Make a picture or painting using 10 different colors.
-Make a collage using 10 pieces of ____, 10 pieces of ______, and 10 pieces of ____. (I suppose you could use 10 pieces, 10 pieces, and 2,010 but who is going to sit and count out that many?!?)
-Work together to make 10 notecards with your art supplies. We'll use these later when writing to people.
MUSIC:
-Use a mixed-artist music CD to listen to songs by 10 different artists. Compare and contrast the moods, tempo, etc. of the pieces.
PE:
-Do 10 jumping jacks (or sit-ups, windmills...).
-How far can we walk/run in 10 minutes? (Go somewhere that you can easily measure this or use a route that can be checked with your car's odometer.)
-Make a goal to shoot 10 basketball hoops, 10 baseball hits to the outfield, 10 soccer goals.
OTHER LANGUAGES:
-Learn 10 new words in that language.
-Find out how to count to 10 in 10 different languages.
COMPUTERS:
-Spend 10 minutes on your typing program.
HOBBIES/INTERESTS:
-Can you beat me at chess in 10 minutes?
LIFE SKILLS:
-How could I do enough chores to earn $10? (This one came from my financially-interested son.)
-My husband suggested that he find 10 ways to give $1 or do 10 good things for someone else using a $10 budget.
-Phone skills: Call Grandpa (or your most patient relative) and tell him 10 jokes.
-Help plan and make a 10-ingredient salad for dinner.
OTHER IDEAS
-Give an extra 10 minutes of recess, screen time, or anything else you use to celebrate hard work well done.
-Do pretty much any activity for 10 minutes. One I'd love to use on a rough day: Can we all refrain from talking for 10 minutes?
Some ideas here are similar to the ways we celebrate the 100th day of school. Other ideas are new for us. I can't wait to get started!
I usually stick pretty closely to our curriculum, but after 50 school days we're all ready for something a little different.
Today we started brainstorming a list of ways we can celebrate 10/10/10 across all curriculum subjects. Everyone in the family from 5 to adult was giving input. I'm so excited that I had to share what we've come up with so far. And we're just getting started! We're on such a roll, I fear it may take us 10 days to celebrate all of our ideas! I hope there are at least a couple of ideas here that help you! Have fun learning!
(These ideas are for our second grade and kindergarten levels, but I tried to make some notes on how they could be adapted for higher levels.)
WRITING:
-Do handwriting practice with 10 letters.
-Do handwriting practice with words that are 10 letters long.
-Write a 10-line poem.
-Write a complete sentence which is 10 words long.
READING:
-Have three free reading sessions, 10 minutes each. Or do 10 minutes independently + 10 minutes listening to me + 10 minutes reading with your reading partner.
-Read 10 picture books. Older students could read 10 chapters. Choose your favorite and write or draw about your favorite character or favorite part of the book.
SPELLING:
-Practice 10 new spelling words.
-Do a crossword puzzle with 10 clues about a theme you're studying. I love to use puzzlemaker. Other types of word puzzles are available for you to make (for free!) there, too.
VOCABULARY:
-Learn 10 new words.
-Practice dictionary skills with those 10 words.
(Puzzlemaker puzzles are good for these, too.)
GRAMMAR/OTHER LANGUAGE ARTS:
-Name 10 nouns (or pronouns, verbs, adjectives...).
-Find and recite several 10-line poems.
-Find 10 proofreading errors in this letter I wrote to you.
MATH:
-Create a design with 10 pattern blocks. Older students create a design with 10 each of the different shapes of blocks.
-Younger students can practice counting out 10 of all sorts of things. These can be used later for the art activities, snack times, etc.
-Solve my pre-made design using 10 pattern blocks.
-Find the full date 10 days from now.
-Use a newspaper grocery ad to make a meal plan for less than $10. Older students can be challenged to make a whole day's meals for under $10.
-How much do 10_____ weigh?
-Write 10 math problems that =10.
-How much would 10 ______ cost?
-Estimate: Will these 10 _____ weigh more or less than 10 g (or 10 pounds)? Advanced: Fido weighs 3.5 pounds. Are you heavier or lighter than 10 Fidos?
-Find 10 things around the room that are less than 10 inches long. Record what you find and their lengths.
-Show a clock. What time will it be in 10 minutes? What time was it 10 minutes ago?
-"If you pay for a $3.99 pumpkin using a $10 bill, how much change should you get back?" and similar making change problems.
-Measure 10g + 10g + 10g of three different cereals for breakfast or a snack.
-Practice fractions with denominators of 10.
HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY
-Find 10 world capitals or countries of the world. This can be done using rivers, bodies of water, mountain ranges around the world, too.
-Find 10 new facts about a country of your choice.
-Find a list of grocery prices from the 1920s. What could you buy with 10 cents? How do each of these items compare with their prices today. Older students can find the difference between the prices or compute the percent increase in price.
SCIENCE
-Try 10 new foods. (My picky-eater son came up with this one!)
-Learn 10 new facts about your current science topic (ours is space).
-Health: How many calories in 10 carrots? 10 Tootsie Rolls?
-Collect 10 different kinds of leaves.
ART:
-Make a picture or painting using 10 different colors.
-Make a collage using 10 pieces of ____, 10 pieces of ______, and 10 pieces of ____. (I suppose you could use 10 pieces, 10 pieces, and 2,010 but who is going to sit and count out that many?!?)
-Work together to make 10 notecards with your art supplies. We'll use these later when writing to people.
MUSIC:
-Use a mixed-artist music CD to listen to songs by 10 different artists. Compare and contrast the moods, tempo, etc. of the pieces.
PE:
-Do 10 jumping jacks (or sit-ups, windmills...).
-How far can we walk/run in 10 minutes? (Go somewhere that you can easily measure this or use a route that can be checked with your car's odometer.)
-Make a goal to shoot 10 basketball hoops, 10 baseball hits to the outfield, 10 soccer goals.
OTHER LANGUAGES:
-Learn 10 new words in that language.
-Find out how to count to 10 in 10 different languages.
COMPUTERS:
-Spend 10 minutes on your typing program.
HOBBIES/INTERESTS:
-Can you beat me at chess in 10 minutes?
LIFE SKILLS:
-How could I do enough chores to earn $10? (This one came from my financially-interested son.)
-My husband suggested that he find 10 ways to give $1 or do 10 good things for someone else using a $10 budget.
-Phone skills: Call Grandpa (or your most patient relative) and tell him 10 jokes.
-Help plan and make a 10-ingredient salad for dinner.
OTHER IDEAS
-Give an extra 10 minutes of recess, screen time, or anything else you use to celebrate hard work well done.
-Do pretty much any activity for 10 minutes. One I'd love to use on a rough day: Can we all refrain from talking for 10 minutes?
Some ideas here are similar to the ways we celebrate the 100th day of school. Other ideas are new for us. I can't wait to get started!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Celebrating Hobbies
One of my greatest joys in teaching is when children are so engaged in their subject matter that they don't realize they're learning.
One way I've stumbled upon these moments is when I've followed someone's hobby or area of interest. In the classroom I vividly remember a unit I developed on the Titanic. It was an interest of mine, and very intriguing for the kids. In my homeschool my most recent examples of this come from baseball and NASCAR.
I still find great value in following a curriculum and I do use structured resources most of the time. But sneaking in the *exact same* learning objectives while hiding them within an area of interest rejuvenates both me and my students.
One way I've stumbled upon these moments is when I've followed someone's hobby or area of interest. In the classroom I vividly remember a unit I developed on the Titanic. It was an interest of mine, and very intriguing for the kids. In my homeschool my most recent examples of this come from baseball and NASCAR.
I still find great value in following a curriculum and I do use structured resources most of the time. But sneaking in the *exact same* learning objectives while hiding them within an area of interest rejuvenates both me and my students.
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