Snow lapbook

Even though spring is around the corner I wanted to post A17's snow lapbook that he completed in January. We were able to do several experiments with snow such as measuring how fast it takes to melt in different containers and measuring snow depth and temperature. We also talked about what to wear in winter.

This is graphic organizer for other words associated with snow. He really liked doing this and I want to find more ways to add in graphic organizers.

Our words that start with S mini book.

Snow crafts: A cotton ball snowman whose eyes fell off! A foam door hanger. A snowflake made from pipecleaners . We wrapped them around a pencil to curl then tied a bunch together with string.

The Mitten lapbook and animals that hibernate

In December we did a lapbook on the book The Mitten by Jan Brett. As a go along to this, we studied about what animals do in winter such as hibernate. Some of the lapbook components came from Homeschool Share. I found some extra information on the animals in the story at Enchanted Learning ( see link in sidebar). I used a type it in template from Hands of a Child to make my own minit book on what animals do in winter. As a go along to The Mitten, we read Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. We rounded out our study with nonfiction books on hibernation and animals in winter. For the front cover of the lapbook I cut a mitten that A17 colored in half. Individual pieces were put in small baggies so they wouldn't fall out of the pockets but could still be used again. The green minit book of the left side of the lapbook contains four flaps--animals that hibernate, animals that fly to warmer places, animals that gather and store food, animals that must find food all winter.

Touchmath

We started a new math curriculum this year called Touchmath. It is a multisenory math program that I hope will help A17. He can identify numbers but is still working on number concepts ie 2 means these two items. It uses a tapping or touching method to help kids learn their numbers. You then move on to addition, substraction, multiplications and division. We will only be focused on counting and maybe basic single digit addition--depending on how this goes. I made up a binder with practice sheets in page protectors to make then last longer.

We use dry erase markers to tap and color the dots. So far A17 is really liking the tapping and the markers! LOL Erasing is fun too! We are doing tapping verus touching since it's easier for A17's fine motor.

We are starting with the basic number sheet and an open dot for tapping/coloring.

Then you progress to another item represetning the dots, and finally no dots. You tap in a particular order for each number.

Starfish art project

As part of our big unit on oceans, A17 read about starfish or sea stars today. We found a neat craft project to go along with our study. We traced starfish shapes onto sandpaper, cut them out and painted them. We painted them the same colors as the ones we read about in Rookie Read-About Science : Stars of the Sea by Alan Fowler. The pictures don't do them justice since you can't see the great texture! I think this would work great for sand dollars or coral too. I found this project idea in the back of Let's Read and Find Out Science 1: Starfish.

Frog Lapbooks

A17 ( recent birthday!) finished two frog lapbooks. The frog's tongue on the front cover moves in and out.

The lilypad flapbooks each contain a fact about frogs such as What does a frog eat? The answers are Boardmaker pictures. We used resources from several places including Homeschool Share. We read books from the library prior to completing the lapbook pieces.

Several of our favorite books were A Tadpole Grows Up by Pam Zollman and Frogs and Other Amphibians by Bobbie Kalman.

A cool frog experiment is cooking tapioca beads to simulate frog's eggs! You can find this experiment in back of the book titled Why Frogs Are Wet ( Let's Read and Find Out Science) by Judy Hawes.

Space Lapbook

A16 was really proud about the tabbed book on planets that we made. We also made a smaller book for other vocabulary. I found instructions here on how to make one.

A16 chose space and planets for a unit study this past fall. We took about 6 weeks to cover the unit and read many non-fiction books from the library. We used most of the components from Evan Moor's Science Works for Kids: Exploring Space. It has mini books, experiments, and projects.

Other components were taken from Home School Share. Squidoo also has a lense with lots of space and planet resources. This blog has pictures and links for a space lapbook. Enchanted Learning also has space and planet resources. Click on the link in my sidebar.

We read lots of great non-fiction books for this unit. One that A16 especially liked was DK Eye Know Space. Other good selections include: My Book of Planets ( Scholastic board book), Exploring the Planets in Our Solar System and Dr. Seuss There's No Place Like Space. Magic Tree House Research Guide : Space is also a fabulous book. A16 seems to like the research guides more than the fiction books in the MTH series.

Although this was a long unit, A16 really enjoyed it and wanted to read space books everyday!

2009: 100+ Reading Challenge

Tara TX on Homeschool Share posted about J. Kaye's blog and the 100+ Reading Challenge. The goal is to read 100 or more books in 2009 and post the titles on our blog. Since I belong to an IRL book club as well as several online, I am going to give it a try. I find that I read in spurts--either nothing interests me or I have a stack waiting to be read.

1-Unnaccustomed Earth
2-Running Hot
3-Zinnia
4-Amaryllis
5-Orchid
6-The Way They Learn
7-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
8-White Lies
9-Truth or Dare
10-Light in Shadow
11-Falling Awake
12-A Picture's Worth