Weather Tracking / Sept. 2014

 

Types of weather for the month of Sept. 2014:  

Sunny, Partly Cloudy with no rain, Partly Cloudy with rain, Cloudy with no rain, Cloudy with rain

 

Learning to Graph information for comparison:

 

Science is Fun! A Closer Look at the Firefly...

We found a firefly in the house last Friday, and we put it in a zip-lock bag to keep until we got a chance to examine it further.  Today, in class, we took a closer look.  First, we went online to view a video about fireflies - to watch them in action, lighting up the night.  We also read facts about fireflies.  Did you know that some forms of fireflies will eat other fireflies?  Yep!  They also give off a poisonous substance when touched by something they perceive to be a threat.  This poison can kill some species of insects and possibly small reptiles.  Wow!  I did not know that!  I have even heard that a child has died after handling fireflies and eating without washing hands first.  Eeeek!  I did make sure my babies washed their hands after examining their firefly.  But, then I think of all the fireflies that my brother and I used to catch as kids.  We would put them into a glass jar with a lid to seal them in, then take them inside our home to watch as we lay in bed at night.  Gulp!  I don't remember washing my hands afterward!  But then, I'm sure since we had been outside playing for so long, Mom would have put us straight into the tub as soon as we came in (or one of us anyway)!    But, then, what about the one who did not go into the tub right away?  Did my brother (or I) eat with unwashed hands?  Yikes!  Why are we even alive today?

Oh, well!  No use worrying about it now, huh?

" Vv " is for "Volcano"...

The expression on my 3 year old granddaughter's face is priceless!  

"D d" is for Dinosaur...

I found these dinosaur (and dinosaur skeleton) images on the internet, free to copy and use.  They were originally just line drawings, which a friend of mine colored for me.  I laminated them, and taped them to a dry-erase marker board  (which is hanging in our classroom). 

It makes a great visual aid for the letter "Dd", of course, as well as matching a dinosaur to its skeleton.  I use the internet often to find images to use as tools for teaching my grandchildren.

Skeleton Foam Puzzles...

These puzzles were purchased from a "dollar" store.  Very inexpensive.  There is a front side and a back side.  Cool!

Wooly Worm - A Closer Look...

 

I just love it when a little critter wanders onto my front porch.  Little do they know that they will probably become our next "study" for science class!

 

 

In the last 2 years we have been able to have a close-up view of a katydid, a praying mantis, a bumble bee (at least I think it was a bumble bee), and this wooly worm. 

 



"M m" is for "Mittens"...

 

 

We have been learning the letter "M m".  "M m" is for "Mittens".  Today we learned the poem / story about the "Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens" (literature / reading).  My two young students and I made a large poster depicting these kittens wearing their mittens (art).  The kittens represented each of them, as well as their baby brother.  This poster makes a great visual aid for learning the story, learning rhyming words, recognizing the letter "M m" and the sound it makes (phonics), learning the opposite words "lost" and "found", learning colors (brown, black, tan, etc.),  and learning to recognize the numbers 1-2-3 (math). I suppose the story of the three little kittens could also be counted as a social studies lesson as it shows how irresponsible behavior will result in a negative consequence. 

 

"M m" is also for "Mammal".  We discussed the characteristics of mammals (science).  They are warm-blooded, have hair / fur, give birth to live young, and they produce milk to feed their babies.

Our poster is almost as large as the children's school table, which will comfortably seat 4 small students.

Handprint / "Fan Bird" Craft Project - Elijah Fed by Ravens...

We did this project in Primary Sunday School Class as part of our study about Elijah who was fed by ravens during a time of drought. 

This project could also be used to make a white dove  during Christmas or Easter, or in the Spring to make various colors of birds

 Fold a piece of black construction paper in half.  Place hand on top and trace around your hand.  Cut out and glue the palms (bird body) and thumbs (bird head) together.  Fold down the other fingers to make wings.  Add yellow beak and yellow feet.  Cut a 8 to 12 inch  X  4 to 6 inch piece of black paper and fold it accordion style and glue one end into the top part of the body, at an angle, for the bird tail.  White crayon was used to make the eye.  Wiggle eyes would be great!

 

My grandson's version:

This craft would be good to make and use as a visual aid when learning the letters  "B" is for Bird, "C" is for Crow, "R" is for Raven; the colors; and animal (life) science.

This idea was taken from the book Christian Crafts from Construction Paper, written by: Lori Miescke, published by: Shining Star Publications.
 

Multicultural / Biblical / Science Art Project

 

 

 

Assorted Tagstock Kids (item # CO78) from www.ssww.com/arts-and-crafts-supplies/paper/shapes/?fp=PE1460 .  My grandson drew all of the faces except for the black person.  I figured he might have trouble pressing hard enough with his pencil to get any marks to show up on the black paper.  He colored the clothes on the red person.  My grandson is not yet 5, so I think he did pretty good at

drawing faces. 

 

 

We learned how that our skin, eye, and hair color is greatly determined by the amount of melanin within them.  The more melanin you have, the darker the eyes, hair, and/or skin.  For more info about melanin, go to Answers in Genesis website.

 

My granddaughter's version:

 

 



"F" is for Firefly (or "L" is for Lightning Bug): Up Close and Personal...

 

School will not be officially starting this year until the first Tues. of Sept., but after finding this live firefly lying upside down on our classroom floor, we just could not resist a closer look! 



Ocean Life 3D Art Project

 

 

Items Needed:  Shoebox or small Packing Box

                         Blue Construction Paper (for background ocean wave scene)

                         Brown Paper Bag (tear into pieces and wad/scrunch up to form rocks in the ocean)

                         Images of Ocean Life / Sea Animals copied from the internet and cut out

                         White "school" glue such as Elmer's

                         Clear Blue Cellophane (optional) to attach to front of box - which I obviously did not

                          use for this craft, as I did not have any on hand.

 

 

If you prefer, you may cover the outside of the box with the blue construction paper and draw ocean waves on it.  More sea animals could be added to that as well.

                                                                   

"V v" is for "Volcano"...

This week we have been learning the letter "V" sound, and some words that begin with that letter.  This is what we have done with the word "volcano":

We read a book about volcanoes and then drew a picture of a volcano.  

We practiced writing the letter "V".

The book we read was by National Geographic.  Great pictures, but it did mention ...millions of years.  If you don't believe in evolution and the earth being millions of years old, you can just skip tht part of the reading.  We did!

This is the volcano eruption kit that we obtained from Amazon .com.

If you prefer to make your own volcano, you can find instructions online. 

 

 

 Of course, we had to supply the ingredients for the chemical reaction to make our volcano erupt and look realistic.

 

 

My grandson adding the final ingredients...

 

Watching intently...

 

Looking into the cup and trying to figure out how that stuff worked...

 

Of course, the stuff must be touched!

 

 After looking at those amazing photos in the book about volcanoes, my grandson was rather disappointed in how his own volcano erupted.  "Where's the smoke?"  he asked.  "Where's the fire?"

LOL !!!

"R r" is for Rocket ( lift-up book ) craft project...

Fold a piece of cardstock in half to make a tall, slim book approx. 11 and a half inches tall and 4 and half inches wide.  Copy a free coloring picture of a rocket from the internet, color, and glue to the front of the book.  Give your book a title.

On the inside of the book / card stock sheet, color the right half black (outer space).  Add star stickers or dabs of glitter glue, and a partial picture of the moon (to the top of the page). My moon picture was cut from a magazine.  If you prefer, you could copy a picture of the moon (to color) from the internet.  

Next, color half of another piece of cardstock black.  Cut the black section away from the whole page. Cut about 1/5 of the length off of the top of the black section.  Put glue on the back of the lower 1/4 of this piece and attach it to the bottom of the black, colored side of your book.  Add a partial picture of the earth to the bottom.  My earth picture was cut from a magazine.  If you prefer, you could copy a picture of the earth (to color) from the internet.  

Fold this black section in half toward you.  Then fold the upper half (also in half) away from you.  Attach a small picture of a rocket to the top fold with the tip of the rocket and the exhaust from the rocket extending slightly past the upper and lower edges.  

Unfold the loose, black section and color in some exhaust fumes ascending upwards from the earth to the rocket.  Add more star stickers or dabs of glitter glue.  On the left-hand side of the page/book, add some facts about rockets, the moon, the first man to walk on the moon, etc.  Add a "countdown to blast-off" if you'd like.  This would be a good way to bring numbers/math/counting backwards into your lesson.  After everything has dried well, fold down the rocket section, then unfold it back up to demonstrate how it travels to the moon.

Curriculum covered by this project:  Science,  Math,  Art,  History / Social Studies.  You could even add a Geography lesson by finding on a map and/or globe the location of the blast-off.

A fun way to do school!

I got this idea from the Teacher Resource Book entitled How to Make Books with Children, Volume 2  by: Joy Evans & Jo Ellen Moore.

"O" is for Octopus (craft project)...

Theme of the Day's Lessons:  Letter O, Number 8

Phonics:  Short O sound

Color:  Octopus can change color.  Choose a particular color that you want to focus on.  

Science:  All about the Octopus - live in salt water/ocean - watch a video on the internet about octopus,  read books or find info about them on the internet.

Numbers:  An octopus has 8 arms.  Count them.  Practice writing number 8

Geography:  On a world map or globe, find and name all of the oceans.

Arts/Crafts:  Make an ocean scene like the one pictured above which incorporates the letter O for the head of the octopus, and making the 8 arms by tracing around the child's hand and fingers, excluding the thumbs.  Add wiggle eyes if you want.  Green strips of construction paper for the seaweed.

Benjamin Franklin craft project (birthday Jan. 17)...

It is interesting to note that Ben Franklin had only one year of formal education.  His father could not afford to send him to school any more than that.  Ben was mostly self-taught (a type of homeschooling). He like to read, and read whatever he could get his hands on.  He has many accomplishments.  A web search will reveal much about his life.

A Great Science / Biology Lab for all grade levels!

"Squishy Human Body"  by: SmartLab

(purchased from Walmart)

The kit contains a large "text" booklet describing each body part shown and the function of each;  a 12 and a half inches tall human "body" with bones, muscles, and vital organs which can be removed;  forceps and tweezers for performing the "operations"; and an organizer chart to display the removed organs.  (This pic shows that the rib cage, stomach, and intestines have already been removed.  My just-turned four year old grandson absolutely LOVES this educational toy!  There is so much information in the booklet, that we will probably need 2 weeks to thoroughly study and dissect this human "body"!)