Space, or "why not Pluto"

Our Space unit started out a tad bit boring.  We read from the text book then answered the questions.

 Then I got a tad more creative and we started a lapbook style folder.

 In our lapbook we made a picture model of the solar system, a moon phase chart and and solar energy report.

We also had our plate Earth and seasons mini-book.  To teach seasons I reused one of my favorite lesson ideas.  Only this time we were stuck at McD. so no glueing.  Instead Charry had to color the rays of sunlight.

We had a plethora of outer space books to supplement out text book, unfortunately most were written before Pluto's infamous demotion.  Luckily my daughters have gotten used to my sense of humor.  When ever Pluto was referred to as "a planet" we talked about writing letters to the scientist who demoted poor Pluto.  We thought they should replace our books since it's their fault the books are wrong.  On the plus side they may not remember the names of the planets but they know the name of the dwarf planet.

Right about the time I was out of ideas I got the Magic School Bus Space DVD  I grew up with Miss Frizzle and was happy to share the magic with my kids.

  

I also got this science kit.  It was full of easy to do at home experiments.  While a bit spendy I thought it was well worth the price.

We filled a second folder with the experimental data and learned a bit about making a hypothesis. Charry had trouble because she either knew for sure why things happened or didn't know at all.  It was tough making her guess when she didn't want to be wrong.

It was a fun unit both for me, putting it together, and Charry, doing all the projects.  I'm looking forward to next year recycling some ideas, building on others and hopefully a few new things thrown in the mix.

American Girl History, Addy (1864) and Samantha (1904)

Last week when we finished our Samantha unit I realized I never blogged about Addy.  That was because Addy was a hard era to teach.  Trying to explain why people would have slaves is tough.  That  and limiting our studies to just slavery is an injustice to the people and culture in America during the civil war.

 Charry is an avid reader so getting her to read the books was no problem.

 For her file folder she wrote a "feelings poem."  It was a simple list of the emotions Addy felt most in each book.  We talk about whether being free made her able to feel differently and if she still felt bad/sad after being free.
She also made a comparison book of Addy as a slave and Addy free.  We talked about what was better (better food and being able to learn to read) and what was worse (not being with her entire family.)
We then made Quilt Squares to tell a story.  We picked a story from the Bible because the Bible was very important to both slave and free.

Photography was all black and white during Addy's time so Charry made a black and white chalk drawing to decorate the front.

 We also used the Addy paper dolls and craft book (the Jacob's ladder was one of the projects) to round out the unit.

Our Samantha Unit had a lot more to it.  1904 was a time of change, women wanting to make a difference, and many inventions.  It was a more positive time to study.

 I decided to have Charry do more writing, including her first typed report.  After she managed to get the title typed out I took over typing.  It was a learning experience for both of us, and one I don't plan on repeating this year.  Maybe next year after we work a bit more on organizing ideas.

We also worked on comparisons.  She drew out what visiting was like then vs. now.  This was extra humorous to me because at the time we were visiting Grandma's yet Charry had no idea how today was any different.  Once we pointed out a few differences she caught on and finished the project.

 She then colored the states, well at first she didn't color the ones that weren't states but colored everything else, including Canada and Mexico.

 The Samantha "Just for fun book" was a lot of fun.  She ran off with most of the activities before I had a chance to snap a picture.  And the papers dolls were used as a reward if she finished math early.

So two more done and only 4 more to go, we are half way done!