Kickbutt's Crazy Lapbooks: June 2009

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Spontaneous Science Lesson

How my kids and I survived a Tornado:

So, it's been a crazy day all around. I'm hosting a Tastefully Simple party tomorrow for my clients so I've gone through every inch of my house cleaning it all up - even the closets, which any homeschooler will tell you ends up a catch all of homeschooling miscellany.

First thing this morning we did grocery shopping (our usual Friday morning event) then I had to train a client. Then I had to return $26 in bottles & cans (like a years worth..lol)...then our drier died it's slow agonizing death, so I had to drag all our laundry and 2 kids to the laundromat. I tried to get my DH to get a ride home from a friend but, no, I had to stuff all the now clean clothes in to the trunk so I could have both front seats clear for the adults.

They'd been warning of severe thunderstorms all day...it was humid as heck. As we got on the highway to go get hubby I could see a cloud of utter blackness coming in our direction from the west. Now, we live in Connecticut, so there aren't tornado's here. Maybe an F1 at most every couple of years.

As a homeschooler, every unusual occurrence is an opportunity for learning. So, I'm pointing out the different types of clouds. The front of the storm was clearly delineatedin the distance. I'm explaining the clearly visible line between the low and high pressure fronts meeting - producing the storm at it's point of intersection (I took a year of meteorology as a part of my Geology double major). I'm also pointing out the cumulo-nimbus clouds that produce severe thunderstorms and the kids eagerly watched lightening streak in the distance while we baked in the sun, in bumper to bumper traffic...while I pray we're not stuck in said traffic when the storm hits. I even discussed safe places to go if a hurricane or tornado strikes - how if we're on the road the safest place is lying perfectly flat in a ditch, or at home it's under the stairs or in the basement away from windows.

It begins to rain as the sky darkens.

We pull into the parking lot of my hubby's office and I leave him a voice mail that we made it a couple of minutes early. (I can't just walk into his office as you need an electronic key to open the door). As we sit in our usual spot wind gusts begin. Sheeting the rain against the car. The kids begin to get nervous (as did I).

After maybe 45 seconds of darkness, wind and rain the air pressure in the car plummeted - I thought my ears would bleed from the pressure. I decided we'd wait for dad under the car port on the other side of the building (it's reserved parking for the big wigs but they usually aren't there). I had made it maybe 20 yards when quarter sized hail erupted from the sky. Visibility turned to near zero as I tried to navigate around the building. Wind gusts of up to 70 mph battering the car. I keep talking calmly as the kids are no longer enjoying the spontaneous science lesson (and I worry that the windshield will shatter at any moment). We barely made it into the car port without crashing into the pylons (as I couldn't see them until I almost hit one).
Once we're under the car port I turn off the car and my 5 y/o rockets out of his car seat into my lap - completely terrified. The huge air conditioning unit across the drive is visibly rattling. The wind getting much much worse, hail still plummeting.

At this point I begin to worry that the tunneling effect of the carport will just make us more of a target if any of the trees or the blasted air-conditioning unit are tossed around.

So, I give into the kids terrified yearning to get inside...I wasn't even sure if the back door didn't also require a key card...but the cell service had shut down by that point, so I told the kids we were going to run the 8 feet or so to the back door. My 7 y/o opened the door for all of a second before slamming it screaming in terror. I couldn't possibly carry both kids, so I told them to come on, and we ran into the building.

Some idiot (thank all the Gods) had propped open both of the back doors so for a few minutes we stood in the basement watching the sky open up. When the trees in front of us began cracking in half I took them into the stairwell and up the one flight to the lobby, where my hubby was frantically pacing staring out the front of the building, believing we were caught somewhere in the storm as we weren't parked in our usual spot. The power had gone out in his building apparently while I was battling the hail. Which is why none of the calls to his office were answered and he didn't get my message on his cell phone before cell service cut off.

Maybe 5 minutes later it was all over, only still raining. The kids had barely stopped screaming at that point - my 5 y/o telling everyone in my DH's office to run fast before the flood starts. (Huh? lol) He nervously, repeatedly checked the skylights from the stairwell where I kept them - asking repeatedly if they would break.

Our usual 10 minute drive home turned into a 70 minute drive in circles. Almost every back road around his office was blocked off with downed trees and power lines. The highway was at a dead stop since the 2 interstates in our area also had trees scattered across the road (completely blocking access to one of our main state highways).

I still can't believe it! Sure it was only a micro-burst, but I have a whole new respect for anyone who lives in tornado alley. I'll take a blizzardor hurricane over that any day!!!! I think the most amazing part was seeing the utter destruction of nature and property all around my husband's work, none of the street lights working, practically being able to draw the path of the storm from the destruction alone...then driving down our street - about 15 miles away from my husbands work - and not a single leaf had been blown off of a single tree. Apparently just a normal storm had passed over our house while Mother Nature wreaked havoc in the next town over. What an amazingly powerful thing nature is!!!

Here's some pic's of where we were:
Slide Shows
http://www.wfsb.com/slideshow/news/19873659/detail.html
http://www.wfsb.com/slideshow/weather/19874145/detail.html
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Wicked_Weather_In_Wethersfield_Hartford.html

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

My Favorite Math Resources (or some anyway)

Cool Games and such http://www.westlake.k12.oh.us/HollyLaneTeachers/Butcher/links.htm

My Favorite Early/Fluent Reading Resources (or some anyway)

http://www.polk-fl.net/staff/resources/ese/resources.htm This has some great resources for phonics and language arts.

http://www.jordan.k12.ut.us/oes/readingcorner/readinghelps.html

http://pbskids.org/lions/videos/two_vowels_qt.html NOTHING BEATS Between The Lions, my kids love the show, and I love the lessons!

http://classroom.kleinisd.net/webs/dapierce/reading_and_fluency_strategies.htm

http://www.mrsalphabet.com/links.html (preschool)

http://teacherweb.com/TN/RutlandElementarySchool/MrsHodge/uh6.stm

http://pr003.k12.sd.us/reiterwebpage/Reading%20Standards.htm

article for parents http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/literacy/em_lit2.html

http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/teachers/worksheets.html

http://newtoncountyschools.org/oakhill/teacher_links.htm#Language_Arts

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Dinosaurs Combo Book

For now through the first 1/2 of the summer we're learning all about the ocean (see earlier posts) but the second 1/2 of the summer is dedicated to Dinosaurs...so here's some of what we'll be usin (in another Combo book).

So, I'm thinking the chapters of our combo book will be as follows:

Dinosaurs - general info like definitions of a dinosaur, timeline, life in those time periods -how it differed, world geography of the time (placement of the continents) dino families (how they're catagorized) etc
Paleantology - a few notable scientists, what is paleantology, tools of the trade, most popular places, etc.
Earliest Animals - these would really be the precursurs to dino's in the Precambrian and Paleozoic periods.
Dino's of the Triassic*
Dino's of the Jurassic*
Dino's of the Crestaceous*
Evolution (descendants of the dinosaurs)
*The Dino's sections will be broken into Producers (plant life), Primary Consumers (eat consumers - aka herbivors), Secondary Consumers (eat primary consumers - aka omnivors) and Tertiary Consumers (eat secondary consumers - aka carnivors)

Printables:

kaboose printables
Dltk-Kids crafts & printables
Enchanted Learning Dio-Templates
Learning Page
AtoZ teacher Stuff
Sr. Richard Owens
Teacher Vision
We need to also study Roy Chapmen Andrews
Paleantologists
Further Enchanted Learning
Fossils
CurriClick
About Homeschooling
Print activities
ABC Teach
Kids Domain
Free Stuff 4 Kids
Crafts
Activities
Kid Sparkz
Kids Soup
clip art

Connecticut's New Science Center

Well, Connecticut's new Science Center opened yesturday and (for the first time) we paid the full amount for a year membership. It was the best $100 I've ever spent. This center has 6 stories, each story is broken into 2 with each 1/2 dedicated to a different form of science. One was for Sports and Human Movement science, another was for Sound and Light; yet another was dedicated to earth studies (geology, the Connecticut river, and energy conservation); one was on Forces (gravity and magnets), it was AWESOME!!! We watched a 3D movie on Dinosaurs and a 4D program on Energy conservation. The kids learned a lot and had fun since the entire place was made up of hands on projects and experiments.

The Space Room

The Human Body & Sports Mechanics room

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Out To-Go Bags

Jeez, I hate Grocery Shopping Day!Because my fam only has 1 car, on days that I need it, I have to drive my husband to work at 7am (I'm soooo NOT a morning person). Then I have to go to the bank. Then, generally, the kids beg for a doughnut. Only then can I meet my dad at the various stores. Do all the shopping. Go home to put away the groceries. Have lunch. Then wait an hour or so to go pick up my hubby from work. That's on Thursday. Then on Friday, I have to repeat the experience. See, I'm really, really cheap....so that means shopping at a minimum of 4 different stores to get the best prices...then there's also the coupon clipping and circular perusing....ugh...This also means that every 2 weeks Thursday and Friday are a little pressed for time & stress, making HS a bit more of a challenge.

So, I bring our to-go bags. These have lessons they are capable of completing while in the car...no it's probably not as good as having my full attention on the lesson, but it's the best way of not skipping days for our family.

Our To-Go bags include:
Writting Lessons (a writing notebook for each child with the page prepared for the words or letters we're working on)
Coloring pages: I'm slightly obsessive, I admit it, so I prepare a folder each week that contains coloring pages, connect-the-dots, etc that have to do with the lessons we've been covering.
Simple Worksheets: Lets face it in the car the handwritting suffers, so I add a few simple math, history, geography, etc worksheets to the folder.
Writing Utencils: Crayons, Markers, Colored Pencils a Pencil and an Eraser all erasable (no use destroying the interior of my new car).
Clip Board: Makes writing on laps easier
Small books (1 for each child)

more on the 50 States

For our state-by-state lapbooks, I went to homeschoolshare.com and printed some of their Choose-A-Country Lapbook From their list (which, granted, is for global geography, and we're working on state-to-state) I printed the following (which, believe it or not, was only about 1/2 of what they had offered for countries):
People: name, population, history
Geography Tab: highest & lowest point, area & bodies of water
Borders Matchbooks: water border and land border (for state border or ocean border)
Famous Person Accordian: which we printed 3 per state
Capital Matchbook
Major Industries Flip Book
Can You Believe It? : which we printed 2 for cool facts

Then I searched on Ask.com for pictures of the state bird, state tree, state bug, and history of the state flag. I also got most of the state information from www.netstate.com/

Using the blank templates from www.homeschoolhelperonline.com I used the following:
Flag Shapes - to color in the state flag
Native Info - this is a little flip book on who the native inhabitants of the state were and what happened to them after European colonization.
I'll uplead the pic as soon as I find the cord to my digital camera (grr...lol)

Teaching Pre- & Preschool Kids

I was asked today about curriculum standards for those teaching the very young....those 2, 3, and 4 y/o's. There's not much out there on where exactly your child should be developmentally...oh there's much in the way of recognizing if there is a problem, but not much in the way of planning educational play and what your child would be learning if in an institution like a preschool. See, the one who had asked had found a website that was unbelievable in what they asked these youngsters to know (at http://www.geocities.com/heartland/forest/2468/skillslistage3.html#1). This list is not only unatainable for 99% of children, but I think it's irresponsible to give 2 y/o's such manipulatives as buttons and noodles and not expect them to put them in their mouths, making them choking hazards!! See the Core Knowledge Curriculums are like that - one or two grades above most accapted levels..
So I put together what I believe is appropriate for these age groups. Keeping in mind that all children are different...some may advance faster in one area but lag a little behind in another. There's no reason to stress if your child doesn't fit into a mold, as long as they are trying and progressing at a steady pace.

Age 2

Language Development:

can use 2-3 word sentences
recognizes the people in their life and can say their names (mom, dad, bro/sister, grandma/pa, etc) anyone they see weekly or more often.
attempts to sing along for the alphabet song, but will probably stumble over the l,m,n,o,p, portion (blending it together)
may be able to recognize some of the upper case letters.

Writing Development (fine motor skills):

Can hold a fat pencil or crayon in a fist like hand position
scribbles in unrecognizable pics but it's fun (and builds up to better motor skills)

Math/Number Sense:

can begin to count to 5, using finger or other manipulatives
can begin correlating (putting similar objects together...like all the red cars).
Might be able to recognize a circle, square and triangle.

Science:

can recognize several animal pics (I'd say about 10)
Can associate some animal sounds with pictures of the recognized animal (cow sayes moo, etc) - about 1/2 (so if they recognize 10 animals they can also remember the sounds of 5-6)
Learning about personal hygiene (but still needs supervision) for potty training then washing their hands, even brushing their teeth. They can remember the steps and attemt to teach a stuffed animal those remembered steps.
Can identify 1 or 2 articles of clothing (socks, shoes, shirt, etc) and begin to attempt to dress themselves.

Social Studies:

Begins to recognize characteristics of the sexes (generally associating all women with mom and men with dad so if dad has a gotee then all men will have facial hair, if mom has long hair then all people with long hair are girls, etc)
When asked their age they can hold up the appropriate number of fingers.
Begins to follow directions (put the toys in the toy box, those instructions with only 1 step)
When asked they can say their first name (although at this age they will probably be shy of saying it to strangers).

Social Development:

Begin to be able to play independently or with other children without having to have mom or dad (or other caregivers) within eye sight, for about 15 minutes.
Understands the concept of sharing (even if they don't do it..LOL)
Begins to understand some safety rules (don't cross the street without an adult, don't touch the hot stove, etc).
Can focus on a task for about 10 minutes before changing topics.

Age 3
Language Development:

can use 4-5 word sentences
recognizes the people in their life and can say their names (mom, dad, bro/sister, grandma/pa, etc) anyone they see weekly or more often.
can sing common songs independently and get them about 90% correct (like the itsy-bitsy spider, ABC's etc)
can recognize most upper case letters (may confuse W/V, E/F, O,Q)
Can look at a picture book and tell you a story to go with the pictures.
Can guess what comes next in a story.
Can retell they favorite stories with some success
Begins to be able to express themselves verbally - if their upset or hurt they can tell you what happened and why they are upset.
Repeats simple instructions, scentences or stories with some accuracy
Can identify the letters of their first name, and attempt to trace or write them.

Writing Development (fine motor skills):

Can trace different lines (zig-zagged, curvy, straight, etc) with some success
Attempts to copy pictures, shapes, etc.
scribbles, then can tell you what it was they drew.
likes to work with different mediums (paint, crayons, markers, etc)

Math/Number Sense:

can count to 10 with success and to 20 with some mistakes through the teens
understands somce of the concepts of opposites.directionals (more.less, top/bottom, over/under, etc) with some success
Can recognize about 1/2 of the primary colors
Can recognize most of the primary shapes.
Can match items by similarities (color, size, type, etc) --- can put away the laundry or groceries in the appropriate places.

Science:

recognizes common farm and zoo animals as well as pets
can identify animal sounds for those common animals
can identify animal homes for about 1/2 of the animals they know (bears live in a cave, etc)
Recognizes parts of the body
Can perform their own personal hygeine (brushing teeth, going potty) with only needing minimal help.
Atempts to dress themselves with some success, attempting buttons, snaps, and zippers.
Recognizes several attributes of the seasons
Recognizes different types of weather and which clothes would be appropriate for different weather patterns

Social Studies:

Can understand there are a variety of people on the planet of different races and religions (but can't identify those differences, just acknowledges that they are in fact different).
Knows their ages and their First & Last name
Understands some of the different service jobs (policemen, firemen, mailmen, etc) and can give a very general description of that job.
Can identify some different modes of transportation
Can point to our country/state/continent on a map & globe
Can recognize common street signs (stop, walk, etc)

Social Development:

Can interact with other children comfortably.
Can identify friends and family by first name
Can share well with new children
Understands safety and health rules (don't talk to strangers, look both ways before crossing the street)....
Can take care of their own belongings - performing simple chores
Can play or work independently for short periods of time.
Can focus on a task for about 15-20 minutes

Age 4
http://www.worldbook.com/typical-course-of-study or http://www.worldbook.com/component/k2/item/233-typical-course-of-study-preschool-curriculum-guide

My Fav. YouTube Vids

education.The kids love it!! And it's free, so mom loves it too...lol....so I thought I'd just add a list of some of my favorites for y'all...
The Universe Song 50 States & Their Capitals
The US Presidents (to Clinton) Nations Around The World
We Sign (sing language) Sign A Song (sign language)
Signing Time: The Zoo (sign language) School House Rock (The Body Machine)
The Shape Song US History Rap
The Wowzies (money) 7 Days in a Week
The Coin Song Colors / Colors In Sign
The Spanish Alphabet Numbers in Spanish
Telling Time / Telling Time in Spanish Survival Spanish Course
How Much Does It Cost?/I'll Take It/ Counting to 10 in German
German 101 Tutoring for Mom - Teaching Math
Just for whoo-has I'll add this my favorite body weight workout vid.

Phonics Rules

As most of you know, I was born in Germany, and therefore, many of the English Phonics rules elude me. As soon as my boys were born, and I knew I wanted to homeschool, I began compiling the rules so that they would make more sense to me and be easier to teach.

Here they are!
1. Sometimes the rules don't work. There are many exceptions in English because of the vastness of the language and the many languages from which it has borrowed. The rules do work however, in the majority of the words.
2. Every syllable in every word must have a vowel. English is a "vocal" language; Every word must have a vowel.
3. "C" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "s". Examples: "cyst", "central", and "city".
4. "G" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "j". Example: "gem", "gym", and "gist".
5. When 2 consonants a joined together and form one new sound, they are a consonant digraph. They count as one sound. Examples: "ch,sh,th,ph and wh".
6. When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short. Examples: "fat, bed, fish, spot, luck".
7. When a syllable ends in a silent "e", the silent "e" is a signal that the vowel in front of it is long. Examples: "make, fete, kite, rope, and use".
8. When 2 vowels stand side by side, the first one sayes it's name with pride (Long) while the other is silent. Examples: "pain, eat, boat, res/cue, say, grow". NOTE: Diphthongs don't follow this rule; In a diphthong, the vowels blend together to create a single new sound. The diphthongs are: "oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others.
9. When a syllable ends in any vowel and is the only vowel, that vowel is usually long. Examples: "pa/per, me, I, o/pen, u/nit, and my".
10. When a vowel is followed by an "r" in the same syllable, that vowel is "r-controlled". It is not long nor short. "R-controlled "er,ir,and ur" often sound the same (like "er"). Examples: "term, sir, fir, fur, far, for, su/gar, or/der".

Silent Letters:
1. "E" at the end of a word is usually silent, and makes the vowel before it long. Make, Take, Drone
2. "E" is often silent before "D"; as in bribed, changed, hedged; cradled, handled, struggled.
3. "E" is often silent before "l"; as in drivel, grovel, hazel, shovel, swivel, weasel.
4. "E" is often silent before "n"; as in garden, hidden, kitten, lighten, spoken, taken.
5. "I" is sometimes silent before "l"; as in evil, weevil.
6. I is sometimes silent before n, as in basin, cousin, reisin.
7. O is sometimes silent before n, as in bacon, deacon, mason, pardon, reason, weapon.
8. B is silent after m and before t; as in comb, climb, dumb, jamb, lamb, tomb; debt, doubt; subtle.
9. C is silent in czar, and muscle, and before k and t and s; as in back, crack, lock; indict, victuals, scene, scythe, scepter.
10. D id silent in Wednesday, standtholder, and before g in the same syllable; as in badge, fadge, dodge.
11. G is silent before m and n, and sometimes before l; as in phlegm, diaphragm; gnat, feign, consign; intaglio, seraglio.
12. H is silent in heir, herb, honest; and after g or r; at the end of a word and preceded by a vocal; and sometimes after t; as in ghastly, gherkin, ghostly; rheum, rhyme, myrrh; ah, oh, halleluiah; isthmus.
13. K is always silent before n; as in knave, knee, knife, knob, known, knew.

Basic Syllable Rules
1. To find the number of syllables: ---count the vowels in the word, ---subtract any silent vowels, (like the silent "e" at the end of a word or the second vowel when two vowels a together in a syllable) ---subtract one vowel from every dipthong, (diphthongs only count as one vowel sound.) ---the number of vowels sounds left is the same as the number of syllables. The number of syllables that you hear when you pronounce a word is the same as the number of vowels sounds heard. For example: The word "came" has 2 vowels, but the "e" is silent, leaving one vowel sound and one syllable. The word "outside" has 4 vowels, but the "e" is silent and the "ou" is a diphthong which counts as only one sound, so this word has only two vowels sounds and therefore, two syllables.
2. Divide between two middle consonants. Split up words that have two middle consonants. For example: hap/pen, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per, din/ner, and Den/nis. The only exceptions are the consonant digraphs. Never split up consonant digraphs as they really represent only one sound. The exceptions are "th", "sh", "ph", "th", "ch", and "wh".
3. Usually divide before a single middle consonant. When there is only one syllable, you usually divide in front of it, as in: "o/pen", "i/tem", "e/vil", and "re/port". The only exceptions are those times when the first syllable has an obvious short sound, as in "cab/in".
4. Divide before the consonant before an "-le" syllable. When you have a word that has the old-style spelling in which the "-le" sounds like "-el", divide before the consonant before the "-le". For example: "a/ble", "fum/ble", "rub/ble" "mum/ble" and "thi/stle". The only exception to this are "ckle" words like "tick/le".
5. Divide off any compound words, prefixes, suffixes and roots which have vowel sounds. Split off the parts of compound words like "sports/car" and "house/boat". Divide off prefixes such at "un/happy", "pre/paid", or "re/write". Also divide off suffixes as in the words "farm/er", "teach/er", "hope/less" and "care/ful". In the word "stop/ping", the suffix is actually "-ping" because this word follows the rule that when you add "-ing" to a word with one syllable, you double the last consonant and add the "-ing".

Accent Rules
When a word has more than one syllable, one of the syllables is always a little louder than the others. The syllable with the louder stress is the accented syllable. It may seem that the placement of accents in words is often random or accidental, but these are some rules that usually work.
1. Accents are often on the first syllable. Examples: ba'/sic, pro'/gram.
2. In words that have suffixes or prefixes, the accent is usually on the main root word. Examples: box'/es, un/tie'.
3. If de-, re-, ex-, in-,po-, pro-, or a- is the first syllable in a word, it is usually not accented. Examples: de/lay', ex/plore'.
4. Two vowel letters together in the last syllable of a word often indicates an accented last syllable. Examples: com/plain', con/ceal'.
5. When there are two like consonant letters within a word, the syllable before the double consonants is usually accented. Examples: be/gin'/ner, let'/ter.
6. The accent is usually on the syllable before the suffixes -ion, ity, -ic, -ical, -ian, -ial, or -ious, and on the second syllable before the suffix -ate. Examples: af/fec/ta'/tion, dif/fer/en'/ti/ate. 7. In words of three or more syllables, one of the first two syllables is usually accented. Examples: ac'/ci/dent, de/ter'/mine.

Another great website for learning Phonics http://www.tampareads.com/phonics/phonicsindex.htm

Elections

Well it's that time again, we'll be electing our new President in a couple of weeks. This can be a difficult concept for children to grasp on their own, but relatively simple to teach. Here's how I teach it to my early elementary children:

I Have the kids take surverys from everyone they meet/what they see...My oldest son can make his own graphs, so we'll make a graph where he can ask people's favorite rainforest animal, favorite cartoon, etc. My youngest (who is 4) will have to point out what colors he sees throughout the day, so on Monday we'll look for green and red, and we'll mark them on the chart. At the end of the week we can see what was more popular.

I printed a coloring book of the candidates, a voting box, the Democrat Donkey,the Republican Elephant, etc. from

For my oldest (2nd - 4th grade) I printed electoral worksheets from Enchanted learning . I printed the word search, and the election grammar worksheet, and the early reader booklet.

For my youngest I printed Ben Franklin's ABC's and cut it into a booklet.

For both I printed (for me really) Ben Franklin's Explanation on the Election day, primary election and general elections.
Then we read the book Clifford For President, and Duck For President

So, once we finished the Unit on the Election I put together a lapbook that the kids can work on hopefully while I'm standing in line waiting to vote.

On Election Lapbooks:
There are some really AWESOME free lapbooks available on the internet. My two favorites are:
Homeschool Share
Notebook Learning (I really LOVE this site!)
DJ's Lapbook:
The Presidents: I've sectioned the presidents off into 8 catagories for my oldest to list the presidents and the years of them in office:
The Early Republic: 1789 - 1829
George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
The Jacksonian Democracy: 1829 - 1853
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Harrison
John Tyler
James Polk
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
The Sectional Conflict: 1853 - 1881
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses Grant
Rutherford Hayes
The Gilded Age: 1881 - 1897
James Garfield
Chester Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
Grover Cleveland
The Progressive Era: 1897 - 1921
William McKinley

Theodore Roosevelt
William Taft
Woodrow Wilson
The Depression and World Conflict: 1921 - 1961

Warren Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower

Social Change & Soviet Relations: 1961 - 1989
John Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Globalization: 1989 - present

George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

The Parties: Essentiall this is a small flip book where DJ can give a brief description of the parties. (Democrat, Republican, Independant, and Green)
Steps To Becoming A President: Essentially explaining the 5 main stages to becoming president:
Choose to run for office. Declare yourself to the public and begin describing what you would do with the position.
The Primary. Each party selects one person to run as their representative.
The General Election: Each adult over the age of 18 chooses their candidate
The Electoral College: Each state collects the votes from teh people. Then chooses who 'won' that state. They then give that candidate a certain number of points - based on the # of people living in that state (so California would get more college points than Deleware because it's bigger and has many more citizens)
The Inaguration. The person choosen then takes an oath and is sworn into office for the next 4 years.
The next 3 will be flip tabs where DJ can give a brief explanation of their purpose.
The Job of the President:
The Job of the Vice Persident:
The Job of the Cabinet:
The 3 Main Branches of Government: this is a small acordian booklet where DJ can give a brief description of the 3 main Branches of the Government and who represents them. (Executive, Judicial and Legislative)
The Seal of the President: DJ can color in the seal and give a brief history of the symbol.
Many of the Cut Outs for this lapbook can be found Homeschool Share - Election.

X-Man's Lapbook:
Much of X-mans book is coloring, as he really isn't ready to do much more.
Ben Franklin's ABC's: we cut his ABC's into a booklet abotu the government and included it in the lapbook.

Candidates: I found coloring pictures of the 3 main candidates, and printed them out,
Where does the president live? X-man can color a pic of the White House
How do we choose a president? This is a small flapbook which I've written the 5 stages of to becoming a president: Declare candicy, Primary, General Election, Electoral College, and Innaguration It will have a pic of a voting box on teh front, and X-man can add a pic for each stage

Veterans Day

Jeez, I just can't seem to stop..lol...I think Lapbooks are more addicting for adults than kids!
Depending on where you are Veterans day is celebrated today or tomorrow. So I thought I'd gather some printables for everyone...

What are you using?
Awesome Comprehensive site
Older Printables
Poetry/Learning about the day
Crafts, Worksheets & Booklets
Vietnam Wall memorial (history & worsheet, upper elementary)
Veterans Day - Fact or Opinion sheet
Veterans day comprehension sheet (upper elementary)
edHelper Veterans Day
teach-nology Veterans Day Unit
clipart, more crafts, lessons & units
Patriotic Coloring Pages
Research Site - this is great for those older kids who are set to investigate a topic onling on their own.
History of the National Anthem.

Here's My Lapbook Printables for Veterans Day!!

50 States

Well we have a new computer in the mail...er...UPS..lol...on its way to our happy little home, so I'm waiting to upload the pictures (it's always something!)..

But as y'all know, we've been working on just about a state a week, with DJ doing the lapbooks. Here's my State Lapbooks...I hope you enjoy them!!

You can check out the vid here

Monday, June 1, 2009

Oceans Gallore!

Kickbutt's Crazy Lapbooks