Posts Tagged ‘lesson plans’
Two great new unit studies – just released
In an effort to help boys enjoy learning I have created Unit Studies with a Bang! These unit studies combine subjects like English, History, Science, Art, Geography and Math with topics that boys will find interesting!
Cowboys of the Old West combines Geography, History, Art, English, Math and more in a fun unit study that teaches about the Old West and the cowboys that lived there! There is a preview of the unit study which can be downloaded as a supplement to a lesson plan, or even just for a fun learning experience! So grab your cowboy hat and set of on a journey to learn about the Long Drive, the history of horses, lawmen, outlaws and more!
Science Inspired by Superheroes looks at the superpowers of our favorite superheroes and describes the scientific principles behind these powers. With Science, English, Math and Art this unit study combines fun and learning with an exciting topic. Preview the unit study or download it and start learning right away!
These two unit studies have just been released and will be on sale all month! If you like these you may also be interested in some other unit studies with a bang including Soldiers Through Time; Spies, Secrets and Suspense and Pirates!
Do You Squidoo?
Have you discovered Squidoo yet? This a great site where homeschoolers have been putting their unit studies and lesson ideas, along with pictures from their lessons – all to help other homeschoolers! There are a variety of themes and ideas and some encouragement as well. It is
The Homeschool Club is a part of Squidoo. It features lenses specific to and written by homeschooling families. They have a directory of lessons, some homeschooling success stories and great advice on college and more!
It is a place to find resources for homeschooling, by homeschoolers, for homeschooler!
And, more and more unit studies are being written for The Homeschool Club every day!
They also encourage writing a lens or two of your own. It has an easy to use template to add text, pictures, website links, amazon products and many other inclusions that can make your lens complete.
One lens is even devoted to how to write a lens for them. It says:
The Homeschool Club Wants YOU to Write About Homeschooling!
Find out more, and get some great lesson ideas, by checking out the homeschool club on squidoo!
A Lesson to Remember
This came to me in an email this morning and I thought it was worth repeating!
A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . And colleges Back in September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. ‘Ms.. Cothren, where’re our desks?’ She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’ They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’ ‘No,’ she said. ‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’ And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren’s classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room. The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’ At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) War Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall… By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.. Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’ By the way, this is a true story.
Thank you Martha for showing us all how to make freedom an important lesson!
Some Sweet Lessons
So Halloween is over and the little trick or treaters have a huge bundle of candy. Believe it or not, this can be a good thing!
Instead of just rotting their teeth and giving them a sugar high, this pile of candy can be used in some sweet lessons.
Sorting – create piles of the candy according to a specific classification, colour of wrapper, type of candy, letter it starts with etc. and create a sorting lesson.
Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying and Dividing – use the candy as manipulatives to help reinforce math skills.
Graphing – create a graph to show how much of each type of candy was given out.
Fractions – use candy that can be sectioned – like chocolate bars, licorice sticks etc. to teach fractions. Divide the candy into parts first a half, then a half again to make a fourth and so on.
Crafts – some candy can be used to make crafts. Use lollipops to make finger puppets, lifesavers to make wheels on various types of vehicles, including trains (see picture) and use smaller candy like nerds to make sand art images. Obviously the candy can’t be eaten after turned into a craft but it is a good idea to finish up the candy once the kids have had their fill!
Weights and measures – how many smarties weighs the same as one chocolate bar? Questions like this can be studied using different sizes of candy.
Mad Libs – create a fun reading lesson by substituting the name of the candy for various words in a story. Or use a Mad Lib sheet and fill in candy words.
Games – play games using candy as counters or playing pieces. Smarties are M&Ms are great bingo counters!
Art – make a collage of candy wrappers – many wrappers have different colours and textures which can make an interesting piece of art! You can even use candy wrappers to make jewelry!
Take an online tour of the candy wrapper museum – discuss some favourite candy from your childhood and create a candy wrapper of the future!
Enjoy these sweet lessons!
Sneak Peek – Soldiers Through Time unit study
Education with a BANG suggests that when teaching active boys, incorporate a subject they love and develop it into a lesson that will help them learn the basics.
The Soldiers Through Time unit study has 7 modules – each module covers soldiers in one particular time period.
Each module can be downloaded separately so you can enhance you unit of study.
Here is what is being said about this exclusive unit study!
The American Civil War
When the Kansas territory had the opportunity to join the Union as either a free state (no slavery) or a slave state many people from both sides of the debate rushed to Kansas to try to influence the vote. As a result there were violent clashes.
Then, when Abraham Lincoln, who was against slavery, won the election in November 1860 making him president of the Union, the southern states decided they no longer wanted to be part of the Union. A month after the election South Carolina seceded (broke away from the Union). Soon after Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana. Georgia and Texas also split from the Union. These colonies formed their own country – The Confederate States of America. Eventually they were joined by Virginia (eastern half), Tennessee, Missouri and Kentucky.
On the next page – colour the map of the United States to show the Confederate States (red) and the Union States (blue)
Explorers made great discoveries – So can you!
Christopher Columbus took a risk and found the “New World”. Magellan took a risk and did not fall off the end of the Earth but went all the way around it. These explorers dreamed up an idea, followed it through and became great explorers.
Homeschoolers can be explorers too. Although there are the basic subjects to build a foundation like English and Math, home educators can explore other subjects of interest and curiosity and add them to their lesson plans. School curriculum does not cover espionage but homeschoolers can. Explore the world of spies learning geography, history, science and more. What about herbology? The study of plants used as medicine is another interesting yet not required course to study.
It is important to explore many subjects and interests in order for your child to make an informed decision on what they may want to pursue as a career. It is also more interesting for the child to discover topics that they are curious about.
Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded for performance.
– Milton R. Saperstein
Explore the world, one subject at a time and increase the education of your child while also satisfying their curiosity!
A Lesson in Falling Leaves
The changing seasons provide a great learning lesson opportunity.
What makes the seasons change? The answer to this question will start a great topic of study. You could also include what happens to various aspects of nature when seasons change – like the leaves on trees change and fall to the ground putting the tree into a hibernation of sorts. Walk through the woods and try to identify trees by their bark, once their leaves are gone it is a lot harder to know what tree it is.
Fall can also create other learning opportunities besides the obvious nature studies. Leaves fall off trees can inspire a lesson on Gravity. Leaves change colour can produce an art lesson on colour mixing. Animals gathering food for winter storage can lead to a variety of lessons on animal behaviour, which animals hibernate, what animals eat and more. Even the changing temperature can allow for math lessons and a graphing exercise.
The leaves on the ground can also be great use for lessons. They can be used in crafts to make various tree fairies. They can be used for rubbings or shapes and they can be put into a tree journal to help remember what leaves match each tree.
Autumn is a great time of year, with lots of inspiring lessons to fall into!
Snips and snails and puppy dog tails – that’s what little boys are made of. It is true boys and girls are different. The same can be said for how they learn.
While many girls enjoy the audio-visual aspects of learning including reading, writing and storytelling, many boys prefer the kinesthetic, hands-on aspects of learning. Anyone who has been around an active little boy understands the struggle any teacher would have with making that boy sit still for lessons. Keeping them still and focused is a challenge for most of their education.
These boys (and sometimes girls) need to be offered education that keeps them moving, having fun and learning, all rolled into one. This can be accomplished through use of manipulatives, learning games, field trips and experiments. Making it a more enjoyable learning environment will help these boys learn better, and achieve higher results. Creating lessons around topics they enjoy can also add to a beneficial learning experience. Dirt and mud and gross things are often inspiring to little boys and can keep their attention through a lesson. Superheroes are characters of interest to many little boys (and big boys too) and so can be used to inspire creative writing, science experiments and even math problems.
Education with a BANG suggests that when teaching active boys, incorporate a subject they love and develop it into a lesson that will help them learn the basics of education like math, science, history, english and geography. Not only will it ease the stress on the teacher, but it will benefit the child who will then love to learn!
Exclusive Education with a Bang unit studies are available right now at www.homeeducationresourceemporium.com/unit-studies
Look for the unit studies on soldiers, pirates, spies and more and put some BANG into your lessons.
Sneak Peek: History of Fashion Through Textiles
History of Fashion Through Textiles is a 4 module unit study covering cotton, silk, wool and flax. It describes the process from raw material to cloth, including the history of the use of the cloth. Activities within the unit study include math, history, science, art and more making it a cross-curricular unit of study.
Here is a sneak peek:
Module 3: Cotton
Back to School Tips – Learning Styles!
As you get ready to start a new year of lessons make sure you are aware of all your children’s learning styles. There are three main learning styles Auditory (hearing), Visual (seeing) and Kinetic (doing). A child can be strong in one particular style or a combination of two styles.
It is important to understand a child’s learning style so that you can find the best way to teach to them. Of course it is important to develop all the learning styles in a child but especially necessary to teach to their learning style on a subject that they struggle with.
Be creative with your lesson plans so that each learning style is practiced. This is especially helpful when teaching more than one child the same topic. Use manipulatives in math, science and spelling class (for kinetic learners), Read stories out loud or use music to accompany lessons (for audio learners) and use pictures and colour codes to help the visual learner.
If you want to find out your child’s learning style, download this free questionnaire.