Category Archives: History

9/11 Remembrance

A couple of years ago our Patriot Day studies were geared a little more toward the younger boys than my big kids. Here’s the link to that study and the resources we used. https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/09/10/teaching-resources-for-patriot-day/

And, for this year, I’ve found the following resources to further our studies.

“Teach and Learn” from the 9/11 Memorial Museum https://www.911memorial.org/teach-learn

President Bush’s Address to the Nation from 9/11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbqCquDl4k4

For OLDER Students :

Video Facts and Timeline of 9/11 Attacks http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks

Post 9/11 and Terrorist Attacks Articles http://www.factmonster.com/spot/sept11features.html

Mathematical Perspective of 9-11 and After http://scottberkun.com/2012/the-math-and-aftermath-of-911/

Writing Prompts for Teens https://writeshop.com/writing-prompts-911-september-11/?fbclid=IwAR1RrIpeTmiJfqUrIuXHXmZ3vVhodpzDw21k0ZJliyLGYRmCL6a2M5S1www

Patriot Day Lesson Plans, Articles, Videos, and Teaching Tips http://www.uen.org/core/socialstudies/patriotday/

How to Prepare for a Terrorist Attack and Links to Other More Detailed Preparedness Plans and Facts from The Dept. Of Homeland Security http://www.nationalterroralert.com/default/

Summary of The Patriot Act – History Article

The Patriot Act: Liberty or Security, or Both? Lesson Plans about The Patriot Act

Conspiracies? Yes, there are many. Here’s a video listing the “Top 10”

Remembering with you all,

betty jo

Resources For Learning About Skyscrapers

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“SKYSCRAPERS” is one of the themes for the month of June and September 3 is “SKYSCRAPER DAY”! Below are the links we’ll be following as we learn about skyscrapers. This study will cover the subjects of science, math, language arts, history, geography, literature, and art. Most of the resources will apply to all ages.

Skyscraper Day Information http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/September/skyscraperday.htm

Fun Facts About Skyscrapers http://www.factmonster.com/spot/skyscraperfacts.html (there’s related links on the right side of the article)

How Skyscrapers Work Articles with Diagrams http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/skyscraper2.htm

Time-lapse Construction Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdpf-MQM9vY

Virtual Field Trip – 360 degree Panoramic View from the Empire State Building http://www.nylocations.com/360-panorama/empire-state-building/

Skyscraper Emergency Engineering Lab Interactives http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/skyscraper/challenge/index.html

Videos, Lesson Plans and Printable Resources, and More http://skyscraper.org/home_flash.htm

Video Algebra Lesson http://threeacts.mrmeyer.com/dominoskyscraper/

Window Cleaning Skyscraper Math (multiplication) Interactive Game http://www.multiplication.com/games/play/math-wash

Another math lessons will be skyscraper word problems game. I’ll make up and write some math problems on cards. The kids will be making some too. For example, “If the elevator travels 30 seconds between each floor and does not stop until it reaches the 37th floor. How many minutes will it take to reach the 37th floor from the ground floor?” We’ll each be able to come up with construction time and cost problems too. Once there’s a stack of question cards, we’ll take turns drawing and answering. With each correct answer, the player gets a Lego block. The player with the highest Lego Tower will be the winner.

Skyscraper Building Activity Challenge http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Skyscraper-Challenge-A-Team-Building-Activity-279407

To add a Bible study to our lessons, I entered “skyscrapers” into the search feature at Bible.org. I was pleasantly surprised to see more than the Tower of Babel to choose from! https://bible.org/gsearch?search=skyscrapers

The Runaway Skyscraper , written by Murray Leinster, is a science fiction novelette , originally published in Argosy magazine (a general-interest fiction magazine) in 1919, now it’s a free read from Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17355/17355-h/17355-h.htm

The Two Skyscrapers Who Decided to Have a Child is one of the short stories of the Rootabaga Stories written in 1922 by Carl Sandburg and is a free read here http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/carl-sandburg/rootabaga-stories-the-two-skyscrapers-who-decided-to-have-a-child/2206/

Skyscrapers are tall. “Tall” isn’t a greatest choice of adjectives for describing a skyscraper. Here’s the link to synonyms and words related to “tall” for a grammar, writing, and vocabulary lesson. http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/tall

A Word Mining Game will be another language arts connection. After we have as many words made as possible from the letters in “SKYSCRAPER”, we’ll categorize them into the relative parts of speech they belong to, noun, verb, adjective, etc. Then we’ll try to put those words together for silly sentences.

How to Draw a Cityscape http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/link/4534/1/1/how-to-draw-a-city.htm

Print, Cut, and Fold Skyscraper Models –

Chrysler Building http://www.papertoys.com/chrysler-building.htm
Empire State Building http://www.papertoys.com/empire-building.htm
World Trade Center http://www.papertoys.com/world-trade-center.htm

I’ve been on my local library’s web site and reserved a few skyscraper books to pick up this week and while we’re out, we’ll take a close look at our city’s 2 tallest buildings – 19 stories and 10 stories.

betty jo

Special Days in September, 2014

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Click here for Special Days in September updated for 2019!

Mother Teresa

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According to Special Days in August (https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2016/07/26/special-days-in-august-2016/), the 26th is Mother Teresa’s birthday. This means that she will be our study and timeline addition of the day. Below are the online resources I found for us as we learn about this wonderful lady and perhaps one of the greatest and most inspiring humanitarians of modern history.

A short biography for kids http://www.pitara.com/magazine/people/online.asp?story=16

Timeline – http://www.softschools.com/timelines/mother_teresa_timeline/48/

Worksheet Printables – http://www.schoolexpress.com/fws/cat.php?id=2655

The Life of a Healer a video biography – http://www.watchmojo.com/video/id/10485/

A wonderful selection of quotes – http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mother_teresa.html

And because Mother Teresa will be such an inspiration to us, we can’t complete the study without trying to feed the poor and hungry. We’ll cover all the rest of our subjects (math, geography, science, art, grammar) through this site today http://freerice.com/category

Just in case you don’t know about about the Free Rice site…
To simply explain, you play educational quiz games (lots of subjects to choose from) and for every correct answer you can collect rice. Real rice that goes to real people! The questions start off easy and get harder and harder. There is an option to join that would keep track of progress and your place in the games so each time you visit you may play from where you last left off. Or you can just play without sign up/sign in. Also, they offer a couple of printables and lesson plans (I liked the creative writing idea).

betty jo

Aviation Week Learning Resources

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According to Special Days in August , “Aviation” is one of this month’s themes. And, “Aviation Week” is the week with the 19th. The reason behind “Aviation Week” is in celebration of the accomplishments of Orville Wright who was born Aug. 19, 1867.

The following links are to the online resources and activities to learn about the Wright Brothers and aviation.

A biography of the Wright Brothers along with printables – http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdwrigh.htm

Learn about the Wright Brothers. See their house and shop as well as their famous flight in Kitty Hawk, NC. with this old and brief educational movie. http://www.havefunwithhistory.com/movies/wrightBrothers.html

We’ve been watching some of the animated series Adventurers – Masters of Time so we’re excited to see a Wright Brothers episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJud1QjUvo8&list=PL608A5B35B7419A93&index=15 If you haven’t seen these before, I recommend you start with the first episode so you’ll understand the theme, then you can skip around to match them with your studies.

Aviation history timeline, projects, and more for kids – http://www.aviation-for-kids.com/

Exhibits from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/

Airplane parts and functions – http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/airplane.html

Victory Through Air Power – by Walt Disney – A History of Flight from the Wright Brothers to WW2 Aerial Defense Campaigns – (produced in the1940s, this contains some war propaganda that may seem wrong by today’s standards, but adds another historic learning element.)

Step-by-step instructions and videos of varying levels of difficulty for folding paper airplanes – http://www.foldnfly.com/#/1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2

A Bible based lesson which uses paper airplanes as a object lesson http://www.christianitycove.com/youth-bible-study-lessons-object-lessons/854/

Awesome links to aviation themed interactives and games http://www.2learn.ca/kids/listSciG6.aspx?Type=57

Airplane coloring pages and craft projects http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/artscraftsideaskids/coloringpages/airplanescoloringpages.html

Airplane Party Ideas

So often I feel that our learning plans for a week are left “up in the air” and we just follow where the week takes us….

However, this time “up in the air” is all planned out!

betty jo

Teaching July

Superstitions

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Because we’ve been having an abundance of craziness and busyness this week, I thought that we wouldn’t “do school” today. But… it’s Friday the 13th!

I’m wowed by the resources and links I have saved up for a study on superstitions do use on a Friday the 13th. Surely we’ll be able to make a little time to learn about superstitions because this stuff is INTERESTING! Below are the sites and resources I found to share with you just in case you can make time for a little superstition too.

Origins of common superstitions explained at Live Science http://www.livescience.com/33507-origins-of-superstitions.html

Behavioral psychology in regards to superstitions discussed from Kids Net Encyclopedia http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/su/Superstition

13 Superstitious Writing Prompts https://cecileswriters.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/superstitious-prompts/

Free Printable “Black Cat” border writing paper https://www.teacherfiles.com/resources_bp_holidays.htm

20 +free superstition worksheets from Busy Teacher (you’ll need an account, but it’s easy to set up) http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-vocabulary/superstitions-worksheets/

Common Superstitions and Why We Have Them (article, video, graphics) https://medium.com/ecom-tips/common-superstitions-why-do-we-have-them-b701245e8ca7

Superstition origins video from Mental Floss (this one’s for the older kids) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFyDUaSi-5w

Mathematical Properties of the Number 13 http://www.numbergossip.com/13

To keep this study in the right perspective we’ll include 1 Timothy 4:7 with this study. “People tell silly stories that don’t agree with God’s truth. Don’t follow what these stories teach. But teach yourself to be devoted to God.”

And finally some music, which my kids will consider ancient history, but saying such a thing may bring them some bad luck!

betty jo

Story Telling With Aesop’s Fables

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Today is our first “special day” study of the summer. Aesop! The calendar says June 4 is his birthday, but his history doesn’t have that exact information recorded. Around 620-560 BC was his time. Below are the links that we’re going to follow as we not only learn about Aesop and read his works, but as we practice public speaking and communication through story telling. The project will be to learn an Aesop fable well enough to present it orally. Retelling is an awesome way to check for reading comprehension and concept understanding as well as being a great communication skill.

A brief biography http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/profiles/a/aesop.html

Aesop quotes that are as relevant today as they were back in his day http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aesop.html

Fables to read with discussion questions and quizzes, activities, and vocabulary glossary http://www.mcwdn.org/fables/fabadult.html

Tips for good story telling

Articles

For an added challenge, I’m going to have the kids retell a lesson they have personally learned by substituting animals as the characters just as Aesop had done. And of course, we’ll add some art to the lesson. Illustrations are a fantastic way to enhance a story. This is my “go to” site for art/drawing instructions when we need a little tutoring, and it seems like they have a good variety of drawing animal instructions if we need it. http://www.dragoart.com/animals-for-kids-c408-1.htm

This is a 24 video collection of animated Aesop fables, because summer studies should always include a movie inside under the air conditioning during the hot afternoon.

For the complete listing of Special Days in June click here Special Days in June, 2018

I plan on participating myself with our Aesop studies. I certainly have a long list of personal lessons learned that could be put into a short story. After all, he did teach that, “Example is the best precept” and “Better wise from the misfortunes of others than by your own”.

betty jo

April Birthday Biographies With Cake

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Whenever a birthday shows up on the special days list that goes along with the time period we’re studying, we take the opportunity to study that person, and perhaps bake a cake.

According to the special days listing for April, there are several important people’s birthdays. https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2014/03/28/special-days-in-april-2/

Last year we learned everything “middle ages”. And, April was a fantastic birthday month for our studies. Here’s the links to the April birthday biographies we worked on complete with resource links.

Raphael April 6, 1483 https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/06/raphael/

Leonardo da Vinci April 15, 1452 https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/12/leonardo-da-vinci/

William Shakespeare April 23, 1564 https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/23/happy-birthday-william-shakespeare/

Our study focus this year is American History. This means that our birthday studies center around presidents. These are the presidents that we’ll be learning about during April.

Thomas Jefferson April 13, 1743

James Buchanan April 23, 1791

Ulysses S. Grant April 27, 1822

James Monroe April 28 1758

This link takes you to the resource list of what we use as we learn about a president. https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2014/02/14/resources-for-presidents-day/

And cake! Baking and decorating cakes or cupcakes to eat while studying makes lessons delicious. We like this site for online baking classes. The 3 cake decorating pdfs are wonderful guides. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/baking/online-baking-classes.html

Of course everyday is historic and special somehow but we think birthdays are the best!

betty jo

April Fool’s Day – Learning Resources

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April Fool’s Day isn’t the type of holiday that warrants a day off from homeschooling lessons. However, it is one of those holidays that can be a homeschooling lesson theme. Here’s some resources for teaching and learning on April Fool’s Day.

History – “As April Fools’ is celebrated in different ways throughout the world, it is unknown exactly how the tradition originated. Some cultures saw it as the first day of spring, celebrating with general merriment and feasting, and certain calendars may consider it the first day of the year. One theory for the terming of an April Fool was that some refused to follow these calendars that recognized April 1st as the first day of the year, which resulted in being called an April Fool.” And more history and information from here http://wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm

Bible – Study of “the fool” based on Proverbs 26 https://bible.org/seriespage/fool-proverbs-261-11

Language Arts – Worksheets and Word Game Printables http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/april-fools-day/printables/

Science – Videos and Experiments http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/informal-science-education/celebrate-april-fools-day-with-floating-paper-airplanes-three-cup-monty-and-the-dangers-of-dihydrogen-monoxide/

Math – Magic Trick instructions using numbers – http://easycalculation.com/funny/tricks/trick1.php

Yes! I have some googly eyes in the craft box. My kids look in the fridge about 100 times a day (hoping the food selection has changed?) . This will be funny!

Last year we had some fun pranking each other. Here’s the resources we pulled some ideas from. I checked, and it seems the links are still good. https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/31/foolish-studies/