Archive for February, 2009:
Pat-a-Cake Scones
Simon and I made some pat-a-cake scones for tea-time yesterday! They are easy and fun and yummy!
Pat-a-Cake Scones
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
colored sugar
Preheat oven to 375
Combine flour and sugar. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add cream. Stir till mixed well. Coat hands with flour. Knead a few times. Start singing Pat-a-Cake. (We sang it a few times!) Pat out flat. Cut into triangle or circle shapes. Sprinkle colored sugar on top. Bake 18 min. or until golden.
Rainforest
Well, once again, plans thwarted by real life. I spent two weeks (about 8 hours/day) working on the house to get some ongoing (think seven years) projects we’ve had undone DONE.
School got pushed to the side during these two weeks which completely interrupted our rain forest study. We had two weeks in, then two weeks off, then one final week. We used our final week to tie up loose ends and to study sloths and manatees (we were fascinated by both!).
This notebook is huge. Really huge. I don’t think we will be doing another themed study in a notebook that’s this size. I don’t like it when it seems that fillng the notebook seems more important than the actual learning. This is not the goal! Even though the notebook has three blank pages and is without a pretty cover, Elijah has learned a TON. Beyond the pictures of his notebook, he has read dozens of books about the rain forest and rain forest animals.
Here you can get an idea of just how huge the notebook is
Inside cover
First Page
Layer Puzzle Pieces
Misc. Animals Matchbooks
Close-up of Elijah’s Rhinoceros Beetle (love the drawings kids do in their lapbooks!)
Cats of the Rain Forest
Who Am I? Close-up
I am a… JAGUAR!
Lepoard Draw Write Now
Plants of the Rainforest
Blue Morpho Butterfly and Vine Poem
Opened Butterfly
Poem
Birds of the Rain Forest
Toucan Draw Write Now
Birds Book Opened
Chocolate Page! Elijah designed his own chocolate bar. We went on a fun field trip to a chocolate factory, and we made our own chocolate at home with a kit!
M and M Graphs
Chocolate Process Sequencing Cards
Sloths
Sloths Page 2
Sloths Draw Write Now
Manatees Page 1
Manatees Page 2
The Amazon River – piranahs and anacondas!
All Things Bright and Beautiful Copywork with Dover stickers
Elijah designed this all by himself. I really just need to let go and let him do his own thing! This is my favorite page in the entire book.
Completely Random
Have you seen me before?
Well, here I am in all my construction-mode glory. This is me after applying multiple gallons of texture to the living room ceiling. Personally, I think I look like I walked through an Aviary, but I probably shouldn’t say such things on my blog. Not very lady-like.
Next up we have Elijah’s newest Lego creation. Obviously he had much time to devote to building today while mom was on a ladder (and not doing school with him…shhhhh….).
Finally, it’s beginning to look a lot like Valentine’s Day around here!
Pretty Flowers from my man
Yummy treats Elijah and I made today
Recipe here
Funny Valentine box Elijah and I made yesterday out of a Cheerio box. It has a hole in the top to fit his Valentines from friends (party later this week).
SSSSssssssssssssnakes!
It was my turn to teach at co-op today. We started with The Great Kapok Tree, and I taught a lesson on a snake that lives in the Amazon Rain Forest – the anaconda (ew! ew!!!!).
We had fun learning the ins and outs (ew! ew!!!!) of this crazy huge (30 feet long/200 pound) snake and then we made some snakes of our own. These are the perfect kind of pet- paper and paint. Of course only a crazy lady (me) would want to paint four foot long snakes with 15 children at one time. Well, some kids were MIA, so we didn’t really make 15, but it sounds dramatic.
Basically, I took green paper, cut it in half and stuck four pieces together. Each child got one. They accordion folded their snakes, rounded the edges with scissors, sponge-painted, added eyes and a tounge, and then some facts.
Here are some shots
Simon’s snake (left) and Elijah’s snake (right)
Complete with Anaconda facts!
After my lesson, we had a much more pleasant one on products of the rain forest. The kids made chocolate spoons (I don’t have any pictures, but don’t our kids have it rough?) and then they sampled all kinds of foods from the rain forest and made a physical bar graph out of legos (based on whether or not they liked it). The most liked food was mango and the most disliked food was coconut milk. They also tasted chocolate (100% – no sugar), papaya, avocado, coconut, and plantain.
the complete results
Simon Says Color!
I have never seen a preschooler love to color like Simon does. He fills his empty canvas (aka cheap white computer paper) with beautiful wax drawings (aka crayon scribbles).
He colors anywhere anytime, and while I don’t always appreciate it, I have really been admiring the pages (note the word pages and note that the words walls and bookshelves aren’t the same as the word pages) he has done lately. Here is a shot of the half-naked artist and one of his finished work. Oh, and don’t mind that ugly diaper wipe box- it’s our fancy crayon container.
Rain Forest Week One
Okay, I have planned for this to be a four week unit. Key word is planned. We will see how it goes. We have week two off to a running start, but I want to show you a few shots of week one’s finished work. We haven’t placed everything in the notebook yet, but a few pages are done or almost done. Some need titles, some need a lot more than a title.
Week One Schedule
Day One
Read Magic Treehouse Research Guide Chapters 1-2, Welcome to the Greenhouse, DK Rainforest 24 Hours
Elijah read pages 34-37 in Wild Places
Notebook Activities-
Rainforest Song (we sang this FOUR times…I hope he knows the layers in the forest – yes indeed!)
Rain Forest Layers Puzzles
Rain Forest Layer Flap
Rain Forest Map
Emergent Mini Book
Video- The Magic Schoolbus in the Rainforest
Day Two
Elijah read pages 38-41 in Wild Places
Notebook Activities-
Blue Morpho Butterfly
Misc. Animal Cards (turned these into matchbooks)
Day Three
Read The Parrot Tico Tango, The Umbrella, Magic Treehouse Reserach Guide Chapter 4
Elijah read pages 52-53 in Wild Places
Notebook Activities-
Birds of the Rainforest Matchbooks
Quetzal File Folder
Harpy Eagle Petal Book
Toucan Draw Write Now
Day Four
Read various references online (San Diego Zoo for the most part) about Cats of the Rainforest and some animal encyclopedias
Elijah read pages 58-59 in Wild Places
Notebook Activities-
Leopard Draw Write Now
Jaguar Drawing/Painting
Who Am I? (rain forest cats) books
Day Five
Read Magic Treehouse Research Guide Chapter 2
Elijah read pages 50-51 in Wild Places
Notebook Activities-
Jungle Vine Poem
Beautiful Bromelaids Folded Book
Bromelaids Flower Shape Book
Giant Water Lily Tri-fold
Resources Used
~Evan Moor Theme Pocket (June) – Amazon Rainforest
~HSS Great Kapok Tree Minit Books
~Elijah designed some of the books on his own
~Draw Write Now
~Library books (mentioned above)
