Tag Archive | Ann Heinrichs

Texas… A Study of a State

Texas has become near and dear to our hearts with Gammie and Aunty Holly and Cousin Jimmie. So of course we had to jump in all the way and get going with a full on month long unit. Here are most (I hope) of the resources we used for our binder! Enjoy! Also check out our DINOSAUR related resource page HERE.

BOOKS!

  • Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch by Anne Isaacs
  • Texas by Jim Ollhoff
  • Texas by AV2
  • Texas by Ann Heinrichs
  • Dinosaur Hunt by Karen Carr
  • Life at the Alamo by Sally Senzell Isaacs
  • Texas Facts and Symbols by Emily McAuliffe
  • America the Beautiful: Texas by Ann Heinrichs
  • Texas Rangers’ Legendary Lawmen by Michael P. Spradlin
  • How to Get Rich on a Texas Cattle Drive by Tod Olson

VIDEOS!

    • Smithsonian Aerial America Texas HERE.
    • A special thanks to sisters Holly (my sister in law) and Heather (her sister) who are Texans to the core for these!

Davy Crockett thanks to Hanna Barbera… I did have to tell the kids that some of the terms and such was …. old fashioned? But you really got a feeling of how a person becomes a legend.

Ballad of the Alamo WITH LYRICS.

Confederate Song – The Yellow Rose of Texas

Fess Parker – Ballad of Davy Crockett (1955)

WORKSHEETS!

    • I have my Texas worksheets on Education.com collected under my Minnesota folder HERE (I know confusing but I never did get around to trying to rename it US States)
    • We covered a little bit of weather  too… mainly comparing our week to a week in Texas and talking about seasons but I have a few jr. print outs… From Worksheetplace.com HERE and Kinderhelper.com HERE
    • Colouring pages by TexasBob.com HERE
    • Texas – a Mini Unit Study by Learning Treasures HERE
    • State flag with EnchantedLearning HERE
    • Symbols of Texas with Kids’ House HERE
    • Homeschooling.About.com Texas unit study HERE
    • John Tyler worksheet thanks to Activity Village. In fact you can find other state heroes on this site just search under Texas (link to site on right)
    • Learning Treasures Mini Unit Study HERE

HELPFUL SITES!

    • We found an excellent definition for BIOMES when covering the different landscapes in Texas thanks to Geography4Kids.com HERE.
    • Lists of endangered and threatened animals in Texas. The boys loved some of the wild names on these! Texas Parks and Wildlife HERE.
    • We had a wonderful fact or fiction worksheet on Education.com (link above to folder) on Pecos Bill but were sent along to the Legends of America site HERE for another version of the legend which totally tickled the boys after our discussions about exaggeration and how “things are always bigger in Texas!”
    • A little summary on Davy Crockett… We wanted to find him in our books but really beyond him dying at the Alamo (or at least within some portion of the conflict) we had to go to the internet to learn more HERE thanks to The History Channel.
    • An overview with the climate in Texas (we supplemented with searching for pictures of each season) thanks to Wiki HERE.
    • The Alamo.org HERE… about… The Alamo!
    • The Legend of the Bluebonnets thanks to the site Multicultural Education Through Miniatures HERE.
    • What Are Myths, Legends and Folktales? Definitions thanks to Myths and Legends HERE.
    • Texas State Song: Texas, Our Texas thanks to Lone Star Junction HERE.
    • Texas state information page with EnchantedLearning HERE

Downloadables!

  • Texas The Lone Star State mini lapbook thanks to Fortunately For You Books (also for purchase on Currclick) HERE101_7775
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This entry was posted on 07/07/2014, in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

China… a Family Study

We do love our Chinese New Year celebrations. All thanks to some of the family we chose… specifically the den Otters! So even here in Minnesota we do our best to hold onto the new traditions we added to our family while in Alberta. One of these is to spend a month on China, Chinese New Year and Chinese characters. This year we chose to do another poster… and of course with that comes a boatload of resources!

Books!

  • Celebrating Chinese New Year by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
  • Chinese New Year by Alice K. Flanagan
  • Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations Chinese New Year by Ann Heinrichs
  • Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn
  • Children Just Like Me Celebrations by Anabel Kindersley
  • I Wonder Why Countries Fly Flags by Philip Steele
  • Kai-Lan’s Great Trip to China by Mickie Matheis
  • Pandas by Donna K. Grosvenor
  • Chinese New Year by Lola M. Schaefer
  • Max Celebrates Chinese New Year by Adria F. Klein
  • A Gift by Yong Chen
  • The Runaway Wok by Ying Chen Compestine
  • Chinese New Year by Fay Robinson
  • Asian Holidays by Faith Winchester
  • National Geographic Kids March 2014 issue (special focus on twin baby pandas)
  • Celebrate Chinese New Year by Carolyn Otto
  • Happy Chinese New Year, Kai-Lan! by Lauryn Silverhardt

Videos!

  • Celebrate With Kai-Lan! HERE
  • Ching’s Chinese New Year HERE

Our general helpful links!

  • Activity Village is the place to go for printables! First Chinese New Year itself list HERE.
  • The Horse of the Zodiac specifically HERE.
  • China specific HERE.
  • And of course the horse as an animal HERE.

Chinese Flag!

  • Gotta cover the flag right? You can find out printable HERE thanks to Rainbowkids.com.
  • If you want to find out some history on the flag check out this link HERE thanks to the site A China Family Adventure.

Dragon Dance!

  • GMA News Online’s image for 2014 HERE. What a gorgeous looking dragon!
  • And then there was the video we watched. I do so love watching the dances. This one was done in Hong Kong in 2013. The dancers are AMAZING and well worth a watch. Thanks to HongKongMap on youTube.

Chinese Music/Instruments! We did not cover a ton on the music. More of a surprise addition when I came across a neat picture of what is commonly called a guitar. So I grabbed a couple website, some music and an image to colour.

  • The YueQin on Confucius Institute Online HERE
  • Top 10 Chinese Instruments on China Whisper HERE. This girl was amazing. Thanks to NoodlesFaced on youTube. This is XiaoMu Ming.

    • Our second video was of some traditional Chinese music entitled Shepherdess’ Song. Thanks to MadePossible on youTube. 

  • Our original printable that started this train of interest is found on Rainbowkids.com HERE. They have a great list of resources on their site HERE. It is an adoption site with some great printables for kids. 

The horse itself!

    • Animal Facts HERE thanks to Science Kids.
    • More facts and breed information on Ducksters HERE.
    • A great video of wild horses thanks to National Geographic.

  • Zander wanted to know all about the world’s tallest horse so I had to help him out and check into that fact. HERE Guinness World Records site.
  • A great list of horse related crafts thanks to Activity Village HERE.

Check out some Zodiac predictions for 2014 HERE. (Huffpost Living Canada)

Links for the three places of interest covered by Ken and the kids:

  • Terracotta army thanks to Ducksters HERE
  • Great Wall of China thanks to Science Kids HERE
  • Shanghai Tower thanks to Wiki HERE
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This entry was posted on 19/03/2014, in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Minnesota… a Study

We had planned on this unit months ago but time just kept getting away from us. But we persevered and got around to getting some facts straight and seeing some of the interesting bits of the state we now call home. We now know that St. Paul is the capital, that there are like a 100 species of fish in our lakes AND that calcium based products have always played a role of importance around here. But anyway, to share the resources…

Our Books!

  • 1 2 3 Minnesota by Puck HERE
  • Minnesota by AV2 (an enhanced book) HERE
  • I Spy with My Little Eye Minnesota by Kathy-Jo and Ed Wargin HERE
  • Hooray for Minnesota Lakes! by Paul Lowrie and Bret Nicholaus HERE
  • Minnesota Facts and Symbols by Bill McAuliffe HERE
  • Welcome to the U.S.A. Minnesota by Ann Heinrichs HERE
  • From Sea to Shining Sea Minnesota by Judy L. Hasday HERE
  • Minnesota by Amy Van Zee HERE
  • Minnesota by Niels R. Jensen HERE
  • Scholastic Encyclopedia of the United States by Judy Bock and Rachel Kranz HERE

Our Lapbook!

  • Mini-State Lapbook Minnesota found on Currclick HERE

Printables!

  • State Study Notebooking pages FREEBIE! We used page 2 HERE by Notebooking Nook

When we couldn’t focus on our studies on Minnesota directly each morning I had the boys search through the above books and find facts about the state to write on their own piece of lined paper that will be included in the lapbook as well. We read the 1-2-3 book and Hooray for Minnesota Lakes! together as a family and drew pictures of our favourite parts.101_5426

This entry was posted on 22/12/2013, in Uncategorized. 1 Comment