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) HERE
• 

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.

Zander’s animal choice was LIONS! So of course we had to find all that we could about where they live, what they do and how they survive. I hope these are helpful!

BOOKS:

• Magic Tree House #11: Lions at Lunchtime HERE
• Lions by Tammy Gagne HERE
• I am a Lion by Karen Durrie. This AV2 book has a website you can visit for supplementary activities and some print outs. HERE
• Mouse & Lion by Rand Burkert and Nancy Ekholm Burket HERE
• Welcome to Kenya by Patrick Ryan HERE
• Tanzania by Patricia J. Murphy HERE
• (We also made use of various magazines… National Geographic, National Geographic Kids, Ranger Rick… all thanks to Nana and Gammie!)

TV:

• National Geographic’s Big Cat Odyssey
• Wild Kratts Bad Hair Day (Season 2)
• Lion King

WORKSHEETS:

• Daniel in the Lion’s Den with Bible Story Printables HERE and game HERE
• DLTK’s lion printables including a story HERE
• Colouring page with PreschoolMom.com HERE
• Letter L printable with Activity Village HERE
• Grassland Food Web printable (no activity) with Exploring Nature Educational Resource HERE
• EnchantedLearning printable HERE
• First Palette animal printables HERE
• Lion King official printables HERE with Family Go
• Africa Resources with Homeschool Creations HERE
• Africa Theme unit with edhelper.com HERE

LAPBOOKS:

• HS Highlights Lions lapbook for purchase HERE

CRAFTS:

• We watched the Lion King in the end and of course had to do some of the official crafty stuff found HERE on DisneyFamily.com

KENYA:

• We had a series of maps we looked at to answer some questions: Ducksters (HERE), The Forestry Department for a mountain location (HERE), BBC for the equator line (HERE)
• Kids 4 Kenya HERE
• Activity Village section HERE
• National Geographic Kids with printable HERE

Tanzania

• National Geographic Kids with printable HERE
• A map with Ducksters HERE
• Activity Village section HERE

VIDEOS:

Esther found this one for us on the Lions and the Masai…

And I came across this lovely ones of Kenyan children dancing.

We had two more from Esther that she deemed interesting… the kids agreed! First, A Lion Pride – Introducing Daddy to the Cubs by BBC Wildlife

And the other… Lion Pride in Kenya, Africa by Brian’s Art for Animals.