Hawaii

Geography: Hawaii

Hawaii: The Aloha State  by: Marcia Amidon Lusted

Uniquely Hawaii  by: Geok Yian Goh

National Parks of the U.S.A.  by: Kate Siber

Froggy Goes to Hawaii  by: Jonathan London

Grandma Calls Me Beautiful  by: Barbara M. Joosse

 

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History: Duke Kahanamoku

Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku  by: Ellie Crowe

Duke Kahanamoku  by: Laurie Calkhoven

 

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Science: Volcanoes

Inside Volcanoes  by: Melissa Stewart

The Magic School Bus Presents Volcanoes and Earthquakes  by: Tom Jackson

DirtMeister’s Nitty Gritty Planet Earth  by: Steve Tomecek

 

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Activities

• Make a lei for each member of your family out of tissue paper, cupcake liners, ribbons, and beads
• Have a luau! (we invited the kids’ grandparents over and had a chicken supper with fresh pineapple, watched a how to hula video, and hula danced to some of the songs from the movie “Moana.”
• Watch “Magic School Bus: Blows Its Top”
• Watch “Reading Rainbow: Hill of Fire”
• Do the magma experiment on page 47 of Nitty Gritty Earth
• Do the hei activity in the back of Grandma Calls Me Beautiful

 

 

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Alaska

Geography: Alaska

Alaska: The Last Frontier  by: Marcia Amidon Lusted

State-by-State Atlas  by: Justine Ciovacco

Tlingit Indians  by: Suzanne Williams

Being Caribou  by: Karston Heuer  (we just looked at the pictures)

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Stories

Mama, Do You Love Me?  by: Barbara M. Joosse

Arctic White  by: Danna Smith

You’re Snug With Me  by: Chitra Soundar

The Bear Report  by: Thyra Heder

The Eyes of Gray Wolf  by: Jonathan London

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Science: Sled Dogs

Wind-Wild Dog  by: Barbara M. Joosse

Alaska’s Dog Heroes: True Stories of Remarkable Canines  by: Shelley Gill

Togo  by: Robert J. Blake

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History: Balto

The True Story of Balto  by: Natalie Standiford

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Language Arts

Reading: The True Story of Balto  by: Natalie Standiford (Step Into Reading: Step 3)

Spelling

Phonics

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Activities

• Watch Wild Kratts “Spirit Bear” (S12), “Hero’s Journey Part 1 & 2” (S5, E14&15), “The Fourth Bald Eagle” (S5, E18), “The Mystery of the Two Horned Narwhal” on Amazon Prime
• Watch polar episode on The Magic School Bus on Netflix
• Make paper snowflakes
• Paint the aurora borealis
• Make a chalk rubbing aurora
• Watch this video about the aurora borealis 

 

https://pin.it/ceiixd7etlsnny

 

 

North Carolina

Hurricane Florence blew through our area and my older son’s school was canceled for a few days and my husband worked from home.  So we didn’t get much done even though this week we studied our home state!  However, at the end of the week we were able to go tour the Biltmore Estate, so I’d call this unit study a success!

Geography: North Carolina

 

Welcome to the U.S.A.: North Carolina  by: Ann Heinrichs

 

 

North Carolina  by: Ann Heinrichs

 

T is for Tar Heel  by: Carol Crane

 

Wright Numbers  by: Carol Crane

 

The Green Gourd: A North Carolina Folktale  by: C.W. Hunter

 

 

Exploring Biltmore Estate from A to Z  by: Chris Kinsley

 

 

Miss Dorothy and her Bookmobile  by: Gloria Houston

 

Halloween Scare in North Carolina  by: Eric James

 

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History: The Wright Brothers

The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane  by: Russell Freedman

 

Animated Hero Classics: The Wright Brothers DVD

 

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Activities

• Build paper airplanes
• Eat Krispy Kreme doughnuts
• Visit the Biltmore Estate!

 

Alabama Activities

We continued learning about space, space travel, and spacecraft as we moved from Florida to Alabama.  I used to live in Huntsville so I know about the space center located there.

I told Levi about the rover on Mars named Curiosity.  Levi already had this toy that included a “rover,” so I asked him to name it (he chose Red Rock Rover) and then sent him on a mission outside to collect samples of the planet Earth.  He returned with some rocks and a twig so now we know what Earth is made of and that it can support plant life.

It just so happens that the science lab Levi attends every other week is also learning about outer space.  In this week’s lab they made a nebula in a bottle which looks super cool!

Alabama

Week 4

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Geography: Alabama

Alabama  by: Mari Kesselring

Alabama Spitfire: The Story of Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird  by: Bethany Hegedus

 

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History: Space Travel

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Science: Spacecraft & Outer Space

The Moon  by: Tim Furniss

Seven Wonders of the Solar System  by: David A. Aguilar

 

Blast Off to Space Camp  by: Hillary Wolfe

 

 

 

Spacecraft  by: Jenny Fretland Vanvoorst

 

 

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Activities

• Send a rover (Legos, K’nex, etc) to collect samples of Earth
• Watch “Reading Rainbow: Hot Air Henry”
• Look at pictures of the space center/space camp in Huntsville
• Make a nebula in a bottle
• Oreo moon phases

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Florida

Week 3

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Geography: Florida

 

Uniquely Florida  by: Bob Knotts

 

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History: Space Travel

 

Astronaut Firsts  by: Sue L. Hamilton

 

 

Kennedy Space Center  by: David West Reynolds

 

One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong  by: Don Brown

 

 

One Giant Leap  by: Robert Burleigh

 

 

Armstrong: The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon  by: Torben Kuhlmann

 

 

If I Were an Astronaut  by: Eric Braun

 

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Science: Manatees

 

Manatees  by: Katie Marsico

 

 

Florida Manatees  by: Meish Goldish

Slow Down for Manatees  by: Jim Arnosky

 

 

The Mystery of Pelican Cove  by: Milly Howard  (week long read aloud)

 

 

Kobee Manatee: Heading Home to Florida  by: Robert Scott Thayer

 

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Activities

• Color in Florida on the U.S. map in the notebook
• Build a rocket out of Legos
• Watch “Magic School Bus: Gets Lost in Space” (S1, E1) on Netflix
• Watch “Bill Nye the Science Guy: Gravity” on Netflix
• Watch “Octonauts and the Manatees” (S2, E19) on Netflix

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Pinch Pot Fun

      

We learned about Dave the Potter and how he created amazing pots as well as amazing poems.  We read Dave, the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill.  It was beautifully illustrated and Dave’s poems were included at the end of the book after the story of his life.

After we read the book, Levi made his own pot out of Crayola Air Dry Clay.  I think it would be fun to make up a poem and carve it into a pot, but Levi was happy with just carving his name.