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Paula in MN
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I was thinking that if I had her read all those Joan Aiken books, she could study wolves for her science theme. I've got 2 or 3 pages of online sites she can visit. We've also got a wolf center a few hours north that would be a great day trip. Oh, and there's the timberwolf tracks on the northern edge of our property that she could look at.
I also thought the One Small Square: Night Sky would work, since so much of the first book takes place at night. She's never really studied constellations, either. She really likes nature and outdoor plans, so I thought focusing on both of those would work for the month.
I can also have her read a bit about some of the scientists mentioned, and write a few paragraphs on them.
I don't want to overwork her. And I don't want my plans to be terribly disjointed. I'm trying to be realistic about how much she can do within a month, and I know the nature and outdoor plans will be done first.
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 Paula
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Paula in MN
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Part of my plan was that the overall theme would be covered in the Literature/History books, and if I picked books that went into enough detail, we could pull Science out of them. But I'm terrible with Science, and just because a book talks about wolves here and there doesn't make it a book about Science. So I tried to pick out any possible Science theme from the books and I think I failed miserably.
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lapazfarm
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No, Paula, you didn't fail miserably, and I hope you did not take my question as criticism. I was simply seeking clarification so I could offer appropriate suggestions.
I personally love the wolf idea. They are some of my favorite critters.
So, which months are you specifically seeking suggestions for? How can we help?
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Theresa
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Mackfam
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Brainstorming with you, Paula....
Loved Theresa's recommendations.
One of my favorite living science booklists is at Penny Gardners. I think you might find a few more science book ideas there, so I linked in case you hadn't looked at it.
September
If you end up moving Newton out of the 16th century to 18th and October, you could add Copernicus and/or Leonardo da Vinci. Those would be great 16th century scientists to study. If you hit them with great picture books which you read aloud I don't think things would be too overwhelming. Then, you can have some fun with solar system projects in science. I saw this neat pdf download from currclick today and thought it might be worthwhile to mention - Teaching Astronomy Through Art
Consider:
Nicolaus Copernicus - The Earth is a Planet by Dennis Fradin
Along Came Galileo by Jeanne Bendick
Leonardo da Vinci by Diane Stanley
Your composer could be Holst and you can download his amazing work, The Planets to listen to!
OR....spend some time studying Thomas Arne, a Catholic and the Father of Bard Song. He wrote many pieces for Shakespeare's plays as they were being performed. There's a great history of his life here.
October
If Newton is here for this monthly science theme, great! Read about him and work on a little Physics intro. I recommend Can You Feel the Force by Richard Hammond. There are lots of Newton books you could read and fun Physics projects to work on.
One Small Square - Night Sky would still fit here, and would be great to transition into Newton from your solar system study last month.
Sir Thomas Lawrence or William Hogarth would make great artists for picture study because their art is very interesting! Both are 18th century English artists so that fits with your general theme.
For composers, there are so many to choose from!
That's a start anyway!
How else can we help, Paula?
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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Cross posting with Theresa! 
lapazfarm wrote:
| So, which months are you specifically seeking suggestions for? How can we help? |
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Yes. This.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mary K
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How about Julie's Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George for literature the month she studies wolves?
Preread it though, I've never read it but heard it is told from the wolf's point of view.
God bless,
Mary-NY
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lapazfarm
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Right, Jen. Newton is a perfect tie-in with the night sky considering he advanced the study of astronomy enormously--I believe it is in book III of Principia where he describes the motions of planets, calculates their masses, explains the precessional movements of the constellations, and more. What an amazing mind.
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Paula in MN
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 Theresa I didn't take your comments as criticism at all!! I'm sorry if it came out that way.
These are all great suggestions. I'm having many duh moments as I'm reading the comments. I think my fingers went faster than my brain. Usually it's my mouth that dows that  .
My biggest questions are about February and March. That would be WWII and then Narnia. What composers, artists and scientists can I tie in to what was happening, without being too heavy?
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Mary K
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Wsn't Narnia set during WWII? I believe the 4 children are sent to their uncle's in the country to get away from the London bombings.
A google search of WWII era composers should give you some ideas for a composer.
God bless,
Mary-NY
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Paula in MN
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I thought the same thing, Mary. That's why I decided to place in consecutive months, to allow for carryover!
I just spent the last two hours going through every saved idea, booklist, lapbook, unit study, and notebooking pages on my computer that had to do with my themes and SMARTLY put them in the same folder. 
I have 119 files to go through. 
In the excitement of organizing my bookshelves this weekend  I forgot about all of the pdf resources I had!
I still need to go through my bookmarks. but I'm betting I have more than enough stuff-I-forgot-about to truly round out this plan. 
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Mackfam
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That's great, Paula!!!!
I have a few ideas for your WWII and Narnia months. Be back in a bit to add some links!
Also, dropping this in for your Shakespeare month. (Because you don't have enough pdf's to sort through!  ) I found this yesterday and it's a free download:
Quotations from Shakespeare's plays - the quotes are for copywork. I like that the quotes are organized by topic. It might make a good resource for your Shakespeare month.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Paula in MN
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Mackfam wrote:
That's great, Paula!!!!
I have a few ideas for your WWII and Narnia months. Be back in a bit to add some links!
Also, dropping this in for your Shakespeare month. (Because you don't have enough pdf's to sort through! ) I found this yesterday and it's a free download:
Quotations from Shakespeare's plays - the quotes are for copywork. I like that the quotes are organized by topic. It might make a good resource for your Shakespeare month. |
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Well, I already had the Shakespeare Quotes! One of the 119 files
I can't wait for the WWII and Narnia links!
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saigemom
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Number the Stars and Snow Treasure are excellent. Snow Treasure is a shorter book, so I think it could be easily covered. I did NTS as a read aloud and it worked out well-you could probably find this one on CD fairly easily as well. I saw you had question marks next to those. If she is not big into reading, they are both shorter and slightly easier than the other books you had listed in WWII.
To go with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe-
This is taken from Further Up and Further In A Literature Based Unit Study:
Ch. 1-2 Read about WWII, London Blitz
Suggested Videos: Goodbye Mr. Chips with Peter O'Toole
Science: Bird Migration-ch. 6
Beavers: ch.7
watch video about ice fishing
Ch. 11 Animal tracking
Fog
Ch. 12 Kingfisher, thrush
Ch. 16 Light
Just extra ideas
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saigemom
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http://www.homeschoolshare.com/wild_dogs_lapbook.php
These could be done as a lapbook or modified to notebook pages for her science during wolves.
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lapazfarm
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Ok, just some suggestions:
Scientist for WWII could easily be Albert Einstein.
Composer Bela Bartok
Artist Pablo Picasso
or maybe:
Alexander Fleming (discoverer of penicilin)or Niels Bohr
Composer Igor Stravinsky
Artists Salvador Dali
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lapazfarm
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Oh, do you have a composer for the wolf month yet? Cause Peter and the Wolf would be a natural tie in for Prokofiev.
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JennGM
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WWII books, but I know you're trying to keep the list from being overpowering. Just mentioning:
Reading Your Way Through History suggests:
World War II (1939-1945):
St. Maximillian Maria Kolbe (d. 1941)
St. Maximillian Kolbe: The Story of Two Crowns by Claire Jordan Mohan
Volunteer at Auschwitz by Chuck Colson BV 803-808
Kolbe: Saint of the Immaculata edited by Br. Francis Mary, F.I.
Forget Not Love: St. Maximilian Kolbe by Andre Frossard
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp
Enemy Brothers: A Story of World War II by Constance Savery
The House of Sixty Fathers by Meendert de Jong
Escape from Warsaw by Ian Serralier
The Shadow of His Wings by Fr. Gereon Goldmann
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Diary of Ann Frank
A Place to Hide: True Stories of Holocaust Rescues by Jayne Pettit
The Borrowed House by Hilda Van Stockum
Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop (1944)
The Winged Watchman by Hilda Van Stockum
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
The Small War of Sergeant Donkey by Maureen Daly
The Assisi Underground (Video)
The Red Horse: A Novel by Eugenio Corti
And Penny Gardner has more suggestions
A fun book set in World War II, Bedknobs and Broomsticks by Mary Norton.
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Mackfam
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Great timeline of scientists for use when you're building plans that are cross-connected:
Timeline of Famous Scientists
For your 1850 block (November), I might suggest Gregor Mendel as a scientist to study. He is perhaps most well known as father of modern genetics because of his pea plant experiments, but his scientific mind lends him to many disciplines - meteorology, astronomy, physics. Pick one and run with it!!! A great picture book for Gregor Mendel is Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas. Another book I have which is so great, but is out of print, is an old Catholic Digest/Junior Book Shelf book: The Man Who Found Out Why - The Story of Gregor Mendel by Gary Webster. Your dd is at the perfect age for it, and it would be great read independently or aloud.
Another scientist that fits well in this period is George Washington Carver, a botanist/naturalist. Check out A Weed Is a Flower - The Life of George Washington Carver by Aliki. From there - Botany sounds like fun!!!!
For your WWI block (December), a really great book for getting a feel for all that was affected by the War, is Where Poppies Grow - A World War I Companion.
For scientists that fit in either your WWII (February) or Narnia (March) slot:
** Alexander Fleming - accidentally discovered penicillin. (I see now that Theresa already mentioned him - I'm dittoing!)
Alexander Fleming and the Story of Penicillin
There are some amazing projects you can do around that! I thought of these -
Learn About Bacteria
Bacteria Basics
Bacteria Science Project Guide
** Dr. Jerome Lejeune, Catholic geneticist. He discovered Trisomy 21, the genetic indicator for Downs Syndrome. There is a book written by his daughter, which has long been on *my* wishlist, but it probably is more well-suited to high school reading that for a 6th grader, Life is a Blessing by Clara Lejeune. I don't have any other good resources to offer, but he's such a perfect fit historically speaking, and what a brilliant, wonderful, Catholic scientist...I had to mention him!
Project fun:
Build a DNA Model
Learn about DNA
History/Literature read alouds for either month:
** Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen - set at the end of WWII.
** Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski - 1945 period fiction.
** You've got the Mitchell's series by Hilda van Stockum.
** The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Artists
** Ansel Adams
** Norman Rockwell
Music and Composer Study
** John Philip Sousa
** George Gershwin
** Duke Ellington
-- Or...study one of my personal favorite music genre's which really came into its own during this time -- JAZZ!
** Ella Fitzgerald
** John Coltrane
From these, or in addition to them, I'd try to choose pieces that are reflective of the period. So, you might listen to the Andrews Sisters, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. Golly, there's so much!!! I bet your wheels are turning now!!!!
Poetry - 19th century
** Elizabeth Barret Browning
** Robert Frost
** Robert Browning
and so many more!
Poetry - 20th century
** You could study the poem in Where Poppies Grow, In Flanders Fields by Lt. Col. John McRae, Canadian Army
** Poetry from World War I
I'm sure there are other great wartime poets/poems that would fit in these studies. You could study some of the poetry of C.S. Lewis, but it's a little much for 6th grade, but perhaps someone could recommend something.
Alright...well, I've been at this in between lessons with the kids all day. It's been lots of fun!!!! Hope there are a few ideas here that spark ideas of your own, Paula! I think you've got a great basic plan already! Just a few more connections across the subjects and you're set for a wonderful year!!!!! Let us know if we can fill in any other areas!
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Oh dear...see that's what I get for not looking up and working a little at a time all.day. I was cross posting with a lot of great ideas!
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Jen Mackintosh
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JennGM
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Mackfam wrote:
Music and Composer Study
** John Philip Sousa
** George Gershwin
** Duke Ellington
-- Or...study one of my personal favorite music genre's which really came into its own during this time -- JAZZ!
** Ella Fitzgerald
** John Coltrane
From these, or in addition to them, I'd try to choose pieces that are reflective of the period. So, you might listen to the Andrews Sisters, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. Golly, there's so much!!! I bet your wheels are turning now!!!! |
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I was thinking similar thoughts on the Jazz.
I was also going to throw out the idea that under Hitler there was forbidden composers and music in Germany with an emphasis on German composers. I find that interesting to learn and discuss -- have a list of both, and listen and discuss. Is music guaranteed to be good or bad just because it's written by a person of a certain race or religion? How does one judge music?
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Topic: I admit it...I need help
