Dr. Seuss Green Eggs And Ham Day

Activities for Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham Day:


To start the day we ate some yummy green eggs (no ham since we are vegetarians). I just added a little bit of green food coloring when I cooked the eggs, and N gobbled them up!

We made a small 2.5 inch x 3.5 inch card to go into his collection. It was a simple, hand-drawn green egg. To make the card use a strong backing such as a cereal box cut to size, draw your picture on a regular piece of paper and glue it onto the card. You can then trim the edges of your paper so it is all even with your card.

Dr. Seuss One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Day

For our first official week of homeschool kindergarten we are doing a week-long unit covering Dr. Seuss. Our first day is based on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Activities:

The obvious thing is to read Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish book. We read it once and then also a second time where N had to stand up and act out what was going on on each page. That was a lot of fun!

We printed out a free activity sheet on opposites based on the book from Seussville.com to go along with the story.

The night before I cut plain foam sheets into simple fish shapes in various colors. I dumped them in the bathtub and had N go "fishing" with a spoon to catch them all. He had to sort them into containers based on color and afterwards he counted them all by color and determined which colors had the most and least fish.

On our whiteboard I wrote rows of rhyming words from the story with one word that doesn't rhyme per row. I read him the words and had him circle the word that didn't rhyme.

He made a Wump out of play-doh. The Wump in the story has 7 humps, his only had 6 but he didn't mind!

And lastly he made his own art page based on the cover of the book:

Pictures Of Our Japan Lapbook

We completed our first lapbook in homeschool. It was all about Japan as that was what we were learning about in our unit study. Most of the info was put together by me on the computer and printed since kiddo wouldn't be able to write everything out yet but he glued it all together. I don't think lapbooking is for us because he isn't the biggest fan of cutting and pasting so we are going to look into other means of recording what we're learning about (for now we're dabbling with notebooking tailoring it to the way he likes to do things). Here are pics of the completed lapbook.

The cover of the lapbook has a maneki neko cat welcoming you to the book along with the flag of Japan.

We glued two file folders together so we'd have a bigger lapbook. This is pages one and two when you open the book. The first page has mini books on the history of Japan, art of Japan, government of Japan and samurais. Page two has a mini book on koi fish, Mt. Fuji, rice, Shinto religion, and sushi.

Page three has a kanji word flip-flap book and color squares with the Japanese pronunciation. Page four has a circle book of Japanese technology, sumo wrestling, major festivals of Japan, Japanese pop culture, and inside a Japanese house.

For the back cover we glued a map of Japan with pictures from major cities.

This is the Shinto religion pop-up mini book. 

Mt. Fuji matchbook mini book and koi fish mini books opened.

History of Japan, Japanese art forms, and government of Japan mini books opened.

Japanese house four corner mini book open.

Homeschool Hanukkah Unit

Here is a unit on Hanukkah that should last eight days as the holiday does. It is good for any age range and we also read alot of books from the library. There is a craft or game each day, and alot of Hanukkah recipes we cooked and ate.

Day 1: During the day we made a toilet paper roll menorah. It was rather easy as all you need is empty toilet paper rolls (although you'll need eight) and one empty paper towel tube (which is also nice that you're recycling), tissue paper and some paints or glitter glue to decorate with. It was an easy project and our son had alot of fun decorating the tubes with paint.

We learned how to properly light the menorah (which we did by placing yellow tissue paper into the tubes), "lit the candles" and said the Hanukkah prayers that are said while lighting the candles. If you don't know how to do that here is an easy to follow guide.

We also read Hanukkah books and I explained that not everyone celebrates the same holidays.

Day 2:  Make a Hanukkah wreath. All we used is some cardboard (cereal boxes work well), construction paper and tape or glue. We made blue and white chain links from the paper (but didn't link them!) and instead glued them onto a circle shape cut out of the cereal box. We then made a small Star of David (the symbol on the Israel flag) and attached it to the center of the wreath.

Cook traditional latkes which are a common food during Hanukkah and are easy to make and only take a few ingredients.

Day 3: Make a gelt bag and play dreidel. Gelt is traditionally given out to children during Hanukkah (or won during a game of dreidel) and is usually either coins or chocolate wrapped in candy coin wrappers (we used small tootsie rolls as they are a favorite here).

See How to make a gelt bag and How to play dreidel

Day 4: Make a paper dreidel decoration. We used this outline for ours although we made it out of construction paper, made it bigger and not a pin.

Cook loukoumathes honey puffs, a traditional Jewish snack or dessert. They taste like little donoughts.

Day 5: Make this Ten Commandments craft and cook cottage cheese latkes. We prefered the potato ones but these were easier to cook.

Day 6: To go along with the Ten Commandments craft from the day before make a toilet paper roll Moses craft.

We also cooked another traditional Jewish recipe, kugel. I have never ate kugel before, and it wasn't something I'd ever cook again, but it was interesting to try such a different food than I am used to.

Day 7: Make a Hanukkah crown and cook matzo ball soup. The soup was a hit with my son although he only ate the matzo balls.

Day 8: On day eight bake cupcakes and set them up as a menorah. At nightfall we lit candles on them (all eight this time since it was the last day of Hanukkah), then we were able to eat it! You could just make cupcakes and ice them, or you could decorate with white icing and put a blue Star of David icing design on them as well. Remember you need nine cupcakes for each menorah you make, one Shamash (helper) in the middle (this one should be raised a bit, just set it on top of a small cup or another cupcake) and four on both sides of the Shamash.

We also colored a Hanukkah coloring page.

American Timeline: How to Make a Simple American Timeline

This is a simple American timeline for younger students.

You will need:

Construction paper in four different colors

Permanent marker or pen

Scissors

Glue

Print out the four pages at the end of this page to use with the timeline.

Cut the construction paper across the middle of the long side. Hang each of them in a line on a wall in sets of colors. (You don't have to hang them but it helps to have a start and finish straight across in a line. If the wall isn't long enough continue underneath the timeline. Or, you can make it into a book by stapling the pages together after you've completed it.)

Using this guideline mark the years on the top, then add the corresponding picture and a brief description below it. For example: 1958, Explorer 1 image, First American Satellite is launched.
(You may want to print out the text to use as a quick reference while doing the timeline.)

American Timeline:

Pre1400s: Native indians live in America.

1492 Christopher Columbus, financed by Spain, makes the first of four voyages to the New World. He lands in the Bahamas (Oct. 12).

1620 The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts is established by Pilgrims from England (Dec. 11 o.s.). Before disembarking from their ship, the Mayflower, 41 male passengers sign the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that forms the basis of the colony's government.

1775–1783 American Revolution: War of independence fought between Great Britain and the 13 British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America. Battles of Lexington and Concord, Mass., between the British Army and colonial minutemen, mark the beginning of the war (April 19, 1775). Battle-weary and destitute Continental army spends brutally cold winter and following spring at Valley Forge, Pa. (Dec. 19, 1777–June 19, 1778). British general Charles Cornwallis surrenders to Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, Va. (Oct. 19, 1781). Great Britain formally acknowledges American independence in the Treaty of Paris, which officially brings the war to a close (Sept. 3, 1783).

1776 Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia (July 4).

1789 George Washington is unanimously elected president of the United States in a vote by state electors (Feb. 4). U.S. Constitution goes into effect, having been ratified by nine states (March 4). U.S. Congress (Web: clerkweb.house.gov/histrecs/househis/lists/sessions.htm ) meets for the first time at Federal Hall in New York City (March 4). Washington is inaugurated as president at Federal Hall in New York City (April 30).

1836 Texas declares its independence from Mexico (March 1). Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during siege by the Mexican Army (Feb. 24–March 6). Texans defeat Mexicans at San Jacinto (April 21).

1860 Abraham Lincoln is elected president (Nov. 6). South Carolina secedes from the Union (Dec. 20).

1861–1865 Civil War: Conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery into western states. Confederates attack Ft. Sumter in Charleston, S.C., marking the start of the war (April 12, 1861). Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee secede (April–June). Emancipation Proclamation is issued, freeing slaves in the Confederate states (Jan. 1, 1863). Battle of Gettysburg is fought (July 1–3). President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address (Nov. 19). Gen. William T. Sherman captures Atlanta (Sept. 2, 1864). Lincoln's second inauguration (March 4, 1865). Gen. Ulysses S. Grant captures Richmond, Va., the capital of the Confederacy (April 3). Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va., (April 9).

1865 Lincoln is assassinated (April 14) by John Wilkes Booth in Washington, DC, and is succeeded by his vice president, Andrew Johnson. Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, prohibiting slavery (Dec. 6).

1886 Statue of Liberty is dedicated (Oct. 28). American Federation of Labor is organized (Dec.).

1914–1918 World War I: U.S. enters World War I, declaring war on Germany (April 6, 1917) and Austria-Hungary (Dec. 7, 1917) three years after conflict began in 1914. Armistice ending World War I is signed (Nov. 11, 1918).

1931 The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the national anthem (March 3).

1939–1945 World War II: U.S. declares its neutrality in European conflict (Sept. 5, 1939). F. Roosevelt's third inauguration (Jan. 20, 1941). He is the first and only president elected to a third term. Japan attacks Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines (Dec. 7, 1941). U.S. declares war on Japan (Dec. 8). Germany and Italy declare war on the United States; U.S. reciprocates by declaring war on both countries (Dec. 11). Allies invade North Africa (Oct.–Dec. 1942) and Italy (Sept.–Dec. 1943). Allies invade France on D-Day (June 6, 1944). F. Roosevelt's fourth inauguration (Jan. 20, 1945). President Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta in the USSR to discuss postwar occupation of Germany (Feb. 4–11). President Roosevelt dies of a stroke (April 12) and is succeeded by his vice president, Harry Truman. Germany surrenders unconditionally (May 7). First atomic bomb is detonated at Alamogordo, N.M. (July 16). President Truman, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany, to demand Japan's unconditional surrender and to discuss plans for postwar Europe (July 17–Aug. 2). U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan (Aug. 6). U.S. drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan (Aug. 9). Japan agrees to unconditional surrender (Aug. 14). Japanese envoys sign surrender terms aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo harbor (Sept. 2).

1958 Explorer I, first American satellite, is launched (Jan. 31).

1959 Alaska becomes the 49th state (Jan. 3) and Hawaii becomes the 50th (Aug. 21).

1961 John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th president (Jan. 20).

1963 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech before a crowd of 200,000 during the civil rights march on Washington, DC (Aug. 28). President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Tex. (Nov. 22). He is succeeded in office by his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson.

1968 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. (April 4). Sen. Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles, Calif. (June 5–6).

July 20, 1969 1st man on moon: Launched from Florida on July 16, Neil Armstrong

April 27, 1070: USA celebrates its first Earth Day (Now April 22)

1970s- Watergate Scandal: Effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of the President of the United States Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974, the first and so far only resignation of any U.S President.

1950–1975 Vietnam War: Prolonged conflict between Communist forces of North Vietnam, backed by China and the USSR, and non-Communist forces of South Vietnam, backed by the United States. President Truman authorizes $15 million in economic and military aid to the French, who are fighting to retain control of French Indochina, including Vietnam. As part of the aid package, Truman also sends 35 military advisers (May 1950). North Vietnamese torpedo boats allegedly attack U.S. destroyer in Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam (Aug. 2, 1964). Congress approves Gulf of Tonkin resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any measures necessary to defend U.S. forces and prevent further aggression (Aug. 7). U.S. planes begin bombing raids of North Vietnam (Feb. 1965). First U.S. combat troops arrive in South Vietnam (March 8–9). North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong launch Tet Offensive, attacking Saigon and other key cities in South Vietnam (Jan.–Feb. 1968). American soldiers kill 300 Vietnamese villagers in My Lai massacre (March 16). U.S. troops invade Cambodia (May 1, 1970). Representatives of North and South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and the U.S. sign a cease-fire agreement in Paris (Jan. 27, 1973). Last U.S. troops leave Vietnam (March 29). South Vietnamese government surrenders to North Vietnam; U.S. embassy Marine guards and last U.S. civilians are evacuated (April 30, 1975).
1975 April 30: End of Vietnam War

1980s- Reagan War on Drugs, Ronald Reagan speaks at the Berlin Wall's Brandenburg Gate, challenging Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!", In office January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989

1990s- August 92 Hurricane Andrew was the third most powerful Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century

Bill Clinton: In office January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001

2001 George W. Bush is inaugurated as the 43rd president (Jan. 20).

March 19, 2003 - The War in Iraq begins with the bombing of Baghdad after additional measures and mandates from the United Nations and the United States coalition fail to gain concessions or the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. The U.S. coalition, upon failure to extract authority from the U.N. for action due to the veto power of France, begin land operations one day later with participation from U.S., British, Australian, and Polish troops.

The April 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue in Firdos Square in Baghdad shortly after the capture of the city.

2009-Obama president

America Unit Theme Ideas Preschool-Kindergarten

This is an American themed week long unit I've done with my homeschooled 5 year old son with ideas suitable to Preschool to Kindergarten ages but some of the ideas would work well for older kids too. Every day we said the Pledge of Alliegance and talked about the timeline we made on day one.

Day 1: Getting Ready USA

Patriotic Star Art:

Art, Scissor skills, Social Studies (teaches the colors of America)

Link: http://www.dltk-kids.com/usa/mscissor-skills.h

String of Stars Craft:

Art, Social Studies (teaches the colors of America)

Link: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stringofstars/

American Timeline:

History:

We made a timeline of the important events in American history. This project took a good bit of time to complete.

USA Map Puzzle:

Geography

We already had a map of America puzzle on hand so we used it. It is a good way to teach children what state they live in and that America is a country with 50 different states.

USA Bingo:

Language

This was one of my son's favorite activities we did and we played it multiple times on multiple days. It helped familiarize him with lots of American things as he had to name them when he pulled the bingo piece and find them on his card. Follow the options on the link to make your own USA bingo cards (use the Fourth of July theme).

Link: http://www.dltk-cards.com/bingo/bingo1.asp

Coloring Pages:

Map of America

American Flag

Recommended books: