Jimmie's Collage » notebooking

Studying the Civil Rights Movement

Jimmie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:47:30 +0000

Normally I think it’s best to study something and then take the field trip. But when a chance to tour a museum presents itself, I certainly wouldn’t turn it down because we hadn’t reached that part in our curriculum. Actually, for the Civil Rights topic, I think that having our visit to the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN was better before our book study.

Books We Used (mainly the first three)

If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Don’t Know Much About American History
Lift the Flap Timelines — American History (notice the yellow timeline below)
Childhood of Famous Americans series — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Amazing African American History
Children’s Encyclopedia of American History

Sprite remembered the main gist of many of the exhibits. So as we read our living books, she already had some understanding of the events. Then she used the postcards I bought at the museum as the meat of her notebooking pages.

Of course, we had to watch the inspiring “I Have a Dream” speech by MLK, Jr. during the 1964 March on Washington. Then I gave her both the printed text and this notetaking guide to analyze the speech a bit.

For more language arts tie ins, I assigned Sprite The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 (downloaded to her new Kindle 2, but my DX is pictured here) and this proofreading page with a MKL, Jr. theme.

Wrapping Up the 50 States Notebook

Jimmie — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:35:51 +0000

We have been studying American history for a long time now. (I first posted about this notebook in October of 2008.) After the American Revolution, when the colonies became states, Sprite began her 50 States Notebook. My idea was to add each state as it entered the Union chronologically. Well, we are finally finished. With Hawaii and Alaska gaining statehood in 1959, we have now wrapped up the notebook. What a rewarding project!

Look at how thick it is! Almost four inches!

Each state has a two cardstock notebooking pages filled with information about the state, including the state flag, state bird, a map, etc. Most every state also has at least two postcards — a map card and a card with the state capitol building.

Here is page one, front and back.

And here is the second page, front and back.

At the beginning of the notebook, we added information on American currency, Washington D. C., the three branches of government, and all the things that President Bush sent us.

No offense, Obama. We haven’t written your letter yet. We’re giving you time to make some nice glossies of you and your White House pets.

During our two months in America, I let Sprite work on a collection of US license plates. She used the Ultimate Sticker Puzzles: License Plates Across the States: Travel Puzzles and Games! (yeesh, that’s a long title). Although she discarded the other puzzles, she kept the pull out map with all her stickers. We never found Hawaii, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Nebraska, and maybe a few others. But the vast majority were filled in by the time we were ready to leave.

For how to make your own and for links to state notebooking page templates, visit this 50 States Notebook lens.

Other tasks Sprite did to wrap up the 50 States Notebook:

Completed all the US Presidents matchbooks which I got from Notebooking2Learn. (No, this doesn’t directly relate to the 50 States, but it seemed the best place to put the collection we’ve been working on since good old George Washington.)
Added state rock/mineral/gem information to each state.
Added Yellowstone brochures, maps, etc in page protectors.
Added various brochures received from flat traveler exchanges and from our summer travels (The Hermitage, for example) behind the appropriate state pages.
Added a list of the 50 states in chronological order by when they entered the union

How to Organize Notebooking Pages

Jimmie — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:30:40 +0000

This post isn’t about how to organize the completed notebooking pages. Instead, this is for mom, the lesson planner and materials organizer.

I’ve got two main tips for managing and organizing your notebooking pages.

1. When you buy retail sets, print out the table of contents and add that page to your planning notebook. (You do have some type of record/planning/idea book, right?) As you plan, you’ll have the list available for quick reference.

I always think that I’ll remember what I have on my computer, but I never do. So go ahead and use that paper and ink. It’s worth it.

2. Create a file of blank notebooking pages that work with any topic. Print several copies of your favorite layouts and store them with your child’s homeschooling supplies. Then when it’s time to create a page, your child can flip through the choices and select an appropriate page. I like to print these generic notebooking pages onto a variety of colored paper plus white. Can you see how thick our stack is? There are dozens of choices in there.

It’s convenient to have the pages ready to go because we don’t have to stop studying to go find the file and print it out. This strategy is similar to what I do about minibooks, that is, create a whole slew of them and store them for long-term use.

My favorite set of general notebooking pages come from Notebooking Pages and is called Basic Lined Notebooking Pages. I turn to that set of 200 pages time and time again. If you don’t want to invest the $13 for that set, be sure to download the Free Notebooking Pages which are samples from the larger set.

Of course, making your own notebooking pages is not terribly difficult. I use Publisher, but some people use Microsoft Word. Either will work. Here are some blank pages that I’ve made myself. (I use Cute PDF or Primo PDF, both free software, to convert the Publisher file into PDF.)

World War 1 Notebook or Lapbook

Jimmie — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:33:51 +0000

Another period of history is complete; this time it’s World War 1.

We used the Eyewitness WW1 book as our main resource, and I pulled a few chapters from True Stories of the First World War. The stories were not as good as I’d hoped. They had more of a textbook style than narrative style. Some of the stories dragged on and on… like the war, I guess. I had planned to read all of the book, but because of the style, I picked the best, most engaging stories instead.

For notebooking, we used quite a few pages from the History Scribe Combo I bought way back here. (I’m so getting my money’s worth out of that purchase.)

I found some fabulous printable resources at Schoolhistory.co.uk. The site is a tad difficult to navigate, so I’m going to give you two links to get you started: WW1 Worksheets and Grade 9 WW1 Worksheets. Don’t let the grade 9 scare you. I found several things that were prefect for 5th grade Sprite. The map on the right is an example of what is offered there, all in PDF.

And Teacheroz.com has some wonderful WW1 maps. I’m a firm believer in having a map handy during history studies (as well as other subjects). Otherwise, it’s so hard to visualize what you’re studying. The Eyewitness WW1 book is good, but it is really lacking in maps, in my opinion. We referred time and time again to the Western Front map glued onto the blue notebooking page to the left.

The PBS site was helpful in this regard too since it has some interactive diagrams showing battles and the frontlines.
Some more notebooking pages:

As it turned out, my initial plans to create a lapbook changed. So although I found these neat printables, we didn’t even use them. I’ll add them here for YOU!

Free Printable Templates

Free templates for minibooks related to WW1 and WW2.
Templates for WWI- German Aircraft minibooks.
Free sample from A Journey Through Learning –shutterfold minibook template including the two sides that fought in WW1.

And here are thumbnails of some additional websites that looked very promising:

Worksheets

A WW1 Lapbook (Canadian perspective)

A Map of Europe during WW1

Art of WW1

My blog will be a tad quiet for the next week or so. All is well. Be blessed.

Theodore Roosevelt President Study

Jimmie — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:18:32 +0000

I have a new favorite president. No wonder this guy is on Mount Rushmore! I can’t remember ever studying Theodore Roosevelt in school. Where was I? Did we just skip all the interesting things in history? Surely we did because I was a “good” student. If it was taught, surely I heard it. But I only remember a few times in all my years of school when history was interesting, and it was never American history.

We read a very simple book –Time For Kids: Theodore Roosevelt: The Adventurous President — from our Winter Promise American Story 2 curriculum. I love how it was full of photos and quotes.

In fact,the quotations inspired me to make the copywork pages that are a part of my notebooking set. I love it when Sprite’s handwriting can be meaningful and tie into what we’re studying.

Of course, I’ve included his famous quote, “Walk softly and carry a big stick.” Historically, at least, that is very important. But listen to this one:

The lack of power to take joy in outdoor nature is as real a misfortune as the lack of power to take joy in books.

Isn’t that beautiful and true? This one resonates with me because it values 2 things I revel in — books and nature. Most everyone admits that reading needs no defense, but in our nature deficient culture, many people need to be reminded of the value of time spent outdoors.

And two quotes about working hard (something I feel very strongly about instilling in Sprite):

When you play, play hard. When you work, don’t play at all.

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

That last one reminded me of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes, so we pulled out the Bible and compared.

Of course, the notebooking set also includes some basic pages for recording history. Sprite focused on the Spanish American War and the Teddy Bear (no surprise there).

I hope that you find them helpful when you study Roosevelt or need some cursive copywork.

For some Roosevelt minibooks, see Learning by Living for photos. The printables are actually at Homeschool Share. And this PDF has notebooking pages for many presidents, including Roosevelt.

Deals at Notebooking Pages

Jimmie — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:15:45 +0000

Updated to add some discount codes. I didn’t have these when I ordered. (pout!)

Use coupon code: winter15p to save an additional 15%.

Use coupon code: winter5 to save $5 off any purchase of $10 or more.
(Coupons good for one use and expire January 19th at 11:59pm EST.)

Debra over at Notebooking Pages is having an incredible deal with her Back to School Winter Sale. If you were thinking of buying notebooking pages from her, this is the time to act. I snapped up two deals:

Famous Composers Notebooking Pages for $2.98. (regularly $5.95) –286 notebooking pages for 28 famous composers.
Combo:History of Ancient Times Complete Set of Notebooking Pages for $9.98 (regularly $34.70) — over 1000 pages.

I’ve enjoyed her free composer pages in the past, so I’m excited to have more composers to choose from. And since next school year we’ll be studying ancient history, I thought I’d go ahead and add these notebooking pages to my ever growing list of resources.

Debra’s site is so easy to use. She’s even got the special bargain prices already posted clearly on the website for each item, so there’s no guessing as to what you will pay at checkout. And if you happen to have a discount code, you can still use that. I won a $10 coupon to the NotebookingPages.com Store during Lilliput Station’s 2009 Christmas Party. After applying that coupon, I ended up paying less than $3 for 1300 printable pages. That’s almost ridiculous! Thank you, Debra!

Wed-Thur: 50% off | Fri-Sat: 40% off | Sun-Mon: 30% off

(Changes in percentage discounts will change at midnight EST.)

Parables of Jesus Notebooking

Jimmie — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:00:50 +0000

For Bible study Sprite has recently been using Kay Arthur’s Discover 4 Yourself Inductive Bible Studies. But being the huge lover of variety that I am, we did something different over the last few weeks — a quick study of the parables.

I chose seven parables and used reproducibles from these two resources:

The Big Book of Bible Puzzles (Big Book Series)
Dinah Zike’s Big Book of Books and Activities Religious Supplement New Testament (out of print; I got mine used.)

As we read a parable, Sprite made a minibook about it, either with one of Zike’s printable templates or one from our blank minibook stock.

Below are the parable of the soils and the parable of the good Samaritan (a Zike template).

Sprite chose to put the minibooks into her Bible notebook rather than make standard lapbook. She simply affixed the minibooks to cardstock which we hole punched.

Above left — A reproducible from Dinah Zike about the parable of the debtor.

Above right — a split matchbook for the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector.

You can find more photos at my Flickr set Bible Notebooking.

Notebooking Links for November

Jimmie — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:12:38 +0000

Here are my latest notebooking finds! Enjoy some freebies and some inspiration.

Famous Musicians Notebook and Minibook page at Practical Pages
Free printable notebooking page with minibook too covering several composers. There are several other free printables at this site. Browse around.
China Unit & Notebook
A lapbook/notebook combination on China.
Geography Printables – Geography Vocabulary
Puzzles plus one by one notebooking pages with a term illustrated and room for writing a definition — isthmus, peninsula, etc.
Biography Report: Fill-in Poster
Very attractive fill in report template to be used with a biography or any famous person. From Scholastic.
bbondeson’s Page at HSLaunch
Her botany notebooking pages are wonderful! And be sure to check out her United States of America Travel Guide which ar notebooking pages for a 50 States study. (Besides that you’ll find some free lapbook kits — art appreciation, Spiderman, and First Language Lessons!)
Bird Notebooking
These notebooking pages are almost like scrapbook pages. The study was done with The Burgess Bird Book.
Biology Lapbook – a set on Flickr
Pics of a high schooler’s biology lap-n-note made from a lapbook kit from Live and Learn Press. I love how Barb shares examples of her children’s work.

Beijing Notebook

Jimmie — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:33:25 +0000

I can’t tell you how many blank books and sketchpads I’ve purchased over the years. It’s the natural outcome when you’ve got a journaler (me) and an artist (Sprite) in the house.

Over the last six months, however, Sprite has also started to love writing. So we’re buying more and more lined journals. Thankfully even our small city has a wide variety of inexpensive styles.

Sprite knows art supplies and books don’t count, and blank books fit right into that same category. How can I resist when she says, “But mom, I need a fresh book to record our Beijing trip?”

The night before our flight, we sat in bed and read over the materials I’d prepared — a history of the Great Wall, facts about the Forbidden City, and the symbolism of Beijing Opera masks. I had no idea she’s want to take notes in her notebook, but that’s what she did. I had to read slowly with lots of pauses in between to give her time to jot down the key ideas. Part of me was frustrated with having to go so slowly, but then I realized what an amazing learning activity this was! My fifth grader is learning note taking skills on her own accord and for something she would really use in just a few days! This was worth the investment of time.

About Chinese Dynasties

She left blank spots with plans for diagrams and filled those in the morning before we departed. As I packed, her dad scoffed, “Can’t we have a vacation without it being an educational project?” I assured him that I wasn’t forcing her to do this; it was all her own idea. He countered that I don’t have to force her because I’ve already brainwashed her to convert everything into a learning opportunity. Okay. I admit it. And I’m proud.

Notes on the Forbidden City

a flag book from our minibook stash

The Great Wall

Beijing Opera

Just to prove this was not a school assignment, check out the spelling errors! I restrained my desire to correct her and instead simply praised her creativity, industry, and organization.

Sprite carried the notebook with her most everywhere we went in Beijing. I saw her referencing it at the Forbidden Palace and making sketches at the acrobat show. Yep. Totally brainwashed.

Learning x9 Facts

Jimmie — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:57:06 +0000

More of our quest to master the multiplication facts! This time we’re working on times nine.

(It seems to me that being able to sprawl on the floor to work on a project is a huge benefit of homeschooling! Do you use the floor a lot like we do?)

Basically my strategy for x9 was to help Sprite see the pattern in the products by actually placing the digits in their correct spots. I’ve shown her this before, but somehow it didn’t seem to help her solve the x9 facts. Maybe she needs to discover it on her own. That’s far superior to my telling her.

So I set up the situation for her to discover the patterns in the x9 facts. I cut out ten green squares for the problems, and then twenty smaller cards with 2 each of the numbers 0-9. (Sprite did the writing, of course.)

It amazes me that in all my years of schooling, I don’t remember any teacher telling me about the trick for the x9 facts. And I wasn’t sharp enough to see it myself, I guess.

After the hands-on activity, she did describe some patterns! And she seemed to “own” them better than when I’d simply pointed them out. I could see her face light up with discovery and with wonder at the perfect symmetry of the line of products. Initially she’d been skeptical that the stack of numbers was all she needed to solve the x9 facts.

Then I gave her an option. She could either put the math facts into a minibook of her choosing as she’d done with the x8 facts, or she could write down the x9 pattern on a notebooking page.

I was pleasantly surprised that she chose to write rather than the rote activity. It was quite difficult to write the rule, and we had to work together to get it written clearly. But she did it. And day two, she still remembered her hack for solving the x9 facts.

Learning x8 Facts