Friday was our movie night we watched the Dreamworks production Madagascar and we will be viewing part two this upcoming Friday. I thought I would mix fun and education with the movie.
The first thing we did was discuss where Madagascar is. Madagascar is off the coast of Africa. We also found it on a globe. The music of Madagascar is divided into three categories popular, traditional, and contemporary.
A valiha is one of the instruments they use and it sounds like this video:
The valiha is also used in western Indonesia.
The people of Madagascar eat with wooden spoons. I purchased some wooden spoons to paint on to represent the spoons they eat with.
Other activities this week are discussing the history, there is a lesson plan from PBS, and we are planning a Madagascar meal.
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Happy At Homeschool: Have A Whale of A Time Lesson Plan
This week we are studying whales and the ocean there are various things I'm using to do this.
Free Willy A great movie about an orca named Willy. The owner of the amusement park in which Willy resides is just concerned about money. A boy races to save Willy's life. This is a great movie to teach respect for life, conservation, and ocean life.
CWPPRA of Louisiana has free curriculum disks, games, and literature all based on Louisiana wetlands. Included in the curriculum is a map of the land mass that they expect to be gone in the very near future.
Books
Science Encyclopedia By: Ian Graham, Barbara Taylor, John Fardon, and Chris Oxdale (c) 1999 Publisher Barns & Noble ISBN 0-7607-3425-9 pp 162-163
A Just Ask Book from Weekly Reader What Is An Ocean? (c) 1986 Field Publications By: Chris Arvetis and Carole Palmer illustrated by: Terry Rose
American Education Publishing The Complete Book of Science grades 1-2 McGraw Hill Publishing ISBN 1-56189-501-6 pp 111-114
Stu Duck at the Pond By Carrie Waters illustrated by Joe Boddy (c) Saxon Publishers, Inc., and Lorna Simmons ISBN 1-56577-641-0
Zack's Alligator By: Shirley Mozelle Pictures by James Watts (c) 1989 Newfield Publications
ISBN 0-06-024309-0
The Ugly Duckling By Hans Christian Anderson adapted by Ben Cruise Illustrated by Lisa McCue A Golden Book (c) 1986 ISBN 0-307-11641-7
The Story About Ping By Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese (c) 1961 By Helma L. Barnum and Kurt Wiese Catalog Number 33-29356
Just So Stories By Rudyard Kipling (c) 1972 by Doubleday and company ISBN 0-385-07225-2
Cool Links
WhaleNet You can follow whales and all kinds of cool Science stuff.
WhaleTimes find out how your favorite sea creature lives.
Woods Hole Oceanographic dedicated to research and education to advance understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system, and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society.
Whale Watching Web
Whale Games and videos
Monteray Bay Aquarium This site is incredibly cool. They offer curriculum from kindergarten up through high school ages.
Earth Watch has curriculum for dolphins, otters, turtles, and orca to name a few.
The picture to the left is what remains of a sea anemone. The clown fish and sea anemone is almost magical to watch.
This video footage is from National Geographic and it has a happy ending.
Free Willy A great movie about an orca named Willy. The owner of the amusement park in which Willy resides is just concerned about money. A boy races to save Willy's life. This is a great movie to teach respect for life, conservation, and ocean life.
CWPPRA of Louisiana has free curriculum disks, games, and literature all based on Louisiana wetlands. Included in the curriculum is a map of the land mass that they expect to be gone in the very near future.
Books
Science Encyclopedia By: Ian Graham, Barbara Taylor, John Fardon, and Chris Oxdale (c) 1999 Publisher Barns & Noble ISBN 0-7607-3425-9 pp 162-163
A Just Ask Book from Weekly Reader What Is An Ocean? (c) 1986 Field Publications By: Chris Arvetis and Carole Palmer illustrated by: Terry Rose
American Education Publishing The Complete Book of Science grades 1-2 McGraw Hill Publishing ISBN 1-56189-501-6 pp 111-114
Stu Duck at the Pond By Carrie Waters illustrated by Joe Boddy (c) Saxon Publishers, Inc., and Lorna Simmons ISBN 1-56577-641-0
Zack's Alligator By: Shirley Mozelle Pictures by James Watts (c) 1989 Newfield Publications
ISBN 0-06-024309-0
The Ugly Duckling By Hans Christian Anderson adapted by Ben Cruise Illustrated by Lisa McCue A Golden Book (c) 1986 ISBN 0-307-11641-7
The Story About Ping By Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese (c) 1961 By Helma L. Barnum and Kurt Wiese Catalog Number 33-29356
Just So Stories By Rudyard Kipling (c) 1972 by Doubleday and company ISBN 0-385-07225-2
Cool Links
WhaleNet You can follow whales and all kinds of cool Science stuff.
WhaleTimes find out how your favorite sea creature lives.
Woods Hole Oceanographic dedicated to research and education to advance understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system, and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society.
Whale Watching Web Whale Games and videos
Monteray Bay Aquarium This site is incredibly cool. They offer curriculum from kindergarten up through high school ages.
Earth Watch has curriculum for dolphins, otters, turtles, and orca to name a few.
The picture to the left is what remains of a sea anemone. The clown fish and sea anemone is almost magical to watch.
This video footage is from National Geographic and it has a happy ending.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Happy At Homeschool: Jamestown
At the moment we are discussing Christopher Newport, John Smith, Powhatan and other figures that have to do with the Jamestown settlement. To encourage this I thought it would be awesome to post a game to reinforce what we are learning.
Game Developed by Blockdot
Like this game? Click here to add it to your blog or website for FREE!
This game requires the Macromedia Shockwave Player.
If nothing appears please install the player.
Download the full version. PC Version | Mac Version
Game Developed by Blockdot
Like this game? Click here to add it to your blog or website for FREE!
This game requires the Macromedia Shockwave Player.
If nothing appears please install the player.
Download the full version. PC Version | Mac Version
Monday, 24 May 2010
Happy at Homeschool: Calorie Free Pizza Fraction Lesson
It's important to me to get fractions in my kids brains as painlessly as possible. Pizza and pies are, for me, the easiest way to teach fractions. I really don't want to feed my kids these things all the time though. It's just not healthy. I came up with a solution that is cheap, calorie free, and fun.
Why not make your own pizza? You will need, white, red, brown, and green construction paper (or whatever colors are typically on your pizza.) You'll also need scissors and glue. I ran out of red construction paper so I used red fabric paint.
On with the lesson:
We cut our pizza in to 8 pieces.
8 pieces out of 8 pieces = 8/8 or one whole pizza.
We gave our friend one piece 8-1=7. How much pizza is left? 7 pieces out of the 8 that was there at first. 7/8 would be our fraction.
We decided to give another piece of that pizza away. That makes 2 pieces all together that we've given away. 8-2=6 or 6 out of 8 pieces are left or 6/8 this reduces down and 2 goes in to 6 and 8 3/ 4 is our new reduced fraction.
We gave another piece away that makes 3 pieces we've given away. 8-3=5 or 5 pieces out of 8 or 5/8 of the pizza is left.
We gave yet another piece away. 8-4=4 Which means 4 pieces out of 8 are left or 4/8 is left this is of course divisible by 4. Four goes in to 4 1 time and 4 goes in to 8 2 times. Therefore, 4/8 is equal to 1/2. One half of the pizza has been eaten and one half is left. Now the cool thing is that one half also means there is only 50% of that pizza left.
The smallest child is hungry too so again a slice of that pizza is taken away 8-5=3 There is 3 out of 8 pieces of that pizza left or 3/8.
The middle child is hungry as well so she takes a slice of that pizza. There are 2 slices left six of those pizza slices went in someone's tummy. 2 out of 8 or 2/8 which can get smaller if we just divide by 2. 2 goes in to itself 1 time and two goes in to 8 4 times. 1/4 of that pizza is left which means the same as 2/8.
The oldest child just grabs a slice. How rude! He didn't even ask! Still the same this too, is a fraction. There is 1 piece of that pizza left. 7/8 have been eaten and 1/8 is left. I wonder who will get the last piece.
With all the children fed mommy decided she would eat as well. 8/8 of that pizza is gone or like any fraction that has itself as the numerator or denominator 1 whole. One whole pizza is gone. It's sad but true one whole pizza is gone and there is only you.
Why not make your own pizza? You will need, white, red, brown, and green construction paper (or whatever colors are typically on your pizza.) You'll also need scissors and glue. I ran out of red construction paper so I used red fabric paint.
On with the lesson:
We cut our pizza in to 8 pieces.
8 pieces out of 8 pieces = 8/8 or one whole pizza.
We gave our friend one piece 8-1=7. How much pizza is left? 7 pieces out of the 8 that was there at first. 7/8 would be our fraction.
We decided to give another piece of that pizza away. That makes 2 pieces all together that we've given away. 8-2=6 or 6 out of 8 pieces are left or 6/8 this reduces down and 2 goes in to 6 and 8 3/ 4 is our new reduced fraction.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Happy at Homeschool: TV Station Lesson Plan
Years ago, I was involved in a great movement in educational history. Maybe it wasn't so great, to me it was. I went to public school and homeschool did not exist in my world. I hated getting out of bed every morning. School was not fun to me at all.
I was in 10th or 11th grade and my school system decided to have a TV studio. At the time it was assumed that we were first to have a studio. I truly don't know who was first but since its inception they are popping up every where in high schools.
When I became a member of this broadcast journalism class, I found a reason to wake up of the morning. I began to enjoy school. I had no clue that I could interview someone and feel comfortable doing it. I do admit to only being comfortable interviewing when a camera is on. I am a typically shy person.
To have a reason to learn pushed me to better myself academically. I still wasn't the best student in the world but I tried. I wrote interview rough drafts and became a little smart alecky by throwing in questions that weren't planned. Some didn't like me because of this and I can't say, at the time, I cared.
It was fascinating though. I met a lady who made a quilt for Arnold Schwarzenegger as a member of Cabin Creek Quilts. I even video taped a football game, boy did that end badly. To this day I've never been able to follow a football with a video camera and I am begging you, don't make me do it.
It was because of this class I somehow managed to pull myself through. It taught me so much, not just about camera angles, but about getting a beat as well. I lost a beat because I didn't listen to a rumor. Rumors can be important in journalism. It was whispered all through the school, "John Walsh from America's Most Wanted is here." I heard the rumor, but I did not call the mayor's office to snag an interview. John Walsh would have been an incredibly cool interview.
Long story short, I am no longer in the field of journalism. I am helping my children to pursue their dreams and ambitions. In the long run, I've acquired some mad, crazy research and interview skills.
Assignment:
If you have a video camera use it. If you don't have a video camera you can use a throw away camera or digital camera. I will give separate instruction for the two.
Important Questions:
Feel free to tailor your own questions. This is just an idea of what to do. You can even do an instructional video.
Who is your subject (the person you are interviewing)?
What do they do?
Why is what they do so important?
What are their current goals?
How does that affect others?
What are their future plans?
What is needed to achieve the goals previously mentioned?
Video:
The assignment is to interview anyone. Sky's the limit! If you think you can get an interview with the mayor or governor do it. You can interview anyone even your parents.
Non-video interview:
The same questions apply. Take pictures of your subject, create a blog post or a family newsletter. Again, sky is the limit and since you aren't on camera you have a few extra doors open to you. I could not possibly interview Lisa Smith Batchen in person, using email I was able to do so. I took the artistic license not to edit her writing. I wanted it to be as "real" as I could by using her own words. She is incredibly inspiring. I highly recommend reading the interview. Lisa is one example of you can do anything when you put your mind to it. If you are so inclined you can even friend her on Facebook. Please ask for parental help and follow COPPA guidelines. Nothing is more important to me than keeping children safe.
Parents, you know what the abilities of your children are. This is a general idea of what you can do. More important than any of this is have fun and keep in mind most computers these days have editing software. It doesn't have to be perfect, just have fun!
Spelling words
Are your mathematical skills fit for a journalist?
Learn journalism for free at Poynter University.
Even journalists study science.
I was in 10th or 11th grade and my school system decided to have a TV studio. At the time it was assumed that we were first to have a studio. I truly don't know who was first but since its inception they are popping up every where in high schools.
When I became a member of this broadcast journalism class, I found a reason to wake up of the morning. I began to enjoy school. I had no clue that I could interview someone and feel comfortable doing it. I do admit to only being comfortable interviewing when a camera is on. I am a typically shy person.
To have a reason to learn pushed me to better myself academically. I still wasn't the best student in the world but I tried. I wrote interview rough drafts and became a little smart alecky by throwing in questions that weren't planned. Some didn't like me because of this and I can't say, at the time, I cared.
It was fascinating though. I met a lady who made a quilt for Arnold Schwarzenegger as a member of Cabin Creek Quilts. I even video taped a football game, boy did that end badly. To this day I've never been able to follow a football with a video camera and I am begging you, don't make me do it.
It was because of this class I somehow managed to pull myself through. It taught me so much, not just about camera angles, but about getting a beat as well. I lost a beat because I didn't listen to a rumor. Rumors can be important in journalism. It was whispered all through the school, "John Walsh from America's Most Wanted is here." I heard the rumor, but I did not call the mayor's office to snag an interview. John Walsh would have been an incredibly cool interview.
Long story short, I am no longer in the field of journalism. I am helping my children to pursue their dreams and ambitions. In the long run, I've acquired some mad, crazy research and interview skills.
Assignment:
If you have a video camera use it. If you don't have a video camera you can use a throw away camera or digital camera. I will give separate instruction for the two.
Important Questions:
Feel free to tailor your own questions. This is just an idea of what to do. You can even do an instructional video.
Who is your subject (the person you are interviewing)?
What do they do?
Why is what they do so important?
What are their current goals?
How does that affect others?
What are their future plans?
What is needed to achieve the goals previously mentioned?
Video:
The assignment is to interview anyone. Sky's the limit! If you think you can get an interview with the mayor or governor do it. You can interview anyone even your parents.
- Don't wear pictures or text on clothing while on camera. This distracts your viewer from the subject.
- If you are old enough to wear make-up, don't over do it.
- Ummm... hum.. popping when you talk and redundancy (repeating yourself too much) gets distracting. Try to keep it to a minimum.
- Smile. Never let them know you are nervous. Try to keep nervous habits knee bouncing, knuckle cracking, etc out of your video.
- Put your camera on a tripod. This is more important than anything else. You have the first three seconds to impress. If your camera is wiggly, you lost your audience. If you don't have a tripod try and put it where it won't wiggle much.
- Count down from three before you introduce yourself. In your head 'Three...two..one...' "Hi, I'm Jane Doe. I'm hear with marine biologist, Ziggy Johnson..."
Non-video interview:
The same questions apply. Take pictures of your subject, create a blog post or a family newsletter. Again, sky is the limit and since you aren't on camera you have a few extra doors open to you. I could not possibly interview Lisa Smith Batchen in person, using email I was able to do so. I took the artistic license not to edit her writing. I wanted it to be as "real" as I could by using her own words. She is incredibly inspiring. I highly recommend reading the interview. Lisa is one example of you can do anything when you put your mind to it. If you are so inclined you can even friend her on Facebook. Please ask for parental help and follow COPPA guidelines. Nothing is more important to me than keeping children safe.
Parents, you know what the abilities of your children are. This is a general idea of what you can do. More important than any of this is have fun and keep in mind most computers these days have editing software. It doesn't have to be perfect, just have fun!
Spelling words
Are your mathematical skills fit for a journalist?
Learn journalism for free at Poynter University.
Even journalists study science.
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