Poppins Book Nook- Animal Theme

The theme for this months Poppins Book Nook was animals.  Since we were learning about Thanksgiving this month, I decided to go with a turkey for our animal.

We used a few different books to go with our theme.  We read “A Turkey for Thanksgiving” by Eve Bunting, which is a super cute story!  Then we read 2 non-fiction books- “All About Turkeys” by Jim Arnosky and “Turkeys that Fly and Turkeys That Don’t” by Allen Fowler.  We learned so much from those 2 books!

As we read the non-fiction books about turkeys, we added feathers to this turkey.  Each feather has an interesting fact about turkeys.

I had Hailey write in her journal pretending to be a turkey and giving reasons why she should not be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner.

We also made some turkey crafts, you can see the full post here.  These are the cute hats we made.

Hailey made this turkey with a cute poem on it.

Hunter’s turkey

Each month you will have a chance to win a book from the Poppins Book Nook group related to the theme of the month.  This month you have a chance to win National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia.  The only rule is that you must live in the US to win.

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Be sure to like me on Facebook and follow me on Pinterest so you don’t miss any of our fun activities.

Check out some (or all!) of the other bloggers participating in Poppins Book Nook:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom – 3 Dinosaurs – Monsters Ed – Chestnut Grove Academy – Growing in God’s Grace – Royal Little Lambs – Life with Moore Babies – Teach Beside Me – The Usual Mayhem – Fantastic Fun and Learning – Kathys Cluttered Mind – Toddler Approved – Growing Book by Book – Adventures in Mommydom – Edventures with Kids – Learning & Growing the Piwi way – A Gluten Free Journey – Preschool Powol Packets – To The Moon and Back – Our Craft ~N~ Things – Fresh Farm Adventures – Are We There Yet? – Afterschool for Smarty Pants – Hopkins Homeschool If you have your own fun activity to link up, you can that here:

Poppins Book Nook- Seasons

The theme this month for the Poppins Book Nook is seasons.

We read the book “The reasons for the Seasons” by Gail Gibbons and learned why the seasons change.

Since the current season is fall and we have been working on a fall unit study, I decided to focus on fall and leaves.  This binder has the different mini-units that we are covering this fall- apples, leaves, etc.

Each mini-unit has a section in the binder.  This is the leaf section with this printable from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom glued onto a divider for our leaf section.

Since we made a lapbook for our apple study, I decided to do something a little smaller for our leaf study.  Hailey glued these few activities onto the back side of the divider for the leaf mini-unit.

The Leaves book comes from Enchanted Learning.

You can find the accordion style book about why leaves change color here.

I wrote leaf related vocabulary words on leaf shaped cards and we did several activities with those.

There are many pages of work that Hailey did in this mini-unit.  This leaf observation page comes from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom and the super fun leaf unit she has available.

Hailey also did a leaf rubbing.

She made this Fall Tree Craft, using a leaf to paint.

We also made this Fall Tree Handprint Craft.

Hailey and Hunter dressed up in the color of chlorophyll one day.  It was amazing how excited Hailey was about doing this and how quickly she got ready for school!

Be sure to like me on Facebook and follow me on Pinterest so you don’t miss any of our fun activities.

Check out some (or all!) of the other bloggers participating in Poppins Book Nook:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom – 3 Dinosaurs – Monsters Ed – Chestnut Grove Academy – Growing in God’s Grace – Royal Little Lambs – Life with Moore Babies – Teach Beside Me – The Usual Mayhem – Mum Central – Fantastic Fun and Learning – Kathys Cluttered Mind – Toddler Approved – Growing Book by Book – Adventures in Mommydom – B-Inspired Mama – Edventures with Kids – Learning & Growing the Piwi way – A Gluten Free Journey – Preschool Powol Packets – To The Moon and Back – Our Craft ~N~ Things – Fresh Farm Adventures – Are We There Yet? – Afterschool for Smarty Pants

Each month you will have a chance to win a book from the Poppins Book Nook group related to the theme of the month.  This month you have a chance to win Four Seasons Make a Year.  The only rule is that you must live in the US to win.

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If you have your own fun activity to link up, you can that here:

History Rocks! Part 1 Curriculum Review and Giveaway

I was recently given the chance to check out a history curriculum from Jill at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom.  Jill has a Member’s Only website where she has 250+ printables- there are unit studies, activity packs and printable curriculum like History Rocks!  I was super excited to get to check out her history curriculum!

History Rocks! Part 1 uses “Boys Who Rocked the World: Heroes from King Tut to Bruce Lee” by Michelle Roehm McCann as its text.

Here is a description of the book from Amazon:

“This engaging and thought-provoking collection of influential stories provides forty-six illustrated examples of strong, independent male role models, all of whom first impacted the world as teenagers or younger. This updated and expanded edition of Boys Who Rocked the World encompases a variety of achievements, interests, and backgrounds, from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Steve Jobs to Crazy Horse and Stephen King—each with his own incredible story of how he created life-changing opportunities for himself and the world. Personal aspirations from today’s young men are interspersed throughout the book, which also includes profiles of teenagers who are rocking the world right now—boys like John Collinson, the youngest person to climb the Seven Summits, and Alec Loorz, who founded the nonprofit organization Kids vs. Global Warming.”

The History Rocks! curriculum is geared for 1st-5th grade, is over 400 pages and has 46 units- one for each of the male role models from the book.  Some units contain more activities than others, but all have plenty of fun things to do.  You will find mapping skills, reading, writing and fun projects covered throughout the curriculum and so much more!

Each unit starts out with a page of questions to answer after reading the chapter from the book.  Then the students write about why this person was important in history and what could have been different if that person did not do what he did.  It’s great way to get the students thinking after reading each chapter.  After that the units vary in what they contain- one might have a lesson in using an encyclopedia, some physics, a movie about the person, etc.  There are also links to other activities, coloring pages and more so you don’t have to go searching for anything extra to supplement.

The units do not have to completed in any particular order, you can just pick someone who is interesting to your child and start there.

Since Hailey wants to be an artist, we decided to look at the unit about Pablo Picasso.  First we read the chapter in “Boys Who Rocked the World: Heroes from King Tut to Bruce Lee” by Michelle Roehm McCann all about Picasso.  The book is very interesting- we all found it very easy to read and it kept our attention.

Hailey colored a paper about what kinds of colors she thought Picasso would have had on his pallet during the various periods in his life (Blue Period, Rose Period and Cubism).  Then she had to color what colors she would have on her pallet right now… she picked some happy colors because we’re going to Disney World soon and some sad colors because she saw a puppy at the store that she wanted and I wouldn’t get it for her 🙂

Hailey and Hunter made paper dolls of Pablo Picasso.

Hailey created her own masterpiece after looking at Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso.

We really enjoyed this history curriculum!  I think it makes a great supplement or fun add on, and I would definitely recommend it.  History Rocks! Part 2 is coming soon and will feature the girls who rocked history.  I can’t wait to see it!!

If you would like a chance to win a copy of History Rocks! Part 1, you can enter below for a chance to win!

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Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

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