Every couple of weeks we switch between science and history–two subjects I never thought I enjoyed as a kid, but am loving now that I’m the teacher–quite possibly because it’s so easy to incorporate my favorites: a big stack of children’s literature, and some of those Pinterest projects!
This week our Earth Science study continued with a unit study on the desert. (Not to be confused with dessert, which has two s’s because we always want seconds!)
{coloring page from Habitat Mini Books}
Learning the Facts
A stack of books from the library and our personal collection kick-started the theme. A few we recommend:
Deserts | The MSB Gets All Dried Up | Cactus Hotel
The kids are always excited when watching TV with a bowl of popcorn counts as “school,” and we watched a couple of episodes that helped us learn more about the desert.
Bill Nye the Science Guy | The Magic School Bus All Dried Up (Season 1, Episode 7)
Incorporating Fiction
The Magic Treehouse series is another one of our go-to resources during a unit study since there are so many coordinating books on history or science subjects. Season of the Sandstorms had us traveling with Jack and Annie back a thousand years to help spread wisdom to the world through their adventures in the sweltering Middle Eastern desert.
After the read aloud, the kids took a comprehension “test” on Book Adventure. We don’t always test on what we read, but the kids think it’s fun to collect “points” and it’s a good reading incentive for books they might not regularly pick up. Besides the site-earned prizes, I include a few other “teacher-created” incentive options they can cash in for, such as going out for an ice cream cone, extra computer time, or renting a Redbox movie.
A Cross-Curricular Project
Through the Magic Treehouse book as well as our favorite animal encyclopedia, we learned some interesting facts about camels, also known as “ships of the desert” then painted a template to create an art project showcasing our own “ships of the desert.”
As we read, the kids collected camel facts on a graphic organizer. The next day during “mommy time” I individually “conferenced” with them to turn the facts into sentences (which they narrated to me)–producing a rough draft. The final draft was completed as they typed their sentences.
I printed these final drafts and then attached to the bottom of their camel art projects. This cross-curricular project (science, reading, writing, art) will go in the school portfolio I’m keeping for them.
Side note: The camel template also works well for a flannel board feltie pattern!
Including the Little Ones
Serity (4) and Lydia (2.5) sit in on a lot of our schooling–especially when we do art projects. But their ages require adjustments. When they saw we were going to paint a camel they both excitedly said they wanted to make a “colorful camel.” Thankfully my 6-year-old filled me in on the Leapfrog reference (which they’d recently watched during their “school movie time”) and I could quickly adapt the desert craft into a “C is for Colorful Camel” pre-reading activity. Flexibility, my friends. It’s the motto of homeschool. (Actually, of any teaching or parenting, for that matter!)
A Sensory Experience
Playing with desert animals in “Desert Dough” was another fun project we included in the desert theme, and was particularly fun for the littlest ones.
What a great unit study! This looks like so much fun, and i’m dying to try the desert dough now. My kids would love that. 🙂