Civil War Unit Study

There were three main causes of the War, slavery, economics and state rights.  Much of history focuses on the topic of slavery, but very little on economics and state rights.   Our reading list (at the bottom of this post) shows the time spent on understanding slavery and it’s affects on both the north and south.

We spent a total of 8 weeks on this topic.  Our location avails us to many opportunities for field trips and local historical sites.  Even though we have officially ended our unit study, we do still have several more field trips and a Civil War Summer Camp in the pipeline.

Hands On Activities:
In addition to our extensive reading list (at the bottom of this post) we also did a few hands on activities.   The favorite by far was our salt dough map of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

I also combined several online free lapbooks and created one large lapbook to go with out unit.  The two resources I used are linked below.

War Between the States Lapbook, from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool
Civil War Lapbook, from Homeschool Share

Field Trips:
We were able to go on various field trips, and this was by far the best element to this particular unit study. I’ve posted about each field trip we’ve taken (I’ll be updating with more links).  Be sure to check them out in the links below.

Virginia Museum of the Civil War – Field Trip
Civil War & Emancipation Day – Field Trip
The Bread Basket of the Confederacy – Field Trip
Visiting Stonewall Jackson – Field Trip

Library Resources:
The Dred Scott Decision; by Brendan January
Harriet Tubman, Freedom Bound; by Janet & Geoff Benge
Journey to Freedom, Harriet Ross Tubman; by Don Troy
Escape North, The Story of Harriet Tubman; by Monica Kulling
Get On Board, The Story of the Underground Railroad; by Jim Haskins
Eliza’s Freedom Road, An Underground Railroad Diary; by Jerdine Nolen
Secret Signs, An Escape Through the Underground Railroad; by Anita Riggio
The Underground Railroad for Kids; by Mary Kay Carson
Civil War Weapons: by C.B. Colby
Great Map of the Civil War; by William J. Miller
Civil War Battle Atlas; by Time Life Books
The Civil War, Fort Sumter to Gettysburg; by William C. Davis and Bell I. Wiley
The Battle of First Bull Run; by Larry Hama
The Battle of Gettysburg; by Gina DeAngelis
Gettysburg; by Ruth Ashby
Antietam; by Christopher Hughes
Shiloh; by Richard Steins
Fort Sumter; by Brendan January
Chancellorsville to Appomattox; by Corinne J. Naden & Rose Blue
1862 Fredericksburg, A New Look at a Bitter Civil War Battle; by K.M. Kostyal
General George Armstrong Custer and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign; by Adolfo Ovies
American Kids in History, Civil War Days; by David C. King
A House Divided, The Lives of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, by Jules Archer
Stonewall Jackson; by Don McLeese
Ulysses S. Grant; by Don McLeese
George McClellan; by Brent Kelley
Jefferson Davis; by Cory Gideon Gunderson
Confederate Commander, General Robert E. Lee; by Sue Vander Hook
Jeb Stuart; by Don McLeese
Abraham Lincoln; by Mike Venezia
Abe Lincoln Remembers; by Ann Turner
The Gettysburg Address; by Abraham Lincoln
Just a Few Words Mr. Lincoln; by Jean Fritz
Across Five Aprils; by Irene Hunt

Westward Expansion Unit Study

This 6 week unit study takes us from the end of the American Revolution, to the late 1800’s (We skipped the Civil War, because we’ll be doing a 6 week study of that war starting in March.)   We’ve covered The Lewis & Clark Expedition,the War of 1812,  the first 15 U.S. Presidents, the Homestead Act, the Oregona Trail,  the Alamo and lots of other interesting pieces of history, including a  Mississippi River Mini Unit.  As always, we have an extensive library reading list at the bottom of my post.   However, this time I also have some wonderful, free online resources for you to use and enjoy.

Lewis & Clark Lapbook, from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool.
Fauna of the West, from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool.
Flora of the West, from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool
On the Trail Cuisine; from Home Baking Association
Oregon Trail Lapbook, from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool
Oregon Trail Lapbook, from Lapbook Lessons
Westward Expansion Coloring Pages, from USA Printables

Below are a few of the activities we have worked on in this unit.

Lewis & Clark lapbooks.

We made some pretty awesome moccasins.  I included a tutorial in my post Making Moccasins.

We used these American Animals Flashcards ($1 bin at Target) to study some of the new animals Lewis & Clark met on their journey. 

We worked on a mini-unit on the Mississippi River and learned about the ecosystems, water cycle and traveling by waterway.

We studied the Alamo during the time of the siege and over throw. (February 23-March 6).

We made Oregon Trail lapbooks, and watched the movie “Seven Alone”.

No westward expansion study would be complete without covered wagons.  I had 4 kits, planning to let each child make 2 wagons.  Interesting enough all the kits were missing parts, so by the time we were finished we had enough for 2 complete wagons (glad I bought extra).

Have you ever seen the movie “Paint Your Wagon”?…neither has Olivia, but maybe it would have caused a more realistic looking wagon.  My husband assures me that the Indians wouldn’t attack such a colorful wagon, they’d think it was bad medicine.  I say it’s a sitting duck on the open prairie.

The Lego people, and their belongs are all loaded up and ready for the 6 month trip west.  The lack of oxen to pull the wagons may slow down progress a bit.

Library Resources:
Lewis & Clark The Journey of the Corps of Discovery; DVD by PBS Home Video
Lewis & Clark Great Journey West; DVD by National Geographic
Sacagawea, Heroine of the Lewis & Clark Journey; DVD by Questar, Inc..
Lewis and Clark American Explorers; by Arlene Bourgeois Molzahn
Lewis and Clark, In Their Own Words; by George Sullivan
The Lewis and Clark Journals; by E.J. Carter
The Lewis & Clark Expedition; by Carol A. Johmann
The Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804-1806; by Dan Lacy
Lewis and Clark and the Route to the Pacific; by Seamus Cavan
Lewis and Clark for Kids; by Janis Herbert
Lewis and Clark Explore the Northwest; by Clint Twist
The Lewis and Clark Trail, Then and Now; by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Sacajawea, Shoshone Trailblazer; by Diane Shaughnessy
Who Was Sacagawea?; by Judith Bloom Fradin
Sacajawea; by Joseph Bruchac
Sacajawea Wilderness Guide; by Kate Jassem
Daniel Boone, Frontiersman; by Janet & Geoff Benge
Daniel Boone; by Laurie Lawlor
Tall Tales & Legends, Davey Crockett; DVD by Shelley Duvall
Davy Crockett, A Life on the Frontier; by Stephen Krensky
Davy Crockett, Hero of the Wild Frontier; by Elizabeth R. Moseley
Davy Crockett, Defender of the Alamo; by William R. Sandord and Carl R. Green
The War of 1812; by Rebecca Stefoff
A Timeline of the War of 1812; by Sandra Giddens
The Star Spangled Banner Pop Up Book; by Calvert Gamwell
Pony Express Riders of the Wild West; by Jeff Savage
The Pony Express; by Elaine Landau
The Alamo; DVD (John Wayne version)
The Alamo; by Tamara L. Britton
The Alamo; by Tim McNeese
The Homestead Act; by Elaine Landau
Pioneers; by Dennis Fradin
The Pioneers Go West; by George R. Stewart
Pioneers, A Library of Congress Book; by Martin Sandler
Covered Wagons, Bumpy Trails; by Verla Kay
Wagon Trains and Settlers; by Ellen H. Todras
The Oregon Trail; by Jean Blashfield
The Oregon Trail; by Mel Fried
The Oregon Trail; by Steven P. Olson
Children of the Trail West; by Holly Littlefield
Apples to Oregon; by Deborah Hopkins
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie, The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell; by Kristiana Gregory

Nutrition Unit Study

The core of our unit study was The Pyramid Café (Special Activities and Devotions for Teaching Nutrition Ages 7-12).   I had planned to do this unit using only the books listed at the bottom of this post.  Then I happened to go by our local book fair and found The Pyramid Café for only $1.  Then I found a lovely lapbook freebie at Guest Hollow that goes along with the Food and Nutrition for Every Kid  and we were in business.

I saved lots of grocery store sales papers and had each girl create their own food pyramid with photos from the ads.  I also had each child create a nutritious dinner plate using cutouts from the sales papers too.

I also found the website Nourish Interactive to be a great resource for printables.  The site contains both the Food Pyramid, and the new My Plate information.   Aren’t these guys just too cute?

We did lots of reading, tried some new fruits like kiwi, fresh pineapple and raspberries.  We even made homemade butter and whole wheat bread.

If you have never made butter, it’s very simple.  Buy a container of HEAVY Whipping Cream, and pour it into a container with a tight fitting lid.  Pour the cold cream into your container, make sure the lid is on tight and shake, shake, shake.  Seriously, it’ll take about 20 minutes of vigorous shaking.  You won’t think anything is happening, then suddenly there will be a clump of butter.

The girls really enjoyed making the bread.   What kid doesn’t like feeling fresh dough between their fingers?

Books/DVD’s we used:

My Pyramid K-2, Choosing Nutrition Food and Healthy Activities – DVD
Why Should I Eat Well; by Claire Llewellyn
The Food Pyramid; by Kristin Petrie
Brain Food for Kids; by Nicola Graimes
Food and Nutrition for Every Kid; by Janice VanCleave
Get Active; by Louise Spilsbury
How to Teach Nutrition to Kids; by Connie Liakos Evers
Being Active; by Mari C. Schuh
The Meat and Beans Group; by Mari C. Schuh
The Milk Group; by Mari C. Schuh
The Grain Group; by Mari C. Schuh
The Vegetable Group; by Mari C. Schuh
The Fruit Group; by Mari C. Schuh

The Care & Keeping of You–Unit Study

 

One of my girls is charging towards puberty at warp speed.  I’m SO.NOT.READY for all of that.   However, being the planner that I am, I didn’t want “anything” to be a sudden surprise.  So I bit the bullet and had parts of “the talk”.  GAH!!    I wanted this to be an informative, and not totally gross or embarrassing learning experience, so I decided books were needed.  We used the American Girl book The Care and Keeping of You and added the Care and Keeping of You lapbook from  Homeschool Share as our core for this study.

We briefly studied nutrition, exercise, how to care for your hands, feet and skin.  We moved into discussions about feminine body care, leg shaving, nail painting and feelings.

To go along with the learning we did some “girlie stuff”.  We had our back to school haircuts.  It was really just a trim, no length removed this year.  Isn’t her hair beautiful?!

We painted our fingernails and toenails.

And then we dyed Olivia’s hair pink, yes really.

Overall this was a great learning experience.  We got to spend some one on one time together.   I saw facial expressions that I didn’t know existed.  (Imagine her chagrin to find out that period isn’t just a dot at the end of a sentence.)   And technically it counts as health class, so its all good.

I highly recommend The Care and Keeping of You for this topic.  It’s not overly informative (no talk of reproduction activities), but it really handles the body changes well. 

Vikings Unit Study

The girls thought our Knights and Castles unit was the bomb-diggity.  However, it looks like Vikings are a big hit as well.  Alas, if only there had been some pillaging and plundering to go along with the study.

We all enjoyed reading about Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky.  The girls wouldn’t let me stop mid-book during any of the read alouds in this unit.  Needless to say we have a few late night reading sessions.

We learned about the housing, food and clothing of the Vikings.  We also studied Scandinavia, Greenland and Iceland.  The girls learned to tell sagas, spell in runes and name various parts of a Viking longship.  My husband was stunned to learn that Leif Ericsson landed on North America long before Columbus.

I took the components of two different websites and combined them to make one very large lapbook.  Homeschool Share had a great Viking lapbook and unit study, but my library didn’t have the required books…so I fudged it.  I also found some great resources and free printables at Dynamic 2 Moms.  They even have a free Viking lapbook!

As you can see, these hands on projects take over our house as we’re working.  When the kitchen table is full we move to the sunporch, grins.

We made a totally cool longship too.  My husband was in charge of designing and building the longship with the kids.  It was a bit more involved than he had originally planned.  Once the pieces were cut out, the girls painted, glued, taped  (and, yeah, he should have stopped them on the tape).

Apparently, there was SOME pillaging and plundering along the way. I’m quite certain these young ladies were abducted by the Norsemen.

Books we used:
Eric the Red; by Neil Grant
Eric the Red, The Vikings Sail the Atlantic; by Dr. Anne Millard
Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky; by Barbara Schiller
Before Columbus, The Leif Ericsson Expedition; by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
First Facts About the Vikings; by Jacqueline Morley
Back to Basics, The Vikings; by Anne Mcrae
Everyday Life In Viking Times; by Hazel Mary Martell
Myths and Civilization of the Vikings; by Hazel Mary Martell
Vikings, Facts, Things to Make, Activities; by Franklin Watts
Vikings; by Fiona Macdonald
Vikings, Come and Discover My World; by Peter Chrisp