J for Jurassic Period

See what we did for other letters in the Alphabet in Simple Science.

J for Jurassic

Science Notebook Page (Click the picture to print).

Background

Ok, so I realize Jurassic Period is a little bit of a stretch from the normal science topics I like to do.  However, J was a hard one!  I couldn't very well do Joules!  Anyway, I chose Jurassic Period for the letter J, so we talked about how it was a time when many dinosaurs lived on Earth, and then we focused on dinosaurs.

We read some dinosaur books and I downloaded a couple of dinosaur Little Reader Lessons (free for anyone who has Little Reader)

He also watched The Magic School Bus Busosaurus

Dino Footprints

Materials:

Toys Dinosaurs (we used a Dinos Toob)

Play Dough

Procedure:

I rolled out some play dough and lined up one of each dinosaur.  Then I had Xander press them into the play dough to see what kind of footprints they made.  He made some observations and we talked about what he saw.  He liked it so much that he did it a few times.

The Conversation:

We talked about the impressions made and their sizes compared to each other.  We also talked about how some dinosaurs left impressions with their tails, while others did not.  We compared the dinosaurs that stood on two feet compared to four.  I asked him what he noticed and then asked leading questions to get him to notice some things he did not notice on his own.

Dino Sensory Bin

To go with the dinosaur theme, we did a dino sensory bin.  I used cloud dough (8 cups flour and 1 cup baby oil).  I threw in the dinos from his toob and dino fossil ice cube tray.  I gave him a spoon and he had a ball!  We made fossils out of the "sand"and he had the dinosaurs climb around.  (For more sensory bin activities, check out the Sensory Play page).

Making fossils.

Not sure how some could have gotten on his nose...

Check out my Alphabet in Simple Science Pinterest Board!

 

12 Books for 2014

Jolanthe, over at Homeschool Creations recently posted her commitment to read 12 nonfiction books in 2014, and I thought it was a wonderful idea! I love to read, but almost always choose fiction (despite the large number of nonfiction books on my Goodreads To-Read shelf!). I think forcing myself to read some more nonfiction will help me grow!

I tried to choose quite a variety in my 12 books.  Since I will be student teaching in a physics classroom this semester, I have included some teaching and science books.

My Twelve Books for 2014
In no particular order:
1.  The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
2.  Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs by Ellen Galinsky
3.  Design Make Play by Margaret Honey 
4.  Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov
5.  The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Champan
6.  Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood by William Pollack
7.  Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People by Robert S. Root-Bernstein
8.  Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy
9.  Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley
10.  A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
11.  Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin
12.  Beyond Snapshots: How to Take That Fancy DSLR Camera Off "Auto" and Photograph Your Life Like a Pro by Rachel Devine

What are you reading?  What suggestions do you have?  I'd love to hear!

Letter J Week

Letter Formation/Pre-Writing

Tracing the letters with his write and wipe cards.

Practicing writing in his sand box.

Making Js out of foam crafting blocks.  You can download the templates here.

Q-Tip Painting (from 1+1+1=1)

 Using some stamping markers (similar to these) on the Dot Letters from Confessions of a Homeschooler

 Using his Build a Letter Templates and HWWT pieces. First he built the letters on the templates, then he built them by themselves. I love the cheesy smile as he's showing off his work!

 Letter Maze
(Printable here)

Play Dough Letters

Stamping and making some play dough Js with our alphabet stamping play dough mat and the letter J mat from 1+1+1=1.  Love his concentration face!

Working on some pattern block letters from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Doing a J color by number

Literacy

Beginner Spelling Cards

We did the next four Beginner Spelling Cards.  He seemed to struggle with the K vs C sounds, but we made it through!  Then we spelled bake without the cards.

Cut and Paste Phonics Hunt

(Print it here)

 

Phonics Fun Page and Worksheets from Raising Rockstars Kindergarten

Thinking Skills

Playing his Who Lives Here? Game

Math

We did a few Little Math lessons and then Grandpa helped Xander use his new balance.  They compared different numbers of counting bears.

Art

Painting some Js with porcupine painters.

Science

We're still doing our Alphabet in Simple Science, and this week was J for Jurassic Period.  We didn't get to do many experiments, but we did a lot of dinosaur related activities.  You can check out the Jurassic Period post here!

Calendar Time

I have to confess, I am SO bad at doing calendar time consistently with Xander!  Maybe it is because we do not have a designated "school" time and our schedules change daily.  Maybe I'm just lazy and forgetful.  Regardless, I need to get better!  He enjoys his calendar and learning about the days and months.

Sensory Play

Here's a peek at our dino tub that we did for J is for Jurassic Period.

Just for Fun

Playing with Squigz in the tub.

This Week's Work