Week 13: Dinosaurs

Well, I finally think me and (mostly Lily)
are ready to begin our weekly topic lessons...
I knew it was time when Lily said,
" Mommy, what are we going to learn this week...."
and I was like,
" That's a really great question... I have no idea!"

I asked Lily what she would like to learn about,
and I pretty much knew the answer before she even said it....

DINOSAURS!

Before bed at night and at naptime,
my husband or I tell Lily stories
either from when we were little,
or completely ridiculous made up stories...

Sometimes I like to combine them.... for example:
eh' hem
Once when I was a little girl, I found a big egg in my closet...
I brought it to my daddy and asked him if I could keep it.
He let me keep the egg in my closet under a lamp.
About a month later, it hatched and it was a dinosaur!!

A Pterodactyl to be exact!
( In all honesty, I don't even think the Pterodactyls are actually dinosaurs, but hey, its a fictional story right?)
And Pterodactyls can fly!
When the pterodactyl grew up, it would take me for rides over our neighborhoods. I could see over the tops of trees, and even flew over the ocean once!

Blah blah blah, the story goes on...and every day I would switch what kind of dinosaur it was that hatched in my closet... ie- stegosaurus which helped me climb up things because he was like my personal ladder, or the brontosaurus who was like a walking slide because I could slide from the top of his head to the bottom of his tail....(she loves that one!)

Anyway, there is my long winded(written) explanation of why I knew Lily would want to learn about DINOSAURS (You can imagine me roaring everytime you read that :)

Ok, now onto what we will actually do to learn about dinosaurs...this is kind of refreshing getting back into it...I feel recharged!

Side Note: My goal is to teach Lily about Dinosaurs from a Christian perspective ie- "Creation" Here are some resources for you if you are interested in teaching the same!

Christian Answers.Net- Great resource for lessons about dinosaurs

Clarifying Christianity- Great resource for you, the teacher to catch up on Christianity and Dinosaurs

Answers in Genesis- A Woman's Testimony about her journey to God through Dinosaurs! Pretty Cool!



DINOSAURS! ROAR!!

Books:

No T Rex in the Library! by Buzzeo, Toni


Dinosaurs Love Underpants! by Freedman, Claire



Have you seen my dinosaur? by Surgal, Jon


Buying, training & caring for your dinosaur by Rennert, Laura.


The super hungry Dinosaur by Waddell, Martin.



Boo's surprise by Byars, Betsy Cromer.

Skippyjon Jones and the big bones by Schachner, Judith Byron.



T. Rex and the Mother's Day hug by Grambling, Lois G. ( Had to do this one....since Mother's Day is coming up!)


Resources from the Library:



Crafts for kids who are learning about dinosaurs by Ross, Kathy

Sesame Street. Dinosaurs! [videorecording (DVD)] Full screen ed.

Crafts: Click links to see sources


Dinosaur Feet- How to Found over at Danielle's Place- Just because they are fun, and I can incorporate make believe!!






Paper Mache' Dinosaur Hat from Enchanted Learning



Shape- A -Saurus- when you combine 8 shapes, you can make a dinosaur!


Songs (Source)

FIVE ENORMOUS DINOSAURS
Five enormous Dinosaurs letting out a roar
One went away and then there were four...
Four enormous Dinosaurs munching on a tree
One went away and then there were three...
Three enormous Dinosaurs didn't know what to do
One went away and then there were two...
Two enormous Dinosaurs having lots of fun
One went away and then there was one...
One enormous Dinosaur afraid to be a hero
He went away and then there was zero...

DINOSAURS OF LONG AGO (Action Song)
The Dinosaurs lived long ago,
And walked like this, and that. (Walk heavy like Dino's)
Some were large (Stretch arms apart.)
And some were small. (Squat down.)
Some liked water (Swimming motion)
And some liked land (Stomp feet.)
Some had wings that flapped and flapped. (Flap arms)
Some had long necks that stretched and stretched (Put hand above head)
The meanest, rudest one of all was ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex
These were the Dinosaurs of long ago.
Goodness gracious! Where did they go?

Snacks

Dino Dig Cupcakes- Found at Homemaking Fun- Have the children go on a dinosaur hunt inside the cupcake!! Awesome idea!

Week 1- Scarecrows

Welcome to my newest endeavor and documentation blog! Once I have completed the week with Lily, I will then re-post the topic with pictures, and add some comments. Enjoy!

I'd love to have you come along with me on this journey...leave me a comment and let me know what works for you!

Each week...or hopefully each week, I will post a new lesson plan on a simple topic that I will touch upon numerous times throughout the week, tie the subject into other topics, and hopefully use many different forms of learning to expand the knowledge of my child.

This week we will be exploring the topic of Scarecrows.

Books:

The Scarecrow's Hat by Ken Brown
Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown

The Scarecrow's Dance by Jane Yolen and Bagram Ibatoulline

The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston and Maggie Kneen

Craft: Spaghetti Scarecrow- Create a scarecrow w/ Construction Paper, Glue and Spaghetti!

I cut out a triangle nose, a hat and drew the face on construction paper.
I then had Lily glue the face on, then the spaghetti, the hat and finally the nose....

He got pretty wet...we LOVE glue in this house :)

" Hello Mr. Scarecrow!"

Songs:

The Scarecrow in the Field

Tune : "Wheels on the Bus"

The scarecrow in the field is made of hay, made of hay, made of hay The scarecrow in the field is made of hay, all over town!

The scarecrow in the field he bends and sways, bends and sways, bends and sways.

The scarecrow in the field he bends and sways, all over town.

The scarecrow in the field he says "go away", he says "go away", he says "go away".

The scarecrow in the field he says "go away" to all the birds in town!

Scarecrow
Tune: I'm A Little Teapot

I'm a little scarecrow
Stuffed with hay,
Standing watch in my field all day.
When I see a crow
I like to shout:
"Hey, Mr. Crow, you'd better get out!"

Sn

Snack: Haystacks

1-1/2 cups butterscotch chips

~ 2/3 cup peanut butter

3 oz. chow mein noodles, broken

1. Place butterscotch chips and peanut butter in a microwave-safe container. Heat on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir, and repeat, if necessary, until the chips are melted.

2. Stir in the chow mein noodles, breaking up the noodles as you do so.

3. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined cookie sheets.

4. Refrigerate 1-2 hours until hardened.

Websites:

http://www.teachingheart.net/scarecrow.html

http://w4.nkcsd.k12.mo.us/~rbeckett/Silly%20Scarecrows.htm

http://delightintheday.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-my-last-post-i-mentioned-that-little.html

http://www.abcteach.com/free/b/bookmarks_scarecrows.pdf

http://abcteach.com/directory/theme_units/scarecrows/

http://www.abcteach.com/free/r/rc_scarecrows_elem.pdf

http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/scarecrows.htm

Note: I get most of my information off of websites which are linked here. I'm just putting it all together in on succinct format and not claiming any of these ideas as my own.

Thanks!