Matter Crossword FREEBIE/ Physical Science

Enjoy today's FREEBIE matter crossword from our physical science unit. Print the definitions on the back for vocabulary review. Enjoy!

Download printer-friendly crossword & definitions

Download printer-friendly answer key

The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates: Magic Marks the Spot/ FREEBIE Discussion Questions & Activities

STUDY GUIDE/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

After searching (without luck) for The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates: Magic Marks the Spot study guide, I created my own. And lucky you, I'm sharing!

Download printer-friendly discussion questions, pages 1-4

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

This crossword covers people, places, and things from the story. Answer key included too! 

Download printer-friendly crossword puzzle

Download printer-friendly answer key

CHARACTER COMPARE & CONTRAST

Always interesting to see the students perception of the characters! For this activity, you'll need:  the instruction sheet below (2 instruction pages/sheet), a venn diagram per each student, and paper for illustrations. 

Download printer-friendly instruction sheet

Black and white construction paper make striking but simple frames for character illustrations. Staple the picture frames to each side of the venn diagram. Students label the character's name under the illustration. Simply flip back the frame and write the traits behind the appropriate character on the venn diagram.

MAKE A PIRATE MAP

Have students make a 'good' treasure map according to the principles outlined in Treasure Hunting for Beginners: The Official VNHLP Guide (Chapter 6, p.114-115/hardcover edition). Use this template or have them draw a map from scratch.

Hope your students have a wonderful time working through these activities! Enjoy :)

Science Vocabulary Printable/ Work and Machines FREEBIE Crossword

Studying work and machines in your science unit? Enjoy this FREEBIE crossword puzzle to help reinforce vocabulary! It correlates perfectly with our Physical Science Unit on Forces and Motion.

Download printer-friendly crossword

Download printer-friendly answer key

Happy homeschooling!

American Revolution/ Boston Tea Party FREEBIE Cursive Sheets

Now that M really understands cursive letter formation, I've started creating cursive practice sheets to reinforce our unit studies. For history, we've been learning about the American Revolution!

 Click here to download the printer-friendly version

If you would like to make your own cursive sheets, the font School Script Dashed is available FREE for download. I make the font light gray so M's tracing with colored pens is very visible. If you use black letters, it's difficult to see the student's work.

Enjoy these FREEBIE Boston Tea Party cursive practice sheets ;)

Happy homeschooling!

Vocabulary FREEBIE Activity/Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

Enjoy this freebie vocabulary crossword as we continue the week with Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy. It was a fun start to all our book club activities! I know your kids will love it, too ;)

The definitions are included on page 2 (which I ran off as the back side of the crossword). 

Download/ Printer Friendly Version:

Vocabulary Crossword & Definitions

Looking for more Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy activities?

Freebie Bingo Cards (People, Places, and Things from the Story)

Bingo Activity FREEBIE/ Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

If you want to engage discussion about a book, it's fun to use a game instead of formal questions. Why not create a bingo game with people, places, and things from a story? That's exactly what I did for our homeschool book club for Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee. 

Print-bingo.com is awesome! So easy to use and you can create custom bingo cards from your own word lists. All these bingo cards were created at print-bingo.com for FREE!

To make the cards and calling sheet easy to reuse, simply slide them in a plastic sleeve. Students make a line through the word as it is called with a dry erase marker. If you have access to a laminator, you could also laminate the bingo cards instead.

As each word is called, use the opportunity to ask students about their comprehension. If an item is called, who does it belong to or why is it important? Ask students to describe character personality traits or for important events central to that character. Everyone loves chiming in with details - so enjoy!

Download/ Printer Friendly Versions:

Bingo Set 1

Bingo Set 2

Bingo Caller Sheet

Book Review/ Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

A powerful read about perseverance in the face of loss... 

SYNOPSIS
While exploring a London museum, Ophelia stumbles onto the imprisoned Marvelous Boy. Can Ophelia brave danger to free him? Will she find the One Other, the only person who can defeat the Snow Queen? With three days until the Snow Queen's evil plans are unleashed, there's no time to lose.

REVIEW
Billed as a modern twist on the Snow Queen fairy tale, Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is so much more. It's in the vein of a traditional fairy tale. Enter spooky/creepy elements and expected morals. Prepare for ghosts, dangerous mythical animals, and a conniving villain.

The point of view alternates between the Marvelous Boy and Ophelia. The Marvelous Boy recounts his quest and adventures from the time he was chosen by wizards to seek the One Other (the only one who can defeat the Snow Queen). Ophelia narrates the present day story as it occurs in London.

Ophelia, the Marvelous Boy, and the King are all bound by the fact they have lost or are separated from people they love. Ophelia's mother has died, the Marvelous Boy left his mother to go on a quest, and a boy King is orphaned. Each deals with their loss in a very different way.

Though Ophelia's family doesn't discuss her mother (Susan), Ophelia is still hears her mother's voice. Is Susan really talking to her, guiding her to bravery? Or is it all in Ophelia's mind? It's up to you to decide.

The ending left me wanting more...perhaps the Marvelous Boy has more stories to tell. I would love to see a book from his viewpoint. What does he encounter on his travels home? What does he find when he gets there?

RATING

4 of 5 Stars/ Recommended for girls who love realistic fiction as well as fairy tales. A strong first children's novel for Karen Foxlee! As a writer of adult literature, some of her concepts will be lost on younger readers. This book begs for rich discussions - morals, feelings, positive coping skills, courage, and conscience.

M's top adjectives for Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy -- surprising, interesting, amazing.

ONLINE FREEBIES
Study Guide via Random House

Science/Astronomy: the Solar System {Printable Links}

Astronomy is probably my favorite Science unit. Growing up, NASA was a four hour drive away in Houston. Everyone wanted to attend Space Camp and become an astronaut. Pardon my moment of nostalgia, I'm imagining blasting off into space. Okay, I'm back :)

To supplement our textbook lessons, Madeline made this printable book from Enchanted Learning.

Solar System Front Cover

Each page has facts, a picture/cross section,
and comprehension questions

Madeline consulted her textbook to make
sure the planets were colored realistically

Yes, that is Pluto tabbed in there. I purposely included Pluto even though it's not technically a planet anymore. It's a great reminder that what we believe to be scientific fact can change. 

This planet wheel was fun to make. It spins to reveal each planet's picture and characteristics. No Pluto though! 

Madeline got a kick out of the brass brad. She thought it looked like the sun at the center of the solar system. Great observation, kid :)

To discuss why Pluto was included in one resource and not the other, we read Pluto's Secret: An Icy World's Tale of Discovery. I highly recommend it! It's part fiction {story format featuring Pluto's thoughts and feelings} mixed with scientific facts and historical events.

The book starts with the search for Pluto, it's discovery, and ultimately...why it is no longer considered a planet. Students learn the new criteria for planets as of 2006.

Next up, the moon phases. Still thinking on that one. Maybe making the phases with glitter playdough? We'll see...

Enchanted Learning Science Printables {Online Resource}

If your child loves Science, definitely check out Enchanted Learning. So many fun printable books, activities, and craft ideas to incorporate into your lessons! Even though they offer printables for many different topics, their Science ones are our favorite.

Front cover of our animal classification book ~ 
 insects, birds, amphibians, fish, worms, crustaceans, mammals, 
reptiles, and arachnids

Such a time-saver to just print and click. Last year I bought an annual subscription to their site, which was only about $20.

So worth it for the amazing variety of printable activities and books! No profit for me to recommend them either. Their site is just too good not to share :)

For the easier books, I create labels with textbook information to reinforce terminology, characteristics, or vocabulary. Then the labels get all scrambled up!

Madeline sorts through the labels and adds them to the appropriate pages. It's a perfect opportunity to apply what she is learning.

Animal classifications bird page 
{with extra characteristics added in}

Animal classifications insect page 
{with extra characteristics added in}

As you can tell, Madeline loves using her colored pencils! Now you know why we need an electric pencil sharpener :)  These pages were completed with our animal unit in the fall.

A pumpkin book provided activities for our plant unit. Again, we added details in from our textbook. This time, it was to reinforce vocabulary terms.

Handwritten vocabulary terms pasted onto
our pumpkin life cycle page

After starting with the easier books, we tried some that were a bit more challenging. The first two pictures in the collage are from a butterfly life cycle book. Each page is tabbed according to a stage in the cycle. It was a hit! Lots of information and a quiz at the end.

Details from a Painted Lady Butterfly Life Cycle book
and The Elephant book

The other two pictures are from a book about elephant characteristics. Madeline couldn't wait to go to zoo and try to differentiate between the two types of elephants by their ears :)

These a just a few snapshots of what Enchanted Learning offers. There are too many items and subjects to mention, just go to the website! Anyone can look at their activities. If you are more of a DYI person, it will give you plenty of ideas. But to print, you'll need a subscription. Which is dirt cheap for their product quantity and quality.

Space and the Solar System is our current unit. I'll definitely post some of our activities soon!

What about you? What are your favorite online resources for Science?