Has anyone managed to teach about the 50 states in a year?

[HFClassicalAcademy]

I'm interested in doing this for our co-op, so I would have to adapt it to doing this once a week. I'm not sure if and how it can be done, but I would love to be able to have something like this available for the kids!

 

Also, this would be geared towards 1-2 grade. So it can be really simple.

 

Thanks!

[Night Elf]

Does your co-op have semesters? What if you were to break the course into semesters and cover U.S. regions rather than trying to do all 50 at one time?

[Sue G in PA]

With 1-2nd graders, getting too in-depth wouldn't really be necessary. How many weeks is your co-op and how long would the class be? From there, you could figure out how many states you would need to accomplish each week to get to 50! Some states lend themselves better to a "brief" study while others really deserve more "attention" simply because of the history. But again, with first and second graders...in-depth probably isn't what you are looking for! I have one suggestion: I think it was Deanna from Narrow Gate Acadamy that created little mini-books for each state and posted the download on her blog. Very cute, very fun and NOT very in-depth. She had stickers for the state flag, state bird/flower to color, a simple outline map where you could locate the capital, etc. VERY easy to do 2 states each week if your time allows. I don't have a link to her blog but I do have the download from when she posted it on the old board (I think it was her...if I'm mistaken, my apologies to whoever it really is that created this!). Let me know if you want it and I'll look for it!

[Sue G in PA]

Okay, it was Deanna at Narrow Gate and here is the link to her blog:

 

http://narrowgateacademy.blogspot.com/

 

Look on the left under "About Me" and then "Lessons to Share" for State lapbook booklets and State lapbook stickers. HTH and to Deanna...thanks for sharing these!

[HFClassicalAcademy]

These are great ideas! Also, thanks for Deanna's link. I think it is exactly what I was looking for. Not too in-depth, but enough information.

 

I'm still deciding if splitting into regions would be easier than cramming "x" amount of states at each class. Luckily, I have lots of time to think about this and prepare!

[Philothea]

In a co-op setting I think it would be easy to cover them all in a year.

 

Once you decide how to slpit it up...what I would do is present the material, and then have the children break it down and present it in a different way to the co-op. I could see having a 50 states fair, with a display for each state or a model of one, maybe a poster with a few facts.

 

Probably having the kids make or do a 50 states notebook would be fun. I boought a Dover coloring book of the 50 states that has a picture of the state, bird, flower and flag, that would be easy to copy and make a notebook with.

[Tina in WA]

When my kids took a class at co-op, they also played the 50 state songs from Audio Memory. They focused on the states in the song (eastern border, northern boarder, etc.), then when they were done, they moved on to different regions in the song.

 

Here is another option as well: State History From A Christian Perspective

 

I haven't used the above book "yet", but I have used the WA State History study and LOVED it!

[mcconnellboys]

How many weeks does your coop meet? I'm assuming 24 for the year, so you could do it by covering 2 states per week, with 3 a couple of the weeks.

 

I'd Read a picture book about each state, talk about some of the key features (perhaps your library carries From Sea to Shining Sea series, to help with this), or special things about each state, and perhaps do some map work on each state. There are a lot of different maps available online, such as through Enchanted Learning, that are geared toward younger kids. Or you could buy a map book with outlines of each state and make up your own, using the books to make hand-out copies for the kids.

 

I'd cover the states by region, to make memory easier, and perhaps have an outline map of the US for each of them. Let them add a sticker each week to the states you've covered. You can probably find stickers that will pertain to something about that state: either state flags, birds of that state, other state emblems, or something that would reflect a landmark of that state.

 

You could use Geography Songs to help them memorize states and capitals, if you want. Just remember that while fun, memory work set to music is stored in a part of the brain that may not lend itself to long-term memory. Or they may have to sing the songs all their life in order to make the recall, LOL......

 

I have a list of living picture books that I used at this age for a US geo study. Let me know if you'd like to see it,

[Leila]

We studied the 50 states this year,too. We did it by region, 2 states per week. We read a little about each state, if there were well known feature or places about a state we read more about it so he will remember and learn more. Right now, we were able to finish it early, he knows the 50 states already. And each week, he picks one state he likes to read more about and just review them once a week so he won't forget.:001_smile:

[Tina in WA]

. Or they may have to sing the songs all their life in order to make the recall, LOL......,

 

 

I still remember the 50 states song from when I was a kid. Correction, I don't remember the whole thing, but I remember the state in alphabetical order. :)

 

I keep waiting for a chance to use this knowledge to win a big prize! LOL Or hoping Jay Leno asks me to say all 50 states and I can sing them out in alphabetical order! Oh I would be so smart looking! :D LOL