When Writing Your Own Lesson Plans...Added Image

[PachiSusan]

how do you do it?

 

Generally, I mean. Please be gentle. I am a woman who is not used to writing my own plans or planning anything on my own. I have always used someone else's base and jumped off of it.

 

I am being thrown into my first forages in planning. In Seton, the 4th quarter or 4th grade is state studies and they do not give you a book. They give us what we should find out about our state and that by the end of the quarter the child should know all 50 states and their capitols and a little bit about each state and the region of the country they are in.

 

How do you go about taking the information you have and putting it into days/lesson plans?

 

I have a few state books on Nevada specifically and I have this DK State Atlas that I am going to be working from:

 

http://www.amazon.co...g/dp/0789492571

 

 

I have a lapbook that has sheets for each state where you draw/color the state flag, bird, motto, map etc...

 

We typically have 9 weeks to a quarter, so if I separate them out into sections of the US, that would mean learning 5-8 states generally a week. Is that too much?

 

I don't need to write quizzes or tests, just a daily plan of what I'm doing so that in the end she touches all 50 states, their capitols, and she knows in depth about our state of Nevada.

[Lily_Grace]

I break things down into manageable bites. In your case, I would pick a region to study each week and creating a weekly format. For my kid it would be something like this:

 

Region 1: State we live in and surrounding states. OR, first stanza from

Weekly projects -

state page a day

1 book about *1* state

1 recipe from *1* state

1 tourism site looked at from *1* state

1 biography about a famous person from *1* state

And then creating memory tiles for each state covered and their capitols. Play the game each Friday as it grows and sing along to the song.

[briansmama]

I make a Booklist for each term and schedule weekly readings from each book to finish by the end of the term.

[regentrude]

how do you do it?

 

 

Honestly? I don't.

I do not write lesson plans. I have a rough idea what we want to accomplish, collect materials, and use those until the goal has been met.

 

the 4th quarter or 4th grade is state studies and they do not give you a book. They give us what we should find out about our state and that by the end of the quarter the child should know all 50 states and their capitols and a little bit about each state and the region of the country they are in.

How do you go about taking the information you have and putting it into days/lesson plans?

 

 

I would begin by getting books from the library. Something that has a bit about every state, and a book about your state. I'd add those to the materials they can use for school and see that a certain amount of time is spent on reading stuff from that pile.

 

To memorize states and capitals:

I'd show the kid the geography games at Shepardsoftware

http://www.sheppards...m/web_games.htm

and have her work on it every day for some time until she has memorized the states and capitols.

 

Or use a placemat. Or a puzzle. Should take only a short time.

 

I would work on the state geography by taking lots of field trips, becoming familiar with cities, state parks, historic landmarks, rivers, mountains, participate in history events etc.

 

I have a lapbook that has sheets for each state where you draw/color the state flag, bird, motto, map etc...

 

Great if your DD loves this type of thing. Busy work if she does not (as would have my kids).

 

We typically have 9 weeks to a quarter, so if I separate them out into sections of the US, that would mean learning 5-8 states generally a week. Is that too much?

I don't need to write quizzes or tests, just a daily plan of what I'm doing so that in the end she touches all 50 states, their capitols, and she knows in depth about our state of Nevada.

 

 

Why a daily plan? Why does it have to fit neatly into the quarter - are you accountable to a charter school? (At that age, it would not have bothered me had we needed more time for those studies; we'd simply taken as much time as needed, but I did not have to report to an umbrella school or anything.)

[PachiSusan]

Great if your DD loves this type of thing. Busy work if she does not (as would have my kids).

 

 

 

Why a daily plan? Why does it have to fit neatly into the quarter - are you accountable to a charter school? (At that age, it would not have bothered me had we needed more time for those studies; we'd simply taken as much time as needed, but I did not have to report to an umbrella school or anything.)

 

 

Melissa adores anything that involves coloring, cutting, or glueing! She asked for one.

 

It needs to fit into a quarter because Melissa is enrolled in Seton Home Study School. It doesn't have to be exactly 9 weeks - I can tailor it to the amount of information I want her to know, but we've had a rough year with moving and adjusting to new things and as is, we won't be finishing school until July.

[PachiSusan]

I break things down into manageable bites. In your case, I would pick a region to study each week and creating a weekly format. For my kid it would be something like this:

 

Region 1: State we live in and surrounding states. OR, first stanza from

Weekly projects -

state page a day

1 book about *1* state

1 recipe from *1* state

1 tourism site looked at from *1* state

1 biography about a famous person from *1* state

And then creating memory tiles for each state covered and their capitols. Play the game each Friday as it grows and sing along to the song.

 

 

I bet the song would actually be a kick for Melissa...LOL She loves to sing!

 

We also got an iPhone game called "Stack the States" and she's already been learning the shapes of the states and their capitols.

[PachiSusan]

I make a Booklist for each term and schedule weekly readings from each book to finish by the end of the term.

 

 

Short and sweet. Maybe I need to realize that it's not necessary to write everything down. I got in the habit of doing that because I am trying to keep copious notes of everything we do so that if, God forbid, we get audited by the state, I have proof of what she did. In the minutest detail. LOL

[regentrude]

 

Melissa adores anything that involves coloring, cutting, or glueing! She asked for one.

 

Fabulous. Then I'd center on this as her main project, have her work on it every day, research information to fill in...

 

It needs to fit into a quarter because Melissa is enrolled in Seton Home Study School. It doesn't have to be exactly 9 weeks - I can tailor it to the amount of information I want her to know, but we've had a rough year with moving and adjusting to new things and as is, we won't be finishing school until July.

 

 

I see. What does that entail, do you have to send them what you have done, or is there a test?

I'd simply start with all the resources, have her go at her pace, starting with the states she is most interested in, fill in the last things at the end maybe a bit less elaborate. But that's what *I* would do, before high school we are pretty much child led.

[regentrude]

Short and sweet. Maybe I need to realize that it's not necessary to write everything down. I got in the habit of doing that because I am trying to keep copious notes of everything we do so that if, God forbid, we get audited by the state, I have proof of what she did. In the minutest detail. LOL

 

 

I do keep a log, because we are required. I have a simple excel spreadsheet where I log how much time we spend per subject per day and a brief note about the topic, plus a separate list of resources we have used for each subject. So I could see that Monday, we spent 45 minutes on geography, using online games, stuff like this (and the nice thing is, it is programmed to add times per subject and per day).

But I write this down after the fact - much easier than planning it beforehand.

[Chelli]

If you are wanting some fun to add for each state, I participated in a statewide blog hop where we picked a picture book about each state and came up with a corresponding activity. I will link you to my post about Arkansas, but all of the other states are listed at the bottom of the post.

[PachiSusan]

Fabulous. Then I'd center on this as her main project, have her work on it every day, research information to fill in...

 

 

 

I see. What does that entail, do you have to send them what you have done, or is there a test?

I'd simply start with all the resources, have her go at her pace, starting with the states she is most interested in, fill in the last things at the end maybe a bit less elaborate. But that's what *I* would do, before high school we are pretty much child led.

 

 

There is a self graded test at the end which is basically the 50 states - identifying them by shape and naming their capital.

 

This is what I have had planned for months for the other 49 states:

 

I asked my friends from all over the US to send Melissa a postcard from their state. I have all but 13 states covered and I'm going to send out a plea again this week to finish up. I bought a large 3 ring binder with sheet protectors and for each state she will:

 

Do the lapbook worksheet that has the state motto, flower, quarter, seal, bird, flag, capital, abbreviation, nickname, a map, and color in where on the US map it resides. This is a 2 page front and back page.

 

Then she will take the postcard of the state, glue it on the third page and write what she liked the best/learned that was cool about each state.

 

The in depth state study I am still working on. LOL

[lifesadream83]

[regentrude]

 

This is what I have had planned for months for the other 49 states:

 

I asked my friends from all over the US to send Melissa a postcard from their state. I have all but 13 states covered and I'm going to send out a plea again this week to finish up. I bought a large 3 ring binder with sheet protectors and for each state she will:

 

Do the lapbook worksheet that has the state motto, flower, quarter, seal, bird, flag, capital, abbreviation, nickname, a map, and color in where on the US map it resides. This is a 2 page front and back page.

 

Then she will take the postcard of the state, glue it on the third page and write what she liked the best/learned that was cool about each state.

 

The in depth state study I am still working on. LOL

 

That sounds very cool. If you can't get post cards from all states, maybe she can find a picture online and print it out?

 

For the in depth state study, can you do it hands on with lots of field trips? When my kids were younger, we would do something as a family every weekend, usually hike a state park or wilderness area, or go to a museum. I think that gave them a more concrete knowledge than books could have done.

[PachiSusan]

 

That sounds very cool. If you can't get post cards from all states, maybe she can find a picture online and print it out?

 

For the in depth state study, can you do it hands on with lots of field trips? When my kids were younger, we would do something as a family every weekend, usually hike a state park or wilderness area, or go to a museum. I think that gave them a more concrete knowledge than books could have done.

 

Oh yes!!! We are in Las Vegas and we have access to quite a few things and we are planning them already. We live a stone's throw from Red Rock Canyon and we are going to the Hoover Dam next week. There are old silver mines and ghost towns all over. We are going to have a blast!!! :)

[regentrude]

Oh yes!!! We are in Las Vegas and we have access to quite a few things and we are planning them already. We live a stone's throw from Red Rock Canyon and we are going to the Hoover Dam next week. There are old silver mines and ghost towns all over. We are going to have a blast!!! :)

 

Have fun. That will be the stuff she remembers! And to throw in some extra geography, let her help plan the trips with an atlas, find the route, look for other attractions nearby etc. I'd totally consider this the state geography taken care of. (And we'd probably thrown in some geology, a nature center, local botany, living history, native american myths and make it an integrated all-inclusive learning experience... but I tend to go over board like this, LOL)

[PachiSusan]

Have fun. That will be the stuff she remembers! And to throw in some extra geography, let her help plan the trips with an atlas, find the route, look for other attractions nearby etc. I'd totally consider this the state geography taken care of. (And we'd probably thrown in some geology, a nature center, local botany, living history, native american myths and make it an integrated all-inclusive learning experience... but I tend to go over board like this, LOL)

 

I wonder if the Mob Museum would count as a field trip! ;) I really really want to go to the neon sign graveyard museum too, but they are requiring a sanctioned state national park, so Hoover Dam or Red Rock will probably be the one she writes her report on.

[lifesadream83]

you may think that is a crazy video but I learned it in elementary school and still know it to this day. DD will be learning it next year when we study American History

[PachiSusan]

you may think that is a crazy video but I learned it in elementary school and still know it to this day. DD will be learning it next year when we study American History

 

No, I think it's a great idea. It's irritating to me, which will probably be right on up there with Gangnam Style parody videos in her book. :)

[PachiSusan]

Here is a picture of a state page finished as an example of the lapbook type pages we are doing. We will do this with each state, and we'll be doing it much more in detail on our home state. The big image on the bottom of page 1 will be where the state postcards we have received will be placed. This is what I did today rather than sit around and cry that my daughter is growing up and doesn't like the same things I did when I was her age. She just nixed a whole box of books I've been saving for her to read and some paintings I had saved for her. Wah.

 

Anyway - I put my tears to better use!

 

[RootAnn]

That video brings back memories as my college roommate had that (& other) songs on CD. :thumbup1:

 

As added fun, you could do the lapbook pages in Wakko's song order. . . . Then, when she's all done, she can ALPHABETIZE them! (Or not.)

 

:lurk5: Where'd you get the lapbook pages?

[PachiSusan]

That video brings back memories as my college roommate had that (& other) songs on CD. :thumbup1:

 

As added fun, you could do the lapbook pages in Wakko's song order. . . . Then, when she's all done, she can ALPHABETIZE them! (Or not.)

 

:lurk5: Where'd you get the lapbook pages?

 

 

I just made them today. :)

 

We're actually going to learn the states by region as that is how the spine we're using is set up.

[alisoncooks]

Great-looking notebooking pages! I especially like the 2nd page!

[Michelle My Bell]

I didn't read all your posts but we used this in Heart of Dakota: http://www.statehistory.net/50.html On the website there is a lesson plan page.

[Just Another Jen]

You could look at chc also:https://www.chcweb.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=6_194&products_id=4182

 

We used their geography plans when my oldest 2 were little.

[PachiSusan]

I didn't read all your posts but we used this in Heart of Dakota: http://www.statehistory.net/50.html On the website there is a lesson plan page.

 

 

That was actually one I was debating on, but I just didn't want to spend any more money at al.

[PachiSusan]

You could look at chc also:https://www.chcweb.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=6_194&products_id=4182

 

We used their geography plans when my oldest 2 were little.

 

 

Yep - loved that one too. I'm actually drawn to a lot of CHC;s history and science!

[lifesadream83]

http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/purchase/unitdetail.aspx?purchaseTab=Individual+Units&unitID=169

[lifesadream83]

http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/purchase/unitdetail.aspx?purchaseTab=Individual+Units&unitID=169

[Wheres Toto]

I have links on the top left side of the blog to some lesson plans I've done. Basically I take all the resources I have or want to use, divide the big topic into smaller topics (like states would be broken down into each state) and fill in what I want to do. I get pretty detailed sometimes because if I'm having a tired day I want to be able to just look at it and not have to think.

 

One thing I found for states studies - I have the Road Trip USA and the Intellego unit study - is that it's the same thing over and over. They basically give you ideas for one state and then say to do the same thing each time with different specific information. If you have a book that tells you the state symbols (nickname, flower, bird, etc.) and a few famous people/famous places, put together a post-card, a brochure, a poster and read a few books, you have the entire unit.

 

I've just started our study of New Jersey and since it's our home state (and small enough to get from one end to the other in a day) we are doing a lot of field trips, but this is the basic format of my lesson plans. My kids are younger so it's more reading and doing, and less writing and I'm not worried about memorizing at all. I copied the text below.

 

Below the NJ lesson plan, I copied our New York plan, which is what we will do for the other 49 states (although we may manage a few field trips for NY and PA).

 

 

NEW JERSEY:

Find NJ on US map and highlight. Put up poster with headings: abbreviation, capital, nickname, flag, bird, flower, animal, dinosaur, famous places, famous people, foods,

Discuss:

NJ is in the Northeast region of the US and the Mid-Atlantic sub-region.

· Mark our house, granny kayes, grandpa Charlie and granny franny’s houses on NJ map. Find capital and highlight.

· Add capital to poster, add abbreviation

· Read from National Geographic Atlas, Nat Geo Kids Road Atlas.

· Read from Road Trip USA print-out and NJ Facts and Symbols:

nickname – The Garden State; pg 7

flag – pg 9 and 10

state bird – Eastern Goldfinch; pg 13

state tree – Red Oak; pg 15

state flower –Meadow Violet; pg 17

animal – horse; pg 19

dinosaur – hadrosaurus; pg 21

famous places

famous people

foods – blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes

· Do state coloring page and fill in poster

· Trip to Morris Museum – look at hadrosaurus, local rocks, local animals, local native Americans

LAND:

· Read from New Jersey – Chapter 1

· Look at Pine Lands brochure - discuss

· Look at topographical map. Make salt dough map of NJ.

· Discuss bears and go through flyers

· Trip to Sandy Hook beach

FIRST PEOPLE:

· Read from New Jersey – Chapter 2

· Trip to Trailside and look at wigwam – discuss

SETTLEMENT/REVOLUTIONARY WAR:

· Read from New Jersey – Chapter Exploration & Settlement

· Trip to Jockey Hollow (April - 9 to 5) and Wick House (9:30 to 12/1 to 4:30)

Call to make sure it’s open!!

GROWTH & CHANGE:

· Read from New Jersey – Growth and Change

· Read A Summer’s Adventure on the Morris Canal

· Trip to Canal Park – Ledgewood (80 to 46 east, bear right onto Main St, park on left at King Museum)

Modern Times:

· Read from New Jersey – Modern Times

· Trip to Great Swamp

· Trip to Lucy the Margate Elephant

People:

· Read from New Jersey – People

· Watch Abbott & Costello sketch

Economy:

· Read from New Jersey – Economy

· Read Thomas Edison: Inventor with a lot of bright ideas

· Trip to Edison’s Lab in West Orange with lunch at a Diner before or after

· Choose three items: spoon, eraser, a tea cup and a jar – try to think of ways to improve them (Adventures in Mommydom)

Put HIGHLIGHTS Sticker in PASSPORT

Learn more:

-listen to/watch video Jon Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen

*Play with Tag map

 

NEW YORK:

· Material List:

· Books to order from Library:

Building Manhattan

This is New York

Statue of Liberty

Balloons over Broadway

Albert the dog who liked to ride in taxi cabs

· Play game: starting with NJ, we are going to move North to our next state. What is it?

· Find NY on large US map and highlight.

· Color in NY on Northeast region map.

· Start informational board for NY: abbreviation, nickname, state bird - bluebird, state flower - Rose, capital (mark on map) - Albany, animal, tree – Sugar Maple, dinosaur, famous places, famous people

· Read about at sf.factmonster/states

· Do state coloring page while being read books about state.

· Look at topographical map. Decorate collage piece.

· Field trips: NYC, Statue of Liberty, Catskills

 

 

Learn more about:

-Dairy farms

-Chittenago – home of L. Frank Baum

-first American Railroad

-first state to require license plates

-Washington Irving

-listen to Billy Joel music

-Norman Rockwell