Mr. Popper's Penguins Literature Study

 

Last month we read Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.  We had just wrapped up a study on Antarctica and this book was the perfect culminating activity!  And, of course, we planned to watch the movie upon completion of the book - which everyone was looking forward to, even though we had seen it before. 

Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler has put together several Literature Study lapbooks.  And Mr. Popper's Penguins just happened to be one of them!  So, I thought we would try our hand at some lapbooking!


The kids thoroughly enjoyed the book!  Begging for "just one more chapter!"  And the lit study was a great addition.  We did one lapbook together, with each of the kids working on a different element.  I love the way it turned out!

Father's Day

Running late....as usual....
But just in case you're right there with me and need a last minute Father's Day gift idea........

The kids have been enjoying some Shel Silverstein poem books that they found on our bookshelf.  Recently, they mentioned this poem to me and I thought it was perfect for Father's Day.  I dressed it up a bit to print off for the D-A-D in our house. 

Remote-a-Dad

by: Shel Silverstein

 

 

And since I'm short on time, I am planning on having Dad take part in the kids' craft to "create" their own remote controls for Dad.  Nothing too fancy.  I'm just pulling out some cardboard and other various craft supplies and letting them use their awesome creativeness to build these special remotes.  Looking forward to lots of laughs as the kids use this poem as a little inspiration for playing with their Dad on Father's Day! 

Hoping this free download is a blessing to anyone else that is running late this year!

Summer Reading Bookmark

It's time for

S U M M E R    R E A D I N G ! ! !

 

I'm always on the look out for a simple way to track our summer reading.  Why not a bookmark?!

You often keep one close by while reading.  So why not make that bookmark doubly useful......

saving your spot AND tracking your reading time!

 

 

This bookmark is simple - you just color in a book on the bookshelf each time you read for 20 minutes.  Once you have colored in all the books on the bookmark, you will have read for

10 HOURS!!!

 

That's quite an accomplishment!

 

And if you're still going strong, you can fill up another bookmark!

 

Our local libraries and other reading games that we sign-up for all have their own tracking systems - some we record the time on the internet, others have sheets or calendars to fill in/hand in.  I plan to use this bookmark as our initial record of reading.  Then, transfer our time to each separate reading game.  I think it will really simplify things to use the bookmarks as our one main record to keep track of for each child. 

 

Click on the pic above to download a copy of my Summer Reading Bookmark. 

Note: it comes with 2 bookmarks per sheet. 

 

I'd love to hear how this Summer Reading Bookmark works for you!  Leave me a comment!!!

 

 



June's Reading List

Well, I'm a bit late in getting this post out...but we still have lots of days in June to fill with reading! 

Last month was our first go at having a reading list.  And I think we did very well!  We didn't get to all the chapter books, so I only put 3 on the list this month.  We did get to most of the picture books multiple times, but occasionally forgot to mark them on our chart.  Overall, I was very encouraged by the increased amount of reading time we spent together. 

And now that summer is starting, and summer reading games are popping up all over, I am sure our drive to increase our reading time will continue to grow. 
 
I was excited to pull out several "daddy" books to go with Father's Day this month.

 

June's Reading List

Chapter Books:
More Stories from Grandma's Attic by Arleta Richardson
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo