Thursday, July 24, 2014

Ideas for August Feast Days

Posted by The Cotter Family
Here are some of our favorite traditions for the month of August. This is by no means an exhaustive list, rather it's my way of creating a resource that I plan to revisit each year for myself! I hope you can find it beneficial as well!

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary


Other Ideas
August 6th: Transfiguration
Jesus was transfigured on a mountain top. Take a hike up a mountain today!
Take a hike: Feast of the Transfiguration (2013)

Other Ideas

August 11th: St. Clare


St. Clare Chicken Pot Pie. I formed the crust to look like a monstrance.

 Other Ideas
August 14th: St. Maximilian Kolbe

Other Ideas
August 15th: Assumption


Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary (2011)


Solemnity of the Assumption (2013)

Other Ideas
August 22th: Queenship of Mary

Other Ideas
August 23th: St. Rose of Lima

Other Ideas
August 27th: St. Monica

Other Ideas
August 28th: St. Augustine

Other Ideas
Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Saturday, July 19, 2014

Journey Across America: Illinois

Posted by The Cotter Family
This post is part of a 50 state Journey Across America. For information on the basics of this project check out this post.

The Books:
We began by reading L is for Lincoln and then Bean used the information she learned to make a notebook page for her United States scrapbook.

I read the kids Country Crossing, for our Illinois picture book. While the setting of the book is in Illinois, the book is about trains and not the state... my 5 year old son did not complain. American Girl Molly is an Illinoisan, so Bean also read some of her books as well.


We also taught the kids about Illinois using the Our United States of America: Catholic Social Studies textbook.

The Food:
We enjoyed some deep dish pizza straight from Old Chicago for our Illinois food. I think we studied Illinois about the time that meals from our friends were running out after the birth of Baby Peanut.


The Craft:
Good ole Abe Lincoln spent the majority of his life living in Illinois and rests there in Springfield, IL. Because of his many ties to the state we spent an afternoon playing with Lincoln Logs, which were named after Abraham, who was born in a one room log cabin.


We are moving on to Alabama next!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Thursday, July 17, 2014

18 Timeline Games and Activities for Classically Catholic Memory or Classical Conversations

Posted by The Cotter Family
For all 18 weeks of CCM last year I came up with a different timeline game or activity for the kids to complete. I've compiled them here for your convenience.

(And I made my first Canva design to go with it. Um, yes, I have some learning to do, just ignore the blue stuff on the bottom.)


Catch Phrase

Play Catch Phrase with your timeline cards. For the phrases, have the players pick up a card from a pile in the middle of the circle when the disc comes their way. You can play with teams or work together to guess all 8 cards before the timer runs out. This is a great review game if you put multiples weeks in the pile!


Disappearing Timeline

Write down the entire timeline on a white board and have your students read it out loud. Then have them close their eyes while you erase one or two words. When they open their eyes have them read the timeline again, stating the missing word from memory. Do this over and over until the board is blank and the students have to recite all eight cards from memory.


Word Search

Give your students a word search with no word bank. Tell them clues for the words they need to find, such as "Leif _______ and the ______" (Erickson, Vikings). You can put together a word search for free at A to Z Teacher Stuff.


Bean Bag Toss

Tape the timeline cards to the floor and label eight bean bags (or bean animals) from 1-8. Have the students toss the bag labeled "1" to the first timeline card. When they successfully get the bag to land touching the first card then have them move on to the second bag and the second card and so on.


Missing Card

Lay the cards out in order on a table. Have one student close their eyes while another student removes one card from the sequence and squeezes the cards together so that the missing card is not apparent. The first student opens their eyes and determines where the missing card belongs and identifies the name of the card. In this case "The Alamo, the Republic of Texas, and the Mexican War" is missing.


Scrabble Challenge

Beginning with the first card of the week, have the students pick one word from the card and built it with scrabble tiles. Then have them pick one word from the next card and attach it to the first card's word. Continue in this fashion until one word from all eight cards have been added to the board. Finally, have them recite the timeline using the tiles for clues.


Tube Towers

Write the eight timeline cards on eight toilet paper tubes and have the students build a tower out of them in the correct order. While building, the tower will fall down several times, which gives them more practice in committing the order to memory. Brilliant, I know. This makes for a fun co-op game if you make two sets and have the kids race to see who can complete the tower, in the correct order, without it falling over, first.


Charades Meets Blind Man's Bluff

Have a student draw a timeline card and hold it up to their forehead so that everyone can see the card but them. Those who can see the card then act out the card until the student with the card on their forehead accurately guesses the card.


Sequence

Inspiration for this game comes from round two in Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Cover the backs of each of the cards with a 3x5 card and then place them all face down. Have the students take turns trying to flip over the cards in the correct sequence. If they turn over a card that is not the next card in the sequence, then their turn is over. Once someone can complete the full sequence without missing a card, they win.


Hangman

This game is like hangman, but instead of each letter getting a blank, each word gets a blank. Only letters that begin a word are written down. Below you see "Charlemagne Becomes Holy Roman Emperor". This game is best for cards that don't involve dates.


Card Hop

Place the cards around the room and have the students hop on them, in order, over and over again.


It's in the Bag

Place each card in a paper bag and then have the students alternate turns trying to find the first card in the sequence. Once the card has been found, removed the bag from the line and start looking for the next card. Do not tell the students which card they are looking for, rather once they find the card that they think is correct, have them check the back of the card to see if they are correct. If they are wrong, have them put the card back and try again.


$10,000 Pyramid

This game is a modified version of The $10,000 Pyramid. Begin by placing six of the cards facedown in a pyramid formation. Have one student turn the bottom left card over and describe the card to another student (who cannot see the cards) using only one word descriptors. (The real game uses phrases, but that's too much like the Catch Phrase game.) When the other student guesses the card correctly the first player moves to the next card. The team has 60 seconds to get all 6 cards. This is a great way to review old cards!


Crossword Puzzle

You can create a crossword puzzle using the timeline phrases at Worksheet Works.


Hide and Seek

Hide the cards around your house or backyard. Once all of the cards have been found have the kids put them in order. Younger kids love it when you hid things... it's like Easter.


Gone Fishing

Give a student a fishing pole made from a piece of string, stick, and magnet ring. Attach a large paperclip to each timeline card and spread them out in a "pond". Have the student catch the cards in order. If they catch a card out of sequence, throw it back in the pond.


Pictionary

Use the timeline cards to play Pictionary! I really don't think I need to explain this one.


Word Scramble

Create a timeline word scramble using the word scramble maker at Worksheet Works.


What games do you play with your timeline cards?

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
Posted in

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Journey Across America: Mississippi

Posted by The Cotter Family
This post is part of a 50 state Journey Across America. For information on the basics of this project check out this post.

The Books:
We began by reading M is for Magnolia and then Bean used the information she learned to make a notebook page for her United States scrapbook.

For Mississippi picture books we read Freedom Summer and Growing Seasons. 


We also taught the kids about Mississippi using the Our United States of America: Catholic Social Studies textbook.

The Food:
Was there really any contest for our Mississippi food? Of course we made Mississippi Mud Pie! We used an easy recipe from food.com and made it even easier by using a pre-made graham cracker crust.


The Craft:
In honor of The Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, we made a hot air balloon mobile using instructions from Sew Homegrown. We didn't paint them like she did... I know the cuteness factor just went down, but this mobile is still hanging in Bean's room, so it's okay.


Our Journey takes us to Illinois next!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
Posted in

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Journey Across America: Indiana

Posted by The Cotter Family
This post is part of a 50 state Journey Across America. For information on the basics of this project check out this post.

The Books:
We began by reading H is for Hoosier and then Bean used the information she learned to make a notebook page for her United States scrapbook.

For picture books we read The Floating House and Log Cabin in the Woods.


We also taught the kids about Indiana using the Our United States of America: Catholic Social Studies textbook.

The Food:
For a quick snack we had some Orville Redenbacher popcorn, because Orville was born in Brazil, Indiana.


We also made Indiana Bread Pudding from The United States Cookbook. The book selected bread pudding for it's Indiana recipe because Indiana is a leading producer of eggs. This was an easy recipe for the kids to do without much adult help!


The Craft:
Indianapolis is home to the Indy 500, so we made some race cars! I found these cute toilet paper tube cars on a hungarian blog. While I couldn't read the directions, the blogger took detailed pictures so I was able to figure it out! We also watched the highlights of a recent race on youtube. 3 to 3.5 hours compressed into 16 minutes... perfect.


Mississippi is up next!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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