This week Brynne studied the state of Florida in her U.S. States study. It was an ordinary week, no bells and whistles. So, I thought I would take this opportunity to share the resources we use for our states studies.
If at all possible, I check out a book about the state from this series. These books are very short, concise but with lots of pertinent information, and have great pictures. In fact, if we were pressed for time, Brynne could even read these books herself.
A Fun Book about the State
To me, I want us reading about everything that we do. I try to find a good fictional book that is set in the state we are studying. I do this in a few ways ...
- Do a Keyword search through our local library database
- Get a recommendation from Mrs. McGowan's 50 States Book List
- Get a recommendation from NEA (National Education Association) 50 State Book List
An Activity
I try to draw something from our book we read above and do a hands-on activity, like cooking or a craft. We don't always get to this, however, because we only do our history studies two days a week. I just read the book ahead of time and see if something catches my eye. Like for the state of Virginia, we read Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Bake You a Pie. So, we baked an apple crunch. I also pay attention to your ideas and bookmark those for later use.
Coloring Page
While I am reading books to Brynne, she is usually working on a coloring page. I print off our pages from the Crayola site.
Notebooking Page
Honestly, I can't remember where I got mine. But, Jimmie's Collage has a great set of state notebooking pages. We do one of these for each state and print off pictures of all of the state symbols to attach to the page.
State License Plates
I printed off the state license plates from here, and made a large blank map of the United States for Brynne to attach the license plate to.
Postcards
Brynne learns which state we will be studying that week by getting the mail on Mondays and finding a postcard from that state, that I have received from a Postcard Swap that started this past summer.
Did you do something fun this week in your history studies? (And it doesn't have to just be about a particular state.) If so, link up!!
Thanks for the links and tips! I can really use these, especially the license plate link. We are approaching our states in much the same way, so I do need to do a post next week (we will be studying Kansas) and link with you!
ReplyDeleteI do similar things, except I try to do a lot more. I'm perfectly willing to take a month on one state if that's how many books I can find at the library.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with you on that series. They've got a similar one for other topics and every one I've checked out has been great.
What a great way to study the states! Thanks for sharing your information.
ReplyDeleteI am stopping and linking up by from All Things Beautiful.