READY TO ROW:

Story Disk:

Jordan colored the story disk and added it to our world map.

BIBLE:

Memory Verse:

I created a Bible Verse Printable Pack for this book.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT store.  There’s a bonus FREEbie in the Preview.

The first day, Jordan traced his Bible verse.

The next day, we cut it apart and added it to his FIAR notebook.

He used the Bible verse puzzle to memorize the verse for the rest of the row.

Ruth & Naomi:

Since we were studying wheat, we had to read about Ruth and Naomi as she gleaned in Boaz’s fields.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Father & Son:

Climbing Kansas Mountains was a wonderful story about a father and son.  We talked about that relationship and we read Froggy’s%20Day with DadFroggy’s Day with Dad.

Kansas:

We read several books about Kansas, the Sunflower State!

We brought out Travels%20With Charlie: Across the MidwestTravels with Charlie Across the Midwest and a Kansas activity page (dollar bin find).

The boys completed their state page and we added it to their FIAR notebooks.

We also completed another state activity (123Homeschool4me) while watching clips about Kansas on our playlist.

Mountains:

The only mountains in Kansas are the grain elevators, but we still took a little time to read about mountains.

We read Mountains by Kimberly M. Hutmacher and we brought out our parts of the Mountain Definition Cards (Montessori Print Shop).

I read the definition cards while Jordan colored the Parts of the Mountain worksheet, the FREEbie from our Climbing Kansas Mountain Science Pack.

We also read about The Rocky Mountains since Colorado borders Kansas:

Kansas State Report:

Since we were studying Kansas for this row, I decided to have Jordan work on a state report.

He used books and online resources to complete My Great State Report by Scholastic.

He really put his heart into completing the report.  We spaced it out over a week or so.

Once he finished, he made cue cards for his oral report.

Salt Dough Map:

Jordan traced the shape of Kansas on our cardboard and I set out the ingredients for our flour dough map.

Jordan mixed and measured out the ingredients.

He squished and mixed the dough with his hands.

He rolled out the flour dough map and we cut it to match the outline of Kansas.

We used a sharpie to draw the major rivers, one at a time.

He used a wooden chopstick to mark each river until we had them all mapped out.

After marking the rivers, we set the flour dough map aside to dry out completely.

We brought out a topographical map and he painted each section based on elevation.

He took his time mixing the colors and painting each section.

Then he used a smaller brush to paint the rivers.  We set it aside to dry.

He did such a great job with both the written report and the flour dough map.

State Symbols:

The boys completed their Kansas fact page (123Homeschool4me), coloring the various state symbols.

We also read about meadowlarks in our North American Songbirds book.

Maps:

We read about several types of maps in There’s a Map on My Lap!.

I printed a State Scavenger Hunt (education.com) for the boys to work on.

The boys worked on their state scavenger hunt worksheets.  This was a great introduction to getting acquainted with latitude and longitude.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Similes & Metaphors:

We read about Similes and Metaphors in our No-Nonsense Grammar book and I printed our Fall Simile worksheets.

First, Bub chose fall colored crayons to color the leaves.

Next, he wrote words that reminded him of fall.  The following worksheet provided space to create similes using his list of fall words.

Symbolism – Our Daily Bread:

We talked about God’s word, the Bible, being “Our Daily Bread”.  I actually read the introduction to Our Daily Bread for Kids: 365 Meaningful Moments with GodOur Daily Bread for Kids devotional.  It was PERFECT for covering symbolism.

Story Retention:

I created a Climbing Kansas Mountains Story Review pack for the boys to work on.  They worked on the pages after reading the book for several days.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.  There’s a bonus FREEbie in the Preview!

The boys read through the questions and colored the correct answers on the first page of the story review.

Then they cut and pasted the answers to the second worksheet.

MATH:

Weights & Measures:

I created a new Measure-Me-Math Wet and Dry Measurements lapbook pack for the boys to work on for this row.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

First, we read Me%20and the Measure of ThingsMe and the Measure of Things.  This is a GREAT book that covers measuring just about everything without going too deep.  It even mentioned bushels and pecks.

This was a great addition to our Singapore Math program.  Parker was learning all about measuring wet and dry ingredients in his Singapore Math (2nd Grade).

We even measured our rug which was about a square yard.

Acres & Inchies Art:

I thought it would be fun to combine math and art for a fun lesson on acres.  I opened the book to the illustration of the acres of farmland, set out colored pencils, and a cup of 1 inch squares.

First, we reviewed how one acre is 4,840 square yards.  We found our throw rug was approximately one square yard.

Using the book as a guide, Jordan sketched lines, patterns, and swirls of farm land in neat one inch squares.

He glued his inchie art in his FIAR Notebook.

SCIENCE:

From Wheat to Flour:

We studied the process of growing wheat to making bread.

First, we read How God Gives us Bread which gave a nice overview of the wheat to flour process.



We also read From%20Wheat to Bread (Who Made My Lunch?)Who Made my Lunch? From Wheat to Bread which was a new series with wonderful illustrations.

Then we read about grains in our See%20Inside Where Food Comes FromSee Inside Where Food Comes From book.

We also read See%20Inside Where Food Comes FromPlants on a Farm from the Acorn World of Farming series.

Baking Bread:

First, we read about how bread is made in a bakery then Jordan went to the kitchen to make bread rolls from scratch.

He cracked the eggs and measured the ingredients all by himself.

I asked if he needed help, but he informed me that he wanted to make them all by himself, just like the little red hen.

After letting the dough rise, I helped shape and bake the rolls.

Sunflowers:

Growing Sunflowers:

We couldn’t row this book without giving a little attention to the flower that gives Kansas it’s name, “Kansas the sunflower state”.

First, we read The%20Sunflower Parable: Special 10th Anniversary Edition (Parable Series)The Sunflower Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs and I set out a plant a sunflower seed tray.

The kids took turns soaking their soil pellets with the hot water.

They love seeing the pellets expand.

They opened each pellet and put the dirt into their clear cups.  (I had to poke holes in the bottom, for drainage).

They wrote the names of the varieties on plant markers.

And they placed the seeds into their cups.

After a week, they wrote sketched their results on our Growing a Sunflower worksheet (in the Climbing Kansas Mountains Story Review Pack).

Sunflower Life Cycle:

I created a few Sunflower Science pages in our Climbing Kansas Mountains Story Review Pack.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

We read several books about sunflower lifecycles before working on our

The older kids read the sunflower lifecycle books on their own.

Afterwards, they colored, cut, and pasted their life cycle worksheets.

I was able to capture what was left of the sunflowers growing in our garden.

ARTS, CRAFTS, & FUN:

Van Gough Sunflowers:

I set out a fun sunflower art project to pair with James Mayhew’s Katie and the SunflowersKatie and the Sunflowers.

I set out a fun sunflower art project to pair with James Mayhew’s Katie and the SunflowersKatie and the Sunflowers.

After reading the book, the kids used colored pencils to sketch their sunflowers.

Next, they used white glue to trace the outline of their sunflowers.

This step was a little tricky for the boys, because it was hard to get a thin line of glue to cover their sketches.

Once complete, we set them aside to dry.

We took the next part of this art project outside for greater inspiration.

Haley loves to blend the colors on her palette.

She added chalk pastels and used her finger to blend the colors into the black background.

They each added their own twist to this wonderful art project.

I used hair spray to seal the chalk pastels to our black construction paper.  They turned out beautifully!

HELPFUL LINKS:

Climbing Kansas Mountain Playlist:

As with our other rows, we created Climbing Kansas Mountains Playlist with read-alouds, music, science, and other clips.

Pinterest Board:

You can find most of the activities, ideas, and printables from this post on our Climbing Kansas Mountains Pinterest Board.