READY TO ROW:

We started rowing Daniel’s Duck at the end of January. It was a wonderful winter row.

As with our other rows, I challenged the boys to create a cover page with an element from the story as well as the author and illustrator.

BIBLE:

Memory Verse:

I created a Bible Memory Verse Pack for this book.

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

As with our other rows, Jordan traced the Bible verse then he added it to his FIAR notebook. Afterwards, he used the Bible verse puzzle to practice his verse until he could recite it from memory.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Tennessee:

We read<a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0516226991/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0516226991&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=e600be1a8b3dcc59709c34c8bfc5f830″>Tennessee (Rookie Read-About Geography)</a> Tennessee and Jordan added some state elements to his FIAR notebook.

We also read <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823413438/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0823413438&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=5d3cfeec2637bafcbd4bc46d005ae1bd”>A Picture Book of Davy Crockett (Picture Book Biography)</a>A Picture Book of Davy Crockett which was a great historical picture book.

Appalachian Mountains:

We also read <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0516268341/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0516268341&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=4f928af8d5d641980b50e723960d1164″>Appalachian Mountains (Rookie Read-About Geography)</a>Appalachian Mountains from the Rookie Read About Geography series.

Appalachian Mountains Lapbook:

I printed our U.S. Lapbooks (North American Geography) – The Appalachian Mountains for the boys to complete and add to their FIAR notebooks.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

First, we reviewed the Appalachian states. As I read the state name, they located it on their U.S. Map Placemat and marked it with a gem.

Afterwards, they worked on their lapbook inserts. Later, we added them to their FIAR notebooks.

Appalachian Gingerbread Village:

We bought a gingerbread village we didn’t use during Christmas. I thought it might be fun to make an Appalachian village with it.

The older kids help hot glue our houses together while I worked on making the “platform” for our village.

We divided the houses so everyone could frost and decorate their own little cabin, like Daniel.

We placed the cabins in our frosted pan and decorated the yards and edges with candies.

It looked SO cute and smelled even better. We left it in the kitchen during most of our time rowing this book.

Log Cabin Life:

We read <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1429622466/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1429622466&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=27de54ca92f2593b2e8de95f17822f44″>Look Inside a Log Cabin</a>Look Inside a Log Cabin, which was a wonderful picture book for this activity.

I set out a “Build a Log Cabin” sensory bin activity for Jordan to do after reading about log cabins.

Jordan LOVES building things, so this activity was just perfect. He built the log cabin and even added an animal pen.

He did such a great job. It looked just like the cabin and pen in our book!

Long Winters:

We read<a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0147512840/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0147512840&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=c023193cc18b4c77f6277277ddd059e7″>The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice</a> The Shortest Day Celebrating the Winter Solstice. This was the PERFECT book to talk about the subject of long winters.

Jordan created his own version of the St. Lucia wreath they mentioned in the book. His funny, whimsical spontaneity makes me smile.

We also read about a family preparing and living through a long winter storm in <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O91TFW/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000O91TFW&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=873bde1e9b81a491f05482e961bfcddd”>Snowed in</a>Snowed In by Barbara M. Lucas.

We also read<a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1623708699/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1623708699&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=57f9d4f3e626dddde55dd724a7fcec7e”>A Loud Winter’s Nap (Fiction Picture Books)</a> A Loud Winter’s Nap, a really cute and fun winter book about about a turtle who just wants to sleep through the winter. Or does he?

Emotions:

We read<a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419723243/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1419723243&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=4cd4852334f00808576863253e62cfbb”>Today I Feel . . .: An Alphabet of Feelings</a> Today I Feel… which was whimsical and fun and reminded me of young Bub.

Afterwards, we played a fun game of matching emotions (childhood101).

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Story Retention:

I created a Daniel’s Duck Story Retention Pack for the boys to work on.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

Quotation Marks:

We read <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1404853308/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1404853308&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=8fab79405c8efc99d6d7af4e965d7175″>If You Were Quotation Marks (Word Fun)</a>Quotation Marks by Molly Blaisdell. This was a great picture book to use while reviewing quotation marks and when we use them.

Grammar:

We continued to work on Jordan’s Sonlight Language Arts program during this row. We incorporated a few winter themed elements.

For the next few weeks, Jordan’s Grammar Ace book discusses types of paragraphs. So Jordan created a snowman page and we decided to add “snowflakes” for each types of sentence we learn about.

He also reviewed when to use “I/me and we/us”, alphabetizing, and weekly spelling words.

MATH:

Measuring:

We brought out our <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1474922651/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1474922651&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=8d0b22b4a19a4c288a35f8c393d37b07″>Lift-The-Flap Measuring Things</a>Usborne Lift-the-Flap Measuring Things book for our math unit.

The section on measuring in millimeters, centimeters, and inches was really fun. Bub loved measuring and checking the results.

Math Lapbooking:

I printed our Measure-Me-Math Lapbook – Measuring Length for Jordan to work on.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

We added the math inserts into his lapbook and he worked on the “Test Your Knowledge” section.

Quilting – Math in Action:

First, we sat on the couch and read <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688163971/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0688163971&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=4a26dc95b4d1d611fc65e5c2670f51d2″>The Quilting Bee</a>The Quilting Bee by Gail Gibbons.

Afterwards, I gave Jordan graph paper and challenged him to create an easy quilting square. He immediately chose to make a Minecraft TNT and Zombie.

He is a detail-oriented kid and has unbelievable tenacity. It’s a pretty amazing force when channeled in the right direction!

He was so cute as he worked on his Minecraft quilting squares.

I put both of his Minecraft designs in his notebook too! This was fun and practical way to incorporate math into everyday activities.

SCIENCE:

Seasons:

We read<a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544785096/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0544785096&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=324aff4eaff3297cb3b9a8575de2dc78″>Curious George Discovers the Seasons (science storybook)</a> Curious George Discovers The Seasons. Bub and I have been reading Curious George since he was a toddler. That curious little monkey was one of the few stories he would sit and listen to way back when.

Curious George Printable:

I created a Curious George Discovers The Seasons printable pack for Jordan.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

After reading the story with me, he tested his story retention by doing the cut & paste worksheet.

Winter:

We read several books about winter to get our science unit going. We LOVED <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0763695211/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0763695211&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=470e470583754af5ac21c953c8de1650″>Bears in the Snow (Bears on Chairs)</a>Bears in the Snow. It was such a cute story and the illustrations were adorable!

I found a great “Look Out My Window” worksheet on The Mailbox website. This would also be a great Read & Do while rowing<a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140501827/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0140501827&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=59122476757dcf046ce2c6f4f38558d7″>The Snowy Day</a> The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. One of these days, I’ll catch up on my BFIAR rows and add it to our “Posts from the Past”.

Parks and I sang the poem to the tune of “Up on the Housetop”. Afterwards, he colored his window scene. This was a simple, yet wonderful activity.

I thought using white crayon and blue dot paints may make the winter scene a little more fun. Parker just loved this idea!

Jordan decided to transform the room into his favorite childhood books, <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0694003611/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0694003611&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=978bc6edb9dc95d0f2f26ff797b2d740″>Goodnight Moon</a>Goodnight Moon.

He drew his snowy scene with white crayons and added his blue dot paint too!

They turned out beautiful! We added them to our FIAR notebooks.

Snowy Weather:

Blizzard in a Bottle:

Since we were studying winter weather, I thought it would be fun to do a “blizzard in a bottle” experiment.

I brought out all the supplies and set them out at the kitchen table. I figured the kids and I could do our experiment after breakfast.

First we read <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1474971520/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1474971520&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=85cf0c2502f2d04e655c099b6306fc2d”>The Snowy Day (Little Board Books)</a>The Snowy Day then I set up the experiment. I filled a jar with baby oil and white paint and let it settle.

I broke up an Alka-Seltzer tablet and gave everyone a piece. We took turns placing them into the jar.

This was a simple and fun activity to do together. It reminded me of our preschool days!

Snowy Sensory Bin:

We read a several winter themed picture books, but our favorite was <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1442416580/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1442416580&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=22f6d702f83b39b370197862b1d53476″>Chaucer’s First Winter</a>Chaucer’s First Winter. It was such a cute story and an adorable bear!

Afterwards, I asked the kids to transform our Log Cabin sensory bin into a winter wonderland. They did and it was fun to hear them playing together!

Hibernation Cupcakes:

My friend Kate made hibernation cupcakes when her kiddos were young and I thought they were adorable. Here’s a little tip…make sure you use the right ingredients!

I didn’t have teddy grahams, so I used circus animals instead. They didn’t turn out EXACTLY as planned.

I forgot about the frosted coating…..it melted completely leaving behind a pink swirled cupcake with an animal cookie that was invisible to the naked eye! LOL….a Pinterest Fail!!!

The kids were SO cute and easy to please. They gobbled them up, camouflaged animal and all!

Well, this time I bought chocolate teddy grahams with yellow cupcakes – contrast, without melting elements, is key!

That evening my husband surprised us with a special movie night!

We watched Frozen 2 and ate our hibernation cupcakes during an intermission.

Spring:

Since both boys were learning about the seasons in their Sonlight Level C Science lessons, I printed a Reason to Love the Seasons booklet for them to color and complete.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

We read <a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310725097/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0310725097&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=3ddfb114fae74032017c8ba52a8716fc”>The Berenstain Bears, God Made the Seasons: Level 1 (I Can Read! / Berenstain Bears / Living Lights: A Faith Story)</a>The Berenstain Bears God Made the Seasons together.

Jordan completed his and we added it to his FIAR notebook.

I paired All Year Round by Emilie Leduc with this activity for Parker.

I read the book aloud while Parker colored the cut and paste items.

Afterwards, he glued them to the season pages.

We couldn’t read about spring without walking outdoors and breathing the fresh spring air.

We sat, relaxed, and read about the weather.

Afterwards, the boys ran and threw around the football! My favorite part of the day is walking outside with the kids.

CRAFT & OTHER FUN STUFF:

Soap Carving:

We couldn’t row this book without having a fun carving activity. I decided to do a soap carving activity using Bub’s pocket knife.

Jordan and I read<a href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316309516/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0316309516&linkCode=as2&tag=littlelearn01-20&linkId=6e1ab74af49481fea810d77f7a62c1d5″>Country Fair</a> Country Fair by Gail Gibbons.

I gave Jordan an index card to sketch what he wanted to carve. He decided to carve a cross, so we used his ruler to sketch it out.

After tracing the cross on the soap bar, Jordan used his pocket knife to begin carving the cross.

We set his carving project on Learning Lane and decided he would continue to work on it a little each day during our read-aloud time.

Though he enjoyed this project, he realized that you can’t “un-do” something you carved too much. It really is better to be patient and go slowly then try to rush a project along.

HELPFUL LINKS:

Daniel’s Duck Playlist:

As with our other rows, we created Daniel’s Duck 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 Daniel’s Duck Pinterest Board.