We chose to row The Hatmaker’s Sign right after Paul Revere’s Ride. We were on a patriotic roll!

READY TO ROW:

Tea Party:

We kicked off our new book with a toast to Paul Revere’s Ride. We celebrated with our own tea party!

I set out the new tea set My husband bought me for Christmas. It’s SO pretty!

Bub made a pound cake, since this was a common dessert served in colonial times. I’ve listed that baking adventure at the end of this post.

Story Disk:

Jordan colored our story disk and set it “near” Boston, because the East Coast was pretty crowded.

Cover Page:

The boys created their own cover art for this book.

BIBLE:

Memory Verse:

I created a Bible Verse pack for The Hat Maker’s Sign using clipart Haley made.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store. There’s a FREEbie tracer in the preview.

The boys traced their verses one day. I cut apart their verses and they glued them together in their FIAR notebook.

The boys took turns using the Bible verse puzzle to practice their verse.

Character:

We watched many episodes of the Clive and Ian Character Quest show on Minno kids.

Characteristics – Antonyms & Synonyms:

I thought I would cover both character and language arts together. I drew a quickie worksheet with John’s key character traits.

I provided space so Jordan could write an antonym and synonym for each trait, using a pocket thesaurus.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Boston:

Jordan and I read Larry Gets Lost in Boston. Parker read this book while rowing Paul Revere’s Ride.

There were so many historical places explored in this book. It was perfect for both rows.

The Story of the Boston Road:

I set out a “Build a Road” activity to pair with Gail Gibbon’s From Path to Highway. I gathered sand dough, acorn tops (cobblestone), craft sticks (plank), and cut skewers (corduroy).

First, we read the book together on the couch.

Afterwards, the kids LOVED chatting and building the different road types. They built a cobblestone road with a sand dough base and acorns nestled together.

They built a plank road with a sand dough base and topped with craft sticks lined up.

They built a corduroy road with a sand dough base and lined up wood skewers cut-to-size.

England:

We paid tribute to England by reading Katie in London.

Declaration of Independence:

This week, we used the preamble of the Declaration of Independence as Jordan’s dictation source.

I created a historical timeline with event boxes for Jordan to put in order and write dates for.

Sign with a Quill:

I ordered an ink well and goose tail feathers so Jordan to make a quill pen. He’s wanted to do this for a very long time.

I set out all the supplies and opened our Colonial Kids book to the Quill Pen activity page.

He used his Swiss army knife to notch the feather. It looked really nice.

He practiced writing with the quill then signed his Declaration of Independence paper.

Founding Fathers:

We took a little time to learn about both King George and George Washington.

George & George:

We read excerpts about both Georges from our George vs. George book.

Thomas Jefferson:

We read excerpts about king George and George Washington.

We also read George Washington and the General’s Dog and the boys worked on a George Washington worksheet (The Mailbox).

We also read When Washington Crossed the Delaware by Lynne Cheney.

Jordan read A Picture Book About Thomas Jefferson and both boys read Thomas Jefferson’s Feast.

The boys colored a worksheet about Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence (education.com).

Benjamin Franklin:

Jordan read A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin and Parker read Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Vocabulary:

I created a Vocabulary worksheet for this row. Jordan and I reviewed it together.

You can download your FREE copy here at our TPT Store.

Story Review:

I created a Story Review pack for this row.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

The completed pages of the Story Review pack.

Figurative Language:

In addition to reviewing antonyms and synonyms, we reviewed analogies.

We read through Jordan’s Grammar Ace notebook about analogies, specifically metaphors and similes.

Poetry:

I created a Sea Fever poetry booklet for the boys to use to memorize.

You can download your FREE copy here at our TPT Store.

The boys traced their booklets throughout our time rowing this book. The sea fever inspired them to make blue water..

MATH:

Subtraction:

We subtracted dates, calculating the ages of our founding fathers while rowing Paul Revere’s Ride. I created The Hatmaker’s Sign with several math worksheets involving subtraction.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

Design a Hat:

We read Old Hat, New Hat which had many examples of opposites, or antonyms. Afterwards, we read The Magic Hat Shop, which showed many different types of hats.

The kids designed a line hats after lunch. An art activity is always a fun brain break.

I created a math worksheet to use alongside the “Design a Hat” activity.

Money:

Jordan read One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent on his own and we read Money Madness together.

SCIENCE:

Water Cycle:

We read The Water Cycle together.

I printed copies of our water cycle lapbook insert from our Wish for a Fish printable. Later on, I added a Label the Water Cycle worksheet in our Story Review pack.

The boys painted their water cycle wheels.

After they dried, we assembled them. They turned out really cute.

Clouds:

We read Clouds and Tomie de Paola’s The Cloud Book.

I created a basket of cloud activities, but we stopped at watercolors.

I brought out cloud cards (Brave Home Grown) and everyone had fun painting clouds together.

Sailing:

We began reading Carry On, Mr. Bowditch a few weeks before starting this row. It was perfect, because we learned about sailing, apprentices and being indentured. It was

We read The Boat Book and The Little Sailboat Book.

The boys color-coded the parts of the sailboat

Marine Fishing:

We thumbed through Deep-Sea Fisherman in Action (Epic) and saw many different types of deep-sea fishing boats, traps, and riggings.

Afterwards, Jordan and I read Deep Sea Fishing on our Epic app.

Healthy Habits:

Jordan and I read Healthy Habits.

Afterwards, he wrote down his daily habits and color-coded them as “morning”, “night”, or both.

ARTS & MORE FUN:

Poundcake:

We read how poundcake was originally made with a pound of this and that during colonial times.

Jordan went to the kitchen to make one for our tea party.

We added whipped cream and a patriotic mix of red and blueberries.

Watercolor Painting:

We reviewed the watercolor style of a few FIAR books, The Hatmaker’s Sign, Henry Castaway, and Mr. Gumpy’s Outing.

Sourdough Bread:

We just HAD to make a loaf of sourdough while rowing this book. Haley made sourdough starter while reading Bound For Oregon.

Jordan helped make our sourdough bread. He weighed our sourdough starter and mixed it with the other ingredients.

We set it aside to rise.

We wrapped it and placed it in the fridge to proof for about 24 hours.

We laid it on the counter to rest. Then we scored it and covered it in our dutch oven to bake. We uncovered it to bake the remaining set time.

It smelled AMAZING while it was baking! It was crunchy on the outside and perfect on the inside. It wasn’t s quick process, but it turned out delicious and beautiful!

We served on the side of hot New England clam chowder. we may not have been on the wharf, but it sure seemed like it!

HELPFUL LINKS:

Pinterest Board:

You can find most of the activities, ideas, and printables from this post on our The Hatmaker’s Journey.

Youtube Playlist:

As with our other rows, we created a The Hatmaker’s Sign Playlist with read-alouds, music, science, and other clips.