CHAPTER 1

READY TO ROW:

Parker started his 8th grade year with Skylark, a chapter book row from FIAR Volume 7. Hopefully, we’ll be able to weave in any remaining picture book mini units throughout the year, hopefully holiday theme units.

Cover Art:

Parker chose to replicate the book cover as his cover art for this row.

BIBLE:

FIAR Bible Supplement:

Parker read both the scripture and the lesson material for chapter 1, from the FIAR Bible Supplement Guide.

Bible Verse:

Parker wrote and memorized Proverbs 7:1-3 as his Bible verse for this chapter.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

History – Family Portraits:

I had Parker sketch a cartoon “family portrait” for our immediate family and adding each person’s “prized possession”.

History – A Look Back at Drought:

Parker read about the “Dust Bowl” and seasons of drought in our DK Smithsonian American History book.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Writing & Discussion Question:

Parker responded to the writing and discussion question in his FIAR Notebook.

A Writer’s Style – MacLachlan’s Use of Nature:

In addition to reading the FIAR Teaching manual, I added worksheets that Parker completed in the seasons of the prairie science unit below.

MacLachlan’s Other Books:

I brought out many of our Patricia MacLachlan books for Parker to choose to read on the side.

Vocabulary:

There was only one vocabulary word, so I chose to combine it with the following chapter.

Read-Aloud:

We plan to pick a new read-aloud to begin our school year. We may read a Patricia MacLachlan book or fall back on the next book in either C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series or the next book in the Little Britches series.

SCIENCE:

Seasons on the Prairie:

In addition to being a Language Arts unit, I added it a “seasons on the prairie” science unit.

Parker read Seasons of the Grassland Biome on our EPIC app.

Afterwards, he worked on several seasonal worksheets from our Skylark Grab Bag.

Film Photography:

In addition to the FIAR Teaching manual, I had Parker read Click! by Gail Gibbons.

ACTIVITIES & OTHER FUN STUFF:

Back to School:

The night before school, I set the table with a nod to yesteryear and filled tins with little snacks and prizes. This is a bitter-sweet moment as it’s our last year of FIAR. We’ve made so many wonderful memories and we’re praying this year will be full of lasting memories too!

HELPFUL LINKS:

Chapter Book GRAB BAG:

I started creating a GRAB BAG for the Skylark Chapter Book Unit. The Grab Bag series is a collection of worksheets and/or activities that I create while studying the FIAR Chapter Book units with my children. I will post it as soon as it’s available for purchase.

*NOTE: Please be aware that any printable from the Grab Bag series may have worksheets that are similar and/or the same as those available in our other printables. We try to include anything that could enhance a student’s learning experience while rowing the chapter book series.

Pinterest Board:

You can find most of the activities, ideas, and printables from this post on our Skylark Pinterest board.

Youtube Playlist:

As with our other rows, we created a Skylark Playlist with read-alouds, music, science, and other clips.