Science Fair

This year, the homeschool group we are with is having a Science Fair. To introduce the subject and get ideas, we read the book No Fair Science Fair by Nancy Poydar. The story is about a boy that makes a bird feeder, to count how many birds visit it each day, but no birds come. At the end of the book is a list of about 30 science fair project questions, because "'Good projects start with a question,' said Mr. Zee."

Fourth Grade, Writing, Set Seven

In this Set, we are reading some good short stories (picture books), then K. is deciding which graphic organizer would have been best for this story and filling it in. Here are a list of our graphic organizers.

• Time Line
• Chain of Events
• Character Web
• Sensory Web
• Expository Structure
• Story Map
• Story Map with Feelings
• Top-to-Bottom Organizer
• Learning Log (for science experiment)

Suggested books

• The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
• Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later) by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard 
• The City Mouse and the Country Mouse retold by Graham Percy
• Cows in the Parlor: A Visit to a Dairy Farm by Cynthia McFarland 
• Just Plain Fancy by Patricia Polacco
• Leah's Pony by Elizabeth Friedrich

Fourth Grade, Math, Set Seven

We are using Real World Math books during this set. These books take a vocation and walk you through a day or situation and show how math is used, with the student solving the problems along the way. These are very good books! There are three levels of books:

• Blue Level for beginners, grades 2-4
• Orange Level for intermediate, grades 4 - 6
• Purple Level for advanced 

There is also Real World Math: Natural Disasters, where you learn about the subject and practice math skills.

• Droughts
• Earthquakes
• Floods
• Hurricanes
• Tornadoes
• Tsunamis
• Volcanic Eruptions -- we did this one
• Wildfires

Fourth Grade, History, Set Seven

Covering World War I; Years 1914 - 1919

I used the book, The 1910s: Decade in Photos by Jim Corrigan, at the end of this Set to review the decade and cover or introduce a few things we didn't cover in other books.

A Child's History of the World, chapter 84

Mother's Day was instituted

• Mother's Day by Ann Heinrichs

Stories about animals in World War I

• Bunny the Brave War Horse by Elizabeth MacLeod
• The Donkey of Gallipoli by Mark Greenwood
• Rags: Hero Dog of WWI by Margot Theis Raven 
• War Horse by Michael Morpurgo -- we watched the movie instead of reading the book
• Fly, Cher Ami, Fly! by Robert Burleigh

Historical fiction books about WWI

• The Doll Shop Downstairs by Yona Zeldis McDonough -- about a family with three girls in New York that own a doll repair shop. Repair parts for the dolls come from Germany, so when war breaks out they can no longer get parts. How can they stay in business?
• Hero Over Here by Kathleen Kudlinski -- Ten year old Theodore dreams of being a hero in Europe like his father and brother, but must nurse his mother and sister, who are sick with the Spanish flu. 
• The Silver Donkey by Sonya Hartnett
• Tikhon by Ilse-Margret Vogel
• Archie's War: My Scrapbook by Marcia Williams
• Waiting for the Evening Star by Rosemary Wells -- picture book about a family whose son goes off to war
• When Christmas comes Again by Beth Seidel Levine
• The Extraordinary Music of Mr. Ives byJoanne Stanbridge -- story of a musical piece written because of the sinking of the Lusitania

 Nonfiction books about WWI

• Everything World War I by Karen Kenney -- covered the war well; lot of illustrations
• World War I: An Interactive History Adventure by Gwenyth Swain
• Dogs of War by Sheila Keenan
• Line of Fire: Diary of an Unknown Soldier Introduced by Michael Morpurgo
• America's First World War: General Pershing and the Yanks by Henry Castor
• World War I Memorial by Maureen Picard Robins -- tells about the end of the war and the memorial built in Kansas City, Missouri 
• Going to War in World War I by Adrian Gilbert -- lots of information and illustrations
• The Sinking of the Lusitania: An Interactive History Adventure by Steven Otfinoski
• World War I for Kids by R. Kent Rasmussen -- this has some activities I wish we had been able to do, but there are only so many hours available.
• Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood by Nathan Hale

Books that I will want to get when we study WWI when K is older.

• Assassination at Sarajevo by Robin S. Doak
• The Split History of World War I by Michael Burgan
• Voices from the Past: World War I by Kathlyn and Martin Gay
• World War I: From the Lusitania to Versailles by Zachary Kent
• The United States in World War I by Don Lawson
• Stubby the War Dog by Ann Bausum 

Black Sox Scandal

•  The Black Sox Scandal of 1919 by Dan Elish

 18th Amendment

• The Constitutional Amendments by William Loren Katz

Fourth Grade, Math, Set Six

I discovered a series of math books at the library. The series is called Real World Math. The book we used in this set was Estimating with the Newspaper by Dawn McMillan. We took three days to read through the book and solve the math problems. It was fun. I've requested more books from the series for our seventh set of weeks of fourth grade. There are different levels of books for different grades.

Fourth Grade, History, Set Six

Covering the years 1907 - 1913

Child's History - chapter 83 on the Industrial Revolution

Oklahoma admitted to Union

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established

• The FBI by Terry Collins
• The Story of The FBI by Jim Hargrove

Model T Ford invented

• The Story of Henry Ford and the Automobile by Zachary Kent

William Howard Taft elected President

• The Tafts by Cass Sandak
• William Howard Taft by Mike Venezia

Robert Peary reached North Pole

•  Polar Adventures by Catherine Nichols
• Peary & Henson: The Race to the North Pole by Baron Bedesky
• Robert Peary by Kristin Petrie

Boy Scouts was created

• Boy Scouts of America by Robert Birkby

Standard Oil Company vs. United States

• John D. Rockefeller by Susan E. Hamen -- pages 52 - 72 cover this

Indianapolis 500 first held

• Xtreme Races Indianapolis 500 by S.L. Hamilton
• Indy Race Cars by Janet Riehl
• The Indy 500 by Mark Stewart

New Mexico admitted to Union
Arizona admitted to Union

RMS Titanic sank

• On Board the Titanic by Shelley Tanaka -- very good book; I highly recommend reading this one
• What Sank the World's Biggest Ship? and Other Questions About The Titanic by Mary Kay Carson

Woodrow Wilson elected President

• Woodrow Wilson by Mike Venezia
• Edith Wilson: The Woman who Ran the United States by James Cross Giblin -- I highly recommend reading this book; it was very interesting

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments to the US Constitution

• The Constitutional Amendments by William Loren Katz -- this book looks boring, but it has just a few paragraphs and an illustration about each constitutional amendment. Highly recommend

Henry Ford developed the modern assembly line

• Model T: How Henry Ford Built a Legend by David Weitzman -- great information and illustrations about the assembly line. We found out that it moved 72 inches a minute, so we measured out 72 inches and K tried to walk it in one minute. She had to try a couple times in order to walk it that slowly.
• Economics Through Infographics by Karen Latchana Kenney -- pages 14 and 15

Federal Reserve System formed

• Nickels, Dimes, & Dollars: How Currency Works by R.V. Fodor -- pages 46 to 50

 I stumbled across a series of books called Amazing Decades in Photos. It begins with the 1900s, and has one book per decade with two pages of information and illustrations for each subject. The books are 50 - 60 pages each. The author is Jim Corrigan.

Fourth Grade History, Set Five

Covering the years 1899 - 1906

American Samoa was occupied

• Territories and Possessions by Thomas Aylesworth -- there were a few paragraphs on pages 78 and 79 about American Samoa becoming a U.S. territory
• Samoans! by June Behrens -- easy reading, lots of pictures

Newsies Strike

• American Story page 187
• The Journal of Finn Reardon: A Newsie by Susan Bartoletti -- we didn't get this read, but it looks interesting

Boxer Rebellion

• The United States in the Spanish-American War by Don Lawson -- pages 117 - 129 (first complete paragraph) and 121 (last complete paragraph) - 122 (first complete paragraph) are about the Boxer Rebellion and it leading to the Russo-Japanese War. It is written for older students, but we talked about what it meant

 Galveston Hurricane of 1900

• World's Worst Hurricanes by Janey Levy -- has a couple pages about hurricanes and a page about Galveston's hurricane
• Hurricane Harry by Kathryn Lay -- fiction book about kids in a hurricane on Galveston; we did not get it read

Theodore Roosevelt

• Theodore Roosevelt by Mike Venezia
• The President's Daughter by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley -- very good book; I highly recommend reading this book aloud as a family
• Teddy Roosevelt by Edd Winfield Parks
• The First Teddy Bear by Helen Kay
• Young Teddy Roosevelt by Cheryl Harness -- good book; covers his life in a picture book format

The First Rose Bowl Game

• Rose Bowl by Lauren Diemer -- it has a couple pages about the first Rose Bowl game

Henry Ford

• We'll Race You, Henry by Barbara Mitchell -- easy reading, lots of illustrations, covers his life and inventions
• Henry Ford and the Model T by Michael O'Hearn -- graphic style book
• Henry Ford by Erika L. Shores

 The First World Series

• The World Series: Baseball's Biggest Stage by Matt Deoden -- read pages 7 - 10, which tell how the first world series game came about

Wright Brothers

•  Sky Pioneers: The Story of Wilbur and Orville Wright by Jeanne LeMonnier Gardner

Panama Canal Zone

• Building the Panama Canal by Dale Anderson -- chapter 3 is about the U.S. getting possession of the Panama Canal Zone; depending on your child's age, you can read it all or pick and choose sections to read

 St. Louis World's Fair

• Ice-Cream Cones for Sale! by Elaine Greenstein -- a book about the invention of the ice cream cone
• Meet Me in St. Louis by Robert Jackson -- we read chapter 1 and then looked at the pictures in the rest of the book
• Meet Me in St. Louis -- we watched the movie with Judy Garland; it doesn't show a lot about the fair, but it does communicate how excited people were about the fair

 Russo-Japanese War

• The Russo-Japanese War 1904 - 05 by A. Ivanov -- this book seemed to be mostly about their uniforms. It has great illustrations.

 Food and Drug Administration founded

• The Food and Drug Administration by William Patrick -- pages 29 - 31 are about how the FDA was started

San Francisco Earthquake

• ,,,If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake by Ellen Levine -- good book
• The Story of The San Francisco Earthquake by R. Conrad Stein -- a Cornerstones of Freedom book; covers the earthquake very well and is easily understood
• The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Marc Tyler Nobleman -- a We The People book
• Earthquake!: A Story of Old San Francisco by Kathleen Kudlinski
• Lizzie Newton and the San Francisco Earthquake by Stephen Krensky -- a picture book format with a script at the end for a reader's theater; you can even download the sound effects from their website.

 Other People in this time period

• Marie Curie: Discoverer of Radium by Joanne Landers Henry
• Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson

Fourth Grade, History, Set Four

Covering the years 1891 - 1898

James Naismith invented basketball

• The Man Who Invented Basketball by Edwin Brit Wyckoff -- information presented in an interesting manner; lots of photos
• Hoop Genius by John Coy -- okay book; compared to the first one, the author seems to take some license with the facts; I didn't care for the illustrations

Land Rush

• The Great Land Rush by Sally Senzell Isaacs -- 1889 - 1895; talks about the land rushes, American Indians, settlers, etc.

Chicago World's Fair

• Fair Weather by Richard Peck -- a favorite book; we read this one last, so it was fun when it mentioned people or things from the other books
•  The Summer of Dreams by Dorothy Hoobler -- a fun story with good information about the fair and the time period. There was something at the beginning that made me think that the book was going to push women's rights, but it settled down and was fine.
• Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis -- good and informative
• American Sisters: Exploring the Chicago World's Fair by Laurie Lawlor -- didn't get this one read
• Electrical Wizard by Elizabeth Rusch -- about Nikola Tesla

 Pullman Strike

• The Pullman Strike of 1894 by Michael Burgan -- a "We the People" series book; easily understood, lots of illustrations

Yukon Gold Rush

• The Klondike Gold Rush by Marc Tyler Nobleman -- another "We the People" series book
• A Tale of Gold by Thelma Hatch Wyss -- great book; lots of good information on the gold rush and the time period. It was fun to have a lot of the information in the first book in the story of this book.
• The Gold Rush Kid  by Mary Waldorf -- did not get this book read

William McKinley became President

• William McKinley by Mike Venezia -- good book; informative with entertaining illustrations

USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor

• The Story of The Sinking of the Battleship Maine by Zachary Kent -- this is a "Cornerstones of Freedom" series book; good book -- easily understood with plenty of photos and illustrations. It actually covered the whole Spanish-American war, so I didn't read any other books I'd picked up about the war.

 Spanish-American War

• The Spanish-American War by Mary Collins -- this is a "Cornerstones of Freedom" series book
• Battles of the Spanish-American War by Diane Smolinski
• The Spanish-American War by Kerry A. Graves
• The United States in the Spanish-American War by Don Lawson -- this book is for upper grades

Republic of Hawaii was annexed

• Little Princess Ka'iulani by Ellie Crowe -- a simple story about the princess
• The Last Princess by Fay Stanley -- good book about the princess and the annexation of Hawaii
• Exploring the Territories of the United States by Linda Thompson -- we did not read this, but I want to come back to it when K. is in high school

 Armenian Massacres and Exiles

• Armenia published by Lerner Publications -- we read a section on the history of Armenia
• Rooster Brother by Nonny Hogrogian -- an Armenian folktale

First complete performance of Swan Lake

• Of Swans, Sugarplums, and Satin Slippers by Violette Verdy

Persuasive Writing

We are in a unit of persuasive writing. K. was having difficulty, so I started thinking about why and decided I'd never really taught her how to write persuasively. I looked on-line and found some helpful information and print outs at Read Write Think. One lesson plan I read suggested reading the book, Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary to begin the unit. I picked the book up from the library and we read it, but I didn't find it helpful for persuasive writing. 

It is probably the best Beverly Cleary book we've read, and while it talks about Emily's mother writing a letter to the state library asking for a library in their town, it doesn't tell us what she wrote. Everyone in the town was in favor of the library, so she didn't need to persuade any one. So, while I recommend this book for read-aloud, I don't think it shows any examples of using persuasion.

Fourth Grade, Bible Set Three

Hymns

• My Redeemer
• I Will Sing the Wondrous Story
• He Keeps Me Singing
• Sunshine in My Soul
• Love Lifted Me

Bible Memory

• Psalm 19:11 - 14

The Bible Detective; Bible Reading

• When the Rooster; Matthew 26
• Price of the Christ; Matthew 26-27
• Prisoner Goes Free; Matthew 27, Mark 15
• Friend and Follower; Matthew 27
• Husband's Lie; Genesis 20
• No Looking Back; Genesis 19
• Wife Hunt; Genesis 24
• Dad's Favorite, Genesis 25, 27
• Dream; Genesis 37, 39-41
• Midwives; Ex 1-2
• God in Bush?; Exodus 3

Catechism

• Learned #58 - 61
• Reviewed a section each week

Our 24 Family Ways

• We choose to be peacemakers, even when we feel like arguing.
• Days 1 - 5
• Learning the Way
• Made a poster

Window on the World

• Kyrgyz
• Lesotho
• Lobi
• Madagascar
• Maldives

 Missionary Book

• 77 Zebra