Homeschooling Ideas for Memorial Day 2016

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Memorial Day 2016 is Monday, May 30, so this is a great time to remind our kids about the value of our freedom!  Check out the following resources to boost your Memorial Day lessons:


History

• Do you know the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day?
• Take an online interactive Memorial Day quiz 
• Read about the history of Memorial Day
• Why We Celebrate Memorial Day: A feature from the Smithsonian 
• Americans at War: Interactive online exhibition about the cost of freedom
• Discover the cost of war 
• Listen to Taps and read about its origin

Activity Books and Printables

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• Grab this free activity book from the USS Arizona Memorial
• This parent and student guide set was created for the Art of the American Soldier gallery at the Constitution Center, but there are some activities that can be used without visiting the Center.  Download the Parent Guide and the Student Guide.
• Use these Memorial Day printables from Jumpstart for your elementary students.  
• Complete a word fill-in.
• Print these free coloring pages (set of 12).

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Language Arts

• Use this crayon resist activity to practice reading common Memorial Day words or words from one of the books from your Memorial Day reading list
• Learn the emotional power of letters and get some letter-writing tips by reading about letter-writing in World War 2.
• For older students, download activities and insight for In Flanders Fields (this document is written from a Canadian perspective, but the information is valuable no matter where you are located)!

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Arts and Crafts

• Make patriotic wreaths or patriotic pinwheels
• Design a handprint/footprint bald eagle and flag painting 
• Create painted coffee filter poppy flowers or make them with cupcake liners for a simpler craft
• Make thumbprint poppies with this printable starter sheet - great for including your littles!

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Military Museum Virtual Tours

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• National Museum of the Marine Corps 
• National Museum of the US Air Force
• National Naval Aviation Museum

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Video Suggestions

• Taking Chance (available on Amazon Prime)
• Who Invented Memorial Day?
• The history of Memorial Day (from the US Dept of Veteran's Affairs)
• All About the Holidays:  Memorial Day
• America's National Holidays (available on Amazon Prime)
• Holidays for Kids
• Take a small tour of Arlington National Cemetery
• View the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery
• Watch Arlington: Field of Honor, a film from National Geographic

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Library Book Suggestions

• The Wall 
• H is for Honor: A Military Family Alphabet
• America's White Table
• In Flander's Fields:  The Story of the Poem by John McCrae

Have a great Memorial Day!

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FREE "Common Feeder Bird" Coloring Book and Field Guide

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Cornell University offers a FREE 50-page "Common Feeder Birds" coloring book that is fabulous for nature study!  Most of the pictures in this coloring book were drawn by noted bird artist and ornithologist, Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1872-1927).

This freebie comes with line drawings to color and questions to answer to help record findings, making this a perfect starter field guide for your bird lovers! See a complete list of included birds on the main page, or go straight to the download here.

Need something for your younger learners to do?  Grab these free bird dough mats for some hands-on fun!

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Magic School Bus Enrichment Activities

In the first episode of The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space (currently available on Netflix), Ms. Frizzle's class takes an unexpected trip into outer space after leaving the planetarium.  With bus stops at the sun, the moon, and the planets, their tour turns them in to veteran space explorers.

After watching the episode, take your own trip through the solar system with these activities.  If you find several activities to use, download a free planner to keep track of your plans.

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View the Earth from Outer Space

• Observe the beauty of the earth's landscape from outer space in this free 172-page digital book entitled Earth as Art.
• View the earth from the International Space Station.  Follow the link and click "Collections" to view photos taken by the astronauts.
• Take this Geography from Space quiz to test your knowledge of geographic locations on the Earth based on a satellite or aerial image and a brief clue.

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Outer Space and Space Travel

• This is one of my favorite pages of suggestions for elementary activities!  Make moon rocks, moon sand, rocket ships with hand prints as the flames, and a fun "sun" art project!
• Watch Life of an Astronaut.
• Make Alka-Seltzer rockets with this science experiment.
• Older students can watch this Modern Marvels episode about a crew that faced their own near-calamitous space mission - Apollo 13.

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The Planets

• Learn more about each planet with National Geographic's Passport to Space.
• Discover the planets with this Magic School Bus activity and worksheet.
• Learn about the solar system with this interactive web site that allows you to click on each planet and discover more information about each one.  This site also includes videos.
• Print these planet trading cards or download the junior edition trading cards for younger learners.
• My kids love the Grandpa in Space app, which combines science, math, and language arts skills while teaching about the planets.  Check out this video to see it in action.  
• Compare rocky and gas planets with this activity.
• Discover your weight and age on Mars.
• Test your knowledge about the solar system by playing Go to the Head of the Solar System with this interactive quiz. 
• Visit NASA's Space Place web site to explore the planets and find activities, recipes, and experiments.

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The Moon, the Stars...and Our Home Planet

• Keep track of the moon's phases with this printable chart.  Find other activities at the same web site on the activities page.
• Watch “Tonight's Sky” and use the online guide to know what to look for in the nighttime sky depending on the month. This stargazing guide keeps you informed about constellations, deep sky objects, planets and celestial events.
• Learn about the different layers of the atmosphere in this video.
• Make toothpick and marshmallow or glow-in-the-dark constellations.
• Play the Star Game with cupcake liners and a flashlight.
• Find the size of the sun and the moon with this experiment.

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Printable Activity Books and Pages

• Download a free 16-page activity book (features word puzzles, coloring pages, mazes, and more)! 
• Your maze lovers will enjoy these space-themed mazes.
• Download a free 26-page solar system worksheet pack.  (Scroll to the bottom of the post after following the link.)
• Print and complete the Surviving and Thriving on Mars Activity Book.
• Download this 52-page fun pad from NASA. 
• Complete a space-themed lapbook. 

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History Connections

• Use this interactive site to explore the history of the telescope, from Galileo to NASA's observatories. 
• Test some of Galileo's famous experiments with this online activity. 
• Watch this short Reading Rainbow video on the history of space exploration
• Who Won the Space Race? (video)

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Language Arts, Math, and Art Connections

• Learn how to turn circles into spheres with this beautiful chalk pastel planet-themed art project. If you don't have chalk pastels, you can create a similar picture with watercolors and talk about the shapes in the project to make a math connection.
• Print these free Night Sky Writing and Drawing Journals to record your observations.
• Use these Space Counting Mats for addition and subtraction skills.
• Pack for a long trip to Mars, make a scale model of the solar system, learn about weather metrics and more with these math-related downloadable activities
• Go on a Space Hunt in this interactive online game and learn space facts while using math skills. 
• Combine science and math skills and use these activity sheets to determine your weight on different planets. 
• For older students (5^th – 12^th graders), complete this How High Up is Space activity

Young and Special Needs Learners

• Use this free space-themed syllable mat to incorporate language arts into your lessons with your young ones.
• Try this solar system bead distance activity; it's adapted for students with special needs but fun for all learners!
• Print and tell a story with play dough and these space-themed characters or with Legos and these Spaceland Play Mats
• Your littles can participate with this free solar system preschool (and beyond) pack. 

Library Book Suggestions

• There's No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library) 
• National Geographic Kids First Big Book of Space (National Geographic Little Kids First Big Books)
• Planets, Moons and Stars:  Take-Along Guide
• Glow in the Dark Constellations 
• Starry Messenger
• Solar System: A Visual Exploration of All the Planets, Moons and Other Heavenly Bodies that Orbit Our Sun
• The Planets

May your trip through outer space be out of this world!

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Check out these 30 Family Movie Night Crafts and Activities from No Time for Flashcards!

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Kit Kittredge tells the story of a girl living through the Great Depression and the challenges that her family faces during that time period.  Check out these activities and take advantage of the opportunity that the movie (and the books) provide to create more learning experiences!

Guides and Printables

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl - download a free 29-page curriculum guide to use with the movie.

Use this free learning guide to accompany the books in the Kit series.

Alter an inexpensive composition book to create a reporter's journal.

Practice some journalism skills with Kit using these Scholastic printables. 

Solve a mystery with Kit with this family activity sheet.

Create a Kit Kittredge Lapbook with this free download, or use these templates to create your own lapbook.

These American Girl History Mini Units provide some simple activities to bring the story of Kit to life.

Create crafts, learn new recipes, and play some games with these movie tie-ins on the Kit Kittredge site.

Use the activities in this free elementary curriculum from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

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Learning Extensions

Learn about Ohio, Kit's home state, with this free Ohio-themed activity page kit!

Print some 30's-themed paper dolls for imaginary play.

Listen to the anthem of the Great Depression, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

Use this free Great Depression Era Study Guide and find activities for all ages!

Watch Great Depression Cooking with Clara to learn recipes and hear stories about living during the Great Depression

Learn about Amelia Earhart, Kit's heroine, with a printable mini-biography and these activity pages.  Then write a news story on a significant event in Earhart's life.

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Library Book Suggestions:

What Was the Great Depression - another book from the "What Was..." book collection in chapter book format and full of illustrations.

Potato tells the story of a family who finds employment for two weeks digging potatoes in Idaho during the Great Depression.

Rose's Journal:  The Story of a Girl in the Great Depression is presented as a handwritten account of the dust storms and severe drought of the 30's. Includes book-related activities!

Enjoy your time traveling adventure!

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If you're planning on some air travel with your family this summer, take advantage of some fun and (mostly) free guides and activities featuring the history of aircraft, the science of flight...and paper airplanes!  

Airplane-Themed Science, History, and Math Guides:

Science in Your Airplane Seat - Take this with you to do some science experiments at the airport and on the plane!

Legends of Flight - This is a free guide made for the IMAX movie, but it can be used as a stand-alone guide with some modifications.  Best for 4th - 8th grade.

Celebrating a Century of Flight - A free guide from NASA about the history of flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration has a free aviation science guide for your elementary-learners.

Cornell University has a printable flight science toolkit full of experiments and activities.

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis has a free Flight Adventures teaching guide for your 3rd - 5th graders.  Be sure to check out their interactive activity here as well! (More interactive activities are featured below.)

As part of their Museum in a Box series, NASA has a free Wing Design teaching guide that features tie-ins with wildlife - birds!

The National Air and Space Museum has a free teacher's guide about the African American Pioneers in Aviation.

The Evergreen Museum offers free teaching packets that provide science, math, history, and art connections for K-6th graders.  Be sure to check out their downloadable activities at the same link.

Identify parts of a plane, create a puzzle, identify flight maneuvers and more with this activity guide for early elementary learners.

This is not free, but we love Dover coloring books!  This one features the airplanes of World War 1.

Math in Flight - This free 17-page downloadable booklet from the Air Force introduces high school students to math applications found in flight.  

Download NASA's 129-page Aeronautics Educator's Guide with activities in science, math and technology.

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Movies:

Watch The Wright Brothers' Flying Machine (NOVA) and use this free activity guide for pre-and-post video discussion and extended activities.

This twelve-minute video features the Wright brothers and the role they played in aviation history.

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Your paper airplane lovers will enjoy these goodies:

These instructions are for making paper airplane valentine cards, but it would be great to use for writing activities - especially for a reluctant writer!

Check out this free teaching guide to accompany The Kids' Paper Airplane book. 

Your younger learners will enjoy these printable paper airplanes from Disney's Planes movie.

NASA teaches you how things fly with this printable paper airplane.

Check out math connections while making paper airplanes using this free Exploratorium printable.

Learn about the scientific method and how to apply it to paper airplanes with these activities.

Read more about the history of flight, use an interactive timeline, observe the history of flight in famous artwork and more on the Dream of Flight web site.

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Interactive Online Activities:

AMA Flight School has three interactive online games to help teach the principles of flight, flight dynamics, and the forces of flight.

Learn how things fly and design an airplane with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum!  Find other interactive activities on their web site here.

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Ideas For Your Younger Learners:

Incorporate your younger learners with these activities (linked from a free sample from Learnzy Preschool Curriculum).

Grab a free aircraft mini unit here.

For make-believe, you can print this great airport pretend-and-play kit!

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Finally, here are a few great library books to help round out your studies:

Check out Seymour Simon's Paper Airplane book from your local library to learn the physics and science of flight - and get more ideas for paper airplanes! 

The Boy and the Airplane is a wordless book with a theme somewhat reminiscent of The Giving Tree.

Read To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers to learn about the Wright brothers. It begins with their childhood fascination with flight up to their successful flights of 1903.

How People Learned to Fly is a level 2 book from the Let's Read and Find Out science series.  This book features the creative and sometimes wacky experiments people tried before the invention of the airplane.

The Glorious Flight tells the story of Louis Bleriot, who built a flying machine to cross the English Channel.

Flight, part of the Eyewitness Books series, provides a great photographic view of the history of flight as well as photos of the different types of aircraft used today. You can also grab a free teaching guide to use with the book (this teaching guide refers to "Flight" as "Flying Machine," which is how the book was previously published).

Download a printable Amelia Earhart reader here.

Happy Flying!

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