Lewis and Clark: A 3 Week Unit Study

This unit study is available for our patrons over on Patreon and covers science, language arts, history, and art. You will be doing a Minecraft reenactment of the journey, working with maps, studying animals and tracks, and playing Discoveries, The Journals of Lewis and Clark. It is geared toward grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8  but can be adjusted for higher or lower grades.

This unit study contains a list of resources and  activities for you to use in your studies. Choose those that will best suit  your students, time, and learning environment. My hope is that you will enjoy  the process of learning and not feel constricted by the timeline or  activities. Make changes as they suit your needs and enjoy your time learning  together! 

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Playing Pirate

Our little guy loves to play in the bathtub. He is getting older though and now he mostly takes a shower. Today's theme for Illustration Friday made me think of how kids grow and change over time. This tub time scene captures a single moment in the metamorphosis every child makes into adulthood.

Log Cabin Project

To round out our kindergarten year we are reading Little House in the Big Woods. Mister loves learning about "Great Great Great Grandpa times". He has enjoyed every book we have read that covers the late 1800s. We kicked off our book by making a cabin. We used straws that I cut in half. The roof is made with the bendy portion. We lashed it all together with lots of masking tape.

We added some brown paint to make it look more like logs.

Mister drew the boards onto our floor piece and colored the paper plate base green for grass.

 We used foamie stickers to make 3 beds, a table and chairs, and a red fire place. He laid it all out like in The Little House on the Prairie movie we watched via YouTube.

 The finished log cabin with removable roof, door, and windows.

Of course, no house is complete till it has been successfully turned into a squinkies play set  We have a winner on that front!

Train

Did you know that cats can be trained? Even if it's only to use the litter box.

Mister (5) made this lovely and very light picture of a train car for this week's theme. He had a blast with his first try at using a compass.

What a novel idea...artwork on what was once my art blog. I have been thinking a lot this week about how "arting", as Mister puts it, has somehow disappeared from our life in the last year. It was gradual and that may be the reason we didn't notice it. So today we are back to illustrationfriday.com for the weekly art challenge.

I forgot how wonderful it feels to just draw. My mind is completely focused when I draw, something I have not had for a while now. I have started to think about it a lot this week. I have been thinking about my Etsy shop as well. Before you think to yourself, "Oh, yes, The Crazy Elephant is a fantastic little pad shop and is providing an ecological choice for women all over the world," that is not the shop I am talking about. If you did not know that this blog was originally started as an art blog, you may also not know that my first start on Etsy was an art shop.

It is a funny thing how other parts of our life sort of take over and some of your favorite things can suddenly be gone. This has been happening to me. I have gotten so focused on homeschooling, homemaking, and missions information that all else has gone by the wayside. It is probably the reason I am becoming a frazzled mess. I some how removed all the fun from my life and started hyper focusing on the things I previously listed. I can tell you it is driving my family nuts and needs to be put to a stop!

I prayed and prayed to know what I needed. Bible reading wasn't doing it, not changing anything wasn't doing it, art is the missing link for me. I never realized how important it is to me till now. It clears my head and helps me to go into other activities with purpose and focus. It is so hard to read and study my Bible when my mind is spinning with other things I need to do. I need a pencil in my hand so that I can use that focus to come closer to my awesome God!

What about that shop I mentioned? I started The Crazy Elephant as a way to support my art. Instead it took over all my time and energy and I sadly dropped the art shop. About 2 years ago I did a huge crayon roll custom order for a birthday party and as I looked at the party pack that was coordinating the rolls, I thought how I would love to do that. Well, that has obviously gone on the back burner, after 2 years you would think it would have burnt by now.

Out of the blue on Monday I woke up thinking about it. It was the only thing I could think about and when I went online to edit a listing at The Crazy Elephant, I saw they set up, this week, the ability to put downloadable files in the listing. To put it simply, the customer can download their files directly from Etsy when they purchase a computer file. That was exactly what I needed to be able to sell printable party packs efficiently whether here, or on mission.

I am still planning things out and of course I have a lot of art to catch up on before I open up said shop. I also have to figure out a name. I am planning to do printable party packs that would include invites, bunting, cupcake toppers, ect. Right now I am thinking something along the lines of Bubble Prints, but I really have no idea at this point. I do know that I am planning to do giveaways as I get the sets together so I can get some feedback and word of mouth started. In the meantime, I'm off to make some art!

Art, School, and the End of the Year

 We have been having a blast doing lots of pintrest inspired artwork this month! I even got Little Guy to let me paint his hand, a big step for a kiddo that doesn't like anything messy. We have been off of school for the entire month and it is going well. I continued to write down anything "school" related we did over our break, and if you look at the list it hardly looks like a break at all.

We have done many art projects, advent devotionals, read tons of books, and Jayne even read a few stories to me to keep up on practice. We also did some research on goblin sharks after reading about them in one of his picture books. You can see our favorite goblin shark video below.

It is only a few days till Christmas and it has been a huge month for us! Honestly, it has kind of felt like some sort of crazy dream between good news, bad news, and just good old fashioned fun. This year is certainly going out with a bang. The biggest event for us is our upcoming missionary activities, which I am sure will be keeping us quite busy in the coming year. Right now it hasn't exactly sunk in yet. I am still cleaning and cooking and doing all my normal everyday activities. For now I have to focus on those till we get the date of training, because if I don't I will wile away the hours wondering and waiting. We have had a few people ask us about details of the future and we really don't have the answers right now. God will provide a way, support us, and sustain us. He has our faith 100%

Keeping Busy

I have learned a very valuable lesson this month. School time is indescribably important to my little guy. We are taking the month off for the holidays and it has resulted in awful behavior. I have put quite a bit of focus into my growing shop and other household duties. I didn't realize just how much he needs that 1 on 1 time with me each day. Of course, once I figured out what was going on, I made sure to get back to giving him most of my day. We have both been much happier for it too.

Wednesday was birthday night at Awana. We spent some time making homemade birthday hats to wear. They were so easy to make with half a paper plate and were held on with alligator clips.

Pintrest will be helping me quite a bit with craft ideas for our winter break. This snow globe craft is one of them. All you need is a plastic bag, cut up paper, and 2 plates. We have been doing coloring pages and getting through lots of books too. All our moods have been lifted and now our "educational things we did during break" sheet is filling up too. I hope all of you are finding time to enjoy some down time with your families this December too!

Holiday Showcase: Fischer Images

It's time for another showcase! Today is Fischer Images, fine art photography by my fantastically creative Aunt.

Where can we find you?

Etsy- http://www.etsy.com/people/fischerimages
Facebook- Http://www.facebook.com/fischerimages
Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/LFischerimages

What is life like in your studio?

My studio is my home office. I have some of my favorite englargements on the walls for inspiration.It is well organized,so I have no distractions when working or creating.
My favorite giftable item in my shop would have to be my book markers, they are waterproof & last almost forever! They can be custom made to fit ages 4 to 99 ! All though all my prints would make great gifts also,with many to choose from.
I love homemade things, knowing that someone put their heart into making it, & knowing I am getting quality work!

Share a handmade gift anyone can make.

These card notes are easy to make & anyone can make them. Take your favorite 4x6 inch photo print. Get some cardstock, sold at most department stores & craft stores. Fold in half, mount (double-sided tape) your picture on the cardstock, Cut any extra cardstock away.(Giving a 1/4 to 1/2 inch border).Personalize your card. Ta-Da you are done!
Here is the link to one of my favorite..http://www.etsy.com/listing/103034715/live-laugh-love-card-fine-art?ref=pr_shop

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I live in south-west Wisconsin, I enjoy the beautiful scenery all year long. My husband & I have been married for 32 years. We have two wonderful children, & they have blest us with 5 beautiful grandchildren. They all are the joys of my life!
Linda Fischer on Etsy

Fischer Images Introduction

I love a new etsy shop and today I am going to feature one! Fischer Images is run by Linda Fischer (my aunt) and is full of stunning photography. Below are some of my favorites. I will let the artwork speak for itself today and leave you with the link to her shop: fischerimages.etsy.com

Great nature pics of flowers and birds!

Gotta love the playful shots!

Lots of interesting still lifes and abstract work!

Homeschool Fun: Dinos

 We had dinosaur week! It was so much fun. No pre-k pack for us, we worked from The Mailbox's Preschool Plans Day By Day. I really like the book. Since it is geared to actual preschools, we can't do all of the activities or need to adjust them to having only 1 kid in class.

One of Jayne's faves, as usual, were the art projects. We made dinos out of foamie shapes and in the pics he made a dino puzzle into a fabulous work of art!

Homeschool Fun: Space

Space week has come and gone (last week) but I thought I would share the big art project. Here are the supplies we used: Black construction paper, foamie stickers, lids from various containers, and a stamp pad.

The first part of the project was to make the stamps. It was super easy! Just put the foamie stickers on the lids. I do believe that the lids shown here are from a gallon of milk, a medicine bottle, and BBQ sauce. The space stickers came with his bike decorating set. We also used basic shapes for a previous stamping project.

Part 2 was to have a blast stamping! We used a silver pigment stamp pad. It worked great because you can see it really well on the black paper. It really pops.

Jayne had a great time making his space picture. He even had to make a second one to share with a very lucky grandma.

Fun and Clean Art



Jayne draws on his paint mat

I did this with Jayne and my 1 year old daycare kiddo today. I thought it would be nice to do something art related as a group today and we all had a blast. The paint mats are mess free. I gave the kids 1 rule, no fingernails! They drew shapes and letters and it led up to sing a what starts with this letter song. A good time was had by all and the best part is that we can use them over and over again.

If you want to make a paint mat for your little menagerie, you will need 3 things: paint, heavy duty ziplock bag, tape. First put paint in the bag. Get as much air as you can out when you shut it. Tape it to the table and start playing.

Homeschool Fun: Monster Trucks

Jayne works on word cards

We had a great monster truck week! Jayne could have spent all day every day in his classroom doing monster truck stuff. We based our week on the monster truck preschool pack from 1+1+1=1. It was a great pack to work with. Jayne enjoyed the worksheets and activities. He liked the mini book, color matching game, and word cards the best. The word cards are going to be a great tool for school. I didn't know what they were until this week and now that we have figured them out, I love them! It is a 3 part matching game. There is one card with a picture and a word, one with just the picture, and one with just the word. By the end of the week he was getting pretty quick at getting all the sets together.

Jayne paints with his car

We had a lot of fun with art time this week. Jayne loved painting with his car. We put the paint in a small paper plate and he got to run his car through the paint and then drive the car on the paper. The car was fairly easy to clean with a scrub brush. We decided to let the picture and the plate dry. The painting is hanging in his classroom and the plate became a mud pit for him to drive his cars in. He really liked getting a toy out of the deal.

Sculpting with Bendaroos

We spent the rest of the week's art time working with his new bendaroo set (same as wiki sticks). This was an amazing find. We went to a couple of stores looking for manipulatives for his sensory bin and ended up finding a set of 500 bendaroos for $2 at the thrift store in town. They were virtually unused and while I haven't actually counted them, and won't, it was an excelent deal for something I wanted to get for his classroom anyway. Jayne had a lot of fun with them. He started out doing flat line pictures and then he moved into some 3-dimentional sculpture. Once he went 3-D there was no turning back. I think he likes the bendaroos more than play-doh!

Sensory bin time

His sensory box this week had sand and cars. Jayne spent a good portion of his time building the sand into fun monster truck tracks and racing the cars all over. He added to the box a little too by putting in a cup and marble. Toward the end of the week he was making ponds and filling his cup with sand. Ironically enough, the cars were not even in the equation by the last day. He also enjoyed the Modern Marvels: Monster Trucks show on our netflix que. He hasn't actually been introduced to the idea of monster trucks before and the film was great. It was educational and exciting. He used the film (watched at least 5 or 6 times over the week) to build his sand tracks.

Mud mountain cake

Last but not least, Food Friday! We actually had our special treat on wednesday, Adam's day off. Adam baked Jayne a chocolate monster truck mud hill. They even built a lego monster truck to go on it. The cake was delisous and we made the descition that it will be the cake for Jayne's birthday. I especially like that it doesn't need frosting. It was so flavorful and good. Adam said it tastes almost like a brownie and I think he is right.

We had such a fun week for school. It was deffinately his favorite so far. He is so excited to get busy on next week and the week after and the week after that. I am really happy that he is so excited to do school each day. He has a lot of great ideas about what he wants to learn about and I am letting him help get the room ready each week. He loves being able to stock the room with all of his ideas.

Shadows

This week is all about shadows and that little pig better watch out for the creature making that shadow! See more awesome artists at illustrationfriday.com! You can also take home a Michelle Morgan original print at the new shop: http://www.artfire.com/users/michellemorganoriginalart

Asleep

I knew I wanted to share this pic when I saw this weeks illo topic. I have shared it before and when I was looking for the blog post I noticed how art heavey the early years of my blog were. Till Jayne was born. It is really amazing how a child can change your life! Art may not be my main focus anymore, but I am very glad that it is still in my life : )

Safari

I love these 2 animal paintings! They are a little on the older side, but I still love them. They are made only with black oil paint.

Beginner

I thought about my illo for a long time and I decided that the best way to go is to share some of my little guy's art (he's 3). He loves his art time and choosing different supplies to use. He is definately a beginner but already has a passion for art. So, without further ado, I made Jayne and he made this lovely beginner art...

Bicycle

The first thing I thought of when I saw the illustration Friday topic for the week was the Sticks: 32 Mile animation we did a few years ago. It was based on our Tour de Cure ride the first year we rode (sticks the stick man was the leading man). Let's just say it was eventful. So here is a sketch of sticks climbing a very tall and long hill.

We are riding again this year, 32 miles again. If you would like to help us with our fundraising goal, you can make a tax deductible donation to The American Diabetes Association here: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/MinnesotaArea?px=6679453&pg=personal&fr_id=7583 .

Follow my art page on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Morgan-Original-Art/156476664411118

Journey

Every seed takes a journey and these little seeds are floating in the breeze. Enjoy this week's Illustration Friday!

Take home your own Michelle Morgan Original Art at http://mommytails.etsy.com/!

Toy

To help spark my artistic creativity again, I am going to get involved with Illustration Friday again! This week's theme was Toy. Jayne's reply was, "that's awesome!" I love making art for him, and with him too!