Egypt ~ Then and Now

     Well, if you happen to find yourself (or that kid who got on your last nerve today!) in need of mummification, I've got just the fellow for the job!  He's only seven, but he can tell you all the steps in the process!  If you haven't already guessed, we've been studying Egypt for the past week and a half! 
     We began last week by learning to locate Egypt on a map, and getting to know about the country as it is today.  But my son's favorite part of the unit by far has been our travel back in time to Ancient Egypt.  Here are a few of the things that have been keeping us busy:

Egypt is the first stop on our "Around the World in 180 Days" adventure.  I plan to spend a good chunk of this school year studying other countries and cultures. To help remember our "trips," I created this interactive travel journal where my son can chronicle what he's learning.

On the first page, we have a fold-out world map on which he colors in the country we are "visiting."

 I had him add a fact or two about Egypt as well.

The next page opens to show the modern-day Egyptian flag.

I wanted to have him write here about the colors of the flag and what they represent, but we ran out of time.

The next page has four tabs which open to reveal various facts about the country.  In case the pictures aren't clear, the tabs say: Amazing Animals, Famous Landmarks, Fun Foods, and Saying Hello.

Here is what my kiddo wrote under the Amazing Animals tab.  I told him he must list at least two of the animals we talked about.  Notice how he chose the two most deadly!  (What is it with boys being magnetically attracted to danger?)

I admit we did focus on crocodiles for one day.  We read Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile and completed the following chart:

Next, we had fun with this cool crocodile weaving project I found on Pinterest!  He's never done weaving before, but picked up on it pretty quickly.  Turned into a cute craft!  Great for fine motor skill development too!

 Here's the final product.  Please forgive the red eyes.  Seven-year-old boys (or at least mine!) think EVERYTHING has to be evil-looking!  I should note here that the version I created as a sample had wiggle eyes and was adorable.  But he wouldn't hear of having a CUTE crocodile!  (Sigh....) 

I did manage to get one cutesie craft done though!  On a different day, we learned about camels...the ships of the desert.  We read How the Camel Got His Hump and did the chart as shown.   

Next, we did a handprint camel!  Isn't it precious??  This is a definite keepsake! 

This week, we talked about pharaohs and mummies.  Here is our pharaoh craft.

 My son enjoyed the Egyptian Graphing Page he did as a center this week as well. 

Here is a picture of the cube he rolled and the data recording page. Copies of this activity are included in my Egypt Unit from TPT, which is accessible at the bottom  of this post.

 For a fun science project, we are going to do some mummification of our own.  We are going to try to mummify an apple.  This is an activity I bought off of TPT, and comes with complete instructions plus an interactive notebook page or two.  Here is the link, if you're interested:
Apples & Mummies, By: Kelly's Classroom

It's a pretty simple project, really.  You wash the apple, carve a face into it with a knife, put it in a ziplock bag and cover with salt and baking soda.  Wait one week before removing it.  The theory is that the salt and baking soda will work like the natron salt the Egyptians used and will absorb all the liquid to dehydrate the fruit.  Should look interesting when we're done.  My son thought this project was super cool! "We get to make a mummy???  Cool!!!"  

Now he can't wait for next week to get here so he can see his "mummy."  The instructions say that it may take up to two weeks to have the full effect, so I hope he will at least be able to see some changes after only one. 







If you are interested in any of the activity sheets shown in this post, they are available in my Egypt Unit on TPT.  Click HERE to check it out!  Here's a quick preview of some of the other things that are included:



Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great week!

Blessings,
Laurie

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Pirates, Ho!

Well, we've survived the first week of school!  I know some of you haven't even begun school yet, but we started last Tuesday.  Being that we homeschool, we did not need to spend time with "Getting to Know You" activities, or going over routines and procedures.  So, we were able to jump right into learning!

In an attempt to get my son excited about going back to school, I elected to spend our first couple of weeks learning about one of his favorite topics:  Pirates!  Here are just a few facts we've discovered:

• Pirates have been around for as long as there have been ships at sea.
• The Golden Age of Piracy, the time during which the most famous piracy took place, lasted from the mid-1600s to the mid-1700s.  It was during these years that all the famous pirates like Blackbeard, Calico Jack, and Captain Kidd did their looting.
• Pirates considered treasure to be more than just gold and jewels!  For example, they frequently raided ships to steal fresh food and water, medications to treat common illnesses, supplies like new ropes and sails, tools and weapons, and especially maps of local coastlines!  
• When pirates did strike it rich with chests of gold, they rarely buried them!  Instead, they headed to islands like Tortuga (yes, it's a real place) to enjoy their good fortune by gambling and drinking it away.  Most often, they spent their treasure as fast as they stole it!

In addition to the historical significance of this unit, we've incorporated the theme into our language arts time as well.  Here are a couple of charts we've done so far:

In addition, we've set our reading series aside for this week to focus on some non-fiction passages I created about pirates.  These passages are available in my Pirate Unit on Teachers Pay Teachers. We used Guided Reading to read the passage, and then my son answered the comprehension and inference questions that went along with the reading.

My son has enjoyed some of our pirate centers this week as well, including this one featuring subtraction facts practice clothespin clip cards:

But, of course, we've had some fun along the way as well!  Here are a few samples of our crafts from the week:

The pirate he was supposed to make.

Seven-year-old boy's version. I guess it IS more realistic.

                                 

Our spyglass made from a painted paper towel tube and a party cup.  (Embellished with metallic gold tape.)  This was not my creation....got it off Pinterest!

Treasure Chest......outside.....

....and inside.

Finally, I must share my favorite of his creations from the week!  We talked about treasure today and I explained that treasure did not have to mean gold or silver, but could be anything of value.  Then I had him complete a writing prompt that asked, "What do you consider a treasure?  Draw a picture of it and write about why it is special to you."  He didn't follow the directions exactly but, hey.......do you think I had the heart to correct him????  This is one of those precious moments I think about on days when I wonder why I am homeschooling!! 

If you are interested in having this writing prompt for your own children, you can grab it for free below:

Click HERE to download page. 

Hope you enjoy this and that your responses are as sweet as the one I got!  Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Laurie