Posted in Lapbooks
I'm updating this post from last year to include resources (see bottom.)
This lapbook is just a file folder with one extension on the right. On
the back of this extension we have "Our Class Compact" Proverbs 17:17
"A friend loves at all times". On the left is a map of the Mayflower
voyage. Bottom left is a mini-factbook on the Mayflower.
Below
is the folder opened. On the top left is a removable sailing ship
stick-book (say that 5 times really fast! lol) Under that is a trunk
booklet and inside is a list of items we would take with us if we went
on the Mayflower voyage.The center insert is the back of a placemat
(shown in next picture) that has instructions for planting/ harvesting/
cooking maize. Center bottom is a mini-factbook on the Piligrim's First
Year. On the right is a copy of the front of a Nest Entertainment
Activity book on William Bradford, The First Thanksgiving.
Here
is the fold-out of the above insert. It is a placemat with a "now and
then" comparison of Thanksgiving Day menus. Included is a picture of
Jake & Haley enjoying their Thanksgiving meal.
Posted in Lapbooks
Here are my notes (altered somewhat for this blog post) from the Lapbook Workshop I did for our local HS group last week.
Disclaimer:
I do not work for In the Hands of a Child, nor do I benefit personally
from promoting them here. (I just love their stuff!)
We used a ClassPack (provided by In the Hands of a Child) which included 16 activities that we worked on together after I presented the following overview:
What is a Lapbook?
Tamy Duby (of Tobins Lab)is the
person who came up with the term Lapbook. She is author of The Ultimate
Lapbook Handbook and the video Tammy Teaches Lapbooks which was shown at
October's meeting and is now available in our childrens library. (I
highly recommend this video and also the cd rom which have tons of
examples of lapbooks made by real students.)
A
Lapbook is basically a file folder, folded in a new way. Some people
call them Portfolders, Project Packs, Shutter Books or Flap Books. Its
just a creative way to organize & display information using file
folders & “minit books” (which are miniature books in neat shapes)
made popular by author Dinah Zike. She has written TONS of great resources for teachers, one of her MOST popular being the Big Book of Books and Activities.
I
have a handout available here (email me if you’d like a copy of it.) It
lists some of the resources I mention here plus tons of websites. I
highly recommend the Lapbooking Group at Yahoo and also the Notebooking Group is good (many people on the Notebooking list use both lapbooking and notebooking).
Some
people say that lapbooking is for younger children and notebooking is
for older children, but I’ve seen lapbooks done by children 3-17 yrs.
old. Obviously the little ones will need ALOT more help. My oldest
still at home is 6 and honestly I do most of the work for our lapbooks.
My husband has said “Is that YOUR lapbook or THEIRS?” ;0 I like to call it MODELING… They learn HOW to learn from watching me.
They ARE learning a lot!! What I mean when I say I do most of the work:
is
that I usually write out their narrations and put them into the shape
books. They may do a very short copywork lesson for the Lapbook. I will
type out the vocab words and definitions separately and let them match
up correct answers, then cut and paste into a vocab book. I even do most of the cutting if this is going to frustrate them.
The KEY is to make it EASY and FUN at first so that they will ENJOY it. You want to help them be successful.
Then
you will start to see the love of learning take off, which is just one
of the benefits of making Lapbooks with your children.
WHY Lapbook? What are the BENEFITS?
- For children of all ages, all
learning styles and all abilities. You can truly use this method to
MEET your child RIGHT where they are.
-
- Use with ALL curriculum &
approaches, whether its classical, Charlotte Mason, especially unit
studies and even with textbooks. Great for 4-H, Scouts, or other
interest-led studies or hobbies.
-
- Children practice essential
skills without even realizing it: including fine motor skills
(coloring/ cutting/ drawing) research, composition, organization, and
logic.
-
- Gives your child a PURPOSE for writing: Its FUN to write in the little shape books!
-
- It lets them know their work is important enough to keep and share with others. This encourages neatness!
-
- The REVIEW is a BIG bonus for
me. Children love to show off their hard work and lapbooks are easy to
take to grandma’s house or a friends. Each time your child shows his
lapbook to someone he will look over all of the little books and review
what was learned.
-
- And last, if not BEST of all – lapbooks are easily stored away in a drawer or on a bookshelf!!
OK, the BIG question? HOW do you make a lapbook??
I literally spent months researching before I ever attempted to make one! ;0 The main reason I wanted to offer this workshop is so you wont have to do that!
My
GOAL is that when you leave here tonight you will know how to make a
lapbook and feel confident to use this method at home with your own
children.
There
are several steps to making a lapbook. Im not going into all the
details just now, but I will say that the most important step is to
BEGIN
Other steps include:
1) Choose a topic
2) Plan your study
3) Research, Collect & Organize information
4) Present it in a creative way
After all of my months of research, the BEST advice I heard was this:
Just
Do it!! This is so true- once you start DOing you’ll see how it all
works out and you’ll learn SO much more than just reading about it!
If you were AT the workshop … I would be giving you a flyer and saying “Let me introduce you to In the Hands of a Child… ;)
They’ve
provided all of the materials we’ll be using tonight, which is a SMALL
sampling of the activities they offer in their lapbook packs. Be sure
to look over the product list I have here or visit their website!”
If you didn’t make it to the workshop, just visit their website and
you can see everything they have to offer. (IF you decide to order
something from them, would you please give them code #133 (our
homeschool group will get a bonus to apply to our library purchase).
The
thing I LOVE about Hands of a Child is that they make it SO easy for
you to just jump right in and BEGIN your lapbook. These are PERFECT for
doing your first lapbook. Everything is all laid out for you- right
down to the lesson plans.
**Project
Packs even have the research info included right in the text! This
makes it especially easy for younger ones and saves you more TIME!
**Research Packs are for older children who are able to “do the research” themselves (or with a little help).
They
also have all of the graphics & booklets pre-printed for you and
there is even a sample lapbook layout to guide you through that step.
So, you don’t even NEED to be creative at all! BUT, if you are- that’s great too! I
tend to use the Project Packs and mix in my own creations (and dc
artwork), but I like that I don’t have to add anything if I don’t want
to!
If you look at our Space Lapbook you can see how we used some of a HandsofaChild project pack, some booklets from Great Science Adventures, and one from Considering God's Creation along with other things too.
If
you have never done a lapbook, I recommend you try out a Hands of a
Child project packs, they have tons of topics to choose from and even
offer FREEBIES regularly on their website. So, what are you waiting for?!
Here are the 16 activities we made:
Posted in Lapbooks
We did this lapbook for the Walk
Through History event described in yesterday's entry. We chose
Washington because out focus was Colonial Times and it just happened
the History event was the day after President's Day. Here is the cover
of our lapbook:
Here is the first opening. On the lower right is an example of Jake's
copywork (from one of George's copywork lessons). On the left is a map
of the 13 colonies, a colonial flag, picture of Betsy Ross, a timeline
of Washington's life (on the coat) and 2 mini-books which detail more
biographical info.
Below are 2 shape books on the left. Each contain a narration that
corresponds with the Childhood Of Famous Americans biography (George,
Martha). I found George online, but actually ended up drawing Martha
and I think it came out just fine, too! ;0 On the lower rightis a
printable from our HandsofaChild Project Pack which includes
biographical info on GW. The pizza book on the right is titled George
Washington's Friends and includes mini-biographies on several famous
people of his time.
Here is an open view of the Pizza Book.
This is a view of the above flap folded down. These 2 pages are described individually below.
Below left is a printable pocket I got as a free sample (I think it was
the Declaration of Independence Project Pack) at HandsofaChild Inside
are some famous quotes. On the right is a teacup shape book that I just
drew and cut out. On the outside is a narration of the Boston Tea Party
chapter in Meet George Washington and inside is a picture of the event.
Below on the left side is a really neat little book titled
"Presidential Cabinet Members" and its in the shape of a cabinet!! This
was part of our Project Pack from HandsofaChild Also, included in the
pack were the crown/ presidential seal printables that we glued to our
Venn Diagram (rights/ responsibilities of King v President) on the
right. At the bottom is a cute song I found on the net "If you're know
who's on the quarter, clap your hands. If you know who's on the dollar,
clap your hands. If you know who was president number one, then you've
really learned a ton, so clap your hands!"
Posted in Lapbooks
Front cover 
This is the lapbook, at first opening. On the right is a poem about 1492, the center extension flap includes a Bible verse.
This is Jake's mini-book about the journey to America.
This
is the section behind the center flap. There are 2 flapbooks w/ info on
the voyage and inside a caravel. (see next picture for opened caravel
book)
On the far left is a game I found on the internet.
The center extension flap is folded down and has a map of our yard on
the inside. Above is a worksheet with caravels on it and above that is
a poem.
Jake is making hardtack.
Posted in Lapbooks
Front
Cover graphics include childrens photos in cut-outs. We spray painted
the file folder and then spatter painted it with silver to make the
space-like effects.
Inside
first flap -on far left is a graph picture Jake made during an exercise
called "sending & receiving messages" -on inside left is a booklet
from Considering Gods Creation on the Universe.
This section has a project pack from Hands of a Child and includes vocabulary words, and stages of lift-off booklet inside.
On
the left side are 4 booklets from Great Science Adventures: Space
(Dinah Zike). Our teacher resource (Gheens) has these and I was able to
copy 4 lessons and try it out. We loved it!The fold-down flap was
Jake's idea to includ a booklet telling something about each planet. He
was given free-reign with this part. ;)This was our first lapbook and
we had a great time doing it, but the best part is that they love to
look back over what they did and every time they do, they are reviewing
what they learned- bonus!!
