Upcoming Modern History Portfolio Junior

Wow. I’ve just finished the second to the last chapter of the Modern History Portfolio Junior, and I am so excited because I know you will love it. Within the Portfolio Junior, there are so many suggested opportunities to practice the skills of observation and analysis, to practice writing and to play with words, and […]

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Grasshopper Mini Unit

Grasshoppers: A handy, ready-to-go, multi-level, mini unit. Project Overview: This grasshopper mini unit and downloadable file in pdf, will produce a single fold, three-sided booklet, for each of three levels; K – 1st grade, 2nd – 3rd grade, and 4th – 5th grade. Preparation: To complete the unit, learn about grasshoppers by observing them in their natural habitat, […]

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Middle Colonies: Picture Story

Characteristics of the Middle Colonies Use Picture Stories for discussion starters. Also, as an activity, ask your child to interpret the images, and tell a story about the Middle Colonies. Image Credits: “American Beaver” by Steve is licensed under CC BY 2.0 “American Mink” by Pdreijnder is licensed under CC BY 3.0

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New England Colonies: Picture Books

Characteristics of the New England Colonies John Rolfe, in the Virginia Colony, developed an export crop of tobacco. In the New England Colonies, a colder region, tobacco could not be grown. The New Englanders created an economy based on farming grains, fishing, whaling, and logging. A perfect book to read at this point would be […]

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New England Colonies: Picture Story

Characteristics of the New England Colonies Use Picture Stories for discussion starters. Also, as an activity, ask your child to interpret the images, and tell a story about the New England Colonies.         Image Credits: “An Ear of Rye” by LSDSL at en.wikipedia is licensed under CC BY 3.0 “Cucurbita” by George […]

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U.S. History and Immigration

Examining a map showing the “ancestry with the largest population in each state” reveals immigration patterns. This map, created with data from the most recent census, shows a wealth of information. Notice that the map shows “Ancestry with largest population in state.” Much of what was shown on the map made total sense, when I […]

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Southern Colonies: Picture Story

Characteristics of the Southern Colonies Use Picture Stories for discussion starters. Also, as an activity, ask your child to interpret the images, and tell a story about the Southern Colonies. Image Credits: “The Old South” by Nimur at en.wikipedia is licensed under CC BY 3.0 “Nature of Pinar del Rio” by Gorupdebesanez via Wikimedia Commons (Own […]

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Documentation and Keepsakes

I had a brainstorm the other day. I wanted to make space in the bookshelves, and started to cull books which we had outgrown. Now, certain books are family keepsakes, and I did neatly pack them away, and marked them as “keepsakes.” However, some school type books, which were not the “let’s get cuddly and […]

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Jamestown Settlement: Wattle and Daub

An ancient housing construction technique, used in the Jamestown settlement, is the technique called wattle and daub. This technique was used throughout history and around the world, where similar materials were available In Britain, there was a long standing tradition to build in this manner. In the days when people would have relied on the use […]

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