Math Madness

My husband John wants me to take a break from curriculum and just focus on math for a month with the kids. Today we kicked off what I am calling MATH MADNESS. Quite certain I will be mad by the end of the month dealing with all of them but we are going to give it a shot. I explained to the kids what we were going to be doing. Then I told them they had 10 minutes and we would get started. When I came out of the office they were in the parlor dressed in costumes.

They were so excited to INTRODUCE themselves.

Jack.. aka THE SUBTRACTION SAMURAI
Maddie... aka MADEMOISELLE MULTIPLICATION
Makenna.. aka THE ADDITION MAGICIAN
Carson...aka MR. SOLO DIVISION

Love, love, love their excitement and creativity. Now if they will just get this excited about learning all their facts!!

Literature Fair

You have probably heard of a Science Fair before, but a Literature Fair?? What is that?? To sum it up you choose a novel, book, or famous author and do a "project" on it just like you would for a Science Fair. Each child/family creates a 3 tiered board, or some type of visual. They do a small presentation, and then children are given a handout with questions on it to answer. After the presentations are done the kids have time to fill out the questions and complete their paper.

Our family project was on the novel Where the Red Fern Grows. Each child chose something to research from the book. Carson chose the Redbone Coonhound. Jackson chose to research the raccoon. Makenna researched the Ozark Mountains, and did a summary of the story. Maddie colored a picture of a Redbone Coonhound and worked on a compare and contrast of the two dogs Little Ann, and Old Dan. We also did a Greeneteam book review.

I loved that after the presentations there was a handout with questions to answer. It made for a really educational afternoon and made the kids really look at the projects rather than walk by and say "Oh that is nice".

Some of the questions:

Where did Roald Dahl write his books?
What is a diorama?
What disease did Old Yeller get from the Wolf?
What is the name of Mr. Poppers first penguin?
Who taught Dr. Doolittle the animals languages?
What is another nickname for a raccoon?
What was Ralphs motorcycle helmet made of?
Which of Elizabeth Enrights books won the Newberry Award?
What was the first Gothic Novel by Mary Shelly?
What U.S. State is the same size as England?

The fair was interactive, fun, gave the kids a chance to exhibit their work, and gave both the children and parents an insight as to other literature. I loved this idea for an educational fair!!