Paige P
08-21-2007, 04:00 PM
I know several of you have mentioned that you're going to row The Bee Tree soon, so I thought I'd share what I did last week (and this week :D ). Joy encouraged me to write about what we did -- she says she's finding the archives "empty" these days and that she's not seeing enough of "this was our week with ____," which is what people like to read.
I will start by saying that we did A LOT with this book -- there are so many possibilities, and this was our first book of the school year, and I wanted to make sure the girls were enthralled with FIAR again (they are :thumb: )
Other than the stuff in the book, we....
Monday
* looked at the pbs interactive bee hive online
* colored the labeled "bee" diagram (EL?)
* made bees out of construction paper, pipe cleaners, wax paper (wings), and markers to draw eyes and bands
* when we were talking about a bee's anatomy, we went over how ONLY the female bees did everything -- queen, nurse, got honey, etc. The male bees (drones) were only for mating. I used that word and gave no other explanation (if I had been questioned, I would have said to help make babies and be daddies) and said how they died immediately after mating.
* We talked about the bee's stinger and how, after they stung a person one time, they died. Their abdomen's are ripped open. I got a styrofoam ball (one that you might use for a craft) and put a nail in it and then "screwed" a screw into it. When I pulled the nail out, nothing happened, but when I pulled the screw out, it "ripped" the ball apart, just as using their barbed stingers "rips" the abdomen's out of the bees, so they die. I thought that was a good visual representation of what actually happens.
* watched The Magic Schoolbus "Inside a Bee Hive"
Tuesday
* typed out the examples of onamotapeoia from the book and added our own
* typed out the definitions of the vocab words, printed off the clip art pictures to match the definitions from hss and made vocab books (the girls LOVED this -- they like to cut and paste :) )
* used the "hive" template (I think there's one somewhere in the archives) and stamped thumbprint bees on the hive. We stamped thumbs in yellow (yes, honeybees are orange, but we didn't have an orange "stamp") and stamped them on the paper. Then we stamped our pinkies in black to make their heads and stingers and lightly used the black to make wing prints. Afterwards, the girls colored the leaves on the hive and the hive -- they were cute!
Wednesday
* talked about the orchestra and trios and quartets
* listened to Flight of the Bumblebees
www.classicsforkids.com/music/music_view.asp?id=25
* played the music again and went on a "treasure" hunt -- I'd hidden Hershey's kisses throughout the kitchen and dining room, and while the music played, they "buzzed" through hunting treasure, and every time they found one, they were to shout "Eureka!"
Thursday
* talked about hexagons and got out the pattern blocks -- traced around the block to make a "honeycomb" on half a sheet of tan construction paper (Remember -- hexagons and SIX have "x"s!)
* made beeswax candles and (this week) ate dinner by candlelight (their candles -- they were thrilled) -- I ordered the beeswax off of ebay
* went on a field trip to the bee keeper (with a new FIAR family -- HI TRACI :hi: she's registered but hasn't posted yet :) They rowed Madeline last week, and they treated us to a French "breakfast" for supper :thumb: and they're doing The Bee Tree this week!)
* had biscuits with fresh honey (and honeycomb)
Friday we had co-op in the morning, and everyone was exhausted and napped in the afternoon, so we continued Monday :D
* talked about how each hive has its own "scent," and how the bees will kill or drive off a "stranger." I soaked Q-tips with different scents (perfume, lemon extract, orange juice) and had the girls smell them to see if they could "match" the Q-tips by scent -- which ones belong to the same hive?
* I got a medicine dropper and filled it with water and had the girls "buzz" around and one drop at a time start filling a medicine cup. After each drop, they had to "fly" around again before they could come back. They were quickly able to see how LONG it would take for a bee to bring back honey, and I then showed them what a 1/12 of a tsp looked like (as best I could) -- what an average bee makes in a lifetime!
* Took Q-tips and wet them and then rolled them in glitter that was on a sheet of construction paper. The girls them "flew" with their "pollen" (glitter) to another sheet of construction paper and rubbed their legs (Q-tips) on the paper and watched the pollen come off -- voila -- how a bee pollinates a flower
* Katie did the bee work search (from the Arizona link in the archives) and wrote bee facts on the "bee" notebook page
Tuesday
* practiced the "bee dances"
* look at a flower and "name" the parts (stamen with it's anther and fillament and pollen grain and then the stigma and style)
* make our notebooks and review
We read several go-alongs. Anne Rockwell's Honey in a Hive is a great one that details the science in a fascinating, kid-friendly way. We also read Thank you, Mr. Falker and In Enzo's Splendid Garden by PP and some others.
This is a GREAT book!!! We truly LOVED it, and there are SO many fun activities to do :) It was a wonderful way to start the school year. Hope all that helps.
Here are some pictures of our notebooks that we finished:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00227.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00228.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00229.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00230.jpg
Here's a closer look at the vocab book -- I thought they turned out really well for a 6 and 4 year old, and they LOVED them!
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00231.jpg
I will start by saying that we did A LOT with this book -- there are so many possibilities, and this was our first book of the school year, and I wanted to make sure the girls were enthralled with FIAR again (they are :thumb: )
Other than the stuff in the book, we....
Monday
* looked at the pbs interactive bee hive online
* colored the labeled "bee" diagram (EL?)
* made bees out of construction paper, pipe cleaners, wax paper (wings), and markers to draw eyes and bands
* when we were talking about a bee's anatomy, we went over how ONLY the female bees did everything -- queen, nurse, got honey, etc. The male bees (drones) were only for mating. I used that word and gave no other explanation (if I had been questioned, I would have said to help make babies and be daddies) and said how they died immediately after mating.
* We talked about the bee's stinger and how, after they stung a person one time, they died. Their abdomen's are ripped open. I got a styrofoam ball (one that you might use for a craft) and put a nail in it and then "screwed" a screw into it. When I pulled the nail out, nothing happened, but when I pulled the screw out, it "ripped" the ball apart, just as using their barbed stingers "rips" the abdomen's out of the bees, so they die. I thought that was a good visual representation of what actually happens.
* watched The Magic Schoolbus "Inside a Bee Hive"
Tuesday
* typed out the examples of onamotapeoia from the book and added our own
* typed out the definitions of the vocab words, printed off the clip art pictures to match the definitions from hss and made vocab books (the girls LOVED this -- they like to cut and paste :) )
* used the "hive" template (I think there's one somewhere in the archives) and stamped thumbprint bees on the hive. We stamped thumbs in yellow (yes, honeybees are orange, but we didn't have an orange "stamp") and stamped them on the paper. Then we stamped our pinkies in black to make their heads and stingers and lightly used the black to make wing prints. Afterwards, the girls colored the leaves on the hive and the hive -- they were cute!
Wednesday
* talked about the orchestra and trios and quartets
* listened to Flight of the Bumblebees
www.classicsforkids.com/music/music_view.asp?id=25
* played the music again and went on a "treasure" hunt -- I'd hidden Hershey's kisses throughout the kitchen and dining room, and while the music played, they "buzzed" through hunting treasure, and every time they found one, they were to shout "Eureka!"
Thursday
* talked about hexagons and got out the pattern blocks -- traced around the block to make a "honeycomb" on half a sheet of tan construction paper (Remember -- hexagons and SIX have "x"s!)
* made beeswax candles and (this week) ate dinner by candlelight (their candles -- they were thrilled) -- I ordered the beeswax off of ebay
* went on a field trip to the bee keeper (with a new FIAR family -- HI TRACI :hi: she's registered but hasn't posted yet :) They rowed Madeline last week, and they treated us to a French "breakfast" for supper :thumb: and they're doing The Bee Tree this week!)
* had biscuits with fresh honey (and honeycomb)
Friday we had co-op in the morning, and everyone was exhausted and napped in the afternoon, so we continued Monday :D
* talked about how each hive has its own "scent," and how the bees will kill or drive off a "stranger." I soaked Q-tips with different scents (perfume, lemon extract, orange juice) and had the girls smell them to see if they could "match" the Q-tips by scent -- which ones belong to the same hive?
* I got a medicine dropper and filled it with water and had the girls "buzz" around and one drop at a time start filling a medicine cup. After each drop, they had to "fly" around again before they could come back. They were quickly able to see how LONG it would take for a bee to bring back honey, and I then showed them what a 1/12 of a tsp looked like (as best I could) -- what an average bee makes in a lifetime!
* Took Q-tips and wet them and then rolled them in glitter that was on a sheet of construction paper. The girls them "flew" with their "pollen" (glitter) to another sheet of construction paper and rubbed their legs (Q-tips) on the paper and watched the pollen come off -- voila -- how a bee pollinates a flower
* Katie did the bee work search (from the Arizona link in the archives) and wrote bee facts on the "bee" notebook page
Tuesday
* practiced the "bee dances"
* look at a flower and "name" the parts (stamen with it's anther and fillament and pollen grain and then the stigma and style)
* make our notebooks and review
We read several go-alongs. Anne Rockwell's Honey in a Hive is a great one that details the science in a fascinating, kid-friendly way. We also read Thank you, Mr. Falker and In Enzo's Splendid Garden by PP and some others.
This is a GREAT book!!! We truly LOVED it, and there are SO many fun activities to do :) It was a wonderful way to start the school year. Hope all that helps.
Here are some pictures of our notebooks that we finished:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00227.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00228.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00229.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00230.jpg
Here's a closer look at the vocab book -- I thought they turned out really well for a 6 and 4 year old, and they LOVED them!
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x196/pppoland/DSC00231.jpg