Giveaway - I took the Moon for a walk - My Week with Picture Book Explorers

I've used a number of Picture Book Explorers from Branch Out World, but have been saving this one especially for our space study.

One of my favourite aspects of BOW's literature based unit studies is you can pick and choose how many activities you do and take as long as you want (I have been know to spread them out over two weeks) but they have provided enough for a whole weeks worth of lessons, because we were home three days last week I chose to do only some of the activities. The other thing I love is how broad the age range is (I used this with 6-12 year olds) and the activities suggest ideas for both a younger and older audiences.

Monday 
We started by reading the book 'I took the Moon for a walk' and went through PBE's narration questions and activities;

Moon worksheet
I read the moon facts sheet, moon stories and the girls filled in the notebook page

Moon Poetry
I used the poetry discussion page to explore the poetry within the book and write an extra stanza for the story. We also read the additional poem - the girls loved this so much they decided to draw pictures inspired by the poem and write their own moon poems. 

Simile and Metaphor
We also worked through the simile and metaphor activity

Timeline
Filled in selected facts on the timeline provided

Maps and Flag
This included facts about Derbyshire, colouring the county flag and labelling/colouring maps. 

The girls got so enthused that they ended up working through lunch and beyond : )

Tuesday
Art 
The girls worked on their myriorama landscapes

and started their moon lamp

Hills activity
I read the fact sheet, Rose created playdoh hills and the older girls made the lift the flap notebook page.

Friday
Math
We worked through the math activities.

Craft
They worked on their well dressing collage

 

and did some more of their moon lamp.

Science
They explored Nocturnal and Diurnal animals, 

British Wild animals,

and did the experiment.

There were a number of activities we skipped because our week was shorter than normal - We didn't make the recipes, the brochure or poster, moon phases activity (because they did one last week) or the different ageing paper techniques.

Picture Book Explorers come as an approx 60 page PDF and provide a weeks worth of educational activities based on a reading or picture book. They divide the days as follows: 
Day 1 - Explore the Setting
Day 2 -Exploring the words
Day 3 - Exploring the Pictures 
Day 4 - Exploring Science 
Day 5- Exploring Math, Crafts and more 
Each day has between 4 and 8 suggested activities that you can pick and choose between.

We have been so impressed that I have decided to give away a copy of 'I took the Moon for a Walk' and it's accompanying picture Book explorer

This giveaway is open worldwide. To enter please leave a comment below saying which Picture Book explorer you would most like to try and for additional entries like Picture Book Explorers facebook page or subscribe via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Old British Penny giveaway

I have been sorting through my coin collection again and discovered a few too many old pennies.

I have 10 spare that I can giveaway so if you are interested pop a comment below - if there are more than 10 I will do a random draw : )

You have until Friday 19th April to comment - please remember to leave contact details.

Piper Reed Forever Friend - Book Review/Giveaway

We've had a great opportunity to review a book by Kimberly Willis Holt - it's the latest in her Piper Reed series called Forever Friend.
The Piper Reed series explores ten year old Piper's adventures with her family, their moves to new towns (her Dad is in the Navy), the friends she makes along the way and the lessons she learns. Her latest book focuses on their move to Norfolk, Virginia and Piper learns the importance of believing in yourself, spotting new opportunities and the benefits of individuality.

This book was well written and thoroughly enjoyable, we couldn't put it down and the girls were  eager to find out what happened next, so much so that they read the book in two days. They loved this book so much that the earlier five in the series are all on their wish lists for Christmas - though I probably won't be mean and make them wait that long : )

Not only did we get to enjoy this book but Rose and Sunflower were able to put together a couple of questions for Kimberly.

• What made you start writing?

When my second teacher read my story about a family of bunnies to the class, I felt proud.           I'd always loved reading and my mom always made me feel good about my writing. Then          in junior high I had some wonderful teachers (including a science teacher) who encouraged me to keep writing. But it wasn't until 18 years ago that I made a commitment to become a writer.

• How do you feel when you have written a book? 

It's a mixed bag of emotions. I question if it's good enough for the world to see. And I miss           the process of writing it.  So there is joy and sadness together, a bittersweet feeling. 

• Is it hard to finish writing about your characters – does it feel like a friend has left? 

Absolutely! But when I visit schools or libraries, I usually talk to audiences that have read         my books, and I get to visit my characters all over again.

• Why did you make Nicole allergic to chocolate? I am allergic to chocolate but I’ve never met anyone else that is. 

I'm sorry that you're allergic to chocolate. I've heard of people who are allergic and I put myself in their shoes. I wanted kids who had food allergies to have a character they could relate to.

• Did you get your inspiration for Sam and Tori from your own family? 

Yes, and Piper, too. Piper is inspired by my middle sister. My baby sister inspired Sam.          And yes, I admit it. I'm a lot like Tori. (Only I'm not so mean and bossy. At least I don't think so.)

• Will there be more Piper Reed books? 

I'm afraid the sixth one is probably going to be the last. But you never know! I'm certainly willing to keep telling stories about the Reed Family.

If you are looking for a fun read full of inspirational learning experiences I would suggest you check this series out. MacMillan also have some free downloadable lesson plans and activities available to go alongside the series.

As a special treat for you we are hosting a giveaway for three signed Piper Reed books - Piper Reed Forever Friend, Piper Reed Navy Brat and Piper Reed Rodeo Star.
Entry is simple - leave a comment below and like Kimberly Willis Holt on Facebook. Three winners will be drawn at random and sent one book each, if you have a preference for a specific title please leave a note in your comment below. 
The giveaway will close on Sept 14th 2012 and winners will be contacted by email - please ensure you leave a contact address.

Disclaimer - I was provided with a free copy of the book so I could provide an open and honest review.

Magnet Unit wrap up and Giveaway

Our magnet unit is finally finished.
The girls were happy to recreate their experiments so you could all see the pictures.

They made dancing bees - Tulip kindly describes how to make them.

Rose made a hungry spider - we used colours on the flies he had to eat but you could easily use numbers or shapes instead to create an extra learning activity.

They measured the force of attraction using a ruler and paperclip - we started at the 5cm mark and slowly moved in until the paperclip jumped to the magnet. (about 2cm distance)

they then decided to see if a stronger magnet would have a stronger force of attraction - following the same process as above but using 2 then 3 magnets (and yes - worked at 2.5cm and 3cm)

The floating butterfly was probably the most finicky activity - basically a butterfly cutout with a paperclip stuck to the back, cotton then tied to the paperclip and sellotaped to the base. The idea it to get the butterfly to float but not attach to the magnet, only Lilly managed this as everyone else's got stuck to the magnet (including mine)

Proving a magnet could work through a solid was the easiest - used a maze printed on card and the magnet underneath to move the object through the maze.

They also decided to see if a magnet would work through a liquid - cup of water and the magnet outside.

Sunflower's favourite was repulsion skating. We used a laminated sheet of paper (to provide a lovely smooth surface) and two magnets. By placing them S to S (or N to N) they repel but if you let one magnet loose and push them together the loose magnet will dance and turn until it connects NS. Sunflower said these reminded her of ice skaters.

Car Repulsion - to measure the distance a like pole will repulse a like pole.
They straped a magnet to the roof of a plastic toy car and laid it alongside a ruler, next they took it in turns to see how far their magnet would push the car (as you can see this did involve some cheating with the girls 'stepping' over the stating line)

The Mag - Lev train was made and researched

The bouncing magnets were Rose's favourite (pencil stuck in Styrofoam with washer magnets like pole to like pole)

and my favourite was the electro magnet. The girls thought I was mad when I popped this tray out and told them we would make it into a magnet because 'Mummy copper doesn't work - it isn't magnetic'

Don't you just love when they have to rethink the world :)
We also discussed how iron will only make a temporary magnet using this method but steel would make a permanent magnet.

Now to get you all stated having magnetic fun I have a little giveaway planned - it's open worldwide so feel free to join in. I will close the giveaway on Fri 7th Oct 20:00 BST and draw a winner using Random.org.

the winner will receive the above set containing: magnet, plastic bead, cotton, paperclips, packet of ion filings, 2 ring/washer magnets, maze and instruction booklet with 7 activities in.

To enter simply follow Homeschool Escapade and leave a comment below and for a 2nd entry like Homeschool Escapade on Facebook and leave a comment below.

Sixpence Giveaway

I was clearing out a coin collection drawer and discovered I have alot of old sixpence pieces from the 50's and 60's so decided it would be nice to share.
The first 10 readers who comment on this post will be sent and old English sixpence. (featuring a young Queen Elizabeth)

Don't worry if you don't make the first 10 as I have another box of coins to check for duplicates so will ship any extra ones I find to the remaining commenter's.
I am happy to ship worldwide.