Our Winter and Holiday Book Box

Our winter and holiday book box is a mixture of silly winter tales, Christmas stories, and science books about snow.  I checked out all of these books from the library, but you can mix books that you own with books you find at the library to fill up your book box if you like.

These are all the book titles from our Winter and Holiday Book Box:

1. The Blizzard by Betty Ren Wright
2. Snow on Snow on Snow by Cheryl Chapman
3. My First Little House Books Sugar Snow by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Snow Party by Harriet Ziefert
5. Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee
6. The Big Red Sled by Jane E. Gerver
7. Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devin
8. Dream Snow by Eric Carle
9. Charlie and Lola I Really, Really Need Actual Ice Skates by Lauren Child
10. Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley
11. It's Snowing by Gail Gibbons
12. The Story of Snow The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassino and Jon Nelson, Ph.D.
13. Scrooge by Cathy East Dubowski
14. Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans
15. Under the Star A Christmas Counting Story by Jane Yolen
16. Jingle Bells How the Holiday Classic Came To Be by John Harris
17. Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

The guidelines I used to put together this book box were simple.  First, the books had to be entirely about winter or Christmas.  Next, they needed to add substance and educational value.  Last, I chose a variety of levels to include all four of my children's interests and abilities.

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by Noah's Ark Homeschool Academy!  I hope you enjoyed your stay.  We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

 

Our Mr. Popper's Penguins Book Box

For our unit study of Mr. Popper's Penguins I went to the library and collected several books.  I put together a combination of resource books and fun stories and placed them in a plastic ice bucket that I bought from Wal-Mart for $2.00.  We call it our unit study book box. 

Book's from our Mr. Popper's Penguins Book Box:

1. Plenty of Penguins by Sonia W. Black
2. Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers
3. Waiting for Ice by Sandra Markle
4. One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo
5. Antarctica The Antarctic Ocean by Lynn M. Stone
6. Penguins by Emily Bone
7. What's in the Egg, Little Pip? by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
8. The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins
9. My Season with Penguins; An Antarctic Journal by Sophie Webb
10. Amazing Animals; Penguins by Valerie Bodden
11. Follow That Map!  A First Book of Mapping Skills by Scot Ritchie
12. The Magic School Bus In the Arctic; A Book About Heat by Joanna Cole
13. How to Survive in Antarctica by Lucy Jane Bledsoe
14. The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
15. Where is Home, Little Pip? by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
16. Magic Tree House Research Guide Penguins and Antarctica by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Bryce
17. Magic Tree House Eve of the Emperor Penguin by Mary Pope Osborne

We use our book box's for Reader's Corner (when my children pick a book each and read them to eachother), and I pick a few books from our book boxes to read to them each day.

In addition to this book box we also have a winter and holiday book box which we have pulled several snow science books out of and added to our study.

Thanks for stopping by Noah's Ark Homeschool Academy.  We hope to see you back soon!

Mr. Popper's Penguins Unit Study Chapters 4-6

 

Stop-drop-and-roll on over to Noah's Ark Homeschool Academy on Wordpress to download the FREE Mr. Popper's Penguins Chapters 4-6 Study Guide Notebooking Pages.

 

Chapter 4

 

Who was Captain Cook? 

Use these websites to help you find the answer. 

http://geography.about.com/cs/captaincook/a/jamescook.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Antarctica

http://www.south-pole.com/p0000052.htm

http://www.south-pole.com/p0000071.htm

Did Captain Cook make it to the South Pole?

What important scientific discoveries did captain cook make about the Antarctic Regions?

 

 

Vocabulary Words

 

Washstand

 

 

 

Pleadingly

 

Curiosity

 

Icebox

 

 

 

Trilled

 

Reproved

 

 

What do penguins eat?

 

 

Use these websites to find the answer.

 

 

http://penguins-world.com/what-do-penguins-eat.html

 

http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/penguins/facts4.htm

 

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_penguins_eat

 

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/penguin/diet.htm

 

http://whyzz.com/what-do-penguins-eat

 

http://animalstime.com/penguins-eat-types-penguins-eat/

 

 

How long can penguins go without food?

 

Why did Mrs. Popper Call Captain Cook a bad, bad penguin?

 

What did Captain Cook do to make Mr. Popper say "He knows he's done wrong?"

 

Where did Captain Cook sleep?

 

Why did Mrs. Popper think Captain Cook would be a good example for the children and Mr. Popper?

 

What do penguins make their nests with?

 

Chapter 5

 

Why did Bill spank Captain Cook?

 

When Mrs. Popper was gone marketing what was she doing?

 

Vocabulary Words

 

License

 

Ventilating

 

Stubborn

 

Unsympathetic

 

Indignantly

 

What did Mr. Popper and the service man argue about?

 

Why was Mr. Popper sad when he gave the service man $5.00?

 

Why did Mr. Popper think Mrs. Popper would be annoyed with him?

 

Why did Mr. Popper have to give the service man another $5.00?

 

What color were Captain Cook's feet?

 

Why did the service man leave so quickly?

 

Who came to the back door?

 

Math Opportunity:

How many ways can you make $5.00

How many bean could you buy with $5.00 today?

How much time is a minute?

$5.00+$5.00=$10.00

Budgets

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6

 



Why wouldn't the policeman come in?

 

 

 

What color is Captain Cook's beak?

 

Vocabulary Words

 

Arrest

 

Dignity

 

Sternly

 

What did the policeman think Captain Cook was at first?

 

What is a municipal ordinance?

 

What did the policeman tell Mr. Popper to do about the penguin?

 

What happened when Mr. Popper called City Hall?

 

 

 

Why did Mr. Popper hang up?

 

Field Trip Opportunity: Visit you City Hall

 

Reader's Theater:  The conversation Mr. Popper has with the policeman and the staff at City Hall is very funny and would work really well for a mini-script.

 

 







 

 

 

Other Interesting Penguin Facts

http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/01006/penguins.htm

 

March of the Penguins Study Questions

 

 



Mr. Popper's Penguins Unit Study Chapters 1-3

Don't Miss the Best Part

And all My Hard Work!

*All of our FREE Printable Notebook Pages for this Unit Study are located at Noah's Ark Homeschool Academy on Wordpress.*

 

*This Unit Study does NOT work well without the FREE Printable Notebook Pages.  Please do NOT skip that step.*

Before we get started, please head over to Noah's Ark Homeschool Academy on Wordpress to download our FREE Notebooking Pages that accompany this Unit Study. The Notebooking Pages download is listed in the text as a clickable link, and then you must click it again on the next page.  You will also find a plethora or wonderful penguin resources!

• Download and print our FREE Notebook pages which include our comprehension questions.  Have your child answer the questions for a chapter directly after reading it.  This study guide covers the first 3 chapters of Mr. Popper's Penguins.
• Mr. Popper was a house painter.  Let's find out what a house painter does.  Now tell about what you learned in your notebook.

• Here are some free printable 1930's wall paper designs that you can just look at or use them to decorate a cardboard box doll house or to make pockets and mini-books for this unit study.
• Here is a free printable 1930's paper doll to live in your cardboard box doll house.
• 1938 was the year Mr. Popper's Penguins was published.  Learn about what it was like to live in the 1930's for children and compare it to what it is like for your today.  Organize your information on a Venn Diagram.
• Mr. Popper and his family lived in a Bungalow.  Find out what a Bungalow is and tell about it in your notebook.

• Find India, the Himalayas, South Seas, North Pole, and the South Pole on an atlas, globe, or world map.

• Mr. Popper said that penguins live in the South Pole and Polar Bears live in the North Pole.  Compare North and South Pole and record your findings on a Venn Diagram. (use the Venn Diagram link above or make your own)
• Do some creative writing and tell a short story of how a penguin traveled from the South Pole to the North Pole.
• Be a detective and use the clues from the book to figure out what kind of penguin Mr. Popper got for his surprise.

• The penguin came packed in dry-ice.  Learn more about dry-ice and do some fun experiments.
• Watch this dry-ice experiment video, and watch this one too.
• When you come to the part in the story where they mention 10 o'clock have your child change their clocks time to 10 o'clock and then have them change it to the time it is at your house right then.  Have them calculate the elapsed time.

• The penguin walked the length and width of the bath tub and it was 6 steps in length and 2 steps in width.  Of course your child's feet aren't the same size as the penguins but for a fun math exercise have your child take 6 steps one foot in front of the other and mark the start and finish point.  measure the distance.  Now do the same for the width.  Describe to your child the difference between length and width.
• This story starts off on Wednesday, September twenty-ninth and you will follow this family for 9 months.  Have you child record the Popper families adventures through these nine months.  They can tell details described in the story of what the seasons are like as well.  Keep a timeline of the events and any dates mentioned in the story.
• Spelling: Have your child spell these words with alphabet beads or jot them down in their notebook. You can use them all or pick a few.
• Thursday
• September
• Thirtieth
• Wednesday
• Twenty-ninth
• Penguins
• Length
• Width
• Calcimine
• Expedition
• Mending
• Spectacles
• Queer
• Stout
• Pompous
• Toboggan
• Bungalow
• North Pole
• South Pole

Here are the answers to the questions from the notebook:

1. House Painter
2. He had never seen the Poles, or even left Stillwater
3. Bungalow
4. The kind that lasted all year
5. Answers will vary
6. It had National Geographic Magazine Pictures all over the walls
7. Answers will vary
8. Answers will vary
9. Answers will vary
10. Too much dirt in the house and she already has enough dirt
11. Goldfish
12. They crowd together until one penguin gets pushed in
13. They didn't have a TV
14. Not a letter, a surprise
15. He was curious about Admiral Drake's message
16. The Expressman
17. A faint "ork"
18. The penguin kept biting the faucets
19. No
20. Captain Cook

Thank you for visiting Noah's Ark Homeschool Academy and please keep your eye out for following chapters of our Mr. Popper's Penguins Unit Study!