Lesson 5: Building Blocks & Boilerplates: Tools for Creating Unit Studies Part I
5-2 Simple Gifts
Fill your study center with treasures to draw on for all your future study enterprises . . . and just-for-fun stuff, too. Here are a few basic ideas that may also help reduce your trash and recycle piles (Hmmm . . . how about a recycle unit study?)
As an incorrigible packrat I hoard:
- Adhesives - From glue sticks (for quick pasteups to adorn display boards, worksheets, game boards, homemade cards and books) to reusable, kneadable, gum-like, plastic adhesive (for wall hangings, collages, holding game pieces on boards -- especially vertical -- and temporary stickups) there are an infinite number of uses so keep a worthy supply on hand.
- Material & notions - as a seamstress and crafter I squirrel away a vast collection of old curtains, sheets, clothes and materials to be refashioned into craft projects, educational props and costumes over the years adding a touch of realism to various studies. Jen's "Felicity Christmas dress" was actually a converted 20-year-old bedspread. Fabrics, ribbons, notions, sheets all provided raw material for crafting goodies for the local nursing home and can be used for creating a trendy unit study scrapbook. We once had a day in Rome with spur-of-the-moment-designed togas for the occasion from bed sheets (no, I did not attend toga parties in college).
- Write-on/wipe-off resources - Clear sleeves/pockets or clear adhesive-backed vinyl are all-purpose tools to extend the life of "disposable" worksheets, for example, or borrowed material like library books. Put the clear surface over a worksheet and use a suitable marker to write answers on the plastic. My favorite marker is the wet-erase pens for overhead transparencies. Crayons and other suitable writing tools will work as well. Experiment! For the deluxe version of Activity Cottage books, I used a binder with a clear pocket on the covers. Pages could be pulled out of the binder, placed in the pocket, and used for repeated unit studies or by different children over the years.
- Pens, pencils, crayons, and markers - I've never met a writing tool I didn't like . . .and find some interesting educational purpose for it. Even after a marker has "dried out" you can dip the tip in water and reveal hidden ink flowing like watercolors for painting. Fabric paints deserve special mention. There are certain puffy or pearlized paints in plastic bottles which I keep on hand in 20 or more colors for craft projects more than fabric painting. The texture makes them an excellent glue, filler or vinyl waterproof coating as well. I've used these squeeze bottles for painting wooden angels and balsa wood bird house ornaments, and writing on cards of homemade paper. One of my favorite uses is as a colorful "grout" for mosaic projects made from half-inch squares cut from beautifully-colored cardboard food boxes.
- Odd & Ends - Sea-going props from our Oscar's Ocean unit study included a slightly broken underwater mask, beach equipment for our "cruise ship", etc.
- Wood - We tend to have a lot of construction projects around the house and bird sanctuary. This means a hefty bone pile of odds & ends, a ready source for a colonial village or physics experiments. I scroll-sawed many a Christmas wall hanging which Jen and I painted. Also, small rustic shelves and homemade cabinets housed many never-ending projects added to over the years. Eventually Jen would build her own educational organizers and projects to enhance studies like her bird blind in the backyard for observing and photographing wildlife unobtrusively.
- paper in all forms - This may be a good spot to sing the praises of state-of-the-art scrapbook techniques. I haven't engaged in this activity since its rebirth, but I recently watched a shopping channel feature on scrapbooking to see if it might apply to our unit studies. I wish I could go back and start home ed over again! There are many great resources available, but you have all you really need around the house . . . especially if you stock it with the simple gifts in this section. If you are interested in this hot topic consider putting your unit study results into a scrapbook form. You could put multiple unit study projects into a single book for a neat way of preserving and record keeping. For ideas on getting into the many wonderful techniques of modern-day scrapbooks check these links:
http://scrapbooking.about.com and Suite101's Scrapbook World: http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/scra...
- the usual white paper - you may want to get all the fancy-ruled paper for different grades, different projects but we found pleasure making our own off the computer which Jenny tweaked to the perfect size for her writing style. But soon we were flying on blank paper with few ruled-line projects . . . it's a matter of personality types again, I think, so don't be afraid to set your own standards. Do be sure to use blank backs for writing and drawing activities or cutting into smaller pieces for small projects and notes and even game pieces (more later).
- cardboard - This sturdy paper form lends itself well to objects you'll use and use again. One of our favorites was a paper version of the card or TV game Concentration. Squares were cut into doors to lift as we try to match a pair of objects below the doors. The objects/words were made of paper; they could be halves of an equation, synonyms, any related pairs of objects. When a pair is matched the paper pair is removed along with the cardboard doors revealing a word/picture puzzle on the bottom layer. We keep matching pairs, revealing more of the puzzle until a player guesses the phrase. This game can be used to quiz many different subject topics.
- colored paper from junk mail for paper-making and paper-machie projects.
- construction paper - these brightly colored larger sheets were the frames and backdrops for many of our wall-hung projects. They make a white paper project stand out beautifully and can be used to make colorful books and scrapbooks to preserve unit study results.
- wrapping paper - I just can't bear to throw out a beautiful piece of wrapping paper . . . especially when that great white back can be used for many writing or art projects. Roll the completed work up (all the way or just a little on two opposite edges like a scroll for a pretty effect). The length also makes them useful for long timelines or wall border projects.
- boxes - from small boxes to hold sorted objects and project props to appliance and furniture boxes we use these whole (for mini-rooms like Activity Cottage in Lesson 3, storefront simulations, or business in a box like our Publishing House from Lesson 3) or dismantled (to form folding panels, bulletin boards, or large wall displays). To dress up boxes we use acrylic or tempera paints applied in light, dry-ish coats so they won't soften the box or cover with adhesive-backed vinyl, fabric, or wrapping paper. A box can also be a stage for paper dolls or cut-out characters. We had a Beatrix Potter theater (based on a Dover Publication cut-out book which we built up grander around a stage from a box and smaller boxes to hold the props for each separate story (Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, etc.). Finally, the rigidness of cardboard cut from boxes makes great props like the eagle on top of an old broom handle for our Roman Legion standard. Cereal and other kitchen boxes for game and 3-dimensional props (like models of famous buildings, free frame base for works of art and scholarship). In Lesson 3, remember, we also talked about cut up food boxes for people-sized game squares.
- paper plates - unused or slightly used, these make great
- wheelies - rotating Q&A wheels with two plates attached in the center allowing both to spin independently. A window is cut to expose the answer. Rotate the top plate to uncover the correct answer.
- hot pockets - A half plate's round edges glued to the bottom half of a full plate creating a "pocket" to store sorted items, completed work, etc.
- pie slices - large pie charts where you cut or mark off the appropriate percentages for all kinds of graphically represented data. Older students can use a geometric protractor to mark off exact measurements.
- art/ed projects - break the mold and do some thinking out of the (paper) box! A refreshing change for wall hanging projects, too.
On craft projects: Now, I tend to emphasize the usefulness of craft projects. It's my thing. You may prefer to emphasize other learning reinforcement activities. If you want to add more craftiness to your studies but don't feel you have the skill, try the book Crafting for Dummies. In fact, I hope to teach another course at Suite U using it as a textbook. . . . so getting it will give you a jump on the next course, too!
One other simple thought: we learn best when concepts can be linked to "favorites".
For younger children, many of your unit studies can spring from areas of play. As we read the "American Girls" stories about Felicity set in Colonial Williamsburg, we developed a far-reaching pre- and revolutionary study incorporating the books and eventually the doll, accessories and homemade colonial costumes and other resources inspired by our books and research.
Older students may have hobbies or idle-time activities like sports, media events, etc. which can be linked to studies like Jen's favorite TV series characters to a character trait study. When tactfully incorporated such studies have the added benefit of building excellent bridges between you and your children.
The best ‘round-the-house resource is . . . yourself. Be sure to be a part of the educational activities as much as possible. Don't spend all your time up on the teaching soapbox. Be reachable, accessible, even vulnerable. The best learning Jen ever did was when she discovered she understood something better than I did, or when she could catch me in an error. Don't be afraid to say, "Oops! I'm wrong" or "I don't know the answer. Let's research it together." Be a partner in learning, not a dictator. You'll both get more out of it and enjoy it more with less burnout.
Another thought: join in their non-school endeavors whenever they'll let you. And leave your critic mask behind. When I helped Jenny launch her website on her favorite TV series, she asked if I would contribute some analytical essays. I delightedly put together several in-depth pieces (for which I needed to watch the series myself, by the way). The writings gave me a non-confrontational way to share my views on the strengths and weaknesses of various ideas presented in the series . . . from a Biblical perspective as well. They received considerable positive feedback and widespread dissemination to a largely teenage and young adult audience who would not normally have been receptive to "preaching". I could not have gotten away with it if I had not first openly accepted my daughter's invitation to watch an episode, seen the many good elements in the concept and eagerly shared idea exchanges with her while watching each subsequent episode. At a usually difficult stage -- the early teen years -- it ushered in a dramatic change for the better in our relationship and ability to communicate and work together . . . and I enjoyed the series, too!
