Chinese New Year Dragon Puppet - Low Ink

Download Chinese Dragon Puppet

Not only are we learning about Chinese New Year in our homeschooling adventures, we have done some activities for it in our Girl Scouting adventures as well.  Last week our girls made an awesome Chinese New Year dragon and learned the dragon dance  - it was a HUGE hit.  The only downfall was that everyone did not get to take home their own dragon.  So, this week we made mini Chinese dragon puppets.  I originally found the idea at Crazy Mommy's blog through Pintrest (I could write love poetry for Pintrest!).  I modified the original printable by cleaning up some of the background (it was printing gray so it was using a lot more ink than need be) and making is smaller so that we could make it with ribbon instead of streamers.

The process for making the dragon is pretty simple and they are so neat when finished.

Supplies You Will Need

• dragon template printed onto cardstock
• 1 1/2 inch wide ribbon
• 2 popcicle sticks
• Fast Grab (or Quick Dry) Tacky Glue
• scissors
• markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc

Prep Work

I designed this so that two dragons printed on each page - I hate wasting cardstock and my printer needs each page hand fed when printing on cardstock so this made it go much faster.  Just cut the templates in half before handing them out.  Cut the ribbon into lengths about one foot.  The ribbon we purchased from Hobby Lobby made 12 puppets per spool (which breaks down to 34 cents per dragon for the ribbon).

Directions

Students (or Scouts) color their own dragon heads and tails and cut them out.  Then using Tacky Glue (the Fast Grab is awesome - the girls were playing with their puppets as soon as they were done gluing and they didn't fall apart!) glue the head to one end of the ribbon and the tail to the other.  Flip over your dragon and glue one popcicle stick behind the head and the other behind the tail.  The first dragon I made I didn't glue this way and his poor head was flopping like he had a broken neck - not so great.

You can also forgo the popcicle sticks and have a pretty cool bookmark.  I would laminate the head and tail pieces before gluing it all together to make it extra strong and possibly cut down the length of the ribbon a bit.

Chinese New Year Matching Game

Download CNY Matching Game

Okay, first, accept my apologies for not posting a resource yesterday.  We are knee deep into Girl Scout cookie season (ya wanna buy some cookies?) and I had to get all of my troop paperwork in order yesterday.  So, to make up for it I'm sharing two resources today.  (c:  I've already posted the dragon board game printable and this is a simple matching game printable. 

This game has been created using my Chinese New Year clipart that you can purchase over at my website www.lilredschoolhouse.org just in case you would like to create your own Chinese New Year stuffs.

Please comment if you download so I know what you like and what you don't.

Chinese New Year Dragon Game Board

Download CNY Game Board

When I found this uber cute Chinese New Year game board I knew we had to use it for something.  At first I was going to make it a multiplication game but that seems a little, well, boring.  I've been working on a few ideas - a Chinese New Year trivia game or maybe something with science, I don't know yet.  But, I wanted to share the blank game board with you before Chinese New Year was over.  So, here it is (c:  I've made a set of cards to match, just in case you might need them.  Sorry, there isn't a low ink version of this one - I didn't draw the dragon and I don't feel right sharing something I didn't work on here.  Thanks for understanding (c:

If you have any ideas on what kind of game to turn this into pretty please leave me a comment and share.  Thanks (c:

Chinese New Year Envelope - Low Ink Version

Download CNY Money Envelope - Low Ink

A very sweet friend of mine (hello, Mrs. Valerie!) asked about a black and white version of my Chinese New Year money envelope printable.  Well, when I made the plain paper envelope I just traced my printed color envelope, but that's not very ink effective, now is it?  So, I quickly went to work making a black and white low ink version of this printable to share with you all. 

So, what do you think?  Would you like to see more "low ink" or black and white printables?  Leave a comment and let me know - and if there's something that you would like to see, just let me know.  If I can do it I would be happy to add it for you (c:

Gong Xi Fa Cai -- Happy Chinese New Year

One of my favorite parts of teaching is covering units about other cultures.  During the next couple of weeks we are learning about China to celebrate Chinese New Year.  For today I'm sharing a crafty creation that you can make -  a red money envelope.  I tried printing mine with the red coloring and wasn't a huge fan of my printer's skills (note to self - NEVER buy another Kodak printer).  So, I used my cut out version and made a template for plain red paper (which I would feed through my printer and use the black and white template, but my printer can't seem to understand any paper color other than white.  One more reason for the above note to self).  However, I loved the worn look that the coins had so I was pretty happy with the way those printed.  In any case, I'm sharing with you my designed envelope and you are free to print it as it or use it for a template if you like.  It will print much brighter with a good printer (I know this because I printed similar things with my Lexmark a few years ago and they were gorgeous).

Download the CNY Envelope Creation

While researching Chinese New Year we found out that two is considered a lucky number and gifts come in twos.  I would be adding an uber cute wrapped orange with this (that I found through Pintrest - my new obsession), but Doodle Bug doesn't care for oranges - even if they are part of the symbolism of the holiday. 

So, instead we'll stick with the paper envelope and the paper coins.  We'll be doing more fun things for Chinese New Year so come back and visit for more ideas.

Edible Animal Cells

To wrap up our cell unit Doodle Bug made an edible model of an animal cell.  I spent some time looking for ideas online and found most were made using a cookie or cake of some sorts as the base.  While cookies are okay, the end result looks pretty inedible - not something you're going for when the title of your project is edible animal cell, right?  We knew we wanted something round (because it's a well known fact that all good animal cells are round) and something that could have a lot of components but still taste good.  The final verdict was pizza and what a fine choice it was!  On our pizza cell above (sorry, we only have one picture, Doodle Bug's phone ate the rest) we have

• Crust - cell wall
• Ranch & mozzarella - cytoplasm
• Large Canadian bacon round - nucleus
• Onion round - nucleolus
• Mitochondria - Canadian bacon bits
• Vacuoles - green peppers
• Lysomes - bacon
• Ribosomes - cheddar cheese
• Rough ER - mushrooms with ribs
• Smooth ER - mushrooms without ribs
• Golgi apparatus - onion

Before putting the pizza all together Doodle Bug went over our cell diagrams in our science notebooks to be sure that all of the parts were accounted for.  Just in case you are wondering, no, this pizza does not have red sauce.  Instead we used ranch dressing - it may sound gross but it tastes great.  When I worked at my dad's pizza joint (many moons ago) this was how I made my pizzas.

If you are going to make your own version of this at home, feel free to mix up the pizza toppings.  You can add in some black olives, other colors of bell pepper and some cooked hamburger.  Just as a word of caution - ranch does not taste so good when mixed with pepperoni or sausage (but creamy Italian dressing would work just fine with them).

Artist Study - Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is generally considered the founder of modern rock balancing. He also often uses brightly-colored flowers, leaves, icicles, mud, pine-cones, snow, stone, twigs, and thorns.

In our group interpretation of Goldsworthy's art we scavenged around in the back yard and gathered up all kinds of "nature".  The final project was a "modernistic" butterfly.

Spell 'n' Doodle 26

Spell 'n' Doodle Lesson 26

We're trying a new activity for spelling this week and I have dubbed it Spell 'n' Doodle.  Doodle Bug really enjoys drawing - really, really enjoys drawing.  However, Doodle Bug does not enjoy spelling - really really really does not enjoy spelling.  I've come to notice lately that our days of doing "C" and "D" in her spelling books are pretty much wasted.  She doesn't get a lot of out of those activities (things like finding the spelling words in a running list of letters and learning about words that aren't even part of our spelling lesson) and she doesn't enjoy them.  So being the caring mom (actually the mom who is sick of all of the complaining) that I am, I created a new activity for her to try out.  We're testing it out this week so there's not a lot of feedback to be had, but I am sharing the creation so you can try it out along with us.

The sample above shows you two of the cards I created as examples.  The cards you print for your kiddos have the words, but no doodles (although I did include my doodle cards for you if you have a use for them).  Your students illustrate the words by creating their own doodles.  Then, because this lesson's words are focusing on the Latin roots pend and dict have the students underline the root in each word.  You can also have the students write a sentence using the word on the back or the definition of the word if you would like.  For another activity, have them organize the word cards in alphabetical order and then write the list in their spelling journals (or on plain ol' paper if you don't use a spelling journal).

If you download this creation, please leave a comment.  If you have any ideas for improvement, feel free to leave those too. (c:  To download this file just click on the link below the sample.

Life Science - Organelles Cards

Download the Cell Organelles Cards

While finishing up our cells unit I wanted to make a game for Doodle Bug to help her remember each cell part and it's function.  We've covered this in the past, but it didn't seem to stick and I was hoping a game would help with that.  So, I took the cell drawing I made, scanned it and turned it into a memory type game.  We've also used these as flash cards to help me see just how much she remembers.  I thought those of you who are also covering cells in your science studies might be able to use these, so I've add them to Google Docs (what an awesome *free* service) and you can download the 27 card set using the link above.  If you want to share this with friends, you can send them here to my blog (which I would greatly appreciate) or you can share the link to the Google Doc - you will need the link though, that's the way my sharing is set up.

Enjoy!

Life Skills Lessons - Making Japanese Soup

Doodle Bug LOVES to go out for Japanese Hibachi, and it's mainly for the soup (which makes for some pretty expensive soup!).  For our first cooking lesson Doodle Bug wanted to try making a version of this soup at home.  We found a recipe online (thank you, pintrest) and doubled it (which was hubby's idea for adding in some practical math - kudos to hubs).  Here is the recipe we found online:

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 white onion
• 1/2 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 carrot, coarsely chopped
• salt to taste
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup flour
• 4 medium mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 4 green onion, diced

Combine chicken stock and water in sauce pot over med high heat. Slice the onion in half and coarsely chop one half and reserve the other.

Add the coarsely chopped onion, carrot, celery and salt to sauce pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

While broth simmers heat veg. oil in small sauce pot over med. heat. Slice remaining onion into thin slices. Separate the slices, dip them into the milk and then into the flour. Fry until lightly browned. Drain on a paper towel.

After soup is done simmering strain veggies out of the broth and toss them. Pour the broth back into pan then leave on low heat to keep warm until ready. Garnish with fried onion, mushroom slices and green onions.We did alter the recipe a bit - like I mentioned before we did double it and once it was done it seemed, well, bland.  Basically, even with a whole onion in it there wasn't a lot of onion flavor - there wasn't a lot of any flavor.  So, to make it more like the Japanese soup we have at the restaurant we add in soy sauce - in our double recipe it was close to an eighth of a cup.  I know that sounds like a lot, but there were 12 total cups of liquid to dilute it.  Doodle Bug (who is a soy sauce fanatic) seems to think there should be a little more, so I would add this to your personal taste.  We only fried about one quarter of an onion - and still had more than enough.  Next time, we will only use a few tablespoons of flour (as we threw out almost all of it).  Also, Doodle Bug does not like mushrooms so those were left off the garnish list.

All in all, the soup was a hit with our alterations, but not so much as it.  This was actually a very valuable lesson - it's good to know how to follow a recipe, but it's also important to not be afraid of adapting things to your own tastes.

Literature Notes: Story Elements - Plot

We are gearing up to being our literary analysis project.  Part of that is being able to understand and identify the elements of literature.  Instead of trying to do this along with a movie (which is how we learned it in high school and that has never made sense to me) we are learning each element through short stories and then we will apply all of them to a novel.

We started out our study by reading Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (or The Mongoose and the Snake as Doodble Bug remembers it from childhood) and learning about plot and conflict.

We created a plot line example and learned about the different parts of plot.  Then, after reading the story we created a layered book version of a plot line.

We learned about conflict and the different kinds of conflict that can be found in literature.  Then, we created a flap book that shows what kind of conflict our story has and inside we described the conflict and told whether it was internal or external.

We kept all of our created a cover for our mini books as well illustrating the story that we read to accompany the lesson.

We typically spend a week on each literature selection - covering the prereading notes and reading on day 1, mini books and notes on day 2, workbook pages on days 3 and 4.

Life Science Notes 3 - Cell Structures

The Nucleus

• found only in eukaryotic cells
• contains most of the genetic material for the cell

Nuclear Envelope: double membrane that surrounds the nucleus; controls what goes in and out - gate
Chromosomes: strands of DNA wrapped around protiens; found inside nucleus
Nucleolus: produces ribosomes; found inside the nucleus

Differences Between Plant and Animal Cells

• Plant cells have a large central vacuole that
• holds water, nutrients and wastes
• can make up to 90% of the cell's volume
• Plant cells have a cell wall that give the cell support and protection
• Plant cells contain plastids
• chloroplasts used in photosynthesis
• leucoplasts that store fat and oil
• chromosplasts that give some flowers and fruits their yellow, orange or red color

Life Science Notes 2 - Cell Structures

3-2 Cell Structures

Prokaryotic Cells

• smaller and more simple than eukaryotic cells
• do not have organelles
• DNA forms a single circle that coils upon itself
• make up bacteria

Eukaryotic Cells

• more specialized than prokaryotic cells
• contain organelles
• make up fungi, animals, protists and plants
• have a nucleus

Organelles

Our organelles notes are color coded to match our eukaryote cell diagram.  Each organlle is also assigned a factory "job" to aid in recalling what the function of each is.

Organelles: small structures with specialized functions found in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells.
Nucleus: information center of the cell - safe
Mitochondria: create ATP to power chemical reactions - powerhouse
Vacuoles: used to store nutrients - warehouse
Lysomes: break down old molecules into smaller parts - recycling trucks
Ribosomes: make proteins - machines
Rough ER: has ribosomes; make proteins - machines
Smooth ER: no ribosomes; make lipids - machines
Golgi appartus: receives proteins from the rough ER, puts into vesicles and moves to correct area of the cell - mail room

The diagrams we show were drawn on plain white paper and attached in our science notebooks.  Because the vocabulary words for this lesson are all the cell structures we didn't do vocabulary, instead we described each structure in our notes.

Life Science Notes1 - Introduction to Cells

We have been using this new online text book for a couple of weeks now and I really do love it - how great is it to have the you tube videos built right into the text book?  So, now that I'm pretty sure we are keeping this one, it's time to start sharing our notes with you.  Just so you don't think I've gone completely crazy, we skipped the first two chapters of this book.  Doodle Bug has a great understanding of them already, since we covered that with her not-so-great standard textbook.  Feel free to start there if you so desire.

Chapter 3  - Cells and Their Structures

3-1 Introduction to Cells

Vocabulary

• organ: a group of tissues that work together to perform a common function
• organ system: a group of organs that work together to perform a common function
• tissue: a group of specialized cells that function together

Note: at this point Doodle Bug asked "what exactly is a common function?"  My response "Think of it like a team - each member has their own identity (like their number) but they are all working together to get something accomplished, like winning a game"

Cell Theory
   1. All organisms are composed of cells.

   2. Cells are alive and the basic living units of organization.

   3. All cells come from other cells.

Levels of Organization

• organelle
• cell
• tissue
• organ
• organ system
• organism

Note: the book also included "atom" and "compound or molecule" before organelle.  While I agree that everything starts at the atomic level, it really wasn't something that I felt necessary for a life science (as opposed to a biology) level.

Part of this lesson also covers the correct way to use a light microscope.  We watched the you tube video of it, but really didn't include much as this is much more hands-on type skill and we will cover it when we actually have a microscope to use.  However, if you wanted to add more to your study on the microscope and it's parts, there are a lot of printables over at about that you might want to check out.

We didn't really do a lot of special things for the notes for this lesson - they are pretty straight forward.  But, if you wanted to spice up your notebooks a bit, you could easily make a flap book showing the cell theory and a layer book showing levels of organization.

Life Science Notebooks

I have discovered that I am totally addicted to notebooks (shh, don't tell anyone but really I'm addicted to any sort of school supply, but that, my friends is a whole 'nother matter).  I first found the idea at another blog and started out with a literature notebook for Doodle Bug to keep notes and minibooks together as we do our regular assignments - so much better than the boring review questions.  So, since our literature notebooks have taken on I have decided to start using a notebook for life science to accompany the brand new FREE online textbook we are starting.

You might be saying "Haven't you been doing life science for quite a while now?"  Well, the answer to that would be yes.  BUT, we've not been liking the program so much (anyone want to purchase a very slightly used lot of life science materials - *cheap*?) so I spent my Christmas break looking for something that might better mesh with Doodle Bug's personality.   Much to my surprise not only did I find an awesome book, it's FREE (yes, that's right FREE).  The downfall?  Because it's an online book we need to have very good notes or spend *a lot* on paper and ink to print it out.  I opted for the notes (more work, less moolah).

So, since I'm not too keen on Doodle Bug's note taking skills (again, shhh) I have been taking notes in my notebook and then the next day, teaching her and having her take the same notes.  Somehow this sounds kind of crazy when I write it, but my high school biology teacher did the same thing and I learned a lot from her so here's hoping history might just repeat itself. (Said science teacher is now my across the street neighbor, but I digress).

Since I'm spending so much time with these notes (color coded notes and diagrams don't just happen people) and Doodle Bug is less than impressed with all of the work I'm putting into them I decided to share them with you, my loyal followers (okay, I know, I'm teetering on the edge of the deep end here, but work with me, they are awesome notes).

So, if you would like to follow along with our Life Science study, grab yourself a notebook (ours are hardcover composition books from good ol' Walmart), a bunch of felt tip pens and thin lined markers and join the fun.