Origami Paper Cranes

The other day I read Yoko's Paper Cranes by Rosemary Wells to my boys. After we read the book my five year old wanted us to try to make an Origami paper crane. We tried our hardest to follow along with the directions in the book, but could only get so far. Yesterday, my son asked if we could try another attempt. So visual Mama went online and we started watching some videos about folding Origami cranes. We made many feeble attempts to follow along but got confused after awhile. Two videos really stuck out for me, and I am feeling confident that we will eventually figure it out.

This video is just kind of fun to watch and is awe inspiring:



I really loved how well this girl explains each step. She is such a great teacher and you can really hear her passion for Origami!



I hope that you all have better luck than we did on our first attempts. If you have any tips to share please pass them along!

Aboriginal Legend--Why the Crocodile Rolls

Watch an aboriginal legend about Min-na-wee and why the crocodile rolls, from the Gwini people from the north coast of Western Australia

Has a powerful lesson in how our behavior has an effect on others!

Sand Madalas

I just watched this really inspiring video about how Buddhist monks create a sand mandala in just 6 days! Check it out it will brighten your day!

Easter Island Discovery Day

Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. The name "Easter Island" was given by the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who discovered it on Easter Sunday in 1722.

Here is a really cool video by Nova about Morai Statues on Easter Island. My five year old was captivated by this video and watched quite a bit of the documentary.



Later we are going to try and make our own Morai statues out of playdough.

Free Lapbooks: Egypt & da Vinci

Handle on the Arts is offering the following two lapbooks free for a limited time only:


Egypt Lapbook
Take a deeper look at the architecture of ancient Egypt with our hands-on Egypt lapbook. Students will explore the steps in making the pyramids, the evolution of the pyramid, as well as other Egyptian architecture such as obelisks and the Great Sphynx.
Activities include vocabulary, a timeline, an art project, writing an acrostic, creating a map of the pyramid tunnels, plus others. The included project guide is complete enough to give you weeks worth of lesson plans, however, the lapbook itself could be completed in a single day.

Leonardo da Vinci Lapbook
Students will explore Leonardo’s most famous works of art, his inventions, his biography, and his art techniques.
Activities include vocabulary, timelines, multiple art projects, creating an invention, writing backwards, and many others. A project guide is included to make this a complete unit study and a great addition to your history
curriculum.

Limericks

Since St. Patrick's Day is on March 17th and March is Irish-American Heritage month we have been trying to do some Irish inspired things this month. Even though our family probably has no Irish lines we still love all things Irish. Instead of going straight to Ireland (which I would really love to do some day soon!); we have been cutting out shamrocks and reading limericks.

Last Friday at our co-op I did a mini-lesson on limericks and read some limericks to the group. According to this really neat poster I found at a local teaching-supply store:

A limerick is a humourous five-line poem. It is made up of 13 beats and has a rhyme scheme of aabba. The poem is named after the city of Limerick, Ireland, although no ones knows how or where the form originated.

Here is a sample from the poster:

There was a young boy from Caboo,

Who had trouble tying his shoe.

He said to his ox,

"I'll just walk in my socks."

Now all of his friends do that, too!

For those that are interested: Lines 1, 2 and 5 each have three beats. Lines 3 and 4 have two beats.

I have a series of books that I picked up at a thrift store called, Childcraft. Several of the limericks I read to the group came from that series of books. I learned that Edward Lear, was a famous writer of limericks. His first book of poems, A Book of Nonsense (1846) contained over two hundred limericks. Here is one limerick from Edward Lear:

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, "It is just as I feared!

Two Owls and a Hen,

Four Larks and a Wren

Have all built their nests in my beard."

If you would like to write your own limerick:

The first line often includes the name of a place, you may wish to think of a verse that uses the name of your hometown, state or country.

This week's Poetry Round-up is being held at The Miss Rumphius Effect.