Monday, March 18, 2013

America Rocks and It's spring Break!


The last couple of weeks at school have been CRAZY! Hence, the lack of blogging... But I wanted to share what we got done!


We spent a whopping 6 weeks (yep, you read it right) on my I Love America Unit! I L.O.V.E. this unit! And my kiddos always do too! I stuck to my traditional unit (you can read more about it HERE and purchase it HERE) with the Top Secret Investigation and study of symbols, monuments and heroes. This years' posters and presentations were classic :) I just love their drawing of the Bald Eagle!



But this year I added a little extra... My new school is just jumping with kiddos that love the arts. And the teachers, including myself, aim to please :) So this year I purchased a musical form Bad Wolf Press called American Symbols. Have you ever used one of their musicals? They are SUPER cute and soooo easy to put together.

American Symbols

Anywho... I assigned each kiddo a part, sent home lyrics and music, made "costumes", and spend 10 min every day for 4 weeks practicing! It was a blast! We did a dress rehearsal for a neighboring class and a big morning production for our parents. Since I had never done anything like this before, I had NO idea what to expect, but it was AWESOME! Here are some pics from out big production...

I made hair bows for the girls and bow ties for the boys :) These were paired with plain white t shirts!

dollar tree plastic tables cloths make the perfect backdrop :)

And of course... an American Flag cupcake cake for their cast party!

 I also added a new lap book. My kids and parents really enjoyed the keepsake-ness of the apple lap book, so it was only natural to create one for this unit too. It was a little much to do the whole 6 week unit,a lap book and a musical... But if I was strapped for time... a lap book would be the WAY TO GO! It takes about two weeks and its all done! Great for teachers that are short on social studies time :) Here are a few picks of a finished lap book:



If you haven't done your America Unit yet and are looking for something easy and quick, you can pick up my lap book HERE!

I love my class, but I am SOOO glad to be on spring break! There are a few pinterest projects waiting to be done :)

Have a great Monday!


2 comments:

Rachel said...

What fun! Love the hair ribbons!

Sarah Paul said...

LOVE, love, love that lapbook! I totally pinned this. :)
Sarah
Sarah's First Grade Snippets