Kindergarteners Go Around The World: Week 7 – Spain
This post is part of the series “Around the World in 28 Weeks: Art, Literature & Geography Lessons for Kindergarten.” For an introduction, overview of the entire course, and links to more lesson plans, please click here. Thank you for visiting Cotton Ridge Homeschool!
Introduction to Week 7
This week you will be returning with the children in your class to the continent of Europe and introducing them to the countries of Spain and Italy. You can do the lesson plan activities in the order that you prefer.
For a Printable Lesson Plan Schedule for the entire 28 weeks, please see the Around the World introductory post.
Below is a free printable lesson plan for week 7 in PDF format. Just click on the thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer before printing.
Prep Work
- Gather books and supplies (see list below)
- Print out handouts and 3-hole punch them for notebooks (see below)
Check back during the year, as I will be adding pictures of completed projects and let you know if the kids enjoyed the lesson and any changes I would make for next time. Thanks for joining us!
Disclosure: The books and supply links below lead to products on Amazon. I am an affiliate and will receive a small commission if these links are used to make a purchase.
Week 7 Lesson Plan
Date and Destination
Date: Second week of October (Christopher Columbus Lesson) **
Continent: Europe
Country: Spain and Italy
Pretend Passport: Please see Week 2 for suggestions on how to use the Play Passports
Reading (10 – 15 minutes)
Story: Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus
Discussion: Ask questions to determine reading comprehension; tailor these to your children’s ages and abilities. Depending on the size of your class and as time permits, try to allow each child to participate. Don’t drag this part on too long or your kids will lose interest. Here are a few to get you started:
- Did you like the story? Why or why not?
- What was your favorite part?
- Questions based on the Who?, What?, Why?, When?, and How? of a story are great for getting kids thinking.
If you have planned a snack, you may want to have your discussion time while you eat.
Geography (5 – 15 minutes)
Globe or Wall Map Activity: With your class,
- find the Continent of Europe
- point out the different countries on the continent, including Spain and Italy
- find the capitol of Spain: Madrid.
Spain Map Handout*: Pass out the Map Handout to your class and allow them to color the page as time permits. You may want this to be the last activity of your class so they can be kept busy until the next class starts or until their parents pick them up. Have the kids place their handouts in their World Traveler Notebook (3-ring binder) before they leave.
Below is a free printable Spain Map Handout in PDF format. Just click on the thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer before printing.
Art (30 – 40 minutes)
Tile Coasters, or Hand Painted Tiles from Global Art: Activities, Projects, and Inventions from Around the World
Instead of Hand Painted Tiles that need to be fired, I decided to go with a tried-and-true project, Tile Coasters. Kids of all ages love to make these! Please see the Creative Kids: Handmade Tile Coasters tutorial on my sister site, Cotton Ridge Create!, for more images and instructions. (I recommend reading the “Did You Know?” sidebar on page 106 in Global Art for historical background information on the tiles.)
For the Tile Coasters you will need:
- 4″ square plain ceramic tiles (find the tiles at Home Depot or Lowes for less than 20 cents each.)
- Square cardstock templates, one for each child (cut out about 1/8″ smaller than your tiles on each side)
- White scrapbook paper
- Colored and printed scrapbook paper
- Scissors or paper cutter
- Pencils
- Crayons, markers and/or paint
- Paintbrushes (if using paint)
- Mod Podge (I used Gloss-Lustre, but you could use the Satin if preferred)
- Foam brushes for Mod Podge
- Clean styrofoam meat trays for Mod Podge
- Spray adhesive or Tacky Glue
- Clear acrylic sealer
- Felt squares for bottom of tiles (I cut them to the appropriate size ahead of time using the cardstock template mentioned above)
Please see the Creative Kids: Handmade Tile Coasters tutorial on my sister site, Cotton Ridge Create!, for more images and instructions.
Other Activities (5 – 10 minutes)
Spain Facts & Flag Handout*: Pass out and read this handout to your class and allow them to color the page as time permits. You may want this to be the last activity of your class so they can be kept busy until the next class starts or until their parents pick them up. Have the kids place their handouts in their World Traveler Notebook (3-ring binder) before they leave.
Following is a free printable Facts & Flag Handout in PDF format. Just click on the thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer before printing.
*If there is not time in class, provide these as handouts for the kids to do at home. The pages can go in their World Traveler Notebooks as a record of their journeys.
**Our homeschool coop begins during the last week of August, but the Around the World course can be started at any time of year. Some re-arranging of the weekly plans may be necessary due to holidays, but with a little planning ahead of time, this should be very manageable.
Supply Lists
General Supply List
- Globe
or large World Wall Map
- 3-Ring Binder
for each child for handouts, 1-1/2″ size
- 3-Hole Punch
- Date Stamp
- Markers, crayons, and/or colored pencils
- Roll of paper towels
- Computer and Printer (color printer
Week 7 Supply List
- Book: Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus
- Book: Global Art: Activities, Projects, and Inventions from Around the World
- Passports and World Traveler Notebooks for each child from Week 1
- Printables from this post: Lesson Plan, Travel Tickets, Passport Stamps, Map Handout, and Facts & Flag Handout
Supplies for Art Project
- 4″ square plain ceramic tiles (find the tiles at Home Depot or Lowes for less than 20 cents each.)
- Square cardstock templates, one for each child (cut out about 1/8″ smaller than your tiles on each side)
- White scrapbook paper
- Colored and printed scrapbook paper
- Scissors or paper cutter
- Pencils
- Crayons, markers and/or paint
- Paintbrushes (if using paint)
- Mod Podge (I used Gloss-Lustre, but you could use the Satin if preferred)
- Foam brushes for Mod Podge
- Clean styrofoam meat trays for Mod Podge
- Spray adhesive or Tacky Glue
- Clear acrylic sealer
- Felt squares for bottom of tiles (I cut them to the appropriate size ahead of time using the cardstock template mentioned above)
For more Christopher Columbus pages and ocean-related pages, please click on the button below.
Copyright 2014 Kathryn Depew
Image from flickr.com used under the Creative Commons license. Image credit: Les Haines.
Disclosure: The books and supply links on this page lead to products on Amazon. I am an affiliate and will receive a small commission if these links are used to make a purchase.
Leave a Reply