Kindergarteners Go Around The World: Week 14 ~ United States (Ohio)
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 14
This week you will be returning with the children in your class to North America and the United States. 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.
Prep Work
- Gather books and supplies (see Checklists below)
- Make Salt Dough (printable recipe below)
- Print out handouts and 3-hole punch them for notebooks (see Checklists 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.
Coal Mine by Peter Pawlowski on flickr
Week 14 Lesson Plan
Date and Destination
Date: First Week of December**
Continent: North America
Country: United States of America (Ohio)
Pretend Passport: Please see Week 2 for suggestions on how to use the Play Passports
Reading (10 – 15 minutes)
Story: In Coal Country
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.
Geography (5 – 15 minutes)
Globe or Wall Map Activity: With your class,
- find the Continent of North America
- find the city and state where you live
- find the state of Ohio (In Coal Country
I have been allowing the kids to take turns putting little dot stickers
United States 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 Map Handout in PDF format. Just click on the thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer or open in Adobe Reader before printing.
Salt Dough Ornaments by Radarsmum67 on flickr
Art (30 – 40 minutes)
Salt Dough Ornaments
You will need:
- Salt Dough or Bright White Modeling Clay (printable recipes below; do not use the Playdough recipe)
- Cookie cutters
- Plastic straws
- Paper plates
- Rolling pins (or use hands to flatten dough)
- Forks or stamps to impress in dough to decorate (optional)
- Vacuum cleaner or broom (bits of dough will end up on the floor!)
Instructions
Roll out dough to about 3/8″ inch thick and cut out with cookie cutters. Use plastic straws to cut out holes near the top. Transfer the ornaments to paper plates to take home. Let your kids and their parents know that they can bake them at 225 – 300 degrees until hard, or let them air-dry. (Printable Instructions available below to send home with each child.)
The kids can paint the ornaments after they are dry. After they are dry, tie ribbon or string through the holes to hang.
Optional: Leave ornaments to dry in the classroom, or take them to your house to bake. (Depending on how thick they are, it will take 1 – 4 days to air-dry.) Once they are baked or dried, they can be painted with acrylic paint during classroom time.
Below are printable recipes and salt dough baking instructions. Just click on a thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, open in Adobe Reader before printing.
Other Activities (10 – 15 minutes)
Miner Tracing & Coloring Page Handout and U.S.A. Facts and Flag Handout*: Pass out one or both of these handouts to your class and allow them to color the pages 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.
Just click on a thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, open in Adobe Reader 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 14 Supply List
- Book: In Coal Country
- Passports and World Traveler Notebooks for each child from Week 1
- Printables from this post: Travel Tickets, Passport Stamps, Map Handout, Printable Dough Recipes, Miner Handout, and Facts & Flag Handout
Week 14 Art Supply List
- Salt Dough or Bright White Modeling Clay (printable recipes below – do not use the Playdough recipe)
- Cookie cutters
- Plastic straws
- Paper plates
- Rolling pins (or use hands to flatten dough)
- Vacuum cleaner or broom
Copyright 2014 Kathryn Depew
Images of Coal Mine and Salt Dough Ornaments from flickr.com used under the Creative Commons license. Image credits: Peter Pawlowski and Radarsmum67.
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.
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