Story of the World Year 2, Week 1

I was so excited to start this year because it covers knights and medieval times. How cool is that? We always start with a get to know you kind of activity to kick the year off. Their homework for the first week was to design their own coat of arms. Each symbol or picture on it had to represent something about themselves. Then on the first day they shared them with each other. It was definitely a great way to learn a lot about their families and hobbies.
Then when we actually read about knights in class we colored these awesome cardboard shields I found at Oriental Trading. Our last day of tutorial we always do a dress up review day so my plan is that if they want they can hold onto their shields, swords and other things we make to use in their costume. Again, it was fun to see how they chose to decorate their shield. We looked at several examples on the Internet and in reference books which helped inspire them.

Cutting Practice...

I probably saw this on a blog somewhere but don't really remember for sure, but when we got out our new pocket chart and there were strips in them my wheels started turning. I also had found some crinkled pages of Clifford stickers the boys had messed with, so instead of throwing them both away I decided to make something to give the boys some cutting practice. I just stuck stickers along the strip and drew lines between them for the boys to cut along. I cannot believe how much they enjoy this, especially Will. Every time I have strips of paper now I make more. I leave them out on their desk where they can use them when they want. They use them as fast as I make them and are some cutting experts now!