Blog

Our Latest Five In Row: Mrs. Katz & Tush

 

We haven't rowed a book in a while.  

I don't consider us experts on Five in a Row, but we have rowed quite a few of the books. 

Over the Christmas break I asked my 8 year old what HE wanted to do in school in 2013.   He said "I miss Five in a Row".  

At that I vowed to do more books with him, and we are making lapbooks, video taping our learning, and diving back into Five in a Row with gusto!

I chose some books and vowed to do them with just him. (I was also sneaky, though, and found some middle grades go-along books so Anna can join in the fun, too.)

Our first row of 2013 is Mrs. Katz & Tush, by Patricia Polacco. 

 

I always consult the manual (they have such great suggestions), and I'm thankful our library has all of the FIAR manuals, too.

In addition to the suggestions in the manual, I added the following books:

Of course our lapbook comes from Homeschool Share!

To make lapbooking more simple here are some helpful tips I've learned:

 

  • Print all of your mini books ahead of time and put them in a zip top bag.
  • Have glue, tape, scissors, colored pencils, and brads handy.
  • Cutting can be tedious for your children, so help with that part.

 

We also watched a lot of Cats 101 on Animal Planet.

We also made a Matzo Apple Kugel - cooking seems to reinforce our learning, and this gave the kids a taste (literally) for Jewish food.

We have plans this week to visit a cat adoption event (no, we're not getting one!), too.

What I love about Five in a Row is how the books occupy a special place in my children's memory.   We had a week of memories associated with this book  - learning silly things about cats, trolling the ethnic aisle in a few grocery stories, and smashing matzo crackers.   

In this particular story, there is also a big emphasis on loving your neighbor.  We talked a lot about that, and tried to show love to others.   Each time we would read the book I would cry (it doesn't take much) and Grant would snuggle close to me and pat my back.   

Sometimes the emotions from a beautiful story teach the biggest lesson of all.

After so much hard work on the lapbook, I asked Grant to do a video tour of his lapbook. {This is also a sneaky way to assess your children's learning!}

Enjoy!  

 

 

 

 

 

Do you use Five in a Row with your children??

 

Linking with Read Aloud Thursday, at Hope is the Word.