Note Taking Flip Tabs- Chinese Achievements

Our Social Studies book organizes each civilization pretty much the same.  For every civilization there is a section about their achievements.  Sometimes the same old graphic organizer doesn't have the space they need, and outlining takes up a lot of room.  The students and I came up with these simple rectangles.  They get cut out, folded and after their notes are taken, glued down.  And all within one page of their notebooks.  On the outside, they draw a picture (of course), then on the inside, they write down bullet points.

These were our notes for Ancient Chinese Achievements.  To save time and my sanity, I just create a table in Microsoft Word with two columns.  The kids cut them out as they go.  Just one more way to keep the same old topic a little more interesting!
 

Ancient Greece - Vases

I had so much stuff for Greece to share that I had to break it up into parts.  It is one of my favorites to teach.  After we learn about mythology, we do a quick little project that the students really enjoy.

The very first thing we do is take notes on the three main types of the Grecian vases in our interactive notebooks.  We also practice traditional looking borders that can be used on their vases.

Greek Vases - Notebook Notes

First, each student gets a Greek myth.  I copy several copies of a bunch that I like to use.  You could have them do research on their own to find one too.  I ask my students to write a summary for the myth that they read.  These are written in their notebooks.  Then, everyone gets a rubric that looks like this:

Greek Vase Rubric

If you would like one, just download it here.  We do our vases in class so part of my rubric includes a worktime grade.

Narcissus Vase

Daedalus and Icarus Vase

 I show the kids how to cut out the vase shape symmetrically (think Valentine's hearts) and how to separate the vase into borders and sections.  They are to draw a picture of the myth that they studied into the main part of their vase.  All of their work is typically done first in pencil, then they trace it in black marker.  Here are the results of a few from this year...

Golden Touch Vase

 It is a really fun project and I hope you get to try it out the next time you teach Ancient Greece!  If you have any questions let me know.

Ancient Greece - Interactive Notebooks

Ancient Greece is definitely a favorite with the kids.  They especially love the time we spend on Mythology.  Here are a few highlights from our notebooks for Greece...
     Map - we always start with Geography so the first thing we do together is map out the location.

Map of Ancient Greece

     Greek Mythology and Literature - we start out with the basics using this organizer.

Greek Mythology and Literature Graphic Organizer

     Greek Gods and Goddesses - our textbook is a little sparse when it comes to this, so I use the cards from Winged Sandals and my own Notebook presentation.

Greek Gods and Goddesses

You can get the cards on the Winged Sandals Website.  For the characters that the site does not have cards for, I have the kids draw their own.  Click here if you would like the Notebook slideshow. It usually takes two days to cut out the cards, and take all of the notes in our notebooks.  We also do our computer lab activity with Winged Sandals.  Please see my post here if you would like to read more about that.

     Sparta vs. Athens - sorting facts.

Sparta vs. Athens

I went through the chapter in our textbook and randomly listed facts.  The kids need to go through the chapter and determine which facts are about Athens and which facts are for Sparta.  Then, they create a t-chart, cut out the facts, and sort them on the correct side.  This particular student wrote an 'A' or a 'S' on each fact first, then cut them out to paste into their chart.

Please stay tuned for more Ancient Greece posts...

Ancient India - Interactive Notebooks

As I continue grading Social Studies notebooks, I will also continue to share pictures of what we have accomplished this year.  Here are some of the highlights from someone's chapter on Ancient India.
        A map of India...

Map of India

      Notes on Indian Society...

Ancient Indian Society and Caste System

     Notes and graphic organizer on Hinduism...

Hinduism Develops in India

     Pictures and notes for Indian Achievements...

Ancient Indian Achievements in Science

The graphic organizers make things much easier on the kids and myself.  They allow them to be more independent and organizes all of their ideas so that they can find the information for the test.

Ancient Egypt Interactive Notebook

 So, it is finally Winter Break.  In Social Studies we have successfully finished Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Greece.  I am grading notebooks over the break and thought I would share some of the highlights.  

Egyptian Society Triangle

Egyptian Work and Daily Life

Gods of Egypt

We also spent some time in the computer lab using The British Museum website.  This is a great slideshow about how mummies are made.  I created this organizer to go along with it.

British Museum - How Mummies are Made

The British Museum also has its Young Explorers pages.  We use those to learn about Ancient Egyptian Artifacts and fill in the graphic organizer for our three favorite artifacts.

Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Organizer

Ancient Egypt - Art Project

We are long since past studying Ancient Egypt in my class, but I wanted to go back and share this SUPER easy art project that all the kids are successful with.  All you need is the following materials to make this happen...

• gold wrapping paper (cut into 10"x14" pieces)
• cardboard or card stock 9"x12"
• sharpies
• copies of Egyptian coloring pages
• paperclips

Have the kids wrap their piece of gold paper around their piece of card stock or cardboard, then glue the back edges down.  Each kid should have 2 paperclips to hold down their coloring page onto the gold paper.  Remind them that the paper CANNOT move once they have started.

Have them trace over the lines of the coloring page with pressure.  This will leave an imprint of the lines on the gold paper.  Once they have completely traced the picture, then they should take off the coloring page.  They will be able to see the lines of the picture in the gold paper.  Have them use a sharpie and trace over those lines in black.  You should end up with something that looks like this (yes, a kid did this!).

King Tut's Mask

Greek Mythology Organizer - Winged Sandals

We have time in the computer lab once a week and I occasionally put together some fun learning activities for our Ancient Civilizations notebooks.  This one is for the website www.wingedsandals.com.  Before the kids can explore the sight (AKA playing games), they must watch two of the "storytime" stories and fill out this graphic organizer.  It is a great site for learning about Ancient Greek Mythology and the kids really enjoy exploring the sight.  Here is a completed one from one of my student's notebooks...

Winged Sandals Organizer

 Once they complete the organizer, they tape it into their Social Studies notebooks and add it to their table of contents!  Please click here for the blank organizer for free :)