Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

My Unit Studies {Free Printables & Hands-on Ideas}

Trail of Tears Vocabulary Words

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The Trail of Tears vocabulary words is the next minibook I have ready today.  We are almost ready to start placing them on the file folder.  So I will have that for you next so you don’t have to guess where to place them.

I will have to hunt down some file folders because I have not been able to find any yet, but again, even construction paper or scrapbook taped together works too instead of a file folder.

Trail of Tears Vocabulary Words
Trail of Tears Vocabulary Words

Also, I don’t want to confuse you but because of my love for options and because I know you have children of different ages and abilities too, I try to keep all my minibooks flexible.

For example, with this minibook, I have 2 different ones.  The first one (pictured above) has vocabulary words already selected.  The second page (pictured above) also has the definitions typed out.  Simply research and glue them under the tab.

The second minibook (not pictured) is blank.  The second page (not pictured) is blank too so that your children can write in the definitions.

With options comes the ability to use the minibooks for the various ages and abilities of your children.  For example, you may want to use the definitions already filled in with a younger child or like me, you may be using the lapbooks for enrichment and so there is no need for tons of writing.

Maybe you want to use the minibooks for writing if that is what you are focused on.

You are teacher and you decide with each of my lapbooks what is best for your children at the time. So I try to give you options and want to keep lapbooks fun, easy and not stressful.

More Trail of Tears Activities

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

And it’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you. If you’re already a confirmed subscriber, you will not have to do this. You’ll receive the freebie instantly.
 ►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

Trail of Tears Indian Removal Act Minibook

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The next part of our unit study is the Trail of Tears Indian Removal Act minibook, which I have ready today.

We are eager to get our homeschooling booted back up after having a much needed break with our move overseas.  I have to admit though we have been a bit sidetracked as we have arrived in Cuenca, Ecuador because we have so many new places to explore and learn about.  But we are going to finish our Trail of Tears Unit Study first because our interest was piqued and we need to cover a wee bit more U.S. history too.

Indian Removal Act MinibookIndian Removal Act Minibook 2

So this next minibook is a bit about the Indian Removal Act and how it affected not only the Cherokee, but the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole. Too, you know my dislike for a blob of blank pages a blank page because it doesn’t give any help when you may be running short on teacher prep time.

So I always try to include a few facts about the topic on most of my minibooks where possible. This one is no different.  Of course, you don’t have to use the facts or inside page we researched. You can add your own research.

More Trail of Tears Activities

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

And it’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you. If you’re already a confirmed subscriber, you will not have to do this. You’ll receive the freebie instantly.
 ►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

Trail of Tears Notebooking Pages

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I can’t help it. We love geography and we love starting our unit studies off with something about geography when we can.  So in preparing the first set of the Trail of Tears Notebooking Pages, I started with a bit of easy geography.

Even easy geography is important to understanding the trek that not only the Cherokee made, but several other tribes took because it helps to build appreciation for the harsh conditions they endured.

Too, because I like big graphics for any age, young grades or middle school, it is good sometimes to add a few notebooking pages to your study because you can use the full page for a map.

You know I have never fallen for the popular homeschooling mentality that lapbooks are just for young learners and notebooking pages for older learners.  I always try to incorporate the two types of pages when I can.  Don’t limit homeschooling tools like lapbooks and notebooking pages to preassigned ages and you will be able to make a well rounded out unit study.

Back to what I was talking about. I also like to build background information first about any topic.  Earlier, I had shared a minibook about the 7 Clans which is a minibook to build appreciation for the culture of the Cherokee.

Trail of Tears Notebooking Pages

Then today, I am sharing some notebook pages will which help with understanding about the different types of tribes that lived along the southeastern part of the United States. This will also help to build appreciation for the way they care for the land and depended on it for survival. They were hunters, farmers and they fished.

By locating the tribes on the southeastern part of the United States in their atlas, your children can understand that they lived in log homes, and planted squash, beans and corn in the rich soil. The land they loved and built on was wooded and had rivers.  As they worked the land, they enjoyed the bounty provided by it.

More Trail of Tears Activities

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

And it’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you. If you’re already a confirmed subscriber, you will not have to do this. You’ll receive the freebie instantly.
 ►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

Trail of Tears Unit Study and Lapbook

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Before I tell you about the trail of tears unit study and lapbook that I have planned for fall, I want to say congratulations to Crystal Cook, our grand prize winner of the Explorers Basket.

All I could “hear” were squeals on the other side of my email.  Too, I restrained myself from commenting on each reply, which you know is hard for me to do, but wanted you to know that I read each comment.

I value your input because though I may not get to do each suggestion, I sure do try to eventually.

The Trail of Tears Unit Study

Also, I may be wildly insane for even attempting to prepare the Trail of Tears unit study and lapbook about 14 days before we have to be out of our house and hotel hopping, but I would rather plan and have it than to not plan.

I am just giving you heads up now that this unit study, though I don’t want it to be, may stand half-baked for a while because our huge move overseas is here.

I can’t even begin to tell you all the details that are consuming when you don’t have a forwarding address yet, or will be totally mobile. 

Too, I am still transferring files over to my laptop and by the way if you know of a good mini (and I do mean mini) printer that is easy to get cartridges for, let me know.

Back to my unit study, I pushed myself one more time to go ahead and at least get the printables started on this unit study because it really is a time period that I wanted Tiny to study at an older age. 

Though we will focus of course on the culture and life of a few different Native American people, I wanted to expose the injustices and ugly side of American history. 

Those are teachable moments too of examples that we do not want to be like. 

The ugly side of history is something we do not shy away from, but I do wait to talk about it when each of the boys are more middle to high school age. 

It’s crazy though how even very young children know when something is not fair and can have empathy for a fellow being. 

It’s just when they are older they can value the model lessons.

Also, in preparing my lapbooks, as I talk about in the new The Big Book Of Homeschool Ideas where I am a co-author, one way to keep doing lapbooks for the middle to high school ages is to be sure clip art is not babyish.  That is a huge turnoff to the older kids.

That is one aversion I have to many printables and that is the clip art outgrows your crew in about one year.  It’s okay for sure if the focus is on the younger crew and sometimes it is.

  But I mostly aim for middle to high school because there is so much content for younger kids and not much for hands-on and to keep learning fun through to the upper grades.

I think sometimes finding appropriate clip art is more time consuming than actually doing the unit study, but I find it so worth the time for our kids.

Today, I have two minibooks. 

Well, actually one minibook and then a tear shaped printable to use either on the front of your lapbook or inside lapbook as a way to introduce The Trail of Tears.

What is the Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears silhouette credit: Edees Crafty Corner

7 Cherokee Clans Minibook

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

And it’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you. If you’re already a confirmed subscriber, you will not have to do this. You’ll receive the freebie instantly.
 ►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

Oceans Lapbook Starter

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Sharing the oceans lapbook starter today for my Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook,

So we were able to get a bit of school done this week and I was also able to create minibook four today, which is How Low Can You Go. 

Tiny was reading to me the other day about how deep the ocean is and we were trying to picture how far a diver could go.  This next easy minibook gives a visual example of the depth of a diver and also of submarines.

With a little bit of supervised research on google, your child should be able to arrange the pictures or clip art in order from the top of the page or sea level to the bottom of the page or the deepest. 

Then glue the pictures on the page.

Too,  we have started to arrange minibooks 1 – 4 on the file folder.  Above is the beginning layout or lapbook starter of where we have decided to place the minibooks so far. 

Too, when we place them, we try to arrange them so that we have as much room as possible for the rest of the minibooks.

I have some notebooking pages coming up too because this a big unit and I think it needs a bit more research by Tiny.

Are you following along or are you breaking right now for summer? If you are, then you can save this unit for when you start back to school.

Other Ocean Unit Study Resources:

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE OCEAN LAPBOOK

It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access my subscribers library.

However, not all of my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

It’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

Free Ocean Lapbook and Fun Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you.
►3) Last, look for my reply AFTER you confirm your email.