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notebooking

22 Famous Texans Notebooking Pages (editable) For a Fun History Study

February 10, 2021 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

These 22 famous Texans notebooking pages can be added to a unit study about Texas. You could use the Texans notebooking pages for a famous people study too.

I’ve created 11 Texans notebooking pages which have 2 Texans on each page so your child can notebook about 22 famous Texans.

In addition, I’ve created two sets of notebooking pages. The first set is editable and the second set has lines for handwriting. You decide best how to use them with your kids.

Some kids need more practice handwriting, other kids need to type. Again, it’s the same set with two different options. You get both options in the one download.

22 Famous Texans Notebooking Pages

22 Famous Texans Notebooking Pages For a Fun History Study (Editable)

Look at these 22 famous Texans on each page and in addition where possible, I have a link or two to help you kick off your unit study with a heap of Texan-ness.

One. Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History

157 page .pdf about Davy Crockett

Two. James Bowie

Bowie, James (1796–1836)

Bowie, JAMES, military officer, Alamo Defender, Hero 

Three. Branch Tanner Archer

Archer, Branch Tanner (1790–1856)

Branch Tanner Archer

Four. David G. Burnet

Sons of DeWitt Colony, Texas

Five. Edward Burleson

Burleson, Edward  (1793  – 1851 Dec 26 )

Six. Elisabet Ney

Elisabet Ney Museum

Ney, Elisabet (1833–1907)

Seven. Francisco Vazquez de Coronado

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

Vázquez de Coronado, Francisco (1510–1554)

Eight. Gail Borden, Jr.

Borden, Gail, Jr. (1801–1874)

About Gail Borden

Famous Texans

Here in Texas, our homeschool state law states the curriculum must include the five basic subjects of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and good citizenship.

Good citizenship is similar to civics so you can include these notebooking pages toward your goal of covering Texas history.

Nine. Jane Long

Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long was called the “Mother of Texas.” 

Jane Long (1798-1880)

Ten. John C. Hayes

Hays, John Coffee (1817–1883)

John Coffee Hays

Eleven. John Henry Brown

Brown, John Henry (1820–1895)

John Henry Brown family papers, 1691-1951

Twelve. Lorenzo de Zavala

Zavala, Lorenzo de (1788–1836)

Lorenzo de Zavala (1789-1836)

Thirteen. Mirabeau Lamar

Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte (1798–1859)

Giants of Texas History

Fourteen: Robert Cavalier, Sieur de Lasalle

The Explorers

La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de (1643–1687)

Texas History Unit Study

Fifteen: Sam Houston

6 page pdf Teacher Guide

Study in Leadership

Sixteen: Stephen F. Austin

Colonization of Texas:

Stephen F. Austin 1793 – 1836

Seventeen: Thomas Green

Green, Thomas (1814–1864)

Green, Thomas  (1814 Jun 8 – 1864 Apr 12 )

Eighteen: William P. Hardeman

Hardeman, William Polk (1816–1898)

William P. Hardeman “Old Gotch” (1816-1898)

Nineteen: Sterling C. Robertson

Robertson, Sterling Clack (1785–1842)

Twenty: Susanna Dickinson

Dickinson, Susanna Wilkerson (ca. 1814–1883)

Alamo widow and survivor

Twenty-one: Anson Jones

Jones, Anson (1798–1858)

Jones, Anson  (1798 Jan 20  –  1858)

Twenty-two: James S. Hogg

Governors of Texas

James S. Hogg (1851-1906)

Grab the Notebooking Pages below.

  • 11 Notebooking Pages (editable) 22 Famous Texans

    $1.75
    Add to cart

22 Famous Texans Notebooking Pages For a Fun History Study (Editable)

You’ll love these other resources for studying about Texas:

  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
  • Texas Native American History Quick Unit Study (Middle School)
  • How to Build the Alamo: Day 5 Hands-on Learning (Free Texas Unit Study)
  • Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study
  • 35 Simple But Powerful American History Homeschool Resources K to 12

Hugs and love ya,

Leave a CommentFiled Under: History Resources, Middle School Homeschool, Notebooking Pages Tagged With: american history, hands on history, hands-on activities, handsonhomeschooling, modern history, notebooking, texasunit

How Animals Cope With the Cold (Easy Nature Study)

December 29, 2017 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I was given this product free because I asked for it and couldn’t wait to use it. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!


Winter is a wonderful season for learning about animals with kids. Animals go through so many different behavioral changes to adapt to cold temperatures and, when you can study those changes in your own backyard, it really makes scientific concepts come alive.

So I was excited to try the NaturExplorers ebook “Coping With the Cold”. I’ve been wanting to add in nature studies to our homeschool but didn’t need anything that requires a lot of fuss.

Winter is a wonderful season for learning about animals with kids. Animals go through so many different behavioral changes to adapt to cold temperatures and, when you can study those changes in your own backyard, it really makes scientific concepts come alive. Click here to grab this easy nature study!

NaturExplorers ebook “Coping With the Cold” is a Charlotte Mason-inspired nature study program for learning about how animals adapt to winter temperatures. And it’s loaded with simple DIY projects, science activities, and plenty of notebooking pages too!

Take a look at what all is included in this excellent science curriculum!

NaturExplorers Review: Coping With the Cold

Since NaturExplorers is a Charlotte Mason-style program, the curriculum includes plenty of nature study activities and hands-on learning ideas for studying winter animal behavior.

Nature Explorers Coping With the Cold

And, along with all the printed activities for kids to complete, there are loads of notebooking pages and drawing prompts so they can record what they observe outdoors.

Nature Explorers Winter Animals Notebooking Pages

Winter NaturExplorers 1080x1080 (Instagram)
What I really like about NaturExplorers is that the program encourages kids to spend plenty of time outside in nature, finding out what animals do for themselves.

Nature Explorers Migration Activity

For example, the activities about bird migration were really informational and geography-based too.

Did you know that birds actually follow “flyways” – a version of bird highways? I didn’t!

Migrating Animal Research Planning Page

This migrating animal research planner was such a neat idea, because it’s a great way to help children plan a research topic, organize their ideas, and outline an essay.

This is an excellent activity for middle school language arts.

Studying Winter Animal Adaptations

By the way, these are just some of the notebooking and journaling activities in the program!

Easy Nature Study!

Winter Animal Observation Sheets

Charlotte Mason strongly encouraged art and journaling and NaturExplorers does a fantastic job of prompting kids to draw what they see and note what it tells them about animal behavior.

It’s art and science in one activity!

Winter Adaptations Research Activity

And, because I always love to encourage reading, I was thrilled to see that the program featured an activity for kids to complete using a nonfiction book about winter animals they choose from the library. (My favorite place!)

Winter Adaptations Art Activity

Even if you can only observe one or two different kinds of animals (depending on where you live), the idea of adaptations is so thoroughly covered that kids will be able to spot other adaptations in animals they read about.

Migrating Flocks Observation Sheet

Some of the other notebooking pages include questions for kids to answer, based on their own observations, and charts for them to fill out.

Studying Winter Animal Behavior

I also loved that NaturExplorers is so open-ended. There’s no weekly schedule or layout included, so you can pick up and pause as you need to. It’s a very relaxed curriculum and you adapt it to your own schedule.

Perfect for us eclectic homeschoolers!

I’ll be sharing a few of the NaturExplorers activities in upcoming posts, but – trust me – this is a fabulous winter nature study program that you’ll love as much as the kids do!

How to Purchase It.

►Product Name: Coping With the Cold.
►Website: Our Journey Westward.
►Type of product: Ebook instant download.
►Ages: Multiple grades 1st to 8th grade.
►Price: $12.00

Winter is a wonderful season for learning about animals with kids. Animals go through so many different behavioral changes to adapt to cold temperatures and, when you can study those changes in your own backyard, it really makes scientific concepts come alive. Click here to grab this easy nature study!

See even more ways to include hands-on science in your homeschool!

  • Free Moon Journal for Homeschool Science
  • Middle School Homeschool Science: 50 Free Spring Activities
  • Free Carnivorous Plants Notebooking Pages

Hugs and love ya,

2 CommentsFiled Under: Homeschool Curriculum Review, Product Review, Science Tagged With: hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, hibernation, homeschoolinginwinter, middleschool, nature study, notebooking, science, winter season

5 Simple Ways to Enhance a Homeschool Unit Study

August 1, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Unit studies can be intimidating. The same things that make unit studies captivating can be the same things that make them tough to teach. Sharing 5 simple ways to enhance a homeschool unit study, I'm hoping that you won't be afraid to take the plunge and try a unit study or two.Unit studies can be intimidating. The same things that make unit studies captivating can be the same things that make them tough to teach. Sharing 5 simple ways to enhance a homeschool unit study, I’m hoping that you won’t be afraid to take the plunge and try a unit study or two.

Do You Struggle with Homeschool Unit Studies?

One/ Always include a simple hands-on activity or two.

I use to be very judgmental and critical of homeschoolers (I know, doesn’t sound like me at all does it) who did a lot of hands-on activities until I started actually teaching.

What I learned along the way was that activities don’t have to be expensive or time-consuming to have a wow factor. What is more important is that hands-on learning brings your topic alive and those are the teaching points your kids remember for life.

I’ve tried to do simple things through my many years of homeschooling. Grab an idea or two from my category for Hands-on Activities here at my blog category. I have about 150 or so you can choose from.

Two/  Include living books.

Sometimes you can pull information from a textbook. I’ve done it several times because that is what I had on hand and there was no need to purchase something else. Look at how I did that at From Textbook to Homeschool Unit Study Starter.

However, if you’re wanting the best ways to enhance a unit study, living books beat the boring blahs when it comes to introducing or learning a unit study.

We love using the books by Beautiful Feet, but we also love using reference books. Though some can be dry, we find they still have a story like appeal which is the hallmark of living books. Look at my tips at my post Day 3. Selecting Superior Sub-Topics. 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies By Creating A Unit Study Together.

Are Your Unit Studies Boring Your Kids to Sleep?

Three/ Use movies as part of your unit study or as a kick starter.

Many times, I’ve used a documentary, musical, or movie to kick off a unit study. It adds flavor to a time period especially if it’s a history related topic. Not all kids have good imaginations for a past time period. A movie has a way of adding facts about a time period without a child having to slave over period details.

Look at my post Homeschool History Teaching Ancient Civilizations Using Netflix.

Four/ Include just one or two other homeschool families.

You don’t have to join a co-op if you want to cover topics specifically geared toward your kids. By homeschooling with another family, you still add the element of fun that is found in a co-op, share the lesson planning with another homeschool mom but still control what you want to teach.

Plus, it was great to see my kids interact with another homeschool educator. We did a study about the Vikings with another family and between the two of us, we had so many ideas for our kids.

Some of our best times were by including another homeschool family or two.

Five/ One of the best ways is to focus on one subtopic within your unit study or enhance it with a focused subtopic.

A huge mistake in unit studies is covering way too much material. But too another point is not being able to hone in one of the subtopics in a unit study.

Whether you purchase a unit study or find one that is free, a problem has always been that you’re not able to cover a subtopic deeply within a theme which interests your kids.

Today, I’m over the top excited to announce a new series which will be in my shop and that is Unit Study Enhancers.

What exactly are they? Well they are printables (minibooks and/or notebooking pages) to use for those times when you can’t find a unit study which hones in specifically on a subtopic that you want to cover.

My unit study enhancers will enhance your teaching points. It’s meant to bring up close a subtopic or topic that you want to highlight within a theme.

Add them to a notebook, lapbook, use with a workbook or include them as a subtopic in a free or purchased unit study because the printables are not a complete unit study, but enhance one.

Too, by giving you options within the product download, they are designed to relieve teacher prep time and to use with multiple ages of children. For instance, some downloads have simple researched printed material to glue onto pages. This allows you to move forward teaching when your time is limited.

Or, you can have your student research his own information and write it in. Where possible, I give one link or more for reference while using the printables.

Unless a topic is specifically geared toward young learners, quality photos and not babyish images are chosen so that older learners can be engaged. Color and the highest quality graphics I can find are used to diminish the blah of boring printables.

My first Unit Study Enhancer focuses on one of my biggest free unit studies here on my blog and that is The Amazon Rain Forest. The Unit Study Enhancer is about the temperate rain forest. You can read more about it here at my shop.

But you can download it today for only $2.25.

  • Temperate Rain Forest Unit Study Enhancer (4 Printables)

    $1.25
    Add to cart

Also, look at my tips at my series 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together.

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Do Unit Studies, Science, Science Based, Teach Unit Studies Tagged With: amazon rain forest, homeschool, life science, notebooking, printable, science

Free Strawberry Notebooking Pages

February 12, 2015 | 7 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It may not feel like spring yet, but spring is on the way.

Looking over my strawberry lapbook that we did, which seems like ages ago when my older boys were younger, I wanted to flesh it out some more if I decide to do this with Tiny.

Today, I have some fun and free strawberry notebooking pages.

Strawberries are the first “fruits” of spring or are they a fruit? You’ll have to read to learn about them.

Download Free Strawberry Notebooking Pages.

Back when we did our lapbook, we also took a field trip with our group to pick strawberries.  Of course at the end of studying about strawberries, I made strawberry short cake.

It was the perfect ending to our fun, easy and quick unit study about strawberries.

Too, I have some helpful websites and free downloads that will help your child do the notebooking pages on his own.

I never knew there were so many varieties of strawberries.

Go to this page at the University of Texas Digital Library to have your child label the notebooking pages showing the many varieties of strawberries.

Then go this page at the University of Illinois Extension officeto read about the history and lore of strawberries.

There are two notebooking pages about the history and lore of strawberries.

Then grab this download to add some science in understanding strawberry leaf diseases to fill out the last notebooking page.

Learning about strawberries is a fun way to kick off spring and it certainly got my kids excited about the change to beautiful weather.

Hugs and love ya,

You may also want to grab:

Free Bird Journal {Coloring & Identification Pages}

Linking up @ these awesome places:

7 CommentsFiled Under: 1. My FREE Learning Printables {Any Topic}, Notebooking Pages Tagged With: notebooking

Free Marco Polo Unit Study Notebooking Pages

January 12, 2015 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have the first set of free Marco Polo Notebooking Pages ready.

The first notebooking page is a place to write about Marco Polo’s childhood as he grew up in Venice and contemplated visiting far off places that were not discovered.

The second notebooking page, your child can add a bit of geography about the Persian desert and there is space for your child to either describe the travels of Marco Polo across the Persian desert or to tell about animal or plant life on the desert.

MARCO POLO NOTEBOOKING PAGES

And then lastly, I have a page that can be used to give an overview of the Mongol Empire.

Free Marco Polo Unit Study Notebooking Pages

The Mongolian Empire was such a huge empire at that time that it is taken us a while when reading to wrap our minds around the large amount of land that was conquered by Genghis Khan.

Also you’ll love the hands-on ideas from Home School In the Woods.

Here are a few websites we have been reading that might help you too.

  • The Mongol History
  • Mr. Donn
  • Mr. Donn Mongol for Kids

The printables on the Marco Polo Unit Study are special ones because I love to hold back printables to share only with my loyal email readers.

I would love for you to follow me and give me the opportunity to help you along in your homeschool journey.

How to Download this Freebie.
It’s a Subscriber Only Gift.

From time to time, I do Subscriber Freebies only. This is a subscriber freebie. I do this to show my appreciation and because I want you to follow me and give me a chance to make a difference in your homeschool.

Too, when you join my email list, you get access to my Subscriber’s Only Exclusive Library of Freebies.

This is how you get access to this form quickly.
1) Sign up on my list.
2) Confirm your email in your inbox after you get one from me.
3) Look for the automatic reply giving you the password to the private subscriber’s area. You should have it soon.

IF you are already a follower/subscriber, PLEASE do NOT email me asking how to find it. You may not want to wait on me replying since I get bombarded with emails.

IF you’ll find the MOST RECENT email from me, the password and link to the Subscribers Area are ALWAYS at the bottom of every email. Look for the most current email since I change the password frequently.

Marco Polo Unit Study, Lapbook, and Hands-on Ideas

Check out these other activities on our Marco Polo Unit Study.

Free Marco Polo Unit Study Notebooking Pages

 Hugs and love ya,

Free Marco Polo Notebooking Pages for a homeschool unit study.

2 CommentsFiled Under: 1. My FREE Learning Printables {Any Topic}, Geography Based, History Based Tagged With: hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handsonhomeschooling, homeschoolanguagearts, language arts, languagearts, notebooking

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