Hands-On Skeleton Unit Study and Skeleton Party {Party School!}

Hands-on Skeleton Unit Study

and Skeleton Party

{Party School!}

 

Every Halloween season, I ask Aidyn to pick a topic related to the holiday. This year he chose skeletons and decided to throw a party around our topic!

You'd think having a party is the antithesis to learning, but Aidyn mastered all sorts of skills through planning for his skeleton shin-dig!

What is Party School?

Party School is inspired by Julie Bogart from Brave Writer, and it is just what it sounds like: a party centered around a school topic. The opportunities for learning are endless, real-life based, and FUN! Aidyn happily wrote, studied the skeletal system, and participated in creating an awesome party for his cousin and friends.

Step One: Create invitations!

Aidyn worked on writing (I dictated his invitation message on the board), copywork, handwriting, designing, and drawing just by creating invitations to his party.

Aidyn played a couple anatomy games over at Shepperd Software.  

Step Two: Learn all about skeletons!

You can't have a skeleton party without knowing a thing or two about them, right? ::insert sneaky homeschool mom grin::

We learned:

• the names of major bones in the body
• location of bones in our body
• how to care for our bones and make them strong

 Labeling the bones.

Playing Pin-the-Bow-Tie-on-the-Skeleton game

This one is Pin-the-Apple-above-the-Mandible

 Watching Disney's classic "Skeleton Dance"

Step Three: Prepare for the Party!

Aidyn helped me purchase supplies (like skeleton decals, plastic bones, and bone candy). On the day of the party, he decorated the house and trampoline, blew up inflatable skeletons, and tested the Bone Toss game.

 Bones for the game and goodies for the prizes!

 Aidyn practiced division by dividing the candy and the bones into equal groups.

 He even crafted the Bone Toss sign.

 His cousin, Danielle, helped hang decorations.

This gentlemen kept the drinks cold.

Label-the-Little-Skeleton game

Step Four: Party!
        

 

Reenacting the Skeleton Dance as it played

 

Some of the kids playing the Bone Toss game.

 

Jumping on the trampoline (to keep our bones strong!).

 Even Jack got involved by tossing bones.

 Bone sorting.

 Our party somehow led to a screening of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

We ate hot dogs and "marshmallow bone treats" (forgot to take a picture because we were having so much fun!), and the kids all had a blast and talked about bones the whole day. Win, win! 

Poetry Teatime: Exploring "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe

 

 Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

As with all our poetry teatimes (inspired by Brave Writer), our goal is total immersion into the beauty, cadence, and joy of poetry. 

If the mood so strikes, we discuss tone or imagery or some other academic staple, but really my main objective is to form an emotional attachment and relationship to poetry. 

We have many years ahead to analyze poetry, and by my estimation, Aidyn would probably not have heard of Poe until 7th grade had he been in the public school system, but after today, he's an instant fan! 

  
Reading Poe's dark and spooky poem, "The Raven," was on my big homeschool-Halloween-season bucket list. Following writing class, I assembled a quick and easy snack, warm beverages, and Halloween-themed Hostess cupcakes. 

I lit several pumpkin-scented candles on a creepy Halloween tree, gathered the troops, and read aloud.

 Although I'm sure much of the Poe vernacular flew over both Aidyn's and Jack's heads, the haunting melody captured their attention. Aidyn's eyes grew wide, and he gave a quick little jump every time I tapped on the table to echo the raven's gentle rapping.

Afterward, Aidyn insisted we somehow watch "The Raven," so I dug up a short theatrical version.

Creepily enough, my computer completely froze as we were watching this video, and it made a weird whirring sound as it was paused on the portrait of the deceased Lenore.

Aidyn copied his favorite quote from the poem while we listened to Christopher Lee read "The Raven."

 Aidyn looks sleepy from the hot chocolate and haunting poem.

 Following a rabbit trail, we searched for related videos on YouTube and found several animations and interpretations of the famous poem.

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" by Aaron Quinn:

Aidyn was thrilled to find a Minecraft-inspired version of "The Raven."

"The Raven" in Minecraft:

 We happily watched about a half dozen various interpretations.

Peabody's Improbable History- Edgar Allen Poe:

Bullwinkle's Corner- "The Raven":

 We even watched a Simpsons version of the poem.

Mojo's Top 10 Notes: "The Raven":

I had no idea we would dig this deep into "The Raven," but one of the many joys of homeschooling is the ability to meander along with a topic, uncovering every curiosity. We happily canceled all other school plans to follow this trail, and I love that now Aidyn (and Jack!) experienced quite a fun and spooky introduction to one of the greatest poets of all time. We're sure to visit his other works soon!


I love homeschooling!

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