Family, faith, & just enough crazy to make it fun. I'm Jenny Evans, mom of 6. Sometimes I make it to things on time. But don't count on it.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission for referring you to the products I mention here. See my full disclosure here if you're super-duper interested in learning more about that. How do you provide structure for your kids over the summer? Camp? Trips to the beach? Copious amounts of popsicles and screen time? All are valid answers, but for us it's been the same for the last 8 years. We put up a big world map on the wall and spend each week learning about a different country somewhere in the world. This week the kids picked Israel. Read here about how The Educational Summer Vacation accidentally started in 2012, and then read on for a recap of our week in Israel. Monday First things first: find Israel on the map (we have this giant wall map from Amazon) and fill out our passport pages. I made passport pages (free printable is here) for the kids years ago; my only regret is that I threw them away after the first several summers because I didn't know it was going to be an ongoing thing. I finally saved last year's passport pages, clipped them with a binder ring, and simply added more pages for this year. (Too bad I won't have my teenager's pages from 2012 with her wonky 8-year-old handwriting and misspellings, but at least I'll have it for my younger kids.) The kids colored the flag of Israel while we listened to the Israeli national anthem. Be careful, it just might bring you to tears. I particularly liked this video because it had a translation of the lyrics in English. This clip about Jerusalem from Shalom Sesame wasn't overly informative, but seeing Grover got the little kids interested enough to sit still for this overview of the sites in Israel: For dinner I tried my hand at some of the national dishes, and all I can say is: where has Israeli cooking been all my life?? In Israel, I guess. I'm just mad I didn't know about it. Tonight, I made falafel balls and put them in pitas with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, yogurt, and feta cheese. It was delicious and super-easy and will definitely become a regular meal at our house from now on. Get in my belly. Tuesday Over the last 8 summers, I've given dozens of crash courses in different world languages, and never have I been as intimidated by a language as I was by Hebrew. Even when we did Hungarian, and that's saying something. Every Internet tutorial I saw promised to help you "learn the aleph bet in just 40 minutes!" (Forty minutes? For the ABCs?) After watching the video, I understood why it took 40 minutes. Hebrew is complicated. The kids and I did our best to copy down the letters in this simplified video, and after we sweated through it the kids were at least able to recognize some of the aleph bet in this musical alphabet video. My 4-year-old initially refused to participate because "it was dumb and boring," but then he changed his mind. He asked me to pull up a picture of the aleph bet and I let him copy letters to his heart's content. When he was finished I asked him to hold his paper in front of his belly so I could take a picture, and being a 4-year-old boy, he turned around and put it on his rear end. I'll take what I can get. True to its complicated form, even counting to 10 in Hebrew isn't simple. Lots of languages have masculine and feminine nouns, but Hebrew also has masculine and feminine numbers depending on what you're counting! Even after looking it up I wasn't sure which one to use if you're just abstractly counting to 10, but I think you'd use the feminine so we went with that. I love musical teaching videos. (We learned an Arabic song about counting camels years and years ago, and I can still count to 10 in Arabic today because of it.) After we'd learned our numbers, the kids scattered to various devices and played an online number matching game or a type-the-phone-number game. For dinner that night, I made a slightly adapted chicken shawarma. Mmmm. We put it in wraps with cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, and tahini sauce. I wish I'd taken a picture of the assembled wraps for the blog, but they looked and tasted so delicious I devoured two of them before I even remembered I had a blog. For the rest of the week, the kids had to say 'please' and 'thank you' in Hebrew. My 8-year-old really got into the spirit, because later that day in the car I asked her to call a sibling at home. When they picked up, she told them "Mom says to turn on the oven. Toda! (thank you)" Wednesday After briefly going over the Israel-Palestine conflict with the older kids while the younger kids picked their noses and complained about how bored they were, we spent the rest of today talking about archaeology. Israel is rich in archaeological sites, mostly because it's been an important place for civilizations since basically the dawn of time. The younger kids enjoyed this Sesame Street segment on archaeology, and the older kids were interested in this video about 7 important archaeological finds made in Israel. Then we watched an episode of Bill Nye The Science Guy and let me tell you, the amount of hilarity in this show is directly proportional to how old you are. I'd gone to the dollar store that morning and bought a plain white bowl or plate for each of the kids. Handing out Sharpies, I told them to decorate theirs as if it had been made by someone in another culture and/or time, either real or made-up. In the woods in front of our house, we placed each one in a shallow hole, smashed it with a hammer, and covered it with dirt. Highlight of his day, hands down. Each kid switched places with another kid, and I gave out shovels and dollar store brushes to help them excavate and clean all the pieces they could recover. I'd planned to have them fill out this archaeology record from Blue House Homeschool and be all official about it, but it was about to rain and it was almost dinnertime and we were in a hurry, and sometimes done is better than perfect. They brought their collection bags indoors and sat down at the table to piece their artifact together (the 4-year-old was NOT happy about not having every piece, but that's archaeology, buddy.) A rare reconstruction of an archaeological artifact with the original Dollar Tree price tag still attached! After they put together the plate or bowl, they had to guess from the decorations what culture theirs had come from. My 14-year-old and 12-year-old made up a culture, my 8-year-old did ancient Egyptian, and my 16-year-old used the elves from Lord of the Rings. Thursday For a country the size of New Jersey, it's impressive that the capital of Israel is a holy city to three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (Four, if you count Baháʼí.) We decided to review two religions today and two tomorrow. Today was Judaism and Christianity. We reviewed what we knew about Judaism with the nonfiction book What Do We Know About Judiasm? and the picture book A is for Abraham: A Jewish Family Alphabet. This video helped us learn about the importance of the Western Wall of the Jewish temple site in Jerusalem, also known as the Wailing Wall. We ran out of time to watch a library DVD I'd gotten called Lights: The Miracle of Chanukah, which looks like a cute 25-minute animated thing my little ones would enjoy at some point when we have time. When we switched gears and talked about Christianity, I figured it was a perfect time to brush up on our New Testament geography. How often do you look at the maps in the back of your Bible? If you're me, the answer is never. So I actually learned a lot from this activity. With the help of this website, I made a list of Christian sites of importance in Israel. The kids looked up place names from the list in the Bible Dictionary at the back of their scriptures to learn what happened there and why it was important, and then they located it on a map of Israel. Using a printable map of Isreal like the ones found here, the kids used sticky jewels to mark places of importance from the New Testament like Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capernaum, Qsar al Yahud (the place where Christ was baptized in the Jordan River,) and Jerusalem. We also found the Sea of Galilee, which isn't really a sea and today is called Lake Tiberias. #themoreyouknow For extra reading (because who doesn't love homework during summer vacation?) I gave the kids the books What are the Ten Commandments? and Who Was Jesus? from the Who Is book series, which I am currently in love with. Dinner tonight put a damper on my newfound love for Israeli food. I had high expectations for this shakshuka, but sadly it didn't taste nearly as good as it looked. In fact, it was kind of gross. I'm completely prepared to admit it might not have been the recipe's fault and maybe I just made it wrong, but I can't foresee us trying it again in the future so I guess we'll never know. Friday Today we covered the Islam and Baháʼí faiths. We reviewed what we knew about Islam, both from "visiting" previous Muslim countries and from going to open mosque day at a local mosque a few years ago. We also checked out the book Islam from the Eyewitness Books series. Jerusalem is the third holiest city to Muslims because it's the place where Mohammed ascended to heaven. The Dome of the Rock, which we learned about in this video, is built on the site. Baháʼí is one of the world's youngest religions, founded in the 1860s. I stumbled on this lovely animated video explaining its beliefs (start at 4:25 because he rambles,) narrated by the guy who plays Dwight Schrute on The Office. The Baháʼí World Centre is in Haifa, Israel. We looked here for an explanation of the different buildings on the site, and then watched this drone video of the Baháʼí gardens at Haifa. Saturday The last thing to talk about was music. We'd been listening to Klezmer music at dinner, and watched a mini-documentary about it (even though the guy they interviewed was Russian instead of Israeli.) Then we learned about the horah dance that is done at Jewish weddings. My 14-year-old said she did this at her friend's bat mitzvah last year, too. We watched this clip from a random couple's wedding reception to see what it looked like (thanks Sheila and Rob, whoever you are!) and then tried to follow this tutorial: It basically turned into everyone standing in a circle kicking each other, but we tried. The famous violinist Itzhak Perlman is from Tel-Aviv, Israel. He's so amazing. My kids thought it was fun to watch him on Sesame Street (why was there so much Sesame Street this week?) and I couldn't believe this video of him playing Dance of the Goblins. Seriously. Our family was gifted a year subscription to Masterclass and I noticed there's a class there taught by Itzhak Perlman, so I encouraged my violinist 14-year-old to take it. A few other books I gave my kids to look at this week included: The Golden City: Jerusalem's 3,000 Years by Neil Waldman Daily Life in Ancient and Modern Jerusalem by Diane Slavik Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat I was pretty intimidated to do Israel for our Educational Summer Vacation this year. I didn't think I'd be able to do justice to the rich history and sacred sites of Israel, and I probably didn't, but I tried the best I could and we enjoyed it. And thanks to that catchy number song, I'll remember how to count to 10 in Hebrew for the rest of my life. Click to Share:
Family, faith, & just enough crazy to make it fun. I'm Jenny Evans, mom of 6. Sometimes I make it to things on time. But don't count on it.
Family, faith, & just enough crazy to make it fun. I'm Jenny Evans, mom of 6. Sometimes I make it to things on time. But don't count on it.
Set of FREE printable world map choices with blank maps and labeled options for learning geography, countries, capitals, famous landmarks
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Family, faith, & just enough crazy to make it fun. I'm Jenny Evans, mom of 6. Sometimes I make it to things on time. But don't count on it.
The ancient city of Sorrento sits high on a cliffside about an hour outside Naples. Not only does the town make the perfect base to explore the Amalfi
Teach your kids about the world with a pretend trip to Saudi Arabia!
Ancient Civilization STEM & STEAM Challenges Bundle for Upper Elementary and Middle School Students! Cross-curricular challenges for students who are studying Ancient Civilizations This bundle contains 8 StudentSavvy STEM Resources! The Stone Age | Early Humans, Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Israel, Ancient India, Ancient China, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome STEM Challenges! {UPDATE: A DIGITAL VERSION IS ALSO INCLUDED USING TPT'S NEW DIGITAL ACTIVITY TOOL!} This resource is part of the Ancient Civilizations Curriculum Bundle These resources have science, technology, engineering, and measurement activities to do with your upper elementary kids that will really enhance their learning! Watch a video of the challenges in action here! ***UPDATE: 2 Stone Age STEM activities have been added! There are 15 STEM Challenges in this pack. Each STEM Challenge has detailed directions, photo examples, a list of materials needed, prediction section, brainstorming section, trials 1, 2, & 3, final results section with drawings, and a reflection section. The STEM Challenges include: Stone Age STEM Challenges 1. Hunter-Gatherer Challenge Using a list of supplies, students must design a basket or carrying device that can hold as much weight as possible... ******Information page and more instructions are found in the resource 2. The Archaeologist's Tool Kit Challenge Using a list of supplies, students must create 3 tools that would be useful for an archaeologist... ******Information page and more instructions are found in the resource Ancient Mesopotamia STEM Challenges -Ziggurat Marble Run Challenge Using a list of supplies, students must design a Ziggurat structure that contains a marble run track. The goal of the stem challenge is to create a design that has the longest properly-functioning marble run track. The marble run can travel up, down, around, or inside the Ziggurat structure. The marble must be dropped at the top of the Ziggurat and after completing it’s course it must end at the bottom of the structure. After completing the projects, the students will measure their marble run with a ruler. (more instructions are given in the resource) -Cuneiform Coding Challenge Students must decide on symbols that represent each letter of the alphabet. They must create an answer key of their symbols that correlate with the letters A-Z. Using a sharp pencil as a stylus, students will carve their symbols into their tablet, creating a coded message. The message must be a fact about Ancient Mesopotamia and it must contain at least 5 words. When multiple groups are finished, they will give the Cuneiform tablets to each other and try to guess what the other group’s message is. (more instructions are given in the resource) Ancient Egypt STEM Challenges -Mummified Apples in Caponic Jars Challenge! Using a list of supplies, students must first design four canopic jars. Using 4 slices of apple, students must test different mixtures using salt, baking soda, vinegar, and sugar. Out of the 4 slices, they must have a control group (no ingredients used on the apple) to measure the mummification process. They need to write down the exact measurements for each mixture using a page found in the resource. Each Canopic Jar needs to be labeled with the mixture. After applying the mixtures to the apples, they are placed inside the sealed jars. For the next four days, students must record their observations during the mummification process. ***More instructions are found in the resource -Toothpick Pyramid Challenge Using a list of supplies, students must design either a freestanding square or rectangular pyramid. The goal of the challenge is to design the tallest pyramid in the shortest amount of time. If glue is used instead of non-drying clay or marshmallows, allow for drying time. Students only need to use the timer during building time. They can stop the clock while their pyramid dries. The group who can build the tallest pyramid in the shortest amount of time wins the challenge. ***More instructions are found in the resource Ancient Israel STEM Challenges -Masada Challenge Using a list of supplies, students must engineer a model of Masada. Their model must contain the Western and Eastern Palaces. They can be as creative as they would like in their design, but it must have three levels. After creating their model, they must use wood blocks to built the tallest rock cliff that can support their Masada model. The group with the tallest rock cliff wins! Students will have three attempts to create the tallest rock cliff structure. (***more instructions are given in the resource) Ancient India STEM Challenges -Ancient Irrigation System Challenge! Because of monsoons in the Indus Valley Civilization, the ancient people of India had to figure out a way to save the water for the remainder of the year for their crops. In this challenge, students must design a model of an ancient irrigation system by selecting one (using a page in the resource). They must use their knowledge of simple machines by incorporating either a lever or pulley system in their design. The water must successfully be moved from one bin to another, the second bin representing the plants that need to be watered. The group that can create a system that moves the most water (without large amounts of spilling or wasting water) in the shortest amount of time wins the challenge. ******More instructions are found in the resource -Protect the Stupa from a Monsoon Challenge! Students must protect a stupa from flooding due to a monsoon. Materials must be added around the fence to protect water from entering the stupa. Water must be poured around the fence of their design, the water height must be at least a third of the height of their stupa. (For example, if the stupa is 12 inches tall, the water height must be 4 inches in their container. Students must brainstorm which materials would stop the water from getting past the fence for a full 2 minutes. ******More instructions are found in the resource Ancient China STEM Challenges -The Great Wall of China Zipline! Using a list of supplies, students must engineer a model of the Great Wall of China. The list of supplies are not required in this challenge, they are just suggestions on what they can use. Their wall must have at least two guard towers. On top of the guard towers, there must be a zipline apparatus where an object can travel from one tower to the next by using a pulley that attaches to a string. ******More instructions are found in the resource -Ancient Instruments: Erhu and Ruan Challenge! Using a list of supplies and an information page, students must design either an erhu or ruan instrument. The instrument must be able to produce sound and the strings must produce a variety of pitches. ******More instructions are found in the resource Ancient Greece STEM Challenges -Chariot Challenge! Using a list of supplies, students must engineer a model of a chariot. The chariot must have functioning wheels where the contraption can be pulled around while the wheels spin. They have one hour to complete this challenge. ******Information page and more instructions are found in the resource -Catapult Challenge! Students must design a catapult. Students can to decide to create a cross-bow style catapult or a stone-hurling catapult. The catapult must be able to launch or shoot an object into the air. The group that can create the most effective catapult (shoots the furthest) wins the challenge! Students can only use the items listed below. They have one hour to complete this challenge. ******Information page and more instructions are found in the resource Ancient Rome STEM Challenges -Roman Aqueduct Challenge! Using a list of supplies, students must create an aqueduct that can transport water from one location to another. The goal of this challenge is to design an aqueduct that can transmit water from a source to at least three different locations (separate containers of water). The design must not have any leaks. Using a water can, students can test their model by pouring water from the starting point of their aqueduct and allowing it to travel to the three containers without any spilling. ******Information page and more instructions are found in the resource -Roman Roads Maze Run! Using a list of supplies, students must design a shoe-box marble maze that is inspired from the roads that the Romans engineered. The design must contain at least 6 tunnels and a bridge. There must be a beginning and an end point of the maze. When they groups are finished, they can challenge other groups to test out their design. ******Information page and more instructions are found in the resource _______________________________________________________________________ You May Also Enjoy: Ancient Civilizations Maps and Timelines Classroom Posters Tips for Savvy TpT Shoppers: How to receive credit on TpT to use for future purchases: • Go to your My Purchases page. Under each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. Be the first to know about my new discounts, FREEBIES, and products: • Look for a green star near the top of any page within my store and click it to become a follower. 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Passport Stamps from 17 Countries WHAT YOU GET IN THIS SET Stamps from • Philippines• Spain• China• Haiti• Japan• Israel• Liberia • Australia • England • Italy • France • Germany • Sweden • The Netherlands • USA • Mexico • Brazil ==================================================== 300dpi 17 Piec...
