Concept Weeks #52-55/21-24: New Years Day and the Chinese Lunar New Year, Rainforests, the Inca, Maya, and Aztec, & Robots

Like I said in my last post, this is our final Concept Week post. For a while now these posts have been out of date but I've been clinging to them out of habit. I'm not sure what direction the new posts will go in but I'll hopefully have it figured out by the end of February.

Now, this month, together Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, & Scooby-Doo worked on four Concept Weeks. They were New Years Day and the Chinese Lunar New Year, Rainforests, the Inca, Maya, and Aztec, and Robots.

For each Concept Week they had a lapbook filled with information and fun worksheets and each day I read them a book (or two or three) pertaining to the topic. Some of the books were fun story books, others were full of information about the topic. It depended on what the library (and we) had.

Concept Weeks #48-51/17-20: Farms, Oceans, Arctic and Antarctic, & Yule and Christmas

Together Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, & Scooby-Doo worked on four Concept Weeks. They were Farms, Oceans, the Arctic and Antarctic, and Yule and Christmas.

For each Concept Week they had a lapbook filled with information and fun worksheets and each day I read them a book (or two or three) pertaining to the topic. Some of the books were fun story books, others were full of information about the topic. It depended on what the library (and we) had.

Concept Weeks #44-47/13-16: Halloween, Dinosaurs, After Dinosaurs, & Thanksgiving

From here on out any Concept Weeks will be done by all three of them together (except for one final quarter that I'm planning on for our Summer quarter). Obviously Optimus Prime & Bumblebee had harder work than Scooby-Doo but overall the work was more or less the same.

Together they worked on four Concept Weeks. They were Halloween, Prehistoric/Dinosaur Era, Prehistoric/Early Man Era, and Thanksgiving.

For each Concept Week they had a lapbook filled with information and fun worksheets and each day I read them a book (or two or three) pertaining to the topic. Some of the books were fun story books, others were full of information about the topic. It depended on what the library (and we) had.

Concept Weeks #9-12: Butterflies, Horses, Kittens, & Wild Cats

* You have no idea how relieved I am that this is my FINAL post for our August/September/October quarter. With this put up I can now work on getting the blog up-to-date with our November/December/January news which will hopefully be done by the end of January/first week of February. I am SO happy and SO relieved!!! *

Scooby-Doo's final four Concept Weeks for this quarter!

Honestly, it was a bit of a relief since he really wasn't too interested. Optimus Prime & Bumblebee enjoyed the books, as always, but Scooby-Doo was still completely indifferent.

For the month of October we had four Concept Weeks:

• Butterflies
• Horses
• Kittens
• Wild Cats

This month we used the same story collection book as the last two months. Scooby-Doo also had a lapbook for each week. 

Week One covered butterflies. Even though we had just done an insect unit (and butterflies were covered) we had another book just for butterflies. The book went over the life cycle and body parts of the butterflies. It also went over the journey that some take to warmer weather and disguises and defenses they have.

Week Two was all about horses. First we went over horse relatives (which include zebras, donkeys, and mules), then we went over the different breeds (heavy, light, and ponies). This was followed with basic information about horses, how they live, what they eat, how they have babies, etc.

Week Three covered kittens (which I thought he would get really excited over but he didn't). The book went over the family tree of cats and how it included the larger (and smaller) wild cats. This was followed by a bunch of basic information about domestic cats and kittens. 

Week Four was like an extension of the kitten unit. Some of the stuff covered in the kitten unit applied to this one. This unit covered individual types of wild cats such as lions, tigers, etc.

I think next quarter we'll still do concept weeks but they'll be the same units that Optimus Prime & Bumblebee are covering. 

Concept Weeks #5-8: Fish, Snakes, Spiders, & Bugs

For the month of September Scooby-Doo had four Concept Weeks:

• Week #1 - Fish
• Week #2 - Snakes
• Week #3 - Spiders
• Week #4 - Bugs

Week One covered the basics of fish - body parts, where they live, how they breathe water, what they eat, protection, etc. 

Week Two talked about how snakes are cold-blooded, where they live (some live in water), what they eat, how it takes a long time for them to digest their food, how they protect themselves, how they are born, etc. 

Week Three talked about the difference between arachnids and insects then we covered how spiders eat, where they live, their webs, their egg sacks, etc. There was even a spider mentioned that could breathe underwater by making a giant air sack.

Week Four was just like the Spider unit, only it covered insects - where they live, what they eat, how they protect themselves, etc.

These Concept Weeks went along with the same book as last month. Again, I'm not sure that Scooby-Doo cared about the stories but his brothers loved them. I also made a corresponding lapbook for him for each unit - and again, he went back & forth on his lapbooks, just like last month.

I am hoping as he gets used to the lapbooks he'll warm up to them and find them to be more fun.

Concept Weeks #1-4: Dinosaurs, Whales, Seals, & Sharks

I debated how to go about doing a post on Scooby-Doo's Concept Weeks. Do I want to follow the same format I did with Optimus Prime & Bumblebee doing a new post week by week? Do I want to start numbering them at #1 or skip ahead to the same number that Optimus Prime & Bumblebee are on (which, for the record, is #41)? Do I want to combine all Concept Weeks into one post? Well, since next quarter their Concept Weeks are going to be the same that would make sense. However, nothing says the following quarter it will all be the same again.

I really went back & forth on this and finally decided that I have no idea what the future will hold. So, for this quarter, Scooby-Doo will get his own posts. And they will start at the #1. However, since his Concept Weeks are watered-down compared to where Optimus Prime & Bumblebee were at at his age I'll just do a monthly post for him. So, four Concept Weeks in one post, starting at the #1. For now. Who knows what I will do next quarter.

So, for the month of August, Scooby-Doo had four Concept Weeks:

• Week #1 - Dinosaurs
• Week #2 - Whales
• Week #3 - Seals
• Week #4 - Sharks

Why these four topics? We have a book called "Know-It-Alls Treasury of Animals and Nature" that has exactly 12 books in it. Which is perfect - one for each week. These were the first four books.

Week One covered the very basics of dinosaurs (carnivore vs herbivore, extinction, fossils, etc) and then talked about some of the more well-known dinosaurs out there.

Week Two covered the basics of whales (what they eat, how they breathe oxygen, birth live young, etc) and then talked about some of the different whale breeds. 

Week Three talked about how there are actually three different types of seals (eared seals, earless seals, and walruses). Then the book covered seal basics such as food, swimming vs. walking, blubber, babies, enemies, etc. This one did not go into different seal breeds.

Week Four covered shark basics then talked about different breeds of sharks. 

For each unit I also made a lapbook for him which was more like a mini-workbook dedicated to the animals we were learning about. Some of the lapbooks he enjoyed, others not so much.

The books were a bit beyond him, however his brothers enjoyed sitting in and listening to them. 

Overall I'm not sure if our first four Concept Weeks were successes or not, but I'll push through for the rest of the quarter and next quarter I'll have it match up with what his brothers are doing. 

Concept Weeks #27 & 28: Ancient China and Chinese Mythology

My kids love the Disney movie Mulan so I figured it was time for some units focusing on that era of China. We actually could have turned this into a three week unit while also focusing on Modern China or even a four week unit with another week on Chinese Holidays, but I think for now two weeks was good.

For our Ancient China half we had three books:

• Our Cultural Heritage: Chinese Americans by Lucia Raatma 
• Country File: China by Michael March
• DK Eyewitness: Ancient China

The first one really wasn't relevant to our unit, I just picked it up because our library had pretty much ZERO books on China for kids. The second book focused more on modern China, but it did talk a bit about history with things like the Great Wall. So, it was slightly relevant. I did find some worksheets covering traditional clothing, important landmarks, famous women (Wu Zetian), the flag, etc. So, the unit didn't focus entirely on me reading to them. Some parts really bored them, some really interested them. When it came to the third book they were really fascinated about some of the things we learned. They loved the Chinese invention that detected earthquakes, and they loved looking at the pictures.

They REALLY liked the Mythology half. Our book was Chinese Mythology by Irene Collier and they LOVED the stories in it. Most of our mythology units have covered European mythology. When we did Egyptian mythology in our Ancient Egypt unit they really liked that, and when we did Native American Mythology it was pretty much 50/50 on what they liked and didn't like. But for Chinese mythology, they really loved most of the stories we read. This unit was a MUCH bigger hit than the Native American one. So much of that they just couldn't relate to or get. Clearly I need to go buy a Pocahontas movie or something...

Overall I would say that both units were a huge success.

Concept Week #26: Volcanoes & Earthquakes

Okay, I'd be lying if I said I had a ton of stuff to talk about, here. I'm not even sure I can fake it.

My kids find volcanoes exciting (who doesn't?!? - from a safe distance) so I went to the library to look for book on them. Most of their kids books were not on the same level as Optimus Prime & Bumblebee so I took out DK: Volcano & Earthquake. We read that book, they learned quite a bit about earthquakes that they didn't know before, but they really didn't learn anything new about volcanoes. They already knew the difference between magma and lava (one is under ground, the other above ground), they already knew that ash comes out of the volcano too, they already knew about the moving plates under the earth, etc. They did not know that ash is good for the soil (so long as the soil isn't incredibly buried by it) or that volcanoes don't have to be mountains, so there was that, but most of what we learned about was review for them. Even the earthquake section of the book didn't have much information in it that they didn't already know. Don't get me wrong - it was a great book filled with incredible information & pictures - it was just all stuff they had already learned on their own. I also had a hard time finding ANY age appropriate worksheets for them. In the end we did a volcano dot-to-dot and a maze to help lava reach the ocean. I know, not exactly second grade material.

With that said, I AM glad we did a unit on it, I just wish we had learned more.

Concept Week #25: Horses

We had a LOT of books for this unit! Not so many worksheets, though.

For our main books we had DK Eyewitness Books: Horse, I Wonder Why: Horses Wear Shoes and Other Questions About Horses by Jackie Gaff, and DK See How They Grow: Pony.

Then, we had these other books in the Horse Breed Roundup series:

• The American Paint Horse 
• The American Quarter Horse
• The American Saddlebred Horse
• The Appaloosa Horse 
• The Arabian Horse
• The Clydesdale Horse 
• The Shetland Pony
• The Spanish Mustang
• The Tennessee Walking Horse
• The Thoroughbred Horse

Those books we did not read cover to cover, we just enjoyed the pictures and read the parts we wanted to.

Then, they read to me Farm Animals: Horses by Emily K. Green.

Like I said, a LOT of books!

So, we learned about horse babies, horse shoes, the different horse breeds and why they were created (horses for war, horses for speed, horses for endurance, horses for trails, etc). We learned that horses prefer to live in groups instead of alone, we learned that horses develop strong bonds with their humans, and we even learned about some of the prehistoric horses out that used to be out there (and, how they had more than one toe/hoof on each foot!!!). It was a GREAT unit packed with so much information I don't even know what to mention in this post! There was just too much!

Expanding the Concept Weeks

Concept Weeks are something that have been slowly evolving since they have started. It began as an additional unit the first week of each month to help us cover things that they were either interested in or things that were not covered in our workbooks but I felt were important. However, I've wanted to expand them for a while now. Then, last summer the first opportunity came about when we spent three whole months working on dinosaurs. Then, this quarter another opportunity came about with a new unit each week.

However, lately I was thinking I'm tired of doing workbooks. Then I realized that most of our Concept Weeks revolve around either science, holidays, history, or mythology. And then, a new idea popped into my head.

Starting next quarter I'll be assimilating the Concept Weeks into our regular units, starting the process of phasing out workbooks and shifting the emphasis towards more reading - whether it is me reading to them or them reading on their own.

The ultimate idea here is two-fold:

1. Come 3rd or 4th grade most of our focus is going to be on reading with less time spent on workbooks. This will help prepare them for that.
2. Concept Weeks are blended units, a single theme or idea covering a wide range of subjects. Once Concept Weeks are fully blended into our regular units this pattern will continue. For example, for 3rd grade science I have a book similar to our 1st grade Science book covering animals by continent. Once Concept Weeks are assimilated into our regular units when we do this Science book we will also be covering Geography, making that Science unit more like a Concept Week that covers multiple subjects while remaining in the same theme.

So, next quarter all of our Concept Weeks will be science based. 12 separate science units that will be treated more like Concept Weeks. The following quarter we will begin switching over more subjects that way so that by the time they are ready to begin chapter books on their own all subjects that can be switched will be switched. 

Concept Week #24: Elephants

This unit was pretty easy and fun. We had two books and a few worksheets that I found online. The books were DK Eyewitness: Elephants and Picture Library: Elephants. The second one was FAR more kid friendly!

We learned some neat facts - like how elephants are pregnant for almost two years! - and we also learned about how elephants can be trained for military use as well as other jobs such as hauling logs. This prompted Optimus Prime to tell me he wished we lived in India so he could be trained to be an elephant handler like the 8 year old boys there! I told him maybe his son would get to be one.

I actually don't have anything else to say about this unit... which is kinda odd since we talked about nothing but elephants for a whole week!

Concept Week #23: Prehistoric Life

For this unit we had no worksheets and a TON of library books!

What I really wanted to cover was the Ice Age and the early mammals that lived then (woolly mammoths, saber-toothed cats, etc), but I couldn't find books specifically covering that at our tiny local library so I had to work with what I had.

First up we had two DK books that partly covered the era we were interested in.  They were Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries: The Visual Dictionary of Prehistoric Life and DK Eyewitness Books: Prehistoric Life. These books actually covered EVERYTHING including the era before dinosaurs, the era during dinosaurs, and the rise of large mammals and neanderthals. We just covered the pages that were relevant to our unit.

Then, we had some storybooks that followed around some of the common animals for that time period.

• Ice Age Monsters: Glyptodon by Rupert Oliver
• Ice Age Monsters: Cave Bear by Rupert Oliver
• Ice Age Monsters: Megaceros by Rupert Oliver
• Ice Age Monsters: Saber Tooth Tiger by Rupert Oliver
• Woolly Mammoth by Ron Wilson

Lastly I couldn't seem to find any relevant worksheets (that weren't coloring pages) to go along with this unit. This unit was fun, and we enjoyed it, but I wish we had had more material to go through.

Concept Weeks #21 & 22: Native Americans and Native American Mythology

These two Concept Weeks went hand-in-hand. Ideally, we were supposed to do Native Americans the first week followed by Native American Mythology the second week however the two units actually overlapped so we did them together spread out over the two weeks.

We learned about some of the many tribes out there, and how they all lived differently as well as had (and still have) different customs. We read about the "three sisters" of their diet - corn, beans, and squash. We learned how different tribes hunted different animals, and about the introduction of horses into their culture.

We also talked about some of the more negative things, such as the constant warfare with the Europeans, the superior weapons of the Europeans, and introduction of European diseases to the tribes. We also covered some sad historical events - specifically the Trail of Tears and the Wounded Knee Massacre.

We also took a closer look at both Pocahontas and Sacajawea - their early lives, their interaction with the white settlers, etc.

Throughout all of this we read a bunch of myths of many of the different tribes. Some of the myths we greatly enjoyed, some we did not.

We had a few books. DK Eyewitness North American Indian gave an overview of the many tribes and regions of North America before and during the white settlers coming. This book was VERY over my kids heads! I loved it, but they didn't really care for it. Deciding that since they didn't get much out of the DK book I figured we should take a closer look at one tribe in particular. We read a book in the American Indians series called The Cherokee: A Proud People by Suzanne Cloud Trapper. This book was much better. It talked about the different aspects of Cherokee life before, during, and after the coming of the white settlers, as well as talking about how they live today versus then. Lastly, we had the book American Indian Mythology by Evelyn Wolfson. It had nine different myths from nine different tribes within it. Like I said, some we liked, some we didn't.

Overall, I think the information was a bit above Optimus Prime and Bumblebee's heads, however they did enjoy some parts of the unit. I think we'll do it again in a year or two - hopefully by then they will be ready to learn more.

Concept Week #20: Mythological Creatures

On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this unit a 5. My kids, on the other hand, would give it an 11.

The unit was built around a jigsaw puzzle book called Fantasy Beasts Jigsaw Book. Inside was a bunch of pictures - with short descriptions - of different fantasy creatures and on the next page was a puzzle of them. It covered basic fantasy creatures like Eastern and Western dragons, as well as less known ones like bunyips. So, I set out to find worksheets to go along with this book. This is where I started hitting a stone wall... I found a TON of worksheets - if you consider coloring pages worksheets. I don't. Also, my kids aren't that big on coloring... So, I printed up the pages (both on animals in the book and animals not in the book) since they had little blurbs about the creatures on them. I hoped my kids would color them. They would not.

Of course.

Then, I tried to find a book to go along with our unit. I hit ANOTHER brick wall. With Yule shopping going on right now cash is a bit short, so I went to the library. I found a really neat book called The Monsters and Creatures of Greek Mythology by Don Nardo which we read. It was an awesome book. The only problem? It only covered Greek Mythology. They didn't have anything else even remotely similar, except for a book on unicorns called Fantasy and Folklore: Unicorns and Other Magical Creatures by John Hamilton.

Yeah.

It was also a very good book, just not exactly what I was looking for. So, overall I consider the unit to be a bit of a bust, however Optimus Prime & Bumblebee LOVED it, especially the puzzle book, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Concept Week #19: Thanksgiving

This unit was pretty book and craft heavy! We did our usual assorted worksheet pages of math, mazes, dot-to-dots, etc. However, there were some reading comprehension pages (yes, yes, yes - from education.com) about the first Thanksgiving as well as the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, including Squanto. So they learned a bit about that. Then we had another book debate, which Berenstain Bears book to read? In the end, I read both: The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings by Stan & Jan Berenstain (a thunderstorm comes to Bear Country and the power goes out, so the Bear family sits in the dark and thinks about what they are thankful for) and The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks by Jan & Mike Berenstain (the Bear family celebrates Thanksgiving, but Sister Bear wants to keep the turkey Squanto as a pet, not make him the main course on the big day).

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee also helped make food for Thanksgiving. They helped with the pumpkin pies, and this recipe for Succotash (which, I had never heard of before but I found in a kids Thanksgiving cookbook) they made all by themselves (except for the cutting).

Succotash Recipe:
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp butter
1 bell pepper (any color)
2 cups frozen lima beans
2 cups frozen corn
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop up the bell pepper
2. Melt butter in saucepan
3. Add bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes
4. Add broth, lima beans, and corn
5. Bring to a boil
6. Lower heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until broth is absorbed
7. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy

I also found a Thanksgiving activity book online for them that they could print up, staple together, and do, so they had fun with that. Then, I considered the unit closed, but when I went to the library to take out books for our upcoming Native American unit I found a book on Squanto, so we read that too. It was Squanto: The Pilgrim Adventure by Kate Jassem. It was pretty good for a kids book. While it was watered down, it wasn't overly watered down. It talked about how he was abducted and sold into slavery, how he came back to North America to find all of his tribe dead, etc. It was a sad story, but a good one.

The unit wound up being a bit more work than I thought it would be, however it was definitely one of our more successful units!

Concept Week #18: Texas

Yup, we did a whole unit on Texas. We had to, we live here! We had some worksheets to go along with it, but mostly we used the book DK Eyewitness: Texas for our unit.

(I love, love, LOVE the DK Eyewitness books!!!)

I actually learned a lot of things about Texas that I was not aware of. I knew that it had been owned by Mexico and fought for it's independence, but I had no idea why. I knew about the Battle at the Alamo and how everyone died, but I had never heard of the Battle of San Jacinto, or knew that before that final battle in the war Mexico was winning. We also learned the history behind some of Texas's major cities, some of which were named after generals that fought in the war for Texas's independence! It was all very interesting!

We covered other things too, like state bird, state flower, etc but as a history major I was more fascinated by the historical aspect so I focused on that. Now, will these obscure facts sink into my young kids heads...? Probably not. But that's okay, because we'll just do Texas again in a year or two!

Concept Week #17: Yule

Yup, we did a whole unit on Yule again! Last year we covered some fun stuff plus the different ways different countries celebrate, as well as reading a TON of Christmas themed stories and signing a TON of Christmas carols. That was too much stuff last year to fit within one week, so this year we just covered fun stuff. We had dot-to-dots, mazes, and picture finds as well as a lot of Christmas themed math pages. So, this year it was slightly less educational but we still had lots of fun. I think we're going to do a Yule unit every year so I think I'll cycle through the educational pages each year. One year cover different traditions, another year cover the stories, etc... Anyway, I'm getting off topic here.

We were torn over what our book should be, so we read two: Merry Christmas Mom and Dad by Mercer Mayer and The Berenstain Bears Get Ready for Christmas by Jan & Mike Berenstain. And, of course, we wrote our letters to Santa and Odin!

Yes, we did this unit the first week of November, instead of the week before Yule, but that's because I needed time to get most of my shopping done! I hate the Christmas crowds.

So, this year's Yule unit was less educational than last year's, but sometimes that's a good thing - leaves time for more fun stuff!

Concept Week #16: Sharks

We had our own Shark Week!!!

My kids love sharks, and they are ALWAYS watching shark week on the tv (we have the dvd's) so it made sense to do a unit all about sharks.

We covered the different types of sharks on our worksheets, and for our book I took DK Eyewitness: Shark out of the library. I read them parts of the book to give them a rough idea how sharks lived, where they lived, how they had babies, what they ate, etc. The book gave a close-up to some sharks, like the Great White, as well as mentioning some shark relatives, like the Manta Ray.

And, of course, we covered the prehistoric Megalodon! The book even had a picture comparing the Megalodon's mouth to a Great White's mouth - the Great White's was tiny in comparison!!! It also showed how a kid could stand up inside the Megalodon's mouth and not reach the top teeth!!! Crazy!!!

We learned about sharks, but, most importantly, my kids had a BLAST! :)

Concept Week #15: Prehistoric/Early Humans

This unit was sort of a part two to our last dinosaurs unit. After learning about dinosaurs for three straight months, it led to the question, "What about early people?"

Unfortunately, I could not find any worksheets to do along with this unit. Everyone had websites up filled with information but no one had any worksheets or activities related to this topic. Their reading level isn't quite good enough for me to write up fill-in-the-blank worksheets or anything similar so we just went without. It was very frustrating. In the end I couldn't think of a project to do either, so all we did was read our book about it and discuss the things in the book. We read Eyewitness Books: Early Humans which covered topics like Homo Erectus and Homo Neanderthalensis moving into modern human tribes spreading out across the world. We learned about early tribes (and even current tribes) on the continents as well as hunting and gathering and early forms of money. We covered the Bronze Age and the Iron Age as well as writing an burial practices. It was a very good book for a topic that not much information exists on.

It wasn't the type of unit they were used to, but future units (in later on grades) will look more like this with just a textbook and discussions. In the end we learned new things, and that's all that matters.

Concept Week #14: Life Cycles

This Concept Week was super easy, however the boys loved it so I have no complaints. Actually, Optimus Prime picked out this unit. I was at www.education.com trying to figure out what we wanted to do when he saw a sheet where you glue pictures of frog eggs, tadpoles, and adults into the correct order. He wanted to do it so I spent the day printing up a TON of sheets. They had coloring sheets as well as gluing sheets. They covered plants (corn, pumpkin, etc.), animals (reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, and mammals - including humans), and bugs (lots and lots and LOTS of bugs!).

Like I said, some sheets were for coloring, some were for gluing, and there was some overlap in them (grasshoppers and butterflies, for example, had a coloring and a gluing page). It covered how life starts as an egg (either inside a mammal or laid somewhere) then turns to a hatched (or birthed) baby, which ultimately grows into an adult who has more babies.

Was it a very basic concept for second graders? Yes. I think even for first graders (though that was the heading I found the sheets under). But they enjoyed it, even if it was easy, and they were excited to learn some of the interesting facts that went along with some of the pages. We had never really covered the idea of death before in our schoolwork - beyond talking about mummies - so we got to go over that a bit too. Eventually the mommies & daddies stop having babies, and as the babies grow the mommies & daddies age and begin to die. This happens sooner in the world of bugs than animals, but it still happens. We also talked about how some animals (and pretty much all bugs to the best of my knowledge) lay their eggs and leave. They don't stick around to raise the babies like mammals (especially people) do.

So, we got to cover a few different themes with this unit.

We did not have a project. I really couldn't think of an appropriate one to do, and they had so many cutting and gluing pages to do that I felt like we really didn't need one.

On the flip side we did have two books to go with this unit. I was fairly certain we had a Magic School Bus book that covered life cycles, but I couldn't find it. I did, however, find two other Magic School Bus books that covered the topic. The Magic School Bus Goes Upstream: A Book About the Salmon Migration and The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow. The first one obviously covers the salmon migration. But, in case you don't know, the salmon go upstream to lay their eggs then they leave them. The eggs hatch and the babies find their way home. The second one covers plants going from seed to plant to seed again. We had already read the second one for our kindergarten Concept Week on gardening, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to read it again.

So there we go, our first 2nd grade Concept Week!