FIAR: 'Storm in the Night' and clouds

While doing our unit study on "Storm in the Night" by Mary Stolz, we took the time to focus on clouds.

We did:
I printed us off Cloud Viewers that I found via Pinterest so that we could ID the various types of clouds.

We made Cloud Dough:

This was a mostly for-fun activity. We made cloud dough (8 cups flour and 1 cup baby oil). Oh, so soft! Then the kiddos just played in it while I read them "Storm in the Night." Great tactile activity. Glad we did it outside because things got a bit white all over!

We made our own cloud shapes out with paper, glue and cottonballs.

"I looked up in the sky and though I saw a ________, but it was just a cloud in the sky."

I found a great web site that had several poems about clouds as well as fog, rain and the water cycle. We love the Water Cycle Song (sung to the tune of She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain). What a great way to learn about the water cycle! We even made up actions to go with it.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does
Water travels in a cycle, yes it does
It goes up as evaporation
And forms clouds as condensation
Then comes down as precipitation, yes it does.

Then we made our own water cycle artwork to put into our Kindergarten Notebook.

We made Fluffy Cloud Paint (equal amounts of Elmer's Glue and Shaving Cream). The Girl spread the white concoction around on blue paper using popsicle sticks.

We read:
- "Do You Know that Clouds Have Names?" - Online book from The Globe Program
- "Clouds" by Anne F. Rockwell
- "It Looked Like Spilt Milk" by Charles Green Shaw
- "Little Cloud" by Eric Carle
One of The Girl's favorites
- "The Cloud Book" by Tomie DePaola
One of my favorite books
- "Thundercake" by Patricia Polacco
Polacco is a fantastic storyteller. "Thundercake" is about how a little girl shows bravery despite being scared of a storm. The Girl really wanted to make a Thundercake when we were done with this story!

Find other posts on "Storm in the Night" here.

FIAR: 'Storm in the Night' - weather experiments!

Our unit on "Storm in the Night" has been all about weather. There are so many fun weather experiments to do!

We read:
- "Down Comes the Rain" by Franklyn Mansfield Branley
- "Flash Crash Rumble and Roll" by Franklyn Mansfield Branley
I can't believe how much I learned about thunder and lightning in this story!
- "A Drop of Water" by Gordon Morrison
- "A Rainbow of My Own" by Don Freeman
- "Like A Windy Day" by Frank Asch
- "Thundercake" by Patricia Polacco
Polacco is a fantastic storyteller. "Thundercake" is about how a little girl shows bravery despite being scared of a storm. The Girl really wanted to make a Thundercake when we were done with this story!
- "Courage" by Bernard Waber
This story is about having courage, which can include during storms!
-  "Wind is to Feel" by Shirley Cook Hatch
As you read through this story, there are tons of tactile things for kids to do to help them understand wind better.

We did:

Making rain in a jar by observing how hot air condenses at the top and then drips back down. For this experiment you just need 2 jars and hot water. Put hot water into one jar and place the other one upside down over the first to capture the air.

We know a homeschool family with a middle schooler, and they're enjoying a bunch of chemistry experiments and games in a unit published by the American Chemistry Society. This was a great game that shows how water molecules like to join together, but you can separate them back out, too!

As we got ready for two of our experiments for the day, I read to the kiddos out of our DK Weather book.

We also made rain in a jar with shaving cream, water and food coloring. By watching how the food coloring finds its way through the shaving cream we learned how rain falls down from the clouds.

This experiment taught us a bit about tornadoes. We used the most clear soda we had on hand (Ginger Ale), added water and then agitated the water in a circle. A funnel formed! We did this one until my arm was too tired! So cool!

Salt and ice cubes in the can. Shake it up, and watch the magic! Frost forms!

Find all my posts on "Storm in the Night" here.

Five in a Row Book 2: 'Storm in the night'

We had a great time with "Storm in the Night" as it gave us an excuse to study the weather, water and more.

(Click here for other blog posts on weather experiments and clouds.)

We read:
- "Do You Know that Clouds Have Names?" - Online book from The Globe Program
- "Clouds" by Anne F. Rockwell
- "It Looked Like Spilt Milk" by Charles Green Shaw
- "Little Cloud" by Eric Carle
One of The Girl's favorites
- "The Cloud Book" by Tomie DePaola
One of my favorite books
- "Down Comes the Rain" by Franklyn Mansfield Branley
- "Flash Crash Rumble and Roll" by Franklyn Mansfield Branley
I can't believe how much I learned about thunder and lightning in this story!
- "A Drop of Water" by Gordon Morrison
- "A Rainbow of My Own" by Don Freeman
- "Like A Windy Day" by Frank Asch
- "Thundercake" by Patricia Polacco
Polacco is a fantastic storyteller. "Thundercake" is about how a little girl shows bravery despite being scared of a storm. The Girl really wanted to make a Thundercake when we were done with this story!
- "Courage" by Bernard Waber
This story is about having courage, which can include during storms!
-  "Wind is to Feel" by Shirley Cook Hatch
As you read through this story, there are tons of tactile things for kids to do to help them understand wind better.

We watched:
- The Magic Schoolbus Kicks Up a Storm
- The Magic Schoolbus: Wet All Over

We did:
 We made wind chimes out of paint, string and tin cans. And added a bit of sparkle with beads.

 We did a few books using a lapbook from over at HomeschoolShare.com. There wasn't one specific to "Storm in the Night", but there is one about weather.

 I tied in some of the Five Senses work we'd done previously when reading "Lentil" by talking about What Senses We Use on sunny days, rainy days, snowy days and stormy days.

We paid attention to our daily weather, making each day's temperature onto a graph I found over at http://homeschoolcreations.com.

We added in some math games, playing with our Tangram game (foam geometric shapes that can be assembled to create various patterns), and making a geoboard to practice The Girls math skills. I drove short nails in a circle, like the hours on a clock face around the board. Then my student could stretch rubber bands or string from nail to nail, creating geometric shapes.

The Bible Story about Jesus walking on water fit in perfectly with our stories about weather and water. Free printable.