Hi and welcome to our Road Trip USA week on Louisiana!
Louisiana was the 18th state admitted to the Union on April 30, 1812. It is known as “The Pelican State” for the abundance of Brown Pelicans found along the coast. Louisiana is also known for it’s state capital which is the tallest state capital in the U.S. The building has 34 floors and is 450 feet tall. Louisiana is also known for its many bayous, slow moving streams or rivers, which flow across the state. Crawfish, shrimp, shellfish, catfish and alligators can all be found in the bayous of Louisiana! The weather there is hot and humid in summer, with occasional snow in winter.
- Located Louisiana on our wall map
- Read our National Geographic Atlas and located Baton Rouge, LA using the map coordinates.
- Worked on our 50 States and Capitals song
- Learned about the state and it’s flag
- State Reptile: The American Alligator
- State Bird: The Eastern Brown Pelican
- State Flower: The Magnolia
- State Crustacean: Crawfish
- Learned about the Louisiana Purchase
- Learned a little about New Orleans and Mardi Gras
- Made festive Mardi Gras masks
- Food: Cajun gumbo…we actually skipped this one since our kids are too keen on spicy foods, but I do have a recipe in the curriculum for you to try!
- Read: If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
- Classified the animals of Louisiana
Here are some pictures to prove we actually did school this week ;o) Well geography anyway!
I’m really not sure what Turbo is doing here, but I believe he’s trying to add the crawfish to our “Fish” section even though it’s technically an arthropod.
And the Teeny Tot had to get involved too, she claimed the Brown Pelican, and rightly added it to our “Birds” area.
Here is Turbo, I believe he’s pretending to be happy that I’m taking his picture as he adds his state to our Trend USA Wall Poster
As I read through the state facts, everyone colors in their state worksheets. We keep them in our student notebook so they can flip back through the states we’ve learned and see a quick reference of all the fun facts for each one.
Here is Tinker Bell adding Louisiana to our United States Bulletin Board.
As we bid farewell to The Pelican State, we make sure to add it’s flag to our Travel Journal. (The travel journal and state flags are included in the Road Trip USA curriculum.)
And that wraps up our Louisiana study! If you’d like to come along with us on our Road Trip USA journey, click the image below to learn more!
Hi! I just want to thank you for your Road Trip USA curriculum. I actually started doing it with my 7th grader who seemed to be a bit bored with school. He has been so excited! The other day after a day of cleaning and working, I said, “hun, do you want to relax and watch a movie?” His response, to my surprise and delight was, “Not really, mom. That’s not very productive.” I asked, “so what do you want to do?” And his response was, “Um, maybe learn more about Conneticut.”.
Wow, wow, wow… that’s a first. Thank you so much. We are blogging about it at http://darlenecollazo.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/road-trip-usa-first-stop-the-white-house/
and I posted a link back to your site. You’ve been such a blessing to our family. Thank you!
Just found your website and can’t seem leave! I just keep perusing and finding more and more good ideas to make a note of. We’ll be starting state studies next year. I love your ideas!
http://www.layers-of-learning.com
Erica,
This is another curriculum I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to do. How do you have time to create all this stuff?! I am stopping by today to award you the Sunshine Award for all you do to shine light into this blog world of mine. You can see the full details here. Thank you for your input on the possible music homeschool blog. Taking the time to respond meant a lot.
Kathy
Thank you so much for this curriculum!! Both if my kids are enjoying it very much. I was born and raised in the southernmost part of Louisiana, Houma to be exact, and the fact that gumbo is spicy is a common misconception! In fact very little of out food is cooked with spicy seasonings. I have a wonderful and non spicy gumbo recipe that even the pickiest of eaters will enjoy! It does call for fresh filé though. I would love to send you some as all as my grandmothers original recipe, since gumbo weather is fast approaching! Blessings,
Talia