A Tiger's Tale- Of Unit Studies

Upon my soapbox I have boldly proclaimed before that you really can teach all your other subjects through art. Today I add more supporting evidence to my claims. I really love unit studies, and in all honesty with just a little creative brainstorming you can put together a unit study based on anything your child has a fancy for, or you do for that matter. A unit study may be a wonderful way to share something that interests or fascinates you with your children. Today, we begin with the tiger.

Tiger Unit Study

Literature;
Younger Kids- Leo The Late Bloomer: I love this story! My kids all had mild delays that caused some concern for us. Though we did not just take a "wait and see" approach, ultimately they blossomed and continue to do so.

Older Kids- The Jungle Book- by Rudyard Kipling- Need I say more?

Spelling and Vocabulary- I use the rules found in weekly graded spelling books and pull out words from the books based on those rules. (Words ending in "er' for example.)

Social Studies, Geography and History
India
What a rich topic this is! Dig in!

Science-
Domestic and Wild Cats
Endangered Animals
Ecology and Habitat Preservation
Why do tigers have stripes and why are they all different?
Adaptations of Siberian Tigers

Math-
Count the tigers stripes.
Count a group of tigers' stripes. (Sets and Multiplication)
How many tigers are left?
How many different types of tigers are there? In captivity? In the wild?

PE

Though this is a stretch, I couldn't help it. Study golf and learn about Tiger Woods!


As you can see the associations are endless and limited only by you and your children's imagination and curiosity.

Below are some some products you may find useful. I found them in about five minutes, so I know a good google search or visit to your local library will probably yield vastly more treasures than I could dare to post in a single blog entry!



You can also check out his great plan for a free tiger lapbook