Thursday, May 29, 2014

World War II ~France and Norway

We continued our studies of World War II with our exploration of how France and Norway were affected by war. We started off by reading The Journey that Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey. What a great story and wonderful introduction to how hard it was to escape from France, even if you had some money and resources. It was also a good introduction to the geography of France.

We also made a salt clay map of France and then painted the countries and bodies of water that touch France. The kids labeled the map. This activity was great and the kids really enjoyed it. I will definitely use this kind of hands-on approach again.


We also read The Grand Mosque of Paris. I had no idea that the Muslim community worked so hard in the underground to hide Jewish people. This was an interesting and adventurous book.

We completed our study with a fondue night at home and a lunch out at the local crepe shop. Both were fun and tasty.



Our study of Norway consisted of reading the book, Snow Treasure. I have been waiting since my children were infants and toddlers to read this book to them. I loved it when I read it to their older brother and now they enjoyed it also. What a fantastic story about a group of children in Norway carrying thousands of pounds of gold on their sleds right past the Germans and safely out of the country!

Next up ~ England!

Blessings, Dawn

6 comments:

  1. This series is pure genius. Did you come up with the idea or does it come from a curriculum?

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  2. I too am enjoying reading about your world war studies. I'm making a note of your book titles for each study. Thank you for sharing!

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  3. Oh cool! I'll have to find that book! We have a Lassie movie where Joe is grown up and a pilot in WWII. He crashes in Norway, hides and escapes. Nothing like fleeing from the Germans down a snowy mountain on snow skis!
    Laurie

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  4. Your WWII studies just look amazing. What great resources. Happy weekend Dawn!

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  5. So much fun! I want to read the HA Rey book. One of my sons was telling me about it just the other day. So what do you do with the projects after you have finished them?

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  6. PS I found and read the HA Rey book and really enjoyed it. Thank you for recommending it! :)

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