Homeschooling With American Girl: Meet Felicity Vocabulary Words

As we have begun using the American Girl stories in our classroom I have written out lesson plans for our use. One of the things that we have quite a few of are vocabulary word lists. All of these stories happen in very different times in our country's history. There are many words used that are no longer in use, or that children of today might not have come across before. (Like scoundrel.) Whenever we come across a word that the children question it's meaning we write it down and look it up. Through this act I have made vocabulary lists for each book. I want to share those here for your use, starting with our Meet Felicity vocabulary list. I will also have a post at a later date with a list of all of our Felicity Vocabulary Words in one place.

Vocabulary Words For Meet Felicity

Look up and define these words as they are used in the story. (Some of these words have more than one, or more modern, meanings. Define them within the context of the story, please.) 

1. aye
2. impatient
3. maid 
4. lads
5. courting
6. sampler
7. bit
8. bridle
9. harness
10. hides 
11. mistreat
12. farewell
13. script 
14. stays
15. silversmith
16. petticoats
17. breeches
18. apprentice
19. milliner
20. tannery
21. pastures
22. chit
23. independent
24. nag
25. shift
26. stockings
27. garters
28. trot
29. canter
30. gallop
31. weary

Remember, the above lesson is just a suggestion. You do not have to do it in the exact same way that I did. Take the things you love about it and mold it to fit your educational needs! And, as always, if you use any of our lessons in your classroom, or have an idea that I might like, please share with me! I'd love to see what you do. You can leave your message directly in the comments or send an email to Dollywollydoodlebug@gmail.com. Your story could be shared on the blog! 

I do ask that you link back to the blog if you share this lesson plan anywhere else, or provide a link if you share any other blog/person's ideas here. I love sharing ideas and brainstorming, but please give credit where credit is due. 

~Mrs. D

Homeschooling With American Girl: The Birthday Project

After writing Saturday's post about Maryellen's birthday, and all the amazing things she would have seen in her life, I started thinking of what an amazing opportunity something like that could be for a classroom lesson and project. 

This is a very fun, diverse project that you can adapt to fit in with your personal educational goals. We will certainly be trying it here in out home, but I wanted to share it with you too, especially with another three American Girl birthdays coming up this month alone! 

Please, if you use any of our lessons in your classroom, feel free to share them with me! You can leave your a message directly in the comments section or send an email to Dollywollydoodlebug@gmail.com. Your story could be shared on the blog. I love seeing what others are doing in their classrooms and sharing ideas!

In Saturday's post I discussed some of the exciting things that Maryellen, who would have turned 71, had been able to witness first hand in her life. Every Historical/BeForever doll in the line has their own special part of history that they live in, however they all would have seen so much more in their lives than could be covered in the books, In this Birthday Project I thought it would be fun to explore other historical events that the girls would have been able to see/participate in as they grew up.


American Girl Birthday Project

Today would be ______________'s birthday if she were a real girl. Below you will find some questions about ____________ and historical events that happened both in her books and during her life.

1. What year was ______________ born? On what day?

2. How old would she be today? Could she realistically still be alive? If not, what would her life expectancy have been in her period of history?

3. What were some major historical events happening when _______________ was your age?

4. What is something special that _______________ did to celebrate her birthday in her books? (If _____________ did not celebrate her birthday in the course of her books, what is a common way that children would celebrate their birthdays during that historical period?)

5. Make a timeline of _____________'s life. On the timeline write at least 10 historical events that would have taken place in their lifetime.

6. Choose one event that you placed on ___________'s timeline. Write a story about ____________ during that event. How old was she when it took place? Where did she live? Where was she when the event happened? How did she react to it? Be creative. The story can be as long as you want, but must be at least 5 paragraphs long.


  
Remember, the above lesson is just a suggestion. You do not have to do it in the exact same way that I did. Take the things you love about it and mold it to fit your educational needs! (For example, my younger children aren't writing an entire story about the chosen event in history. Instead we are talking about what might have happened.) And, as always, please share with me! I'd love to see what you do. I do ask that you link back to the blog if you share this lesson plan anywhere else, or provide a link if you share any other blog/person's ideas here. I love sharing ideas and brainstorming, but please give credit where credit is due. 

~Mrs. D

Happy Birthday, Maryellen!

On this date in 1945 Maryellen Larkin was born. That would make her 71 years old today. 

Maryellen has seen some amazing things in her lifetime. She was there to witness the rise of Elvis Presley as the King of Rock and Roll. She witnessed, and possibly participated in, freedom marches as the Civil Rights Movement took hold in the United States. She was 22 during the Summer of Love and the rise of the "hippie movement". At the age of 24 she watched as man took his first steps on the moon. I am certain that the television loving Maryellen watched the premier of MASH, the most popular television show in US history, in 1971. She was there for the end of the Cold War, something she had learned about as a young child in elementary school, and probably watched the fall of the Berlin Wall on TV. She watched as televisions got larger, phones got smaller (and became mobile), every household got a personal computer and the Internet. The world in 2016 is very different than the world she was born into, but I am positive that adventure loving Maryellen would have taken it all in stride.  

What an exciting time to live in!

Happy birthday, Maryellen! 

Latest News: Melody Books, Mini Doll, and Doll Release and Lea Movie Release and Premier Events

I wrote yesterday about the adorable Melody Mini Doll that is rumored to be released sometime in June 2016. If you missed the picture, I'll post it again, just because she is too darn cute!

The June release date for this doll seems to line up with the release of the newest Melody book, Never Stop Singing: A Melody Classic 2, and Melody's 3 Book Set release, both of which are listed as June, 23, 2016 on Amazon. 

The same rumor mill is also whispering that we can expect the release of the 18 inch Melody Ellison doll to be around the same time since the release of recent dolls, such as Maryellen Larkin, have coincided with the release of their second books. Of course, there is no official release date yet, and there are also rumors of Melody's release being as late in the summer as August, so it's all speculation at this point. I have personally heard different things from different employees at American Girl, so am taking all of it with a grain of salt until the release date is announced. (I'm hoping for the end of June though. *fingers crossed*) 

The release date for Girl of the Year, Lea Clark's, movie has also been released. Lea to the Rescue is available for pre-order now, and will ship on June, 14, 2016. 

If you are looking for a great night out with the special American Girl fan in your life many stores are also offering a Premier Event at their locations. From the American Girl website:

"Dive in and join us for a viewing of American Girl’s newest movie—starring Lea Clark, our 2016 Girl of the Year! Come celebrate the store premiere of American Girl: Lea to the Rescue, with a Lea inspired craft, a “red carpet” photo op, concessions, an exclusive movie goody bag, and of course, a screening of the all-new movie."

Click here to see all the latest events at your local store, and sign up for the Lea Clark Movie Premier! (If you go please drop me a message at Dollywollydoodlebug@gmail.com and let me know how it was! The more pictures the better. Your story could be shared on the blog!) 

Melody Mini Doll!

This might be old news, but it's the first I'm seeing of it. This amazing beauty was posted to Tumbler 4 days ago by Dolls Of Colour. (Though it could have been posted before that, and has been posted several times since. This is where I first saw it.)

Given my Kewpie Doll's love of the mini dolls (they are the perfect size for her little hands), and my love of this mini doll, we might have to get two! Melody is already cute as a button, but that cuteness is taken completely over the top with her mini doll!

Who else plans on adding this beauty to their collection? Presumably she'll be available sometime in June 2016. (Which is when her next books are set to be released and many people assume that her BeForever doll will be released as well.) 

Homeschooling With American Girl

The entire idea behind Pleasant Company was to get girls excited about history using historical dolls with a book series to go with them. 30 years ago the first 3 dolls were released, and the rest is, pardon the pun, history. It only makes sense that homeschooling families (and public and private schools) would use these dolls and their books as a way to enrich our curriculum. 

As a licensed teacher, and now homeschooling mother, I have used the American Girl stories in so much more than just our history curriculum. I have detailed, and not so detailed, lesson plans that I plan to share as this blog grows, so please check back to see what is new. You can click on the Homeschooling tab above to find lesson plans pertaining to a specific character, subject, or homeschooling in general. You can also use the search function on this blog. 

Any of the lesson plans I post here are suggestions. You do not have to do things exactly as I have. In fact, I encourage you to tweak anything you see here to fit the specific educational needs of the children you are educating. Also, if you do end up doing any of the projects/lessons here, please share! I would love to see what you do in your classroom! I do as that you link back to the blog if you share any of these lesson plans anywhere else. I love providing resources, but please give credit where credit is due. 

If you happen to be on Facebook, and who isn't these days, there is also a Homeschooling With American Girl group that you might be interested in. You can check it out here. 

The Battle of Hogwarts: My Search for a OOAK Custom Harry Potter Doll

I do have interests beyond dolls. Outside of my family one of my biggest passions is Harry Potter. I'm not sure that I can even begin to touch on how obsessed much I adore the world that J.K. Rowling created. I certainly can't do it in one blog post. 

Why bring up Harry Potter in a blog about dolls you ask? Well, I haven't had much of a chance to talk about it yet, but the world of custom dolls that is out there blows my mind! Today, on the 18th anniversary of The Battle of Hogwarts, I thought I'd look around and see what I could find in the way of Harry Potter custom dolls. 

I will be the first to admit that I am rather picky about anything Harry Potter related, but even I was surprised at the lack of good Harry Potter customs out there. There are some amazing costumes and accessories that have been made for 18 inch dolls, but very few dolls that I would consider good representations of the characters in the books. (You can't just slap some Gryffindor robes on Felicity and call her Ginny! You just can't!) However, I did find a Luna that I thought I would share, because I was extremely impressed with the detail she put into sewing her costume. (And because Luna is one of my favorites, so I was happy to find a customized Luna, even if she needed her radish earrings and butter beer necklace.) 

You can find the original post here. (Complete with more pictures!) It now seems to me like I might need to try my own hand at some Harry Potter custom dolls in the future. How adorable would a set of Weasleys (complete with sweaters) be?