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This past week, Ben and I were given the opportunity to review the Davy Crockett Download-n-Go (DNG). If you are not familiar with this wonderful new series of unit studies written by Amanda Bennett, allow me to introduce you. Whether you are homeschooling, afterschooling, or summer schooling….. always use unit studies or just want a break from your usual curriculum, this is a resource you won’t want to miss.
Written for grades K-4, these units are designed to be completed in 5 days and include a lapbook, worksheets, notebooking pages, imbedded video links, clickable internet links, beautiful graphics, daily booklists, and an overall fun and interesting study for your students. With the Davy Crockett unit, your students will learn:
- Day 1: Who Was Davy Crockett?
- Day 2: People and Places in Davy Crockett’s Life
- Day 3: Science Secrets of the Frontier
- Day 4: Lessons to Learn from Davy Crockett
- Day 5: Remembering Davy Crockett
We have been a fan of DNG’s since they came out last fall, and Ben (3rd grade) loves Davy Crockett, so he was excited to do this unit. I asked him what he liked most. Here is his review:
“I love looking at the videos! They are very fun and really add to the study. My mom printed off all the pages and put them into a notebook for me and then I followed along on the computer. I liked being able to work on Davy Crockett by myself. I really liked learning about Davy Crockett. When I was 5, I got to go to the Alamo. Davy Crockett faught there. It was fun learning more about him.. I also learned a new joke.
How many ears did Davy Crockett have? 3! his right ear, his left ear, and his frontier!”
As you can see, Ben is able to work through the DNG’s fairly independently, though I love peaking over his shoulder. I learn a lot myself with these studies! I did indeed print out all of the pages that have blanks to fill in or other writing or drawing activities. For example, there were a couple of mapping and flag activties with this study. Having them printed out and fixed in a notebook enabled Ben to quickly move through each activity on his own. He sits at his computer with the notebook on the desk beside him which enables him to work through the unit page-by-page, clicking through the internet links, watching the videos, and completing any writing or drawing activities along the way. I also cut out the lapbook components for him, so that when he comes to a lapbook activity, he has everything he needs to complete it.
DNG’s are truly the perfect combination of unit study and lapbook, they are fun and interactive, and have the added benefit of teaching your student how to research a topic on the internet in a safe, effective manner. To add to the excitement, we also used the booklist for each day to create a book basket. I was able to request the books from our library ahead of time and have them available for independent reading, read aloud time, and required reading for Ben.
Davy Crockett and the other DNG units are reasonably priced at $7.95 per unit (even cheaper for multiple pack purchaces).
If you’d like to read other blog reviews about this unit, be sure to check out our Blog Tour.
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