Henry did an activity where he was given a map of the United States and a separate sheet with the name of each state. He had to match up the state name with its location.

Charlie and I reviewed new vocabulary related to our study of The Middle Ages. We followed a common core lesson and learned more about the interplay between the manorial system and the feudal system, medieval weapons and helmets, The Crusades, and life during that time. This lesson incorporated video on armor and the medieval manor from timelines.tv of Britain. We looked at "The Middle Ages: Cultural Atlas for Young People" by Mike Corbishley. Finally, we researched how Christmas is celebrated in Scotland because, when learning about heraldry, we discovered that the Simpson family is Scottish. We learned that Christmas was not really celebrated in Scotland for many years.

Craig was absent today.

Arianna and I followed a CPalms lesson today requiring her to choose a host city for the Olympic Games. We read about the Olypmpics and were provided three choices to consider. Considerations included climate, population, transportation, etc. We will continue in our next class.

Arianna and I looked at different monuments in the United States. We also reviewed urban, suburban and rural. We researched how they celebrate Christmas in other countries. Arianna was very excited to find out about the celebration of el Dia de Reyes in Puerto Rico. We read about parrandas and other customs in Puerto Rico and also in China, Mexico, Africa and Spain.

Charlie and I read in his textbook about The Middle Ages and learned about knights, the feudal system and the manorial system. We discussed new words - feudal, guild, chivalry, medieval, and serf. We discussed inventions of that time, the timeline in history, women's rights, Lords, and serfdom. We finished the Weebly lesson and watched a short video "How Dark were the Dark Ages?". We explored Pinterest to choose a fun project related to this unit.

We put together map projections to form 3D globes from 2D maps today. This was the continuation from the National Geographic lesson "The Cartographer's Dilemma" we followed prior to the Thanksgiving break. Afterwards, we began learning about the era of reconstruction. We will make flashcards for basic concepts - reconstruction, requirements to be readmitted to the Union, the Freedmen's Bureau, black codes, and the 13th Amendment. We discussed all of these ideas today and the problems that the nation faced after the end of the War.

Henry worked on learning the location of the 50 states. He looked at a map and placed each state in its correct location. He also read an article on the first American Indians including the Maya and Aztec, how they lived, and what lead to the collapse of these civilizations.

Arianna learned how to estimate distance on a map today using a map scale and converting inches to miles. She also followed directions to locate characters on a map. She chose two books at the library related to our topics: "Who Was Abraham Lincoln?" by James Buckley and "The Magic Treehouse: Abraham Lincoln at Last!" by Mary Osbourne Pope. Arianna read to me in The Magic Treehouse book. I was very proud at how well she reads now!

Charlie and I learned about the Middle Ages today by reading and looking at a Power Point presentation (Weebly). We discussed the feudal system, different types of knights, and manor estates. We watched a short video and discussed ideas for a PROJECT that will be due in 2 weeks. Charlie will make a diarama of an ancient civilization.