Danny and I read and discussed an article on the national bird. We looked at bald eagles on the internet. Danny learned that Ben Franklin wanted the wild turkey as our national bird. We looked at domesticated turkeys and wild turkeys and compared them. We talked about their similarities and differences.
Today we reviewed Thanksgiving. Now that Danny has recently celebrated the holiday, he has the opportunity for more concrete recall of the subject. We began with discussing the plight of the Pilgrims. We completed a picture sort and discussed items that they would and would not have brought on the Mayflower voyage. Next, we completed an additional picture sort and discussed facts to determine if they were associated with The First Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving of modern times, or both. This included items such as when and how long the event is celebrated, things people brought, and ways we celebrate the day. We had fun with some Thanksgiving themed sight word activities which tasked Danny with finding targeted words, unscrambling words, and finding letters in sets of duplicates to spell out the answer to a riddle. Finally, we completed Danny’s Thanksgiving themed word search. He found the words Plymouth, stuffing, thankful, tradition, and turkey. We discussed what each word means and how it is related to Thanksgiving. Danny expressed that he is thankful for his mom, Dad, Jack, Katie, his house, school, and his backyard. The word search activities generate a great deal of attention and focus. For our enrichment activity, we began another book in The Magic Tree House series entitled, Vacation Under the Volcano (book 13) by Mary Pope Osborne. In the beginning of this historical fiction novel, we learn that over the books we skipped, Jack and Annie became Master Librarians and met the owner of the tree house, Morgan leFay. We jumped to the particular book as it ties in with our science study of volcanoes as well. In the book, Morgan uses the term “blend in” with helping the kids as they head to Rome. We discussed how their clothes from today, in America, look different. We talked about ways for them to blend in.
Henry began a new lesson on American Indians. He read an article and watched a video on the Anasazi tribe that inhabited Mesa Verde in Colorado from 600 AD for 700 years. He learned what may have caused their mysterious disappearance and also learned that he could travel to Mesa Verde National Park to see the ruins of this ancient civilization. He answered comprehension questions at the end of the lesson.
Charlie took the Quiz today. Afterwards, we reviewed it together. We watched TedEd "The Conspiracy Against Julius Caesar". We continued to learn about the Middle Ages, taking a look at heraldry and what colors, symbols and designs meant on a coat of arms. We learned about the history of these shields and will continue in our next class.
Craig and I continued to review and prepare for the Quiz on Monday following Thanksgiving. He made two additional flashcards to add to his set. I could not locate them in his backpack, but he assures me he has them. He should review during the week. We watched National Geographic "The Cartographer's Dilemma" because Craig was interested when we spoke about it in our last class and it offered a "break" from history to review geography. This is a lesson I did not do with him in the past, but did with most students. He understood the dilemma and we printed several map projections, actiivies that allow him to see first-hand the change from 2D to 3D in map-making. We will put together these globes in our next class. We will also simulate the dilemma with an orange, as was done in the video.
Henry began with a computer game of states. He was given the state name and had to find it on the map. He also continued reading his Studies Weekly on westward expansion. He read artices on American ambition, the steamboat, and manifest destiny. He also watched a BrainPop video on westward expansion. He took a quiz on all the articles he read.
