Today we continued studying about Thanksgiving. We reviewed the story of the Pilgrims’ journey to the new land with the Charlie Brown story of The Mayflower Voyagers. In this video, we watched how Charlie Brown and his friends were Pilgrims on the Mayflower. We paused the video throughout for discussion. We saw how the characters wondered if this dangerous journey for their religious freedom was worth the risk. We focused throughout on some of the “long ago” elements and Danny was surprised to see the kids working in the new settlement. It was interesting to see that the Pilgrims and Natives feared each other and we were happy when Samoset introduced himself and offered his help to the Pilgrims. After the video, Danny labeled the clothing pieces of a Pilgrim boy and girl and an American Indian girl. We compared their clothing and hair. The Pilgrim girls wore a bonnet, apron, plaited hair, and shoes with buckles. While the American Indian girl wore a headband, dress, pigtails, and moccasin shoes. Next, we continued with a Time for Kids magazine article about A Time to Be Thankful and the Brain Pop Jr. learning video of Thanksgiving. Danny enjoyed seeing Moby the robot dressed as a Pilgrim! As yesterday we primarily focused on the story of the first Thanksgiving, we used these two sources to help us understand more of the tradition and how we celebrate the holiday today. We added some of these concepts to our Interactive Notebook. We noted that Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November. He also wrote about some symbols associated with the holiday such as turkey, pumpkins, and Pilgrims. Next, we discussed the meaning of tradition (something special that people do every year and gets passed down to other people). Danny wrote that his traditions for Thanksgiving are to eat turkey, his family comes to his house, and he eats pie. We also brainstormed and talked about things people are thankful for. We had fun reading Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving by Kimberly and James Dean. We saw Pete dressed as a pilgrim and performing in his Thanksgiving play. Danny also finished his positional word booklet, Where is the Turkey?, in which he’s using the words to describe the location of the turkey in the pictures. He did a great job with this! Finally, we worked a little more on his Thanksgiving word search.
Charlie and I watched different PowerPoint presentations to review ancient civilizations, one on Israel, China, Egypt, and India. We also watched a Bill Wurtz video on ancient Japan at Charlie's suggestion. We began a new unit on the Middle Ages and learned about feudalism and the manor system. Finally, we read a newspaper article about the discovery of the first map to name "America".
Craig and I discussed the Civil War and its end, the surrender at Appomotax courthouse, Lee and Grant, Lincoln's assassination, and the start of reconstruction. We also discussed different tactics used during the war, specifically the anaconda plan. We read "As the U.S. grew, the North-South Dispute over Slavery led to Civil War" from the Giler Lehrman Institute of American History. We learned about the passage of the 13th Amendment and black codes. Study flashcards for the QUIZ.
Today we began a Florida Studies Weekly packet on The First Thanksgiving. We went deeper into the subject by reading The First Thanksgiving by Linda Hayward. From these two sources, we read about the Pilgrims wanting to leave England in order to worship in their own way. 102 passengers sailed off on The Mayflower in 1620. After a 66-day trip, they landed at Cape Cod. We saw how the natives currently living there helped the Pilgrims learn to hunt and plant their crops. Their friendship and harvest were celebrated with a three-day long feast. We were excited to read that in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday. We supported the lesson by watching a short, illustrated video of the story of the Mayflower and singing a fun song about the Pilgrims. In exploring the lesson further, we played a trading game. I was the American Indian and Danny was the Pilgrim. We had picture cards and made trades to reflect how the two parties worked together. The Pilgrims traded their cloth, jewelry, and tools. The natives traded furs, deerskin, and corn. Danny and I then read a reader booklet highlighting the key points of the first Thanksgiving. Additionally, we reviewed changes in transportation. We are reminded that long ago, people walked or rode on wagons or animals. We added to Danny’s Interactive Notebook that for today, people use cars, trains, and planes to get around. We began a word search of a Thanksgiving theme. Danny found the words corn and family.
Craig left his flashcards at school again. I explained that he needed to take them home in order to study for the Quiz. I witnessed him put them in the backpack. We revisited the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Dred Scott. We also reviewed and discussed the concept of manifest destiny. We watched a video entitled "America Divided" on History.com. We discussed the civil war and learned more about the battles and the advantages both sides had. Craig completed a fill-in-the-blank exercise that focused on advantages of the North and South. We watched a short video about the first battle of Bull Run and Stonewall Jackson. We read about Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation which he introduced under his war powers. Finally, we read a newspaper article about the discovery of a 510 year old map which was the first to label our continent America after Amerigo Vespucci. It is said to be the oldest-known printed globe and the first map to show North and South America as separate continents and to depict a distinct Pacific Ocean. QUIZ FRIDAY
Henry worked on finding the capitals of each state. He was given either the state or the capital and had to locate it on a map. He wrote the missing one.
Charlie shared an excellent YouTube video today - "The History of the Entire World". It summarized many of the historic events and ancient civilizations we've studied and put them in a chronological order along a timeline of history. We looked in "World History: Journey Across Time" to review the facts of the fall and decline of Rome. We also reviewed the different civilizations in The Americas, the Olmec, Incas, Aztec, and Maya. We read about Cortes and Pizarro's defeat of the Aztec and Inca. I assigned HOMEWORK due Friday. Charlie should create and write about an Egyptian God, based on the roll of the dice in a game which assigned certain characteristics to him.
Craig and I quickly reviewed vocabulary that will be on the Quiz on Friday. He did not take home flashcards made in class on Friday, so we found them and made sure they were put in the backpack. He was reminded that they should be studied to prepare for the Quiz. We spent most of the class today re-doing the homework assignment from last week, since it was not completed. Craig responded to the writing prompt with one sentence, which did not answer the question. We discussed issues and concepts. I directed Craig to ideas that would answer the question and guided his thinking to connect ideas and help him to formulate a response that was 3 to 5 sentences. He could not do this on his own. I had to supply the information and then instruct him to write each of three sentences to answer the question. Once this was completed, we looked at TedEd and watched a short video "How One Piece of Legislation Divided a Nation". This explained the significance in history of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its relationship to issues of slavery and the Civil War.
