"My" town

This week we've been learning a lot about Jamestown and Plymouth. We've been taking notes and discussing the similarities and differences between the two colonies. Some of the problems faced by the Jamestown colony were (this is straight from our notes)

Diseases from insects
Lack of food
Didn't know how to farm-grew tobacco which was a cash crop
At first, "gentlemen" didn't work. Eventually, John Smith had to say, "he who does not work, will not eat."
Unhealthy drinking water
On and off battles with the Powhatan Indians. In 1646, colonists fought with the Powhatan and killed most of them. The colonists took control of the land around Jamestown.

Learn more!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown,_Virginia

Good tidings!

It's been a very busy week and we've been having a great time engaged in "Xmasy" activities. Today we sung Christmas carols for most classes in the school, and we are looking to ambush Mrs. Clayton and Mrs. Rogers at some point in the day. Here's a picture of Mrs. Everett getting bushwhacked in the halls by our merry group of elves.

The elves-es have left the building! See you in 2009!

Chous and Da Gama

Today we worked on our map skills and investigated the routes of Da Gama and Dias. These explorers opened the sea route to Asia and helped start the Age of Exploration. We took a close look at a caravel (a light sailing ship) which also helped exploration by being able to sail into the wind (tack). We took a few notes as well, and chorus students will need to update their vocabulary section in their notebooks.

http://www.google.com/notebook/user/10652289361032661503?hl=en

Silk Road Project

(Nothing is DUE!) Yesterday we looked at the Silk Road in detail and also listened to music from the famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma. We also took notes on trade in Africa and between Europe and Asia. One of the things that was traded was salt. Did you know that the word salary came from Roman soldiers that were paid partly in salt? Salt was an extremely important mineral a thousand years ago because it kept food from spoiling. It is also essential to proper health functions of the human body!

Age of Exploration

Today we dove head first into the Age of Exploration. Students copied their notes by starting with the standards.

STANDARDS-
SS4H2 The student will describe European exploration in North America.
a. Describe the reasons for, obstacles to, and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, and English explorations of John Cabot, Vasco Nunez Balboa, Juan Ponce de Leon, Christopher Columbus, Henry Hudson, and Jacques Cartier.
b. Describe examples of cooperation and conflict between Europeans and Native Americans.

We had a discussion about Pearl Harbor and most sections played a game relating to the reasons for and obstacles to exploration. Here's one of the flipcharts from a section!

Wow, what a great job on the Native American Projects our students did. We had working bows, lots of "great Plains" projects and some very unique clay or salt dough projects. We still have a couple of presentations, but are mostly done with Indians and are now moving into the Age of Exploration.

Here's a KWL from one of our sections on the Age of Exploration. We'll be working hard next week and really covering a lot of material and notes, so please check the website for all the relevant information.

Semiotics and Kung Fu

Today we presented some great projects and also passed out our mini-project on semiotics/Indian symbols. I took a few sections through the process and this will be due on December 5th.

We also talked a bit about how to earn that top grade. I read some stories that students wrote on their tests, which was by far more than the minimum. Remember students, you can always earn extra credit by writing!

The PTO provided popcorn and a movie for all the hard work done raising funds, including our Ice Cream Social! Thanks again PTO, the movie was a big hit!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Be sure to be thinking about (and working on) your Native American projects.