Golai Hagun Sune

We have started research for our U.S. Territory reports this week (presenting next Friday) -- all notes for our 5th grade U.S. Geography block are on the website -- and Becca chose Guam.

Even though my father and two of my friends have been stationed in Guam, she is reluctant to call them. So we are, for the present, contenting ourselves with book reseach. Although I still think an interview is better!

(If you're thinking of assigning a research project to your child, please read my very helpful blog post: Breaking Down the Skills Needed to Write a Research Paper.)

This detailed State Research Organizer, FREE from TpT, is available in a .doc format so it is super-easy to edit it and adapt it for a U.S. Territory report.

FYI, I changed the research template and the rubric to be as follows:

Rubric for Final Project

____/10 Cover Page (title of report, name of student, date)

____/20 History (2 paragraphs)
one paragraph on history before becoming a U.S. territory;
one paragraph on history after becoming a U.S. territory

____/10 Economy (1 paragraph)

____/10 Physical Geography (1 paragraph)

____/10 Flora & Fauna (1 paragraph)

____/10 Cities & Capital (1 paragraph)

____/10 Places to Visit (1 paragraph)

____/5 Flag

____/5 Map (2 maps - one biome map; one political map)

____/10 Overall Neatness


TOTAL SCORE: ____/100 points

As part of her report, Becca will be serving an authentic dish from Guam called "Golai Hagun Sune." She found the recipe on p. 306 of Keeper of the Night by Kimberly Willis Holt, a juvenile fiction book which is set in Guam.

Other books she read for her Guam research included Guam's Brown Tree Snakes: Hanging Out by Kevin Blake, from the series "They Don't Belong: Tracking Invasive Species," Guam by William Lutz, from the series "Let's Visit Places & Peoples of the World," and page 40 of Puerto Rico and Other Outlying Areas by Michael Burgan, from the series "World Almanac Library of the States." I'm having her write book reviews on Amazon for all four books.

She also visited the website for Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo.

Becca's recipe calls for 28 taro leaves (fresh spinach leaves may be substituted), water, grated coconut, lime juice, grated ginger, salt, garlic, onion, coconut milk, and Tabasco sauce.

Tonight I am making the menu and grocery list for the week and the girls are looking forward to watching a movie. At the History Fair last week, we saw a dramatic performance about the Rockford Peaches. Becca was so interested (and so was I, given that I had never made the connection that it was Rockford IL) and so we are going to relax and watch A League of Their Own. (I can't believe HOW YOUNG Madonna and Rosie are in this movie!)

Over Spring Break, Natalie and Leah were obsessed with watching the six episodes of Pride & Prejudice on Amazon Prime... and totally thrilled when Lizzie and Darcy got married! Tonight, it's a PG movie from 1992. :-)

Ok, this week's recipes:

fish sticks, rice, veg

Black Bean Sloppy Joes, hamburger buns

African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

Crockpot Horseradish Garlic Venison Pot Roast

African Chicken Peanut Stew

West African Groundnut Stew (Moosewood)

oatmeal blueberry muffins

crockpot yogurt

overnight steel-cut oats

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blueberry Oatmeal Bread

Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

and, of course, Golai Hagun Sune!

UPDATE:
My friend Kathy just shared another link for a Guam dish: Beef Tinaktak. Looks like our Hands activity for Friday will definitely be cooking! And we can enjoy our feast while we listen to the reports!

(Which reminds me... I have to go start my research for Puerto Rico...)

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