Week Six Notes

We started the year in our Outdoor Classroom! Here are some week 6 notes:

Monday, Oct 10

Living History (Plastic Utensils) - create a graphic organizer by folding a piece of paper into fourths; label sections (wear, where, say, show); make decisions about costumes, where colonial shops will be in the driveway (use sidewalk chalk to mark spots), and what table each student will use; continue to work on backboards and on notecards



Colonial America Activity "Candlemaking" - candles of donated veal tallow (the Pterodactyls carefully made one for each "colonial shop")



How to Make Tallow Candles
https://www.therusticelk.com/tallow-candles/

Safe Candle Containers for Candle Making: What Avoid and What to Use
https://www.lifenreflection.com/safe-candle-containers-for-candle-making/

Making Candles in Colonial Times https://www.craftedcandles.com/making_candles_in_colonial_times.html


Spooky Snack Story - read Spiders Spin Webs by Yvonne Winer, use Colored Globe of the Continents to find where each spider lives



Art History - use multicolored scraps of modeling beeswax to make Barbara Hepworth: Create a Necklace with a Twist (PDF), look at things in nature closely through the hole in your necklace, sketch

Free Play

Historical Fiction - continue with Stranded at Plimoth Plantation 1626 by Gary Bowen at lunch (entries from Mar 1626/1627 and Apr 1627), note that New Year's Day was March 25!



Board Games - test out new classroom game Sushi Go!



Ghostie Numbers

Inventors - use Leonardo Building Sticks - Da Vinci's Bridge to try to build an arched bridge and a dome, add Leonardo da Vinci to MLB

Tuesday, Oct 11

Living History - 1 on 1 meetings, brainstorm artifacts for displays, print pictures in color for Carpenter and Gunsmith, get out stencils and alphabet stickers, continue to work on backboards and notecards

SSR - begin to do reading for Projects of Personal Interest



Free Play

Math - play Jump 1



Inventors - read Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France by Mara Rockliff at snack



Historical Fiction - continue with Stranded at Plimoth Plantation 1626 (entries from May/Jun 1627) for Plastic Utensils at lunch

Handwork - read Red Berry Wool by Robyn Eversole to Pterydactyls at lunch, explain the steps in processing wool from sheep to sweater



Colonial America Activity "Washing Wool" - smell and feel a raw fleece (donated to us from my brother and sister-in-law, their sheep "Jack" was sheared by my SIL in 2018), practice washing the sheep's wool to get all of the lanolin out (the Pterodactyls accidentally rubbed it too vigorously so they felted it instead... which was also a good lesson)

Wednesday, Oct 12

Living History - give each student a box in which to store artifacts (labeled with profession & colonial name), make chart of items needed for tomorrow's presentations, begin to place items in boxes and check things off, try on costumes (aprons and hats), finish up backboards and notecards, make two recipes for tomorrow's menu (the salad dressing and the fairy butter)

Inventors - read Karl, Get Out of the Garden! Carolus Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything by Anita Sanchez at snack



Indoor Free Play on a Rainy Day - cardboard box fort, play silks, wooden animals, wooden Fagus trucks, library books, board games



Math - play Clumsy Thief Jr.



Historical Fiction - read the conclusion of Stranded at Plimoth Plantation 1626 (entries from Jul/Aug 1627) at lunch

I had originally planned to spend the day doing Colonial America Activities but the older students needed my help with last minute details on their presentations, so I pushed those activities to week 7.

Science Club - special guest Dr. Scott Hamilton-Brehm

Thursday, Oct 13 - Colonial America Living History Day

Many thanks to our special guest, glass artist Chad Goodpastor, who presented the profession of Glassblower.

The children spent a lot of time on their research, backboards, and notecards. The results were wonderful! The driveway was set up to be a street in a Colonial village, and the professions represented were

Apothecary

Blacksmith

Carpenter

Cook

Dressmaker

Gunsmith


We also had a delicious feast featuring five authentic Colonial America dishes! All of the detailed notes for our planning can be found below:

Living History Day - Colonial America
Sep 11

Colonial Trade/Occupation Research
Sep 16

Colonial Costumes
Sep 23

Colonial America Menu
Oct 10

The photos to go with this week are here.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!