Wednesday, October 29, 2008

On Monday we took a GREAT field trip! We went to Plymouth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts! We have been learning about the Mayflower and the Pilgrims, and Plymouth for a couple months now, this trip was a great cap to wrap it all up with!

We read EVERY book our library had on the subjects, here are some of our favorites; Sarah Morton's Day, Samuel Eaton's Day, If you sailed on the Mayflower, On the Mayflower, & Colonial Farm. The first two (although older) are pictures from the Plantation.First we went to the Wamponog village, we saw a boat being made by burning out the inside.

Here were a few finished ones that were in the lake.


The kids were very excited to see the lodge, there was a Native American woman in there answering questions.
Here are the kids in another smaller lodge sitting on the beds (minus the furs to make them comfortable)!

~

Then we headed over to the English village.
First we walked through the artisan building, we saw this mad doing traditional wood working, and potters re-creating original pieces.

The potters made this jug that was used for watering, there was a hole on the top you would put your thumb over, and then raise your thumb when you wanted the water to come out. They had them for sale but they were pricey, but so COOL!

Here is some of the original potter they have to look at!

~

Then we headed into the village. In the English village everyone stays in character all of the time, to them it is 1627. And they go about working, but are always happy to answer questions!
Fern loved the little cradle, once they were out of the cradle or mom and dad's bed they had to sleep on the floor on a straw mattress.

In the center of the village the men were working on a new store house. So we watched them work and they explained how they build buildings.

The boys were all fascinated my these little gun powder holders on a leather strap they would wear across their chest.

Then we spied this woman repairing a wall with a mud mixture.


She explained the whole thing for us and we got to watch her for a little bit.

Here is one of the standard size houses, they were small, and dark inside. There was one house which was larger, but most where about this size.



Here is the village from the top of the common house, downstairs was the meeting room for Sunday services and court proceedings. Upstairs was like a lookout room with cannons.


They had just a few livestock, two cows, some goats, and a couple sheep (not the wool kind but the food kind). They really did not produce any of their material needs except food, everything was brought from England.

And the other cow!

~

After the plantation we headed down to the water front, we had been there before but we thought it rounded out the visit! Here is the Mayflower II, we went on it last time so we did not this time. Here are some pictures from then.
And here is The Rock! Plymouth Rock!


And here is the shelter the rock is in, it was built in the 20 or 30's.

~

We had a great time and would highly recommend it, the plantation was a little pricey to get into, but well worth it, especially after all we did in preparation for our trip!
















Saturday, October 18, 2008

I just had to share this, it is inscribed at the top of the room in our library where the Rotunda is, (see my post on my other blog!). I found the source on the internet after wondering where it came from, I LOVE this!!
~
A Book
by Emily Dickinson
~
He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust;
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book. What liberty
A loosened spirit brings!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I just finished a GREAT book! Big surprise it is historical fiction, I LOVE historical fiction! I started reading this book because I was interested in James Town, and because I never get up to the "adult" section of our library so I read some of the "older" kid books I find downstairs! :) It is a Nutmeg Award Nominee for 2009 in the 4-6th grade category, so I figured it would be a bit too old for Riley, but after finishing it today I think he would really enjoy it! This is a book worthy of our home library by my definition, a family classic because I would read it again! So when there are lots of funds for books this will be one we get!
The author has a website where she has made available a study guide for the book, I would put the study guide closer to the 6th grade level than the 4th, but there are also some great links at the bottom that I think could be useful to many age groups!
So if you are looking for a great adventure, and a great story (and you visit the children's library more than the adult) then I would highly recommend Blood on the River James Town 1607.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Well yesterday, being October 1st was the kick-off for the Book-it program. We decided to have a Book-it party!! I asked all the kids to pick out their favorite book, we wore book-it pins (thanks to ebay!), had balloons and jello!! What a party! :)
So with our favorite books I had each of the kids come up in turn and tell us the name of the book and then why it was their favorite book. I choose My Antonia, because it is a pioneer story and the author (Willa Cather) is so descriptive in her writing that I can see a perfect picture in my head. Riley chose the Color Kittens, because he liked learning about mixing colors to make other colors. Jake chose Dinosaurumpus because the T-rex is nice in the story (he always gets such a bad wrap)! And Fern chose The Gingerbread Man (illustrated by Richard Scarry) because she likes the fox who eats the gingerbread man! :)
We then made our own books, they were interesting, but Riley is not finished yet!
As a fun surprise I bought the #2 in the Magic Tree House series and we read 1 chapter before our cherry jello with cherries in it! :)
We also got our tracking sheets all ready and hung up!
They thought we did not have school time today just a party, little do they know just how much we did! :)