This year our Social Studies program is all about the regions of the United States. As part of this study we sent out travel logs to people we know in another state. Inside the travel log is a chart that the recipients are to fill out about their state. The information includes climate, landforms, history, and places to visit. The instructions tell the people to send a postcard from their state back to us and then send the travel log on to someone they know in another state or country. The completed travel logs are due back to school in May. The postcards have begun to come in. The kids are so excited when I announce "You've got mail!" The postcards are then taped into a scrapbook the students have made.
After our test on Tuesday we will begin a chapter on the New England region. If anyone has pictures from a visit to that area I'm sure the kids would love to see them. A thought....A powerpoint presentation by the kids using the pictures would be a great way to earn extra credit!
These are pictures from our Early Explorers Unit. We learned about Christopher Columbus, Magellan, Marquette & Joliet, Lewis & Clark just to name a few. We made a lapbook and for each explorer's pocket in the book we made something to remind us of why they were special.
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| Sam fitting his paper moccasin to his foot. |
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| Rachel fitting her moccassins |
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| Rachel's moccassins are finished! |
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| Our Explorer lapbook. |
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| For John Cabot the students painted an ocean scene. |
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| For Cortes they made a chest. Inside the chest is a list of their belongings they felt they absolutely needed to make the long journey. I'm sure you can imagine what they felt was important! Needless to say clothes were not high on their priorty list! |
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| For Columbus we made and ate hardtack. Hardtack is made from flour, salt and water. It was a staple food on board the explorer's ships. |
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| We made moccassins for Lewis and Clark from grocery bags. |
Any student who wants to earn extra credit for Social St. may make a home of any of the indian tribes we are studying. In some cases I have ideas or directions to help them.
The first indian tribe we learned about are the Inuit. We learned about their homes and activities. We learned that they consider being called an Eskimo as an insult. One of the staple foods of the Inuits is fish. We learned they go ice fishing. Sooooo, we made fish and rods. We placed a magnet on the hook and on the fish and then pretended to go ice fishing. Some of us did not get to eat dinner! We found out it is harder than it looks. I thought the kids would think this activity was silly but they really got into it. They sat on their desks and fished. They are still begging me everyday to fish. Here are a few pictures from our ice fishing trip!
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| Wahoo! I get to eat tonight! |
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| It was thiiiiiiis big! |
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| You should have seen the one that got away! |
