A Day in the Life of Early Americans

We began our day by exploring,

noticing our surroundings,

and taking notes

to inspire nature poems.

We prepared:

and ate rustic food:

We played some of the same games

the Native American children might have played:

Cliff Hodges, owner, founder and CEO of Adventure Out, was our guest:

 

He showed us many things the early Americans made to survive:

He told us great stories of his own adventures hunting using his hand made weapons:

He chipped obsidian to make the beginnings of an arrowhead:

A finished arrowhead takes about 20 hours to complete,
and it is only good for one shot:

He makes bows from a thick piece of special wood,

and even uses various parts of the animal to complete all his weapons,

just like people of earlier times would have done:

The younger children made their own bows and arrows, using foam sheets, sticks, and string:

 

They imagined early life in America:

Old and young alike had a great day that was both lively and educational!

Japanese Tea Ceremony

Here is what happened at the Japanese Tea Ceremony:

Our Japanese Tea Ceremony begins by removing shoes,
putting on slippers and quietly sitting on pillows in a circle.

Miss Lutz explains the history of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

 

We drink tea called a chawan,

  

then make slurping sounds to signify our appreciation to our host:

Being told to slurp by an adult made for some pretty happy kids!

Hot water and lemon cleans the palate:

Putting the cup on the floor in front of them they place both their hands on the ground forming a triangle. A short blessing is said. Except for a few giggles and wiggles, the room is silent.

When each of the several cups is brought to them, they place it in the palm of their hand, look at the cup, turn it in three moves so it faces you again before butting it down. In the Japanese culture, it is important for guests to notice and complement the hostess' dishes.

 

Here is a plate of food representing the mountains and sea eaten in silence, 

except for the slurp at the end, of course:

Now a plate with pickles accompanied by white rice:

Popcorn is served representing winter:

More twisting of cups:

At the close of our ceremony, we once again admire our hostess' dishware, marveling at the beauty, thanking her for inviting us:

We silently and respectfully leave the room by bowing:

then backing out:

Meet Our Young Explorers!

They spent a few afternoons reenacting the early explorers, and had great fun!

Quite lively! I bet they won't forget their explorer!

 

These boys were the Bartholomew Dias explorers:

Nature Journaling

Today was Group Two's first day of Nature Journaling!

We went outside to draw what we could see around us.

We drew bamboo, oak and fig leaves, seed pods, and ants.

Some did rubbings of the leaves or bark.

We looked through frames made of  heavy paper to see things differently, to help us focus.

After moving to a few different places around the school,

we returned to the cool of the classroom to color in our pictures,

adding describing words to complete

our time of nature journaling.

This is a great activity for all. Try to get outside atleast once a week. Simply take your pencil and a pad of paper that has a stiff binding so it is easy to hold while drawing. Look around you. Look at the small things. Begin to draw. Fill up a whole page with all sorts of things that you see each time you venture out. We had bamboo, fig leaves, seed pods and rubbings on the same page. If you have a child that is reluctant to draw, this is a great activity, for when you are out there sitting on the ground with them drawing, they are more likely to join in and find they can actually do it. Show him that the leaf is sort of a triangle, or an oval shape with squiggly edges as you are drawing it in your own journal. He will learn to see things in simple shapes, too.

Another helpful hint is to have them draw lightly so they can erase more easily. The young child has a tendency to draw with a heavy hand making erasing difficult, therefore becoming discouraged at their messy page.

After a good amount of time has been spent freely drawing, begin to talk about your surroundings, putting down notations in your journal. What is the temperature? Today it was hot and muggy. Is it quiet? We could hear alot of traffic. What color are the leaves? Some were brown and crunchy. Some were deep green and leathery. What color are the veins? Is it soft? Where are you? Today we were at school, but you can take them for a walk in your neighborhood as well as your back yard or the beach. Are you with any particular friends? We had alot of friends today. And adjectives! Think of strong words together to describe the world around them putting them in their nature journal.

These books will inspire.

Any of Clare Walker Leslie's books are great.

Have fun exploring and drawing together!

Hamlet Helps

Here are a couple of sites to help with your study of Hamlet.

This is a cartoon/caption overview of the whole play. Reading this will help you understand and remember the important events of this story.

Here is the BBC's 60 Second overview of Hamlet.

Enjoy the Bard!!

Genghis Khan Field Trip

School is officially in! A parent's meeting last night, and our first field trip this morning!

At the Tech Museum in San Jose we saw some interesting things. Some of us were particularly fascinated with the fact that since they fought in their summer, and mostly stayed in their gers (tents) during their winter months, they spent hours upon hours putting great detail and artistic handwork into the many things they made:

And some of our everyday things originated from Genghis Khan.

And we had fun, of course:

See you soon!