New Baby

Delaney Etta McCarthy was born on Oct. 26th at 8:06 p.m. I hope you are all enjoying class! I'll be back on Nov. 9th.

My Pumpkin

Here is the pumpkin I carved for Halloween this year. It's Mt. Rushmore.





You can look in the archives under October 2006 to see my pumpkins from last year.

Colonial Travel Fair

On Octboer 17th we held our Colonial Travel Fair. Groups presented information about their colony to other students in order to entice others to move there. Everybody did a great job and the fair was a big success!

Preparing for the Colonial Travel Fair

As part of our study of the 13 English Colonies in America, students are currently working on preparations for our Colonial Travel Fair. The fair will have several booths designed to entice others to move to their colony.

The Fair will be held on Wednesday Oct. 17th

Act-It-Out: The Surrender of New Amsterdam

Our final act-it-out for Unit 2: European Exploration and Settlement, was on the surrender of New Amsterdam to the English.





One student from each class portrayed the colony's Dutch governor Peter "Peg Leg Pete" Stuyvesant, while others played the roles of Dutch colonists trying to persuade him to surrender (as usual, I played the on-the-scene reporter).





Governor Stuyvesant was prepared to defend his colony, until he was informed that his supply of gun powder was damp and useless. Without a shot being fired, New Amsterdam was handed over to the British who renamed the colony New York.

Surviving Jamestown

To learn more about what it took for the Jamestown settlers to survive, students had to pose as inatimate objects. They were then asked questions about how they helped the settlers to survive.

Axes:






Hammers:




Ships:






Barrels:






Canoes:



And Trees:






Find out more about Jamestown by visiting my American Adventure blog!

Extra Credit: Bring in Props

As you can see in some the pictures, we often use props in class to help make historical figures "come alive". We do activites like the act-it-outs through out the year, so I am always in need of new props. If anyone has any old toys or knick-knacks around the house that are no longer used, but would make good props or costumes, please consider donating them to my prop collection. I will give extra credit for every usable prop donated. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

Act-It-Out: New France

In the New France "act-it-out", students were chosen to portray French fur trappers settling in what's now Canada, Huron Indians (allies of the French), or Iriquois Indians (enemies of the French and Huron).

Act-It-Out: Christopher Columbus Claiming San Salvador

We are currently learning about how European countries claimed and settled lands in the "New World." We have been creating "act-it-outs" to help us better understand what the settlers and Native Americans went through.

In this "act-it-out" students had to answer questions in the roles of Christopher Columbus and his crew, as well as the natives they encountered.