Drama 12/2/14. Pathfinders & Navigators

It was challenging to rehearse everything and check costumes with the more complicated scenes these two classes have to perform.  However, I told the students if they review their lines every day, and go through the blocking in their minds, they will have great performances next week.  It is very important to review the lines right before theirs, as well, since that can make or break the entrance of their lines.  They have a lot to remember, but have put together very effective scenes.

Drama 12/2/14. Explorers & Trailblazers

Our drama classes were held in the Sanctuary this week, in order to rehearse onstage for our Presentation next week.  I looked at costumes and props and made adjustments where necessary.  Many of the children had brought great costumes.  I told the students they really need to review their lines every day this week, as we will not be able to have a rehearsal before the performance next week.  They are all very excited for their parents to get to see the results of their hard work.

Today we studied the history of the Christmas Card!  It was a pretty low key class.  After discussing the answers to 10 questions related to the first Christmas cards the kids jumped into creative mode and using a variety of materials were given the chance to make their own cards!  It was a fun class!  Much thanks to Cindy Lacasse for helping out today!

World War 1 History 1&2

Thank you to Mrs. Mitchell for substituting!!!

The Great War began when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated setting off a crisis between multiple international alliances.  The conflict soon grew to include more than 70 million soldiers fighting in muddy trenches.

In the end, both the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires ceased to exist, and maps were re-drawn decreasing the territory of both Germany and Russia.  In addition, the League of Nations was formed with the intention of preventing future wars.

In class activities:

• Read to original letters from WWI soldiers
• Dressed as soldiers
• Reenacted the Christmas truce

The main thrust of class was focused on learning that the fighting stopped to honor Christmas, although this was hard to convey over the excitement of holding large toy guns and playing dress up!  The kids were encouraged to really think about what war would have been like and that even though these countries were fighting Christmas was a uniting factor and they all respected one another in honor of that day.

The Explorers made scenes of the letter that begins, "On Christmas Day one of the Germans came out of the trenches and held his hands up..."  The second video was of "During the early part of the morning the Germans started singing and shouting all in good English..."

Trailblazers acted out the conversation between Fritz and the soldier with Joey and Isaiah playing the main parts.  The second on was "You will no doubt be surprised to hear...": 2 soldiers/4 soldiers and exchanging of gifts.

Optional lesson extension activities:

• Did you know reindeer were used in World War 1?  Take a look at these fascinating images of animals of the War to End All Wars.   
• Snoopy loves to pretend to be a World War 1 Flying Ace.  Pick up a cartoon  like this one by Charles Shultz to enjoy, then go online to research the invention and use of the airplane.  

There is no assignment for next week's Christmas presentation.  Enjoy your holiday!  

Treasure Hunters 11-18-14

Focus: The Wright Brothers
Explore Table: The children made paper airplanes and a helicopter. They enjoyed giving them test flights from the second floor.

Literature:First To Fly by Peter Busby

                 To Fly by Wendie Old

                  First Flight by Leslie Garrett

                  The Wright Brother by Russell Freedman

                  We discussed the Wright Brothers journey of building a successful airplane.

                  We talked about their struggles and setbacks and the determination to not quit

                   Also the impact their invention made on the world both then and now.

Project: The children made biplanes out of clothes pins.

Music: We practiced our presentation song( the children are doing great with memorizing!)

             We also reviewed our notes and rests we had learned in previous weeks.

Questions to ask: Who were the Wright Brothers? What did they invent? What was the plane called that we made in class( biplane.)

Progressive Era - History 1&2

As millions of immigrants flooded the US in response to industrialization, the economic plight of the poor grew.  The time that followed was a period of activism and reform known as the Progressive Era.   The goal of progressives was to remove corruption and solve social problems through legislation.  

The most famous of these reformers was Theodore Roosevelt.  He had a strong personality, and was known for getting what he wanted.  Roosevelt took over the presidency after McKinley’s assassination and his lead was marked by a drastic increase in the powers of the president.  He is most remembered for his drive to build the Panama Canal and manage natural resources.

In class activities:

• Learned about continued US expansion
• Mapped the locations US battles
• Discussed the problems of industrial workers
• Listened to the history of Theodore Roosevelt and his policies
• Stitched our own "Teddy" bears
• Mapped the distance required for the US to move its navy from the Atlantic to the Pacific and discussed the benefit of building the Panama Canal
• Reviewed the 3 parts of American government and the balance of powers

Optional lesson extension activities:

• Watch Crash Course History - Progressive Presidents
• Theodore Roosevelt was famous for his love of animals.  He allowed many curious pets into the White House.  Read more about Presidential Pets.
• Learn more about what it was like to be an American immigrant in this interactive game.

Assignment due 12/2 (Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!):

• Read history cards 26-28
• Practice your timeline
• OPTIONAL - Some of the kids have started joining me in dressing up for class, which I think is absolutely fantastic!  We will be studying the time of flappers and WW1 soldiers next.  Students are welcome to come to FAITH in any period appropriate clothing that you have around the house.

TREASURE HUNTERS & Westward Expansion

FOCUS: Westward Expansion and the Oregon Trail
EXPLORE Table: Lincoln Logs - building a structure the way it would have been done back then
LITERATURE: My First Little House: Going West; If You Traveled in a Covered Wagon by Ellen Lavigne
We talked about families traveling west to find more land and live with nature (getting away from congested areas).  We touched briefly on the reasoning behind people going to Oregon (the more Americans, the land wouldn't be given to Europe which would mean more taxes).  We also talked about what they brought in their wagons and how the people traveled together in "wagon trains" to stay safe.

MUSIC: practiced our songs and learned Half Rest (rest rest) and Whole Rest (rest, rest, rest, rest)

Questions:  How did people travel to go west? What did they bring along? Why did they try to get many Americans to go to Oregon?

Drama 11/11/14. Pathfinders & Navigators

The Pathfinders have quite a challenging scene about the Roarong 20s, for which we have just about finished laying in the blocking.  The students are very enthusiastic about their parts, and have worked on memorization, but need to have their lines memorized even better.  We are going to have an extra 2 hours of rehearsal for this class to be sure we can do it justice for the performance.  The Navigators are also working hard on the scenes of history they have written.  A lot goes into transforming action from the paper to the stage, and the students are encountering some challenges withl it.  It is exciting to see their learning process and willingness to work through the challenges for an effective performance. 

Drama 11/11/14. Explorers & Trailblazers

Rehearsing was the name of the game in class this week.  Line memorization was quite good in both classes, but review is vital, or they can be forgotten.  Also, knowing the line right before theirs is very important as well.  For the most part, the students seemed to understand how important it is, and left class saying they would be diligent to do so.  They have been working hard and promise to deliver a most delightful performance.

Art, Navigators and Pathfinders, 11/11/2014

Abstract: 1940’s

We discussed briefly how World War II affected the art world, mainly with Paris, France no longer being the center of it all, but art making its way to New York City. Abstract art was not about a subject, but all about the colors, lines, and shapes; while some works were thoughtfully planned out, others were about the emotion and expression.

 Project

Finishing up Decalcomania project from last week’s Surrealism study.
Started the Name Sculpture project by drawing and outlining letters.

 

Art Summary, Trailblazers and Explorers 11/11/2014

We learned about Frederic Remington and looked at pictures of his paintings and sculptures. We tried our hand at working with red clay, creating something to do with cowboys and Native Americans.

 

Music-Nov 11 Pathfinders/Navigators

So, the last few weeks, we have been looking at early American Music including Folk& Mountain music, Classical, Cajun, Klezmar, and finally African American Slave music. All of these styles led the way for most of the music we hear, play and sing today.
Today we got to experience the Blues. The very distinct sound of the Blues came straight out of the hardships and suffering of the slaves. Music was the best way for them to express the suffering and hardships of the slave life, After the Civil War, the freed slaves needed to make a living. The most common options-hard, manual labor and performing music and skits. Life was still hard, and music still a great way to express-the blues.
The Pathfinders and Navigators listened to 3 different samples of blues(by Bukka White, Muddy Waters, Chris Thomas King) and compared them, paying attention to all the sounds and rhythms that make the blues sound the way it does. We discussed how the rhythms came from the slaves, who used to use African drumming to communicate with slaves on other plantations. To illustrate this form of communication pairs of students created 4-line conversations with one another using only percussion.
We also listened to and imitated the back beat and the shuffle beat. Both started in blues music, and are still used in a lot of the more modern forms of music.
The pathfinders got to see 2 videos of modern performing groups-STOMP and Blue Man Group. Both of these groups use their creative beats and rhythms to communicate with their audiences.

Music-Nov 11 Explorers/Trailblazers

So, the last few weeks, we have been looking at early American Music including Folk& Mountain music, Classical, Cajun, Klezmar, and finally African American Slave music. All of these styles led the way for most of the music we hear, play and sing today.
Today we got to experience the Blues. The very distinct sound of the Blues came straight out of the hardships and suffering of the slaves. Music was the best way for them to express the suffering and hardships of the slave life, After the Civil War, the freed slaves needed to make a living. The most common options-hard, manual labor and performing music and skits. Life was still hard, and music still a great way to express-the blues.
The Explorers and Trailblazers listened to some samples of music from some of the early popular blues artists-like WC Handy, as well as some newer ones like Muddy Waters and BB King.
They learned about the blues back beat, and did an activity using Yankee Doodle showing how the back beat changes the whole feel of a song.

History Navigators & Pathfinders 11/3/2014

This week the students sat back and listened to Pastor Huntley as he taught them about the Butler Act and the Scopes Trial of 1925. We learned about the events that led up to the trial and what was happening in the town itself prior to the trial. All of the major players, Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan, John T. Scopes and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) were discussed in terms of their worldview, their actions, words and ultimately their motives.
Pastor Huntley also discussed with the class the topics of Social Darwinism and the concept of "survival of the fittest" on a free market economy, equality in society, as a justification for war, Imperialism , and its far reaching effect on the world, especially in WWII.
Charles Darwin's Origin of Species and the theory of evolution were also discussed. Finally, we discussed the effects of the Scopes trial on the perception of Christianity and Christians by society and how they are negatively viewed today, largely because of biased and inaccurate reporting of the trial, most notably by H.L. Mencken of the New York Times, an extremely influential newspaper then and now. The same un-truths and inaccuracies abound in the fictional work "Inherit the Wind" and yet it continues to be shown in multiple classes in schools across the country without the students being aware that it is fiction and inaccurate fiction at that. The effect upon parental rights with regard to the control over school curriculum content that we are feeling today is due in very large part to the Scopes Trial. It was indeed the "Trial of the Century".

End of the Native American Way of Life - History 1&2

Geronimo (right) waiting for transport to Florida
 1886. -National Archives

Being forced to live on reservations caused nomadic tribes to loose their entire means of subsistence, spurring more than 1000 battles between 1861 and 1891.

A pivotal law was passed in 1871 stating that the United States would no longer treat Native American groups as independent nations.  The government urged Native Americans to move out of their traditional dwellings, and become "civilized."

In the Dawes Act of 1887 tribal land was divided into plots.  Land not allotted to individual Native Americans was sold to railroad companies or settlers. 

One of the last major conflicts between Native Americans and the U.S. Army took place near Wounded Knee Creek in 1890.  A group of Indian policemen had been sent to arrest Sitting Bull, but crowds gathered in protest and while trying to take him into custody, he was killed.  Retreating Native Americans were pursued.  As they surrendered there was an unexpected gunshot.  Indians and soldiers grappled with each other at close quarters. Those who did not die in face-to-face battle froze to death in  the bitter cold of the night.

In class activities:

• Learned about Custer's Last Stand
• Made baskets and imagined having to change our entire way of life
• Discussed the impact of cowboys and cattle on the Native Americans
• Discussed the Battle of Wounded Knee
• Made our own paper tee-pees and then destroyed them

Optional lesson extension activities:

• View historic images of the aftermath of the final Native American massacre of Wounded Knee (parents you may want to pre-view these images, but I highly suggest that you share #1-18 with  your students - this was a sad period of our history and it will be important as we discuss the World Wars in future classes to understand that the white Americans are not always the good-guys)
• View a video about the growth of civil rights that Native Americans have today 
• Read first hand accounts of the battle

Assignment:

• Read history cards #23-25
• Practice your timeline

Drama 11/4/14. Pathfinders & Navigators

The pathfinders have begun rehearsal for a challenging scene about the Roaring 20s.  If they spend time every day memorizing their lines we will have more effective rehearsals in class.  We have a short amount of time to accomplish a lot, so it will take a lot of focus.  The students are very enthusiastic and fun to work with.  The Navigators are now rehearsing the scenes they have written.  I've been very pleased with their innovation and creativity in writing their scripts, and now they must learn to use effective stage techniques to communicate them to the audience.  We had a talk about how it feels strange to be on stage and use the techniques one has to for the audience to be able to fully understand the scenes.  We also talked about how it is not good to do a performance where the audience cannot understand what's going on, either due to poor voice production or bad staging.  It proved to be somewhat challenging to the students, but I believe they are going to be able to rise to the task and produce effective performances.

Drama 11/4/14 Explorers & Trailblazers

We have turned a corner in class this week, in that we now must spend the entire period rehearsing our December presentations.  The Explorers are working on an Immigration scene that, I believe, will be highly entertaining.   The students are putting in great effort and have done quite well with their memorization.  The Trailblazers are rehearsing scenes about the progression of Black History.  They have also completely embraced their characters and are adding their own creativity, which makes the rehearsals delightful.   Finishing their memorization work and reviewing their lines daily is very important at this time.

Art Navigators & Pathfinders 10/22 - 11/4/2014

Cubism: 1902-1920s

We focused on the art period and style of Cubism. Our study looked at different works, and focused on one of the founding artists, Pablo Picasso.

 Expressionism/Fauvism – early 1900s

We looked at the characteristics of the Expressionism and Fauvism movement, looking at some of the works and discussing how it was not necessarily about a certain object or style, but about the emotion and color behind the works.

 Surrealism: 1920s

                                                                                                                                                               We talked about the Surrealism art period, looking at a couple paintings and discussing the often unusual themes of subconscious and dreamlike ideas. We also talked about a couple of the techniques used such as Decalcomania and Grattage.

Project

Decalcomania project, using three colors from the previous homework assignment of color meanings. 

Art Explorers and Trailblazers, 10/29/2014

We looked at some traditional quilt designs and talked about the pioneers' creating quilts. We created some quilt squares using colored wire. Then put them together to make a "Wire Quilt"! They are beautiful! 

Art Explorers & Trailblazers , 10/22/2014

We looked at paintings by Winslow Homer, who was considered a Civil war artist. We then looked at some Pointillism paintings and noticed the very different style and talked about how the artists made there paintings with dots of color. For our project we drew a picture and filled it in Pointillist style, with colored cereal and other foods

Art, Trailblazers & Explorers 11/4/2014

I had the pleasure of filling in for Joni Comrie's art classes this week!  A big thanks goes to Gail for being a great helper!

We began our discussion with the question...

• What do you know about glass?  

 The children shared various ideas about the qualities of glass and came up with several on my list.  It is transparent, heat resistant, pressure resistant, strong, chemical resistant, can be colored, can be produced in large pieces, doesn't fade over time, can be made perfectly flat.

• We then looked at some examples of stained glass.  After discussing the pictures they saw we focused on the artist for the day.  Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) grew up in NYC where his family owned the famous Tiffany jewelry store.  His lifelong goal was the pursuit of beauty.  He was originally trained as a painter and began studying the chemistry and properties of glass making at age 24.  He was inspired by nature and often took his ideas about colors from plants and flowers.  HE created art by making large windows and small lampshade our of stained glass.  He worked for some famous people, Mark Twain and President Chester Arthur!  The beautiful Tiffany lampshades were especially popular because electric lights were a new thing!  Tiffany's favorite subjects were flowers, plants and people in natural settings.

The children finished the class by creating their own "stained glass" using tissue paper and decoupage solution.

Treasure Hunters - Civil War & Age of Industry

10/28/14

FOCUS: The Civil War- Battle of Gettysburg- soldiers and nurses
EXPLORE: playing with doctors' kits
LITERATURE: "Gettysburg" by James Bow and "You Wouldn't Want to be a Nurse During the American Civil War" by Kathryn Senior
MUSIC: continued with our surprise song, reviewed rhythms of half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note, quarter rest, and half rest.  
PROJECT: cutting soldier paper figures for boys and nurse figures for girls.   Medical kits to emphasize helping. 

QUESTIONS to ask your child: What were the northern and southern states fighting about?  (slavery).  

11/4/14

FOCUS: Age of Industry
EXPLORE: three groups build machines (a blender with gears, a rubber band powered car, and a well with pulley).  
LITERATURE: Viewed illustrations of mills and looms in "The Bobbin Girl" by Emily Arnold McCully and read "Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight became an inventor" by Emily Arnold McCulley.  Kids also viewed pictures of mills in Manchester.  The class discussed simple machines (inclined plane, lever, pulley, wheel and axle, and screw) while presenting each group's discovery project.  We talked about  Manchester's role in the textile industry and watched a model waterfall turn a turbine to explain power behind simple machines. 
PROJECT: Children colored a picture of a mill building and made a "Simple Machines" board with examples (TO GO HOME NEXT WEEK).  
QUESTIONS to ask your child: What powered the mills in Manchester? (Water, River, or Waterfall).  What did they make in the mills?  Was the cloth made "by hand" or "by machine" ?  

We are loving these kids-  They are such a joy to learn with each week! 

American Industry - History 1&2

1870-1900

Inventions create the need for more inventions.  After the Civil War, great factories full of machines sprung up.  In many ways the 2nd American Industrial Revolution improved life for people by making it easier to obtain inexpensive goods, travel quickly, and communicate efficiently.  Sadly, faster work had a steep price.  Children worked long hours, independent workers lost their jobs, people were housed in slums, and many workers were injured in the machinery with which they worked.

In Class Activities:

• Learned about the connection between Railroad, telegraph, telephone, and other inventions
• Built our own cup & string telephone
• Discussed the importance of coal
• Defined the word "revolution"
• Learned about the large gap between working class and elite
• Built our own clocks and discussed the changes in measuring time across long distances

Optional Lesson Extension Activities:

• Watch Crash Course History - Industrial Revolution
• Look at photographs of American child laborers (Parents: there is a great teaching resource to go along with these photos and documents)

Assignment:

• Read history cards #20-22
• Practice your timeline

History Timeline @ 10/28/2014

Below are the current timeline elements; be sure to practice! Check back for updated videos as events/people are added in the coming weeks...

Monroe Doctrine

Traveling the Erie Canal

Jacksonian Democracy

Cotton Gin Establishes the South

Slavery in the South

Trail of Tears

Remember the Alamo

Westward Expansion

War with Mexico

'49ers and the California Gold Rush

Opening of the Oregon Territory

Lincoln - 16th President

War Between the States

The Battle of Gettysburg

Great Generals of the War Between the States

Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad

Reconstructing the South

Black Leadership Emerges in the South

Reconstruction

After the Civil War, the South had to deal with worthless Confederate money and local governments in disarray. This presented a wide range of economic and political opportunities for ambitious northerners who were often referred to as carpetbaggers. The southern states were gradually admitted back into the Union and damaged areas areas were rebuilt. During reconstruction racism was still a strong force. In an effort to get around laws, many southern states began to pass Black Codes. These were laws that prevented non-whites from working, owning land, voting, and even going to school. In the West the reconstruction treaty of 1866 granted the railroads the right to lay track across Indian Territory, resulting in the first transcontinental railroad in 1869.

 In Class Activities:

• Learned about the conclusion of the Civil War
• Discussed Black Codes
• Created our own metal embossed buffalo decorations
• Drew trains meeting at the first continental railroad 
• Learned about carpet bags and Carpetbaggers
• Discussed the effects of railroads on Native Americans

 Optional Lesson Extension Activities:

• Read The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory 1868 (Dear America Series)  
• Read The Railroad (Life in the Old West)  
• Learn how to draw a train with Jan Brett 
• Turn your photo into a wanted poster and pretend to be an outlaw in the west

Assignment:

• Read timeline card #19
• Practice your timeline

Assignments due 10/28/2014

Level 1 - Explorers

Art: No Assignment

Music: TBA

History: Read History Cards 17 and 18, practice timeline

Drama: No Assignment

Level 2 - Trail Blazers

Art: No Assignment

Music:TBA

History:  Read History Cards 17 and 18, practice timeline

Drama: No Assignment

Level 3 - Pathfinders

Art: No Assignments

Music: TBA

History: Written and Oral reports as usual – Grace-Teddy Roosevelt, Sophie-Billie Sunday, Nathan-Orville and Wilbur Wright, Andrew-Booker T Washington, Mahayla-William Jennings Bryan, Alison-Buffalo Soldiers, Ana-Forming of the NAACP, Luke, America Identified as a Melting Pot, Elise, Panama Canal, Lauren-Plessy vs Ferguson, Acacia-Spanish-American War, Abigail-Sherman Anti Trust Act of 1890 (see outline below)

Drama: Find 3 interesting facts about the Roaring Twenties era.  Write on a paper to hand in.

Level 4 - Navigators

Art: No Assignments

Music: TBA

History: David-Teddy Roosevelt, Jacob-Billy Sunday, Ellie-Wilbur and Orville Wright, Rachel-Buffalo Soldiers, Zoe-Plessy vs Ferguson, Eden-Spanish American War. Rebecca Curtis and Ryan-The following are left- Booker T. Washington, William Jennings Bryan, Forming of the NAACP, America identified as a melting pot, Panama Canal, Sherman Anti Trust Act of 1890. Go ahead and pick one but let us know so you each do not pick the same topic.

Drama: Finish writing your scenes.

What is the Event _________________________________________________

When____________________________ Where__________________________

Who was involved in this event?

What happened?

How did it change the United States?

How did it change the world?

In what ways did this invention show American Exceptionalism

Biographical Report on ______________________________________________

Date of Birth___________________ Date of Death__________________________

Places lived

For what is this person known (important only)?

How did this person's life shape, change, or improve our country or the world?

How did this person's life affect other people?

In what ways did this person show American Exceptionalism? 

TREASURE HUNTERS & the Transcontinental Railroad

FOCUS: The Transcontinental Railroad
EXPLORE: building train tracks with bridges and turns, driving trains around tracks
LITERATURE: "You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Railroad" by Ian Graham
        "Train Song" by Diane Siebert (a book read to the rhythm of a train chugging down the tracks)
We drew a large map of the United States and placed train tracks from Nebraska to California.
MUSIC: continued with our surprise song
PROJECT: cutting, folding, painting, assembling, gluing = 3-D model of a train engine

QUESTIONS to ask your child: Who worked on building the railroad?  Where did the train start and end? (Nebraska to California)

Drama 10/21/14. Pathfinders & Navigators

The Pathfinders and Navigators warmed up with an ice breaker called 'Conveyor Belt'.  They mirrored each other in movement and poses, promoting team work and creativity.  As usual, they spent time practicing vocal skills.  The Pathfinders spent most of the class performing their fractured fairy tales.  Then we discussed the Roaring 20's.  The students were given an assignment to find 3 interesting facts about that time period to incorporate into a scene next week.

The Navigators spent most of the class period writing their scenes of their Historical period.  Their assignment was to finish the scenes by our next class.

Drama 10/21/14. Explorers & Trailblazers

The warm-up exercise for the Trailblazers and Explorers this week was an activity where they assembled scenes from their history lessons with themselves!  The favorite for both classes seemed to be the California Gold Rush, as they each became a part of a scene from that time and froze, as if in a photograph.  After the vocal excercise, the Trailblazers worked on signs for their silent scenes.  The Explorers worked on Emotions and how to change from one to another in a believable way.  They then practiced how to act different ethnic groups in preparation for the Immigration scenes they will begin working on next week.

History Timeline Video @ 10/21/2014

Below are the current timeline elements; be sure to practice! Check back for updated videos as events/people are added in the coming weeks...

(Click on the video below or click here to watch if it's not working on your computer.)

Monroe Doctrine

Traveling the Erie Canal

Jacksonian Democracy

Cotton Gin Establishes the South

Slavery in the South

Trail of Tears

Remember the Alamo

Westward Expansion

War with Mexico

'49ers and the California Gold Rush

Opening of the Oregon Territory

Lincoln - 16th President

War Between the States

The Battle of Gettysburg

Great Generals of the War Between the States 

Civil War

In response the tension over states rights and the election of Abraham Lincoln, 11 southern states decided to leave the US and form their own nation called The Confederate States of America. The northern states, however, did not agree that these states had the right to leave, and decided to fight to restore the Union.  

On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring “all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free;” Did you notice that?  It only freed the slaves in the Confederate States; 500,000 of the 4million US slaves.  Of course, the south ignored the order, but it did pave the way for the eventual creation of the 13th amendment.  

The Battle of Gettysburg was a major turning point in the war and by 1865, the Union had the upper hand.  The Civil War was by far the deadliest war in American history with well over 600,000 people killed.

In Class Activities:

• Read the letters of a Civil War soldier and his family
• Discussed the reasons for Lincoln freeing the confederate slaves
• Made our own simple Civil War timeline
• Learned about fan language and folded our own fans
• Defined the word secede and discussed the difference between cede and secede

Lesson Extension Activities:

• Watch this free BrainPop movie covering the entirety of the civil war in 5 minutes
• Play Civil War games and activities
• Read more of the letters written by George Josiah Sager (scroll to bottom)

Assignment:

• Read history cards 17 & 18
• Practice your timeline

Tues. 10/21 - Gift card orders due for 1st round of Scrip Fundraising Program!

Tues. 10/21 is the deadline for our first round of FAITH scrip orders! The gift cards you purchase and use for groceries, gas, food, home improvement, and more directly benefit the FAITH Fine Arts Program - thank you! (Remember - there's no additional or hidden cost for you - if you order a $100 gift card to Old Navy, you'll pay $100 for the $100 gift card - but Old Navy gives 14% of your purchase price, or $14, to FAITH. Percentage donations vary by company + are subject to change.)

Holiday gift giving is coming; order your gift cards today!

(2) options for placing your order:

1. Complete the printed order form picked up at FAITH in recent weeks, give to Kim Murdoch on Tues. 10/21 with a check for your total order amount.

2. Order online at shopwithscrip.com by 11:59 PM on Tues. 10/21
- Click "Register"
- Join your group's program
- Enrollment code: 3C9129F74L695

Questions? Contact Kim Murdoch at 603.369.7889 (call or text), murdoch.kim@gmail.com, or in person at FAITH (usually stationed in the kitchen, but will be in nursery for last 2 periods of 10/21).

Here's just a small sampling of gift card options - thank you in advance for blessing FAITH with your regular shopping + gift giving! 

Groceries/Restaurants
99 Restaurant
Dunkin' Donuts
Panera
Pizza Hut
Shaw's
Starbucks
Whole Foods

Gas/Auto
Chevron
Exxon
Gulf Oil
Jiffy Lube
Mobil
Shell
Sunoco
Texaco

Household 
CVS
Walgreens
Walmart

Home Improvement/Decor
Ace Hardware
Lowe's
Pottery Barn
Target
The Home Depot
West Elm

Technology
Amazon.com
Best Buy
iTunes
Staples

Recreation
Cabela's
Dick's Sporting Goods
L.L. Bean
REI

Clothing
Gap
Gymboree
J. Crew
Lands' End
Old Navy

General/Gifts
American Girl
Barnes & Noble
Build-a-Bear
Disney
Hallmark
Jo-Ann Fabric
Kmart
Kohl's
Michaels
Oriental Trading
Williams Sonoma

Travel
Avis Car Rental
Budget Car Rental
Choice Hotels
Clarion Hotels
Hyatt Hotels

Upcoming Order Deadlines: 10/21, 11/4, 11/18, 12/2

Drama 10/14 Pathfinders & Navigators

The warm-up exercise for these classes was called "Moment to Moment".  It helped the students work on concentration and focus.  Then, as usual, we practiced our daily vocal exercises for articulation and projection.  The Pathfinders then spent the class working on mini-scenes on fractured nursery rhymes.  Teams worked on scenes depicting events that followed the information of the actual rhyme.  They came up with the characters and story line and had great fun practicing their scenes.  We will be performing them at the next class.
There were only 2 Navigators in class this week.  However, they both came prepared with not only their own facts of their assignments, but also some of their team mates' facts.  We discussed how they could take the interesting facts and work them into a scene with defined characters and plot.  They will be working on those with the returned students next week.

Drama. 10/14. Explorers & Trailblazers

The warm-up exercise this week was building a rainstorm with sounds produced with our hands.  We sat in a circle and started a sound, with each child joining in after the person on their right.  It was extremely challenging to wait to start on one's turn.  The sound of the full circle was very close to the sound of a storm!  The children practiced vocal exercises, working on projection and articulation.Then the Explorers worked on a short scene called Humpty Dumpty.  Partner groups rehearsed and then performed for each other.  This activity was to get them used to doing scenes being a character inter-relating in a pretend situation.  Ask your child to tell you about it.  It proved to be a delightful exercise.  The Trailblazers fine tuned their Silent Scene.  The students have really taken their roles seriously and put in effort thinking through their characters and motions to make the scene understandable and fun to watch.

Assignments due 10/21/2014

Trailblazers

Art:  Bring in something to use in our pointillism project: either some type of cereal, beans or seeds. Color would be good, but not necessary. 
Music: TBA
History: Read History Cards 12-15, practice timeline
Drama: none

Explorers

Art: Bring in something to use in our pointillism project: either some type of cereal, beans or seeds. Color would be good, but not necessary. 
Music: TBA
History: Read History Cards 12-15, Practice your timeline
Drama: none

 Pathfinders

Art: None
Music: TBA
History: Written and oral report- Lauren-Andrew Carnegie, Ana- John D. Rockefeller, Luke-Henry Ford, Grace-Crazy Horse, Nathan-Sitting Bull, Sophe-Doc Holiday, Allison-Mark Twain, Abby-Louis Pasteur, Mahayla-Anne Sullivan, Andrew-Buffalo Bill Cody.
Drama: None

Navigators

Art: None

Music: TBA
History: Written and oral reports-Jacob-John D. Rockefeller, David – Henry Ford, Ellie-Crazy Horse, Rachel-Buffalo Bill Cody.
Drama: Get in touch with your team members and discuss ideas for a scene using the historical facts you researched last week.  We will be writing those scenes in class next class time.  The teams are: 1) Becca, Curtis, Ellie.  2) Ryan, Rachel, Jacob.  3) Eden, Zoe, David.

History 10/14/2014, Navigators and Pathfinders

The Reconstruction post-Civil War was discussed in terms of why it was unsuccessful.  Andrew Johnson’s impeachment and why the Radical Republicans did not achieve their aim or removing him, Ulysses S. Grant, his character as well as issues he had within his government that hurt his reputation and the relationship that both Lincoln and Grant had with the South and how they were “friends of the South” were also reviewed.

The Ku Klux Klan, its inception and founding leader Nathan Bedford Forrest was discussed as well as the origin of the donkey and elephant symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties. Finally, the events surrounding the election of Rutherford B. Hayes were discussed.

Hstory 10/7/2014, Navigators and Pathfinders

The students presented on their topics. Each week I am seeing real improvement in both their content and delivery. I talked about the major reason why the war lasted so long - the South had competent, skilled, intelligent generals while President Lincoln struggled to find a general who could lead effectively. We talked about the tremendous loss of life on both sides. Skilled leaders are necessary in all areas of life.

Art 10/14/2014, Navigators and Pathfinders

Symbolism: 1880s through early 1900s

This art period not only found its roots in France, but also Denmark, Finland, and Russia. We looked at how Symbolism was not about a certain style or technique of painting, but was about the meaning the painting was to portray.

We also took a little side journey into the folk art of quilting, and learned about the symbolism that could be found in the designs of quilts.
 Each student made a “block” for our wire quilt.

Art 10/7/2014, Pathfinders and Navigators

Pointillism: 1880

In our overview of pointillism, we learned that it is not so much an actual period of time as much as a style and technique. We looked at some artists and artwork that featured pointillism and discussed the distinct features of this style.

Pointillism Art: Using circle cereal as the medium, students used these “dots” to create on paper a representation of a piece of fruit or object of their choosing. As part of the project, we learned how colors are very rarely just a solid color but a variety of colors to create blends and depth.

Art 10/14/2014, Trailblazers and Explorers

We learned a little about and artist named Grant Wood. We read about his life and looked at some of his paintings. He liked to paint ordinary people in his homeland of Iowa. His paintings were generally cheerful compared to the historical paintings that we looked at last week. His most famous painting was "American Gothic", which was the painting we've all seen of a farmer and a woman standing in front of a house holding a pitchfork. We practiced drawing people using a diagram and talking about proportion. Then we made a drawing of two people from the shoulders up to cut and paste onto a photo of the actual house that was in the actual painting.

 

Art 10/7/2014 Explorers and Trailblazers

We looked at three different paintings of The Trail of Tears and  talked about different artists  representation of the same historical event. The first painting was by Robert Lindneux. The second was John Guthrie and the third was mine, in order to show that we can all have a different ideas about how to tell the story. As we looked at the paintings we talked about perspective and color. The children then created a painting of the same event from their own creativity.

 We looked at painting from the three historical events that they learned about in history. Again, we noticed color and how the artist showed perspective. We talked about contour lines and what they are. Our project was to arrange some leaves on paper and draw contour lines around them and color only the background, or "negative space". 

Pioneers - History 1& 2

 In the 1830s a few eager pioneers made the long and dangerous trek out to the west coast in pursuit of good farmland.  This was not American land.  England claimed this territory as well as Russia, yet by 1843 long wagon trains traveled west along the Oregon Trail.  

In order to solve this territory conflict, in 1846 the US made a compromise with Britain, called the Oregon Treaty, extending the US/Canadian boarder straight along the 49th parallel. Further extending the border, Mexico agreed to turn over a large portion of land to the US after the Mexican American War in 1848 in exchange for $15 million.

The flow of pioneers dramatically increased in 1848 when gold was discovered.  Some of the miners found gold, but most were disappointed.  The quick settlement these vast lands so recently acquired, firmly established the west coast as American.

In class activities:

• Reviewed the Monroe doctrine and manifest destiny
• Read the story of a pioneer family and the tragedies they faced
• Learned about land treaties
• Mapped the new boundaries of the US
• Discussed the Oregon Trail
• Had our own gold rush! Searched for gold (painted rocks)- discussed how some struck it rich, some found fool's gold, and some found nothing at all

Optional lesson extension activities:

• Remember the game Oregon Trail?  It is now available as an app.  Consider buying it ($4.99) and allowing the kids to learn about the hard choices pioneers had to make.
• Look at historic photographs of the gold rush
• Read about Gold Fever 

Assignment:

• Read history cards #12-15
• Practice your timeline

Treasure Hunters- Gold Rush

Focus: The Gold Rush of California

Exploration Table: The children learned the Chinese symbol for gold. They painted with water colors pictures of Chinese workers and American miners panning for gold.
Literature: Gold Fever! Tales From The California Gold Rush by Rosalyn Schanzer, Gold Fever California's Gold Rush - a Close Up Guide by Oakland Museum Of California, and Chang's Paper Pony by Eleanor Coerr
Discussion: How people came from all over the world seeking their fortune. Why did the cost for goods and supplies go up and who benefited. Also how did one go about finding the gold.
Project: The children sewed burlap sacks ( including buttons!)to hold their gold.
Activity: We panned for gold using tin pans and buckets. The children really enjoyed finding those nuggets! ( gold painted rocks)

Music: We continued working on our surprise song

Questions to Ask: What was the Gold Rush? Who came for it? What were some ways they got it out of the ground?

Assignments due 10/14/14

 Explorers - Level 1

Art: TBA

Music: Write a folk song-either a story about something that happens this week, or a simple, playful tune(just a couple lines like "Johnny Get Your Hair Cut"

History: read history cards 10 and 11, practice your timeline

Drama: Memorize the poem "All God's Chullun".  It was sent home with them.

Trailblazers - Level 2

Art: TBAMusic: Write a folk song-either a story about something that happens this week, or a simple, playful tune(just a couple lines like "Johnny Get Your Hair Cut"
History: Read History Cards 10 and 11, practice timelineDrama:  

Pathfinders - Level 3

Art: Each student needs to choose a SYMBOL* of their choice, such as the Christian fish, Infinity, Medical Symbol, Star of David, etc.  Students need to draw an image of the symbol on paper to show the class, and be prepared to explain the meaning of the symbol, and any history behind that symbol.

 *I realize there are many symbols from occult/pagan backgrounds so please feel free to help your student in researching a symbol to avoid controversial subjects.

Music: Find out what country your family came to America from. And then write down the name of a traditional song from that country, we will be listening to them in class next week.

History: Prepare a written and oral report on your topic. Sophie – Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, Acacia-Moving Picture machine, Grace-Brooklyn Bridge, Andrew-Jesse James, Nathan-Ku Klux Klan, Elise-barbed wire, Mahayla- telephone, Luke-dynamite, Abigail-typewriter, Lauren-traffic lights, Allison-Carpet sweeper

Drama: memorize "Erie Canal".  Sent home with them. 

Navigators - Level 4 

Art: Each student needs to choose a SYMBOL* of their choice, such as the Christian fish, Infinity, Medical Symbol, Star of David, etc.  Students need to draw an image of the symbol on paper to show the class, and be prepared to explain the meaning of the symbol, and any history behind that symbol.

 *I realize there are many symbols from occult/pagan backgrounds so please feel free to help your student in researching a symbol to avoid controversial subjects.

Music: Find out what country your family came to America from. And then write down the name of a traditional song from that country, we will be listening to them in class next week.

History: Prepare a written and oral report on your topic. Ellie-Moving picture machine, David-Jesse James, Ryan-Alexander Graham Bell, Rachel-Ku Klux Klan, Eden-microphone, Rebecca-typewriter, Jacob-blue jeans with copper stress points, Zoe-telephone

Drama: research the topic given to them for 4 or more interesting facts to be incorporated into a scene.