Charles Wallace and Mrs Whatsit

What an intriguing beginning to our new adventure, A Wrinkle In Time.
This week we discussed the characters in our story.  A lot of us could relate to Meg Murry the way she thinks she is not smart, even though she is a genius.   She believes that she is plain-looking when it is so obvious to others just how attractive she is.

We defined what INTUITION is, and challenged ourselves to trust our gut more often.

We sipped on Charles Wallace's hot chocolate while we discussed the character, Mrs. Whatsit.
(ask your student what the difference is between hot cocoa and hot chocolate)

Jael was our first volunteer to be transformed into the character, Mrs. Whatsit.  We dressed her in a shawl, and eight scarves. Then topped the tramp with a man's wool fedora!  What fun it was to re-create the scene when Mrs. Whatsit showed up to Meg's house that dark and stormy night.  Other characters joined into the scene, and the scarves and hat were recycled onto a new Mrs. Whatsit, and the scene was acted out over and again because it is such fun to pretend.

 This week, please read chapters five through eight.
We will continue our discussion of Meg and Mrs. Whatsit and TESSERACT travel.

Julie's big decision

This week, we finished up our discussion of our book, Julie of the Wolves.
Those students who read the ending to this book agreed that the ending was both climactic and disappointing.

Miyax chooses to migrate closer to the river, and builds herself an igloo made from hard, dry snow.
We watched a video of some Inuits showing us how to expertly build an igloo in 40 below weather.  Amazing!
Then, we built our own "igloos" using mini marshmallows.

What if you were Miyax's position?  Would you choose to continue your journey to San Francisco like you planned?   Would you choose to go live with your father?   Or would you choose to live with your adopted family of wolves out on the tundra?

Our next book is "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle.  Get started reading right away.  Students will need to have read up to chapter four by next week's discussion.

Part 2

Last week, we had a discussion about Part 2 of the book, Julie of the Wolves.
Part 2 describes Miyax's life before she ran away, before she learns to survive among the wolves.
We talked about her becoming a child bride, and suggested that maybe this was their native custom of "adopting" a new member into the family.  We agreed that if any of us were to be treated as disrespectfully as Daniel treated Miyax, then we have every right to leave the relationship immediately.

Our discussion then led to all of the things that Miyax learned from her father.  He taught her to hunt, to preserve food, to sew, to read and understand the nature around her.   What have WE learned from our fathers that serve us well today?

Since Miyax was very skilled at sewing caribou fur in to muklaks and mittens, we thought it might be a good survival skill for us to learn, also.  Each student was given a section of caribou fur to make an article of clothing with.  Most chose to make mittens, but I also saw furry ear muffs, and a furry bag, too.  Sewing fur is tricky!

Continue reading Part 3 of the book, and be ready to discuss on March 2nd.  
Ask yourself "What is the THEME of this book"?