An Introduction to Yorkshire

This week, we opened up the discussion for November's book, All Creatures Great and Small.
We heard mixed reviews and feelings about the book itself.  Some found life as a country veterinarian to be "gross" and "boring" while others (including myself) found the stories to be humorous and interesting.
Our lesson was taught by Teacher Stephanie.  Since her own mother was from Yorkshire, she was able to share some interesting facts and foods with us.  We learned that when Dr. Herriot moved to Yorkshire, it was like moving to a whole new country with having to learn a new language/dialect, new foods, and new people.  Stephanie brought some English shortbread and some ginger beer for us to snack on while we ooh-ed and ahh-ed at photos of the lush, green country side and the animals that reside there.  We learned that they wear "wellies" on their feet,  "kegs" on their legs, and they work to "addle some brass".
We wrapped up our Yorkshire experience by watching a couple of videos demonstrating the distinct Yorkshire dialect.  It sounded so foreign to our ears, but it was fun to hear the different way of speaking English.  We then attempted to speak a sentence using the new phrases that we learned.  It's a lot more difficult than we thought it would be, but it was really fun and silly.

Next week,  come prepared to train as a Veterinary Apprentice!

Our next book...

Our next book on the calendar is All Creatures Great and Small.
I need to apologize to all of you about this one.
  I admit that most of the books on our list are ones that I personally have not read yet, but wanted to.
All Creatures Great and Small has some excellent reviews and some really fun activities for us to engage in.
...BUT...
I just discovered that this book is 500 pages long!!  Ack!   Obviously, I wasn't aware of this fact when it was selected.
I know that I will not be able to read all 500 pages, and I certainly will not expect the students to, either.
I will be listening to this one via free audio book.
Please accept my apologies, and know that I've learned an important lesson about book selection research.   Let's make the best out of the situation, and read/listen to some version of the story so we can still enjoy our hands-on activities, imagining what life is like for a Country Veterinarian.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

This is our second week enjoying the adventures of Tom Sawyer. 
Last week, we had a lively discussion about what our favorite part of the story is, which parts made us giggle, and which parts made us feel squeamish.    We all agreed that it was clever and hilarious when Tom tricked his friends in to trading a "treasure" in exchange for a chance to whitewash the fence.  We wondered if whitewashing a fence is really as much fun as Tom made it out to be... Outside we went with paintbrushes in hand, to a butcher paper "fence" taped to the wall.  We divided up into two teams, and had a little competition to see which side could whitewash their half of the fence (with water) first.  Turns out,  we DO like whitewashing, but there was no clear winner.
Then we traded our paintbrush for an apple- which we ate while learning more about the author and why he chose a pen name.  Did you know that the story of Tom Sawyer is based on all the adventures Mark Twain had when he was a youngster?  Characters in the story are based on real life characters in Twain's neighborhood.  There is even the cave in Missouri that is named "Tom Sawyer Cave" as it is the same cave that a young Twain went "pirating" in many times.

This week, we started off our class with a "Buffalo Gals" sing-off.  This song is mentioned briefly in the story, and it was fun to sing the non-sensical lyrics with a catchy tune.  We understood why Tom and Huck enjoyed whistling and singing this fun song.
   Next, we turned our discussion to they way that Tom entertains himself.  He has no video games or TV to amuse him.  He uses his imagination while playing outside and magical adventures are happening all around him.  His pockets are full of "treasures" that most of us would consider trash.  We pulled out a pair of Tom's cut-off pants, and took turns reaching into the pockets to see what they contained.  Then we would try to look at the item through Tom's eyes and find imaginative ways to use them and consider them treasures.  We had a really fun time looking through a glass decanter stopper as a prism- or maybe it's a spinning top?  Could the brass key be used to scratch inside an ear?  Or maybe could it be used to dig in the dirt?  A dead rat on a string is DEFINITELY a treasure!  You can swing it around above your head, or even use it to scare the girls.  The item that had us all wishing we had one in our own pocket was the Jews Harp.  We took a few minutes to watch a video about how to move your tongue around in your mouth to make the interesting-sounding music.

Next week, we will wrap up our Tom Sawyer workshop by talking about things that happened while in the cave with Becky. 

Theme Seekers and Acorn Pancakes

This was our last week experiencing life in the wilderness like Sam Gribley.

We started out our day by designing a travel poster, enticing tourists to come visit Sam's tree and meet his animal friends.  We have some very clever artists among us!
Then our discussion turned to the book's THEME.  We read a few passages from the book that gave us clues.  We all agreed that the theme of this story is that civilized life is dangerous and boring while life in the wilderness is safe and enjoyable.
Although my tease of possum stew was received with mixed feelings- we actually had something much sweeter to taste...acorn pancakes!  We were brave enough to try pancakes made with mock-acorn meal and coconut flour, topped with black currant jam.   We also were pleased with the way sassafrass tea tastes!  Wilderness food is surprisingly tasty!

Next week- come prepared to talk about the Adventures of Tom Sawyer!

My Side of the Mountain

What a great way to kick off the school year!  Our classroom is filled with eager readers who LOVE adventure stories as much as I do.
Our first book, My Side of the Mountain, has many interesting topics for us to discuss. Last week, we learned a bit about the author, Jean Craighead George.  Did you know that her dad was a naturalist and taught her all about foraging for edible plants?  And her two brothers were the first falconers in the country.  They taught her how to train her own falcon!

We looked at a map of the east coast, and located the Catskill Mountains, we used clues to determine that this story likely took place in the 1950's, then we tried our hand at drawing nature journal sketches on the under side of a piece of tree bark.

This week, our hands-on project was about riverside clay, and how patient you need to be to be able to mold it into a preserves jar.  While our hands were busy molding our jars and lids, we enjoyed viewing video clips of weasels, falconers, and listened to hoot owls and whipporwils.

We look forward to wrapping up our discussion of this book with our taste buds.  Teacher Nalani has found a fresh opossum carcass just perfect for brewing a possum stew for us to try.  ;)

On October 12, the discussion begins on our next book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
(due to a miscalculation, Stuart Little had to be deleted from our calendar - sorry)

Christaon Themes and Animal Classification- Magician's Nephew

Week 9!

We discussed the Christain themes in the Magician's Nephew in our last class.

There aren't too many Christain theme's in this chronicle, compared to the other books, but the theme of creation is pretty big.   Dignity needed to put Aslan first before his dear mother, just like we need to put God before everything in our lives.

We spent most of our time learning s little about animal classification and putting together a lap book, which we will finish this week.

We are almost done, can you believe it?!  Have The Last Battle ready to discuss by April 21st.  The planet for this book is Saturn.

Horseback riding!!

 We had a fabulous time horseback riding last week!
 Merry was awesome with her horses and we are grateful  to her for letting us ride them.
 Here are a few pictures from the day.

This week we are discussing The Magicians Nephew!  Have it read and be ready to talk about the themes Venus.