Tasting Colonial Treats

On Monday, we divided into social studies book clubs where we'll be studying different topics from the colonial times. Our book clubs range from freedom of religion to slavery. One book club is studying food and gardening in colonial times. Inspired by what she read on Monday, Leela recreated a colonial recipe for butternut squash. She brought enough into the classroom for us all to try on Tuesday. It was delicious!

Dear America Contest Entries!

Our entries for the 5th National Dear America Student Writing Contest have been mailed out! Students interested in participating chose five entries from their Plymouth journals to submit to the contest. Our entries will be up against other entries from third through seventh graders around the country!

We'll find out how we did on April 29th! 

Plymouth Murals--They're Complete!

Our Plymouth murals are complete and beautiful! Read the blog entry by Allie, Bria and Ellis to find out more information about the process we went through to create the murals! Click on the images to enlarge them, or attend our Plymouth Celebration on Friday at 8:40 a.m.!

Life in Plymouth

The Artists of "Life in Plymouth" 

The Mayflower Compact

The Artists of "The Mayflower Compact"

Wampanoag Village 

The Artists of "Wampanoag Village"

The First Thanksgiving

The Artists of "The First Thanksgiving"

The First Encounter (with the Wampanoag)

Artists of "The First Encounter"

Landing in the New World

The Artists of "Landing in the New World"

Journey of the Mayflower

The Artists of "Journey of the Mayflower"

Plymouth Murals (by Allie, Bria and Ellis)

Introduction
Now in Social Studies, we're studying the Pilgrims. We're making murals from big events in the Pilgrim's lifetime. Before this, we were writing journals of different Pilgrims: Stephen Hopkins, Giles Hopkins, Francis Cooke, John Billington, etc. From this (the events of Plymouth) we are drawing murals that will become fully painted and creative. We have seen many murals that take place in a Pilgrim's lifetime, so now we have amazing ideas for our murals. We hope you enjoy reading about the making of our murals!

Day One: Drawing with a Grid:
On the first day, Marc (Zack's dad) came in so we could start drawing our murals. We split into the following groups:

• The Mayflower Compact: Jane, Ellis, Allie, Bria
• Wampanoag Village: Katya, Sabina, Adina, Sydney
• The First Thanksgiving: Zack, Jonathan, Dylan, Elliot
• The First Encounter (with the Wampanoag): Jack, Michael, Sam
• Life in Plymouth: Alec, Andrew, Eric, Jason
• Journey of the Mayflower: Mayu, Ava, Leela
• Landing in the New World: Ida, Chloe, Emma, Charlotte

First, we drew our sketches on small pieces of yellow paper and added a 1 inch by 1 inch grid. Then, we drew a grid on large brown paper that was 3 inches by 3 inches. We drew all the big shapes on the paper from the little drawing. After this, we did all the details. Marc showed us pictures of murals so we could have a good idea of what murals look like. On day two, we will paint! All of our murals were very successful! We appreciated all the parents who helped on Day One!

Day Two: Painting Day

Zack's dad Marc came back to help us with painting our murals, as well as several other parents. Parents helped the groups mix different colors. Zack's dad encouraged us to think about colors and what's realistic for Plymouth. The parents did a good job with alternating in the different stations. That day was important because we put color into our murals. We painted the big spaces first. At the end, every mural was perfect, and we couldn't have done such a good job with our murals if the parents didn't volunteer and help a lot. 

Day Three: Details

Details. Details. Details. That's what we did on the third day. We did drawings and paintings before, so today was focused on details. With the detail part you can still be creative. You can mostly add any details as long as it's OK with your group. You get to use colored pencils and crayons to add details. It might not sound fun, but with those tools it really helps improve the quality of the murals a lot. Details are fun and can help your paintings. We call this detail day! 

Check out our upcoming posts to see pictures of our finished murals!

Plymouth Journals: Landing in the New World

On November 11, 1620, the Mayflower landed in the New World. In our journals, we wrote about the landing from point of view of Saints, Strangers and the Wampanaog. Take a peek into the start of some of our journal entries!

Plymouth Perspectives: A Teenage Boy

To learn more about our Plymouth study, click here! Here's a journal entry from the perspective of a teenager traveling on the Mayflower!

Plymouth Perspectives: An Adult Male

To learn more about our Plymouth study, click here! Here's a journal entry from the perspective on an adult male, one of the first travelers to depart the boat and explore the New World! 

Plymouth Perspectives: A Child

To learn more about our Plymouth study, click here! Here's a journal entry from the perspective of a child traveling on the Mayflower!

Plymouth Perspectives: The Wampanoag

To learn more about our Plymouth study, click here! Here's a journal entry from a member of the Wampanoag tribe!

Plymouth Perspectives: A Teenage Boy

As part of our American Colonization study, each student in the class has assumed the role of a real traveler on the Mayflower or a real member of the Wampanoag tribe.  Each student has a unique role on the journey. Some are men, and some are women. Some are adults, and some are children. Some are Saints, and some are Strangers. Some travel alone, and some travel with their families. Because each student has a different role, the diary entries they write about their experiences end up being quite different. We have several videos to share of us reading entries written from our unique perspective.

Enjoy this video from the perspective of a teenage male Stranger traveling on the Mayflower with his family!