September 13, 2010 Day Seven

Sophie had a busy, productive day of school. She had a lot of work to do completing two 5 x 5s and beginning her big history project. I think her favorite part, it was definitely mine, was performing the sea shanty she wrote in costume. She chose creative writing as an activity and since we were starting her Age of Discovery unit today, I decided to have her listen to and then write a sea shanty. We found a great website that directed us to Amazon where we listened to samples from some great folk artists singing the old tunes. I told Sophie to ask Grandpa Mike about sea shanties and the songs of the US Navy. We listened to about a dozen different songs and we talked about the differences between them and the sailors' purpose in singing them. I explained to her how the lively "working" songs helped keep rhythm and efficiency on the ship. We counted out the rhythm and talked about the sailors pulling the ropes or rowing the oars at the same time and how the music helps keep them together. Then we identified the ballad songs about land and home and love. And we listened to a couple of story songs that told tales of past voyages and adventures.
I explained the assignment to Sophie—that she would write new verses to a sea shanty. She picked the song "Blow the Man Down" and we printed the lyrics then listened again to the song. We discovered that the written lyrics and sung lyrics didn't match exactly and I explained that sea shanties often changed or were altered depending on the ship that was sailing or where they were going or even who was singing. We read the lyrics and counted out eleven syllables in rhyming couplets. Sophie and I sat down and started working on her new song. I told her to write four couplets from the perspective of the character she will be creating and working with throughout her Age of Discovery unit, Ben, the 10 year old cabin boy from Scotland. She named her ship The Calderwood (because it has a lot of syllables). Her song is printed below and (fingers crossed) I am uploading the video of Sophie singing her new verses!
We played a great fast-paced word game, Scrabble Splat, where you start with a four letter word and you build and change that word with the letter cards in your hand. We played twice and it's a wonderful language arts exercise.
After lunch we began the Age of Discovery unit. I set out a great map I photocopied from one of the books we're using, Explorers Who Got Lost (citation below) and gave her colored pencils. I told her that one of the things I didn't like about public school was the sitting still and listening when we were learning something new. I explained that as she was coloring in her map I would read aloud from some of the books we're using for the unit. We worked together like that for an hour and a half, her coloring and asking questions, me reading and explaining and pointing out on her map key places that were identified in the books. This proved to be an effective way for us to work together. She stayed busy, creative, and actively participating and I didn't feel like I was lecturing or boring her but rather really teaching and learning together.
Sophie completed her 5 x 5 and then we worked together fixing any mistakes. For now I am letting her write her blog in a freestyle, informal tone. I want her to want to write and to share her experiences. I beleive that relaxed journaling is an important language skill.

Sophie has a "math plan" of completing 2 worksheets a day from three different books and on Saturday she and Kevin will review the worksheets, correct what's necessary, and learn a new skill that she will practice for the following week. She also stays busy exercising her math brain playing some great Iphone and computer games.

We read the first chapter of our unit novel, The Lost Voyage of John Cabot, by my friend and fellow-Stonecoast graduate, Henry Garfield.

5 x 5 for 5th Grade
5 Pictures/Illustrations
5 Vocabulary
1. Deplete: take away without putting back.
2. Circumnavigate: to navigate around the earth.
3. Velocity: the rate of speed
4. Couplet: two, a pair, a duo, often used in poetry, or songs.
5. Expedition: A journey taken by people with an objective.
5 Details/Facts
1. Poor people from Europe who had children often sent one or two away to sea to be cabin boys for sailors.
2. The small raised section at the stern of a ship is called," The Poop ."
3. The Vikings landed In Providence, Rhode island when they came from Newfoundland.
4. Prince Henry the Navigator started the first navigating school ever, in Portugal.
5. Sea shanties are songs that sailors would often sing during work.
5 Sentences
1. Every day people deplete food.
2. Ship captains circumnavigate the earth.
3. At baseball games, usually there's something that shows the velocity of the pitch.
4. Christopher Columbus and John Cabot went on an expedition to a new world.
5. I wrote a song that had a couplet in it.

5 Questions & Answers

1. List 3 different kinds of sea shanties. A: Work shanties, ballads, and stories.
2. 2. Why would a 10 year old boy like Ben become a cabin boy on a sailing ship?  A: Because parents like Ben's would have to send children away because they couldn't feed or take care of them.
3. What are Vikings and where are they from?  A: The Vikings are people from Norway who discovered America in 1000 AD.
4. What is the "land bridge"?   A: The land bridge connected Asia and Northern America 20,000 years ago.
5.  Who is Prince Henry the Navigator and why is he important? A: Prince Henry the Navigator started the fist navigating school ever!

5 Pictures & Illustrations

Land Bridge

Old Stone Mill, Providence, RI. Believed by some to be of Norse origin, thereby proof of the Vikings' Vinland.

Sophie's Age of Discovery Scrapbook

Eric the Red in Vinland

Sophie's Blog
What was your favorite part about the baseball game? Tell me about your hotel sleep-over. What do you like best about Farm School? Write a sentence describing your weekend in Providence, RI. List three parts of your history project, The Age of Discovery Scrapbook.

My favorite part of the baseball game was spending time with Bo. My hotel sleepover was so much fun because, I haven't seen most of my friends. Also Emma did I really good job being the concierge and cook and all of that ( as well as dad. ) Also The signs that the triplets , Lily, and I made were fantastic. I liked doing the sustainable living poster for farm school. But I really liked designing dolls and characters with Bo for English and writing class. On the weekend in Providence for a skating competition we explored through the town of Providence a little bit, and mostly shopped in malls!!!!! In my big history project of the month is to make a scrapbook of maps and explorers. I will design maps to put in, and make a report on each early explorer, such as John Cabot, Henry Hudson, and Christopher Columbus..

3 Activities: Creative Writing, Game, Project

Creative Writing
Sea Shanty Re-Mix : "Blow the Man Down"
Write 4 new 11 syllable couplets
Character: Ben, a 10 year old cabin boy from Scotland

"The Calderwood's flying among the great seas
    To me, way hey, blow the man down
The folks that I'm leaving are sayin' goodbyes
    Give me some time to blow the man down

The sorrow I feel will be washed by the sea
    To me, way hey, blow the man down
But an adventure is growin' inside of me
    Give me some time to blow the man down

The sailors and I workin' hard as we can
    To me, way hey, blow the man down
The waves are a crashin' so give me plan
    Give me some time to blow the man down

Oh Calderwood sailors the New World we attend
    To me, way hey, blow the man down
Land 'ho me good boys, journey's come to its end
    Give me some time to blow the man down"

Game: Scrabble Splat—a fast-paced word game, we played twice.

Project: Worked on Sophie's "Age of Discovery" Scrapbook
Sophie colored her map while I read aloud from the following book. The activity proved successful—as I read Sophie followed along on the map as we discussed and learned about the early explorers and the birth of the Age of Discovery.

The Discovery of the Americas, Betsy and Giulio Maestro pgs 3-23

Explorers Who Got Lost, Diane Sansevere Drehel, Introduction & A Little History pgs 1-7