Dress Like a...Day Photos!

Pictures are now up in the PhotoSite Gallery, everyone looked great! Look in the "Dress Like a...Day" folder. My apologies for a few blurry pictures!

Only two days of Summer School left!

Costume Examples

Here are a few examples of outfits you might put together for Dress Like a ... Day. Other than the Edmund knight costume (which was purchased from Disney), we just used a combination of thrift store finds and common costume props to pull off these great looks. Your closets may hold the perfect piece for your costume!

Dress Like a ... Day!

To celebrate finishing our reading selections, Friday, July 20th (tomorrow!) will be Dress Like a Farmer/Narnia/Pirate Day here in Room 104. Students are encouraged to come to class in appropriate garb. Of course, we have a few costumes and accessories for the forgetful to borrow. Please do not bring play weapons, as they would probably be confiscated. Oh, and pirates, even though many real pirates did not wear shoes, you still have to!

Photos will be uploaded on the PhotoSite, be sure to download them before the website closes in a few months.

Arm Yourselves!

Peter Pevensie received a shield on which the charge was a rampant lion, the symbol of Aslan. A rampant animal on a shield would be in a charging position, facing left, on it's hind legs, with the forelegs and tail raised.

We learned about some of the symbolism behind the heraldry used in coats of arms. Students learned what the different colors and symbols stand for and used that to create their own shield designs.

Check out some books on heraldry at the library or go online (with your parents' permission). Pictures of students making their shields are on the PhotoSite now!

Fresh-Churned Butter

Life on a farm like Zuckerman's often included such chores as churning butter. These days, most people get their butter from the market, but on Friday, we made it ourselves. It's actually very easy!

First, you need some heavy whipping cream. Pour it into a jar with a tight seal. Then, all you do is shake the jar until much of the contents are solid (we did this in less than half an hour, taking turns). Strain out the extra liquid and you have a soft, creamy, unsalted butter. We ate ours spread onto squares of homemade cornbread. Delicious!

My camera ran out of batteries while we were eating, but there are a few pictures to see on my PhotoSite.

Pirate Booty

Every self-respectin' pirate needs a treasure chest in which to stow their ill-gained booty! Last week, all the pirates on board The Black Pearl and The Death Deck crafted their own treasure chests. Each one was painted and decorated. The Cap'n was gracious enough to give them all a share of booty to put inside, with more to come as we be plunderin' the high seas!

Check out the pictures on the PhotoSite before they're gone!

Paper Plate Farm Animals

Check out these adorable paper plate farm animals! There were three different ones: cow, chicken, and pig. Our farmers did a very good job making these, they'll look great in your barn.

Hoist the Colors

Has your little pirate been singing a new tune? We've just learned the song, "Hoist the Colors" from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Styled after pirate shanties of old, this type of song would be sung while raising the "colors" (flag). Pirates used these songs to keep up a good rhythm and promote teamwork. Here is the chorus from "Hoist the Colors."

Yo, ho, haul together,
Hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
Never say we die!

PhotoSite Closing

Unfortunately, PhotoSite will be closing at the end of September. That means that my pictures will not be available online after that time. I will continue to upload photos of the classes throughout the summer, which you can view and download. Make sure that you save all the photos you want to keep by September 27, 2007. If you have trouble downloading, contact me at miss_cong@hotmail.com and I will email you the photos you want.

Dinner with the Beavers

Hail Narnians! Did you try making Turkish Delight last week? Well, if you enjoyed that, look in your books and make a list of all the foods enjoyed by the Pevensies at the Beavers' house. Perhaps you can try a few of the tasty dishes this weekend?

Or, maybe you want to find out more about real beavers? Check out some books from the local library and learn about what they really eat and how they they live (not in a house, I'm sure!).

Pictures!

Attention all SPEF'ers, friends, and families!!! Photos are now up! Please go to http://www.misscong.photosite.com/ to check them out. More photos will be posted as the classes progress, so check in every week for updates!

p.s. Thanks again to Julian P. for the gift of Narnia Stratego. The class will enjoy playing it!

Zuckerman's Farm

In Zuckerman's Farm, we have of course been reading Charlotte's Web as a class, but we've also been hard at work putting together our farm mobiles (example at right). Each student will get to take home their mobiles at the end of summer. The class is learning about main events, characters, and settings. Today we also learned about the parts of a spider. Stay tuned for some fun activities that are coming up!