The Royal and Most Pleasant Game of Goose

The Royal and Most Pleasant 

Game of Goose

           In 5th grade we learned about life in Colonial Williamsburg.    In our journey, my students went to the Raleigh Tavern on the Duke of Glouchester Street.   Along with discussing politics, eating, drinking, and socializing were popular at these local gathering spots.    One way to socialize in Colonial times was to play board games.

          The Royal and Most Pleasant Game of Goose was introduced to my students.   I wasn't quite sure how the kids would react to a black and white piece of paper as a game.    No Ipads or computer games.    They came to realize that they could have an great time playing a simple board game rolling the dice and moving a simple marker with their classmates.

        The game is played with one die and a marker for each player.

          There are a few interesting spaces on the game board to make the game fun.   A space that no one wants to land on is the Death Space.      I could always tell when someone landed on the Death Space.      The kids would moan, yell, and laugh.   This is where the player has to go back to the beginning of the game board to space number 1.   A few spaces featuring a goose will send a player ahead.    You might also land on the Jail space where you will lose a turn.     They learned that it was all in great fun.

     The students even wanted to take the game boards home!     This game was in my TCI Social Studies Alive! America's Past teacher's manual. I cannot take credit for this game.

          I have taken this game to our school's book fair at Barnes and Noble.    Children always want to play and want their parents to watch.

      The Royal and Most Pleasant Game of Goose has become one of my favorite games.    In my minds eye, it is a very early version of Candy Land, if you know what I mean.   Give it a try with your kids.

      Please leave a comment if you have a minute.    Let me know if you could use my ideas in your class.

Beti 

Boston Tea Party Chest

       Last week my students discussed the Boston Tea Party.  We read from our text book, watched a short video clip, and took notes.  I also needed a prop. This tiny chest was perfect!  It is only about 2 X 3 inches. It has a little clasp and hinges on the back. 

      I cut open a tea bag and poured the loose tea into the chest.

        My 5th graders enjoy the props that I have on my desk.

                               Do you use props in your room?

      We will have a Skype field trip to the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum in Boston. The kids all dress up in their colonial outfits for the day. We get to partake in a discussion about the fairness of the tax on tea in the Colonies.  Each student portrays a historical person from Boston at the time.   The Liberty Kids episode on the "Boston Tea Party" is shown while the 5th graders are drinking tea and munching on cookies.  

     Of course there is a story behind the little chest... During Advent, the women of our parish get together for a night of reflection, dinner, and socializing.  Each table has a different theme. My good friend Ellen, who by the way I share a birthday with, helped with our table decorations.  She made these cute little chests which had  candy treats inside.  It has been on my desk all winter.  Once in a while, at the end of a hard day, I would treat myself to a piece of candy.  I realized that it would make a prefect prop to teach about the Boston Tea Party.  I believe Ellen picked these little wooden boxes up at Michael's or JoAnn's.
     Thanks Ellen,  I can always count on you! 

Today I linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the 
 Five for Friday Weekly Linky Party.

www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com 

Please leave a short comment.  I really enjoy your feedback. 


Beti

Boston Massacre

Boston Massacre      

   This week has been very exciting in my Social Studies class. We have been discussing the events leading up to the American Revolution,  The Proclamation of 1763,   The Quartering Act,  The Stamp Act,  The Townshend Acts,  The Boston Massacre,  The Tea Act,  and The Boston Tea Party.  The Boston Massacre was an especially unsettling topic for my students, especially  the fact that five men were killed.  We talked about the issue that we really don't know what happened during the confrontation, but we do know the result.  We also realized that there are always two sides to a story.

      Among the faculty at my school, I'm known as the "teacher who collects junk".  If someone needs something, they first come to ask me if I might have what they are looking for.  Nine out of ten times, I usually have what they are looking for. 

      So.... last year someone dropped off a bag of "goodies" at the school office, and of course  our wonderful administrative assistants said, " Send this to Beti's room.  She'll find a use for these things."   Inside the bag were about fifteen little wooden coffins. ( I would say that you could find these at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or JoAnn's )

      In our Social Studies text book is this picture.

    I made a photocopy, cut them apart, and glued these onto the tops of the little coffins.

 

   
               I feel that my students have a better understanding of my Religion and Social Studies lessons if they can touch, sing, of get involved in acting out the topic. These little wooden boxes just happened fill the bill for my lesson on the Boston Massacre.

          You never know what the day may bring.  So, keep an open mind to and an open door.  You'll be surprised what or who may come into your life.

        I have linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching  Five for Friday linky.  Check out all the other blogs and their great ideas.

                      www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com  

Please leave a comment on this post.  

Beti
 

Hardtack - A tasty treat on an explorer's ship

          My 5th graders were learning about early exploration of the 1440 and 1500s.  We read about the food that was eaten on these long voyages.  I found a very easy recipe online for hardtack.

Today I am linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching for a Five for Friday Linky Party.
www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com 

 Hardtack

The recipe for Hardtack is very simple!
       4- 5 cups of flour
       2 cups of water
       3 tsp. salt
Mix the three ingredients into a dough. The dough will be on the  side.  Roll out dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch.  Shape into a rectangle.  Cut into 3X3 inch squares.  I cut mine a little smaller.  Poke holes into both sides.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn each piece over and bake for another 30 minutes.   You are done!  Let the hardtack sit out all day until it is dry.  It will be hard as a rock.  Store in an airtight container.

       Parents and students made the hardtack at home and sent it in to school.  I soaked the hardtack in milk for a few hours in class.  Everyone  had a taste test or two with butter. Yum! It tasted a bit like Saltine Crackers only much harder.  Some of the kids enjoyed the treat.  Some were not as excited and put it in the trash after a bite or two. 

     I couldn't help myself when I saw some gummy worms in the candy isle one day.  I told the kids that sometimes bugs and worms got into the food supply on the sailing ships. The sailors would soak the hardtack in water so the bugs and worms would float to the top.  The these unwelcome friends could be removed.  So I handed out the gummy worms to get the point across.   It was a big hit.


         I received an email from a parent.  She said her son had been watching a post- Civil War series on AMC.  Hardback was mentioned.  Her son was so excited that he knew about the hardback and how it tasted.  It brought history to life.
    I guess that is why we are teachers.

Thanks for reading my blog. I hope this article can help you in some little way. Please leave a comment and come back again soon.

Enjoy the rest of this glorious day.

Beti

Cuadros- Art Work from Women of Peru

         Guest Blogger -- Judi Odmark

          Judi's 3rd graders use a basal reader from Scholastic  LITERACY PLACE.

    
  If you look closely at the cover you will notice beautiful artwork.

    The artwork is actually a piece of hand-sewing called a cuadros.  Each color is a different patch of material or stitches in a variety of colors of thread.  Now you look at it from a different perspective.   The women in Peru make and sell the cuadros.  
    This is the story selection.

    A wonderful woman named Sister Theresa would come to school and help out in the 3rd grade working with the students during Reading.  She read the story selection in the basal reading book.  One of her friends named Barbara went to Peru to help local women become self-sufficient. 

  
       These are the cuadros that Sister Theresa gave to the teachers at St. Michael School.

This is a close up detail section.  You can see the different kinds of cloth used.

I love the snake and the flowers.

Each person has their own instrument.

The woman on the left is holding a woven basket.

      

   

  

    These hand made examples of the cuadros really make the story selection come alive for our 3rd graders.    

     Thank you Sister Theresa.  And many thanks to your friend Barbara, too.
    
          I hope my pictures do justice to the beautiful needle work these women of Peru have done.

Please leave a comment.  I enjoy hearing from people who read my blog.

Royal Governor & King of England

 Royal Governor of Virginia 

& the King of England

                Learning about Williamsburg is one of my favorite times in 5th grade Social Studies.

I like to have my students dress up to enhance the lesson and getting the point across.  The kids get into my costumes.  I picked these up from Target.com.

                Here are two of my awesome students who acted out their parts, the Royal Governor of Virginia who was appointed by the King of England. this week. 

What lessons do you have students dress in costumes to teach a certain concept?

This is linked to "Wordless Wednesday" on secondgradesugarandspice.blogspot.com

This is linked to teachingblogaddict.com

Please leave a comment.  I really enjoy your thoughts and any suggestions on my activities.