Where In the World is Alabama?

This week we began learning a little about geography.

We began by learning where our city is in our state and what county we are located in. 

Then, we talked about our bordering states, and continents. 

Finally, we learned about lines of longitude, latitude, the Prime Meridian, and the Equator.
The concept of cities, counties, states, countries, and continents still confuses many of my students.  I think one reason they get confused is because many countries on other continents resemble the states within the United States making the United States seem like a continent to them, and the states seem like countries.  

The information:

The final product:  The circles actually stack on top of one another but we had them spread out to allow our glue to dry.

Alabama History Diamantes

This week we began learning about our state to prepare for our year long investigation of the state of Alabama!

We began by creating a Diamanté Poem about Alabama. 

I gave each student an outline to follow in making their poem and we headed off to the computer lab to find the answers. 

Line 1:  The name of our state

Line 2:  Two animals that are native to our state

Line 3:  Three cities in Alabama

Line 4:  Four agricultural products of Akabama

Line 5:  Three birds in Alabama

Line 6:  The state insect and the state bird

Line 7:  Fill in the blank:  Alabama is known as the _______ state. 

Once they had collected all of their information they transferred it onto a per-made diamanté diamond template. 

Then, they cute it out and glued it onto construction paper. 

Finally, they trimmed the construction paper leaving only a small border/outline. 

Now they are displayed in the hall for everyone to read!

Early Alabama Game

Students created a game board using good and bad things that happened to the prehistoric indians of Alabama.  Each student made their own game board and we used them to play our game today.

Coke v. Pepsi Results

It was very close but Pepsi edged out Coca~Cola.

Debates

Today we held the Coca~Cola and Pepsi debate.  Each team was well prepared and conducted themselves much better than our two presidential candidates :)  They were respectful of one another and presented true facts.  I was very impressed.  Even with each team being respectful the debate did become heated at times.  

Pepsi Team

Coca~Cola Team

I think this is, and will continue to be, a WONDERFUL learning experience.  Tomorrow each student will randomly draw 2 states to cast their vote for Coke or Pepsi.  The votes will be based on the Electoral College which will provide yet another learning experience!

Coca~Cola & Pepsi Elections

We are learning about the Electoral College and Presidential Debates this week.  We have divided into two teams:  Coca~Cola and Pepsi.  The students have researched their product so they can debate this Thursday and hopefully convince our class to choose their beverage as the official beverage of the U.S.A.

The Coca~Cola Team during their meeting.

The Pepsi Team during their meeting.

More Coca~Cola vs. Pepsi updates will follow later this week!

Montgomery

Friday morning we pulled out of the school parking lot BRIGHT AND EARLY.  As always the kids were very excited and did not go back to sleep as they thought they would.

There was a lot of game playing going on while we traveled.

We arrived safely at the capitol, listened to our instructions, and began our tour.

A few of us laying in the Rotunda.

Listening to our guide explain a few of the paintings on the walls.

Following our tour a few of us posed for a quick picture on the capitol steps and then found a spot to enjoy a quick snack on Goat Hill.

Following our visit to the capitol we crossed the street and made our way to the Alabama State House.

We climbed several flights of stairs before making our way to the house chamber.  The students got to sit at the representatives desks and vote on a few bills.

Our last stop in downtown Montgomery was Archives.  We learned about Pre-Historic Alabama Indian tribes.

We also had an opportunity to spend some time in a military room.   

Our last stop for the day was at Old Alabama Towne.  We put first things first by eating lunch and playing!

We visited a tavern which is a very old hotel where pioneers lodged along their journey.

One of the two tavern bedrooms

 Another of the tavern bedrooms.  The mattresses were supported by ropes.  We learned that the phrase "sleep tight" came from this type of rope bed because the ropes needed to be tight in order to provide support.  They would sleep a minimum of 4 people in each bed.  We also learned that you would have to sleep with strangers.

 A place setting at the tavern.  Check out that fork!

We stopped by a barn on the way to a log cabin.  Our guide taught us a little about farming.

Our final stop for the day was this log cabin.  This was a typical home in Alabama during the 1800s.  The top of the house was a loft that would sleep at least 6 children.  

We had a great trip and learned a lot!

Governent Review Game

Yesterday we played a review game to prepare for our Alabama History test.  We divided up into teams to see who had the most knowledge!

Team A is having a team discussion as they prepare to answer a question...

Team B is discussing their team's answer.

The final score was Team A 11 and Team B with 12 after a tie breaker.



Lots Of Classwork

 We have been super busy in the classroom this week.  On both Monday and Tuesday the only breaks we have taken were PE and recess.  We have worked our little fingers to the bone!

Each student received their Alabama History book this week.  We have begun talking about government to prepare for our upcoming trip to our state capital.  We looked at pictures of our state capital and the Alabama State House.  Ask your child if they remember the 3 branches of government we briefly discussed today.  If they remember all 3 of them then they deserve ice cream after dinner!

 In math today we took a VERY long assessment.  It was 50 HARD questions.  The new math curriculum we have adopted is very different from what we are used to.  It uses a very different vocabulary so the transition has been pretty difficult for the children.  

I will begin sending math homework home once I am comfortable with their knowledge of the material.  Right now I feel math homework would add unnecessary stress to your home due to the confusing terminology.  Bare with me and hopefully it will begin coming home next week.

We began our Physics of Sound unit in science!  Yesterday we discussed properties of sound and today we used our knowledge of sound properties to help us identify the sounds of various objects in our "Bag-O-Stuff."

BE PROACTIVE!  We used the book Bringing The Rain To Kapiti Plain to learn about being proactive.  Ki-Pat took control of the drought on the plains instead of placing blame on others.  Ki-Pat was able to use the resources that came to him to bring rain to the plain.  Along with learning how to be proactive, we also used this book to learn how to be VORACIOUS READERS, and also a little about rhyming.  

Ask your child what it means to be a voracious reader.  You may also want to ask them if they are a voracious reader.

French Explorers

Our current IB planner focuses on explorations.  We have learned about Spanish explorers, and we are now learning about French explorers.  To study French explorers the students broke up into small groups and taught one another.