March 28 "Indoors or out, no one relaxes in March, that month of wind and taxes, the wind will presently disappear, the taxes last us all the year."

Hello families--

I beg your pardon for my absence; I have been working long and hard on a rather monumental "differentiated instruction" unit for one of my courses. It was a push to the end, but the result is a labor of love--something wonderful to share with your children after April vacation. Anyway, it's good to be back!

In Social Studies, we're moving on to a brief interactive tour of Plymouth Colony and the Pilgrims who inhabited it. Below are sites we'll explore. I encourage you to check them out; they're pretty interesting! (Some of this work will be independent, and everything will be due on Friday, April 2.)

You Are The Historian--Investigating the First Thanksgiving

Excellent Interactive Site! (There is an activity to complete at the end, which each student will print off and share.)

Independent Assignment:

(I will provide a worksheet to accompany the following two activities):

First:

Go to this site and answer the following questions...

• Who were the Pilgrims?
• In what year did they begin to come to America?
• According to early Plymouth records, what were the names of the first four ships to sail to America?
• Pilgrims weren't called "Pilgrims" until the 1800s. What were the passengers from the first four ships called back in the 1620s?

Second:

Continuing the worksheet above, answer questions by reading this interesting, fun article in Muse Magazine, Vol. 5, Issue 9, November 2001, from the publishers of Cricket and Smithsonian Magazine. You can find it by clicking on:

The True Story of the First Thanksgiving.

FYI: Check out what it was like living on "Plimouth Plantation".

For Fun (and extra credit!):

Write a short conversation between two Pilgrims by visiting this site. Talk Like a Pilgrim

Make It At Home --two colonial games to make and try!

Try this recipe for Fresh Ginger Cake inspired by A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620

Math Connection:

A pilgrim used 65 yards of fencing to enclose a rectangular garden plot. He then used an additional piece of fencing, 10 yards long, to divide the plot exactly in half into two smaller rectangles. What were the dimensions of the field?

Write out your answer on the end of the worksheet (you'll see where I've left a place for it). Show your work!

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In Language Arts, we're off on another Writing adventure, which I'll introduce tomorrow. Suffice it to say we'll be doing a little research... I'll fill you in on everything tomorrow.

Be well, stay warm... It's been rather "March-like" lately.

Teri