Sunday, September 30, 2018

Vikings and Electricity

SOCIAL STUDIES

This week we learned about the first Europeans in North America. We started with the vikings. My kids have been telling everyone they meet that Thursday is actually Thor's day. I don't think I ever realized before this week that Leif Erickson was a Christian.

Anyway, I gave my kids a vikings book and said, "I would like you to make a boat, but you can make whatever. Here's your guide." And that was all the direction I gave them for their craft. Maxwell was inspired. Behold:


Can you see how he has oars, a rudder, and a dragon's head? So cute!

Daniel's boat was SO CUTE too! The best part is where he had taken flies that he had killed and put it on the bow of the boat incapsulated in hot glue. But it got wrecked before I could get a photo.

William did one too:


We read this:


And we went to our first parent meeting of the year at Westwind, and we need to figure out how to have very concrete proof of learning, and my teacher and I discovered that Brainpop (which I use anyway) has some awesome resources that I will be using this year. I can have my kids take a quiz, make a movie using Brain pop images about the subject, do an activity like defining vocabulary about the subject, or they can even "make a map" which is basically a visual report on the subject. Brilliant! 


We also learned about Columbus. I feel uneasy about Columbus. I don't like talking about him too much. Whatever.

SCIENCE

This week we learned about electricity even more. We learned about insulators and conductors. And I had every child tell me the basics of electricity and how it relates to magnets:




Even William was getting the hang of it a bit:




I'll have to have Hyrum do some brain pop stuff about magnets and electricity since it's what fifth graders are "supposed" to know.

MATH

I finally started doing some math with Hyrum. We were reviewing fractions, and he was delighted with how easy it was for him. I was pretty delighted too.


Maxwell's math got kind of hard and we did the same lesson for like three days. (Not the one pictured though.) Speaking of, it's so funny, apparently the school is supposed to give my kids grades, but what government officials don't seem to realize is that we go over things until they get a perfect score, because what's the point of going on if you don't understand what you're doing now? 

Yeah, whatever.


And Daniel is doing great.


LANGUAGE ARTS

I know you've been waiting for it...the continuation of Daniel's and Hyrum's stories:

Daniel's:


The Adventures of Digital 3s... Continued

They all agreed and went into the jungle. One of them said "We need to get supplies. We need to find a trading post of a village."

Twister said "I know how to find animals for food and hides."

Jack asked "How do you know?"

"I don't know how I know, I just know." Twister replied. 

I said "Well, he must know because he can turn into any animal. Also he knows about them and where they like to be and what they want to do."

"Well, that makes sense." Jack said. Them Twister said "Follow me." They found an open field with a huge herd of ruckalloes.  Ruckalloes were good to eat, but they had a thick rock armour for their skin, so it is hard to kill them. The horns they grow on their face could be used for weapons. The meat would make it so you wouldn't have to eat again for seven days, and their bones had rare jewels in them. Some of the jewels were even magical.

Hyrum's


The Warrior Elements...Continued

Then, just like the big crystal had done, the shards of crystal began floating. Half of the pieces flew out of the Temple and scattered. The other half was still floating.

Flame looked some more and found a little bag. Flame said "We can catch the floating crystals with this." They started jumping in the air and capturing the crystals. They put the crystals in the bag, but no matter how many they put in the bag, it did not get bigger. 

"This myst be enchanted." said Vipe. 

While they were jumping, it was actually kind of fun, until Vipe said "Uhhh...help?" Flame looked to where Vipe's voice was coming from. Vape was in the air right on top of Flame.

He was holding two crystals in his hands. "How are you doing that?" Flame asked. 

"I don't know, but I think it's caused by the crystals floating powers." said Vipe.

"What happens when you turn the crystal?" Flame asked. Vipe move both of his wrists forwards slightly, and he started to move forward. He twisted his wrists left and he started flying left.

And a sample of Maxwell's



Friday, September 28, 2018

Founding of the US and Canada

My plan for history this year. Little changes from last time. 
* Means it's specifically Canadian.

Sept
week 1
activity 1 Bering Strait and Book of Mormon Native Origins -Teepees from paper bags p81
activity 2 Culture of Ancient Natives -Paper cup totem poles p24
week 2
activity 2 Marco Polo-spyglass link
week 3
activity 1 Columbus-make boats p25
*activity 2 John Cabot-make fish crafts
week 4
*activity 1 Samuel Champlain/ North West Passage- origami boats
activity 2 Lost Colony- candle holders

Oct
week 1
activity 1 Jamestown- thatched roof huts
activity 2 Pocahontas -Kachina Dolls/clay pots
week 2
activity 1 Whites' effect on Natives/ Smallpox-make native musical instruments
activity 2 Plymouth Rock-"planting" candy corn in pudding/oreo dirt w/ fishy crackers p32
week 3
activity 1 Dutch West India Company- popcorn balls p34
activity 2 Spread of Slavery/ Tobacco -act out ship and selling of slaves
week 4
activity 1 Pirates -dress up and treasure hunt
activity 2 Witches -halloween activities (pintrest ideas)
week 5
*activity 1 Hurons and Iroquois -play la cross
activity 2 King Philip's War -beaded necklaces

Nov
week 1
activity 1 William Penn --taffy pull p34
*activity 2 Filles du Roi -rag dolls p97
week 2
*activity 1 Hudson Bay Company -faux beaver hats
*activity 2 Seven Year War/James Wolfe -hoe cakes p94
week 3
activity 1 Williamsburg -cardboard stockades
activity 2 First Great Awakening -game of graces p54
week 4
activity 1 Ben Franklin -kites p85
activity 2 Patrick Henry -fruit pyramid p98

Dec
week 1
activity 2 Boston Massacre/ Tea Party- have tea party p37
week 2
activity 1 Paul Revere -make hobby horse p67
activity 2 Declaration of Independence -homemade ink  p39
week 3
activity 1 George Washington- batting wigs p90
*activity 2 Guy Carlton aka Lord Dorchester -nine pin bowling p96

Jan
week 1
activity 1 Revolution/ migration to Canada- yankee doodle kazoos with hobby horse p89
activity 2Thomas Jefferson -pomander balls p83
week 2
activity 1Constitution- government mobiles p46
activity 2 Bill of Rights -jack-wax p99
week 3
activity 1President's Job- hats and US pres. vs Church pres. worksheet p52
activity 2Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark -salt dough mountain continental divide p48
week 4
*activity 1Tecumseh -dress up like natives
activity 2 War of 1812 --make flag w/ candle wicking knots p 97

Feb
week 1
activity 1 Daniel Boon 1770-candles p61
activity 2 Johnny Appleseed 1800 -apple stamps and apple juice p102
week 2
activity 1 Monroe Doctrine -american tree craft link
activity 2 Trail of Tears -run around in the snow with rags on our feet p46
week 3
activity 1 Chief Joseph- dreamcatcher  p101
activity 2 Fredrick Douglas -corn husk dolls p109
week 4
activity 1 Eli Wittney -take seeds out of cotton
activity 2 Missouri Compromise/ Nat Turner -rag rug or weaving p51or 58

March
week 1
*activity 1 Lord Durham1840 --homemade soap p65
*activity 2 James Howes 1849
week 2
activity 1 Tall Tales -yarn dolls p102
activity 2 Davy Crockett -tin can lanterns p62
week 3
activity 1 Alamo/ Mexican American War -quetzal bird link
activity 2 Oregon Trail -giant pretzel log house 
week 4
activity 1 Brigham Young -wagon craft
activity 2 Handcarts/ Donner Reed Party -butter and jam p67 

April
week 1
activity 1 Cardston Pioneers -pioneer easter eggs p 68
activity 2 Gold Rush -bath tub panning
week 2
activity 1 Compromise of 1850 -pioneer game peashooters and wheel rolling p105
activity 2 Dread Scott Decision -make paper chains 
week 3
activity 1 Underground Railroad to Canada -quilt
activity 2 Uncle Tom's Cabin-junk band p108
week 4
activity 1 Mark Twain -play marbles p107
activity 2 Abraham Lincoln -hats and beards
week 5
activity 2 Clara Barton -first aid p74

May
week 1
activity 1 Jim Crow Laws -oreo recipe (together is better)
activity 2 W.E.B. Du Bois/ Booker T. Washington -k-5 projects link
week 2
activity 1 George Washington Carver -make peanut butter p111
*activity 2 Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine
week 3
*activity 1Dominion of Canada -make canada flag link
*activity 2Differences in Government of U.S. and Canada -igloos out of ice or sugar cubes
week 4
*activity 1John A. MacDonald -mountie link
*activity 2 Canada and Natives -make an inukshuk


Also, I want them to learn these songs (in this order)

The Province locator song (that I think I'll have to make up :P )
Oh Canada
The Star Spangled Banner

The Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

Monday, September 24, 2018

And We're Off! New Year of School

Here comes a new school year! Full of physics and full of the founding of Canada and the USA. Funny thing, we will probably be OUTSIDE of Canada and the USA, but I better not step too far out side of my educational four year cycle, or subjects might never be covered.

I need to really be good at recording learning outcomes for my Westwind teachers, so this blog is of utmost importance this year. I think I will go through each of the four main subjects (math, language arts, Social Studies, and Science) for each kid every week, including William a lot of the time even though he is technically not part of Westwind.

I think I'll go in random order a lot because that puts the fun things first, and I'll still put extra stuff in there.

So....here it goes:

SOCIAL STUDIES

So this year we're studying the founding of US and Canada. This begins with the First Nation People of course. I bought this historical fiction book about the Blackfoot people living right here! They even mention Chief Mountain, the Peigan Tribe, the Blood tribes etc. Pretty cool. But what's not cool is that the main underlying story is that this 15 year old girl can't wait to get married and start her own polygamist family, especially when her 13 year old friend just got married.

It's called Sweetgrass


We also have read the first two books of the Kaya: An American Girl series which is about a Nez Pierce girl in the 1700s. I love American girl books.



And of Course that wasn't enough for Maxwell and he's currently reading the rest.



We made Teepees one day as our activity. Which is perfect for the First Nations here who were Teepee dwellers.


Then we went to Writing on Stone as a First Nation field trip. SO FUN! I love playing on hoodoos. I think Dustin will never let me forget how I called panicking because I was ten feet up a steep bank and couldn't get down with Abraham in my arms.

I'm scared of heights, okay?

The interpretive centre was very informative about First Nations and Daniel especially loved a First Nation game he learned there.





While we were on the hoodoos, I read to them ancient First Nation legends.



And then on the way home we found another visiter's centre that had some cool things:



And THEN my friend Jenny called as we were headed home, inviting us to a Maker's Party. We all brought crafts and ingredients, and let creativity flow. This was perfect, because I was planning on having my kids make totem poles, and this was my push to actually do it! I love my friends!




See Daniel's First Nation painting? A teepee with a fire drying a hide, a horse in the background, and some warriors hunting a buffalo herd. Love it!

SCIENCE

We've done a few weeks of science....because...well, we've been doing school for a few weeks. And this is my first post of the year. Oops.

The first week, we had an introduction to magnets. We had to quickly explain atoms again so that magnets could be properly understood. We talked about lining up the atoms with in things. We talked about opposite attracting, and what elements were magnetic.


The next week we talked about the magnetic poles of the earth. We talked about compasses and made our own compasses from pins that we had rubbed until they were magnetic.


The next week we introduced electricity. We talked about how magnets made electricity and how electricity made magnets. We even made our own electro magnet!!! I was so proud.

We talked about how electrons moved. We had everyone sit on the couches and move over so one kid could fit on and one kid on the opposite end fell off, and then they would move in the same direction again and the kid that had fallen off would move to the end that was waiting to get on the couches, and made our own "direct current" with our child "electrons." Then I had the kids make a "alternating current" by changing direction each time they move over a space.

We of course learned about lightning and static electricity as well. The good ol' rub-the-balloon science experiment never gets old.


This is my crew this year:



MATH

Maxwell's math has picked off right where it left off, so I made him review all the math he did last year in a test before we started, but now we're moving along in the new books.


Daniel is doing great. Rightstart level E starts out with fun math puzzles called "Magic Squares." I found this book about Benjamin Franklin that went along with these lessons, which was perfect since I want to have my kids know who Benjamin Franklin is this year.




Hyrum's math. Heh heh. Funny story. Umm well, I bought new worksheets, but his actual teacher's manual is in....ummmm...Vanuatu. We'll be there soon. I've been delaying starting math with him. I have a fraction book I can use until then.....I just need to do that.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Maxwell's language arts have been smoothly moving forward. His keyboarding has been challenging him which he hates and I love.


His IEW grammar and writing is moving him right along at a steady pace.


Hyrum is being tutored by Jandy in Barton book five until we leave. Then I guess it's up to me.

One thing I'm proud is my consistency with daily reading of Stand Alone chapter books, and creative writing dictation and handwriting that I do with both Hyrum and Daniel.

We had done a bit of the story Hyrum is writing before summer. We do a full page and a half of him dictating and me writing, but skipping every other line so that he has to practice his handwriting.


This is Hyrum's story so far:

The Warrior Elements

The water elements were having a meeting. The plant elements' favourite thing was to eat the water elements. The water elements eat the fire elements, and the fire eat the plants.

The water elements were tired of being worried that they would get eaten by the plant elements. One of the water elements mentioned "Hey, what if we make ourselves look like the fire elements to scare away the plant elements?"

There was a big long pause. Then another water element spoke up, "I know where we could get disguises! Let's send a search party to the Lava Fire Temple. I have a map. I know there is armour there that looks just like the fire elements. We can use the armour to disguise us as fir elements, so the plant elements will leave us alone."

The captain agreed. "We will send a party at dawn."

They went, and as they were walking in the forest, they could hear something in the bushes.

"Plants!" said the guard, as suddenly tons of plant elements jumped out and surrounded them. A fire element instantly appeared. The fire element cared the plant elements away. The water elements were ready for anything. The fire element spoke, "Hey, It's me, Bloop! I ran ahead and got the armour."

While they were putting on the armour, Flame, a real fire element, was watching them from the bushes. Flame was examining the armour and realized the water's plan. Flame ran home and told the chief what the water elements were up to.

Flame also went to the plant elements, to tell them what was happening. He used Morse code to tell the plants because they were scared of him.

Everyone was mad at each other. The Water elements were mad that the Fire elements broke their cover, the fire elements were mad that the water elements had pretended to be them, and the Plant elements were mad that the Water Elements tried to trick them.

A war broke out. Everyone started eating each other. No one felt safe or happy except those that hid under ground.

Flame hadn't meant to start a war. He had just wanted everyone to be safe. He wanted to find a way to end this war. While he was walking in the forest, he remembered how he had once seen a temple a long a certain path. He walked that way, and he thought he heard something rustling in the bushes. In the bushes, he found a plant element.

"Don't eat me!" he yelled.

"I'm not much of an eater." said Flame. "What's your name?"

"Vipe." said the plant element.

"Hey Vipe, have you seen a temple near by?" asked Flame.

"Yes, but not on this path. Why are you on this path? And I didn't catch you name." Said Vipe.

"Flame is my name, and I remember seeing  a temple along this path. I think it will lead to something helpful. Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure!" While they were walking, it felt kind of strange walking with a plant elements. Flame had been peaceful with the plant elements for a long time, but it was strange to be with one up close without them running away.

"We're here!" Vipe said. The temple stood before them and Flame was wondering how he didn't notice the temple until now. Flame and Vipe entered the temple. Then, in the centre of the whole temple, there was a giant purple crystal floating in mid-air.

While they were walking inside, they saw many statues. One looked like Vipe, one looked like Flame, and there was another that looked like a water element.

Vipe said "What should we do with this big purple crystal?"

"I was wondering that too. Let's see what it can do first." said Flame. "What happens when you try to shoot thunder from it?: Flame went over to the crystal, which was as big as he was. It was light to pick up because it had hovering capabilities. But when Flame moved it away from where it was positioned, it suddenly became very heavy. Flame dropped it, and it shattered into a million pieces.

Dadadaduuuunnnnn. To be continued.





HEY! That was really long! I guess it just goes to show how if you are consistent, little things can add up!

Also, I've been trying to get them to do their spelling more regularly. We'll see.

Daniel's story was started when school started. As with Hyrum, I had him outline his story before we began. He dictated to me the setting, the characters, and the main events.

So without further ado, here's Daniel's story:


The Adventures of Digital 3s

I was on the ground passed out. I opened my eyes and looked around. I saw fine white sand along a beach. The last thing I could remember was a dark wizard about to attack me. I had been far away from any beach.

"Where am I? What just happened?" I wondered.

I got up and looked around. There were two other people lying on the beach. One was awake.

"What just happened?" asked the man that was awake. The man looked up and saw me. He quickly picked up a rock to throw it at me.

"Wait! I yelled. "I want to know the same thing you do!"

"So you were randomly teleported to this beach and passed out? asked the man.

"I think so. That same thing happened to me." I said.

The man dropped the rock and looked confused. The man had brown skin, brown spiky hair and brown eyes. "Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Twister. Who's that?" and Twister pointed to the man that was just waking up.

"He must be another guy that we got teleported with." I said. Suddenly the man that was lying down jumped up and threw a ninja blade at Twister and me. He totally missed.

"Hey, we are on the same side as you." I said. The man calmed down. He had straight light brown hair and brown eyes. His face was covered in freckles, and three scar lines went passed his eye down to his cheek. He was wearing an eye patch over that eye. He said "so you teleported me to this beach?"

"No, but somebody did." Twister said. A ninja blade suddenly appeared the man's hand.

Twister asked "What are you guy's names?" We all introduced ourselves. "I'm Jim" I said, and the man with the eye patch was named Jack.

A beacon of light suddenly appeared right next to us. We heard a voice coming out of the light.

"You three are great warriors. You were brought here to protect this world. You will each be given a gift and an ability. Twister, you will have the ability of shapeshifting. Here is a weapon. It is a boomerang that is also a shape shifter. When you shape shift, the boomerang will shape shift into the best weapon for the creature that you chose." A boomerang suddenly appeared out of the light.

"Sir Jack, you have the ability of strength and skill. You will never tire and will know combat moves that you've never been taught. Your gift is a staff thetas enchanted. You will find out more about it as you journey with it." Jack grabbed the staff with wonder.

"Jim, you get the gift of a very powerful magical wand, and your ability is that you are a warlock." I gave a confused look. "A warlock is a boy witch. You will be able to enchant things."

"This land is full of Chompers, beasts that are eating everything.  Your quest is to protect this world." The beam of light disappeared.

"What just happened?" Twister said.

Jack said "Well, I guess we're chosen warriors or something?"

I looked away from the ocean and saw the jungle. "Hey, let's start our quest right now. I think we should go into the jungle."

To be continued.....


And in other news, Robotics and Art classes have started and they are loving it like always




Sunday, September 23, 2018

British Summer!

I must quickly tell you some things that have already happened that I never covered that happened this summer. For instance, WE WENT TO THE UNITED KINGDOM!!!

And of course all my pre-teaching paid off. We had talked about UK's geography, we had a Romeo and Juliet unit, we learned the ancient art that we would see in the British museum, we learned about the Tutor family, and much more, and boy did we learn when we actually got there!

Everyday was hands-on school. Loved it....just hope my boys never forget their experiences.












And as soon as we were back, Maxwell was off to CAMP! Not just any camp, Liber Youth Retreat. Just pure gold for young minds. He had to read "Carry On Mr. Bowditch" and "Little Women" as precursors to his time there. They had inspirational speakers, simulations, activities, and good food.

I only wish it had gone on longer. Maxwell came to me a couple days after he came back and said that one man had talked about what it meant to have real grit, and Maxwell wanted me to lock up his kindle every day until his jobs and school was done. Umm. YEAH!



And there's those three boys again. Love it. Grade one I snapped a photo of them and I try to get one every few years.

Then the next week, Naomi put on another camp, but we stayed in our houses for this one. It was a family history scripture camp, and it was fantastic. We had a jousting tournament, we talked genealogy, temples, and our root's cultures. So fun.



As part of this, Naomi had me take a group of kids to Granny Wendy's house to look at her tunnels. Not sure why or how this has anything to do with family history, but I guess it's making memories with your family, anyway, it was a fun adventure none of the kids in my group will forget.


The first week of school started with Labour Day. This inspired my husband to do a project for the long week end which spilled out into our school week. It was renovating a friends kitchen. It's in the McKay's genes to renovate, but my sister will be happy to know we had permission this time ;)

I did English with my kids that first week, but mostly it was construction, but I was impressed: Maxwell put together all the cupboards including the drawers, with no guidance from anyone.

Before and afters:







And that renovation was a spill into the new school year. What a whirl wind of an amazing year!