WEDNESDAY, NOV.21

SCIENCE 2 - Yikes, the holiday craziness is upon us! We reviewed pitch and volume and practiced both using stringed instruments (my guitar and Holden's little mandolin). They really got into that part - how the thickness, length and tightness of the strings change the pitch. I think they understand the difference between pitch and volume better today because they could demonstrate it for me on the instruments. Learned about the difference between stringed, wind and percussion instruments and how sound is produced in each. Isaac said he could play guitar and used to play all the time when he was little. David seemed to really enjoy playing both instruments. Sometimes when he speaks he sounds just like Scott - it's funny! Lots of warnings to settle down but we got through.

HISTORY 2 - Talked about the spread of Christianity in Medieval Europe. The pope was head of the church, then archbishops, then bishops, then priests and then the regular people. Patrick was a bishop who went back to Ireland after having been enslaved there as a child and converted a lot of people to Christianity. Augustine went to England to return 3 young Angle boys who had been slaves in Rome and purchased by the pope. He converted lots of people and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Cathedrals (means "seat" for "seat of the bishop") became the center of major life events - weddings, funerals, baptism and healing. The boys really got into the stories of this lesson when they weren't being silly. We learned about monks and monastic life in the Middle Ages. "Monk" means "alone" and the boys couldn't get over anyone wanting to do this. The monks prayed, helped the poor, copied books, taught school and made furniture. They preserved education and literature during the Dark Ages. The boys couldn't believe that people were afraid of knowledge - they thought it was a crazy idea. They asked a lot of good questions when they were focused. Look at the writing sample they did - it's a letter to someone describing life in the monastery (except for David's, his is a book). They did really well with this - David even made his first letter very ornate like the monks did.

Ranae - For Monday - do Kindergarten Science Unit 7 Lesson 4

Cindy - You'll be teaching Unit 8 Lesson 1 for Kindergarten Science on Wed. For Tues., if you want to, come to Ranae's at 11:30 and you can wait there until Nadia's music is over and leave for the doctor from there.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Rachelle