This year, the history of the holiday was made a wee bit more real to me because of a city I visited while in the Netherlands this summer. Leiden is the Dutch city where the Puritans first sailed when they left England. Clearly, the original pilgrims made their presence felt there. Centuries later, tourists can stay at the Mayflower Hotel or visit the Pilgrim Museum. The museum is actually a centuries old home, mostly untouched by time, and filled with Puritan artifacts that have been carefully curated over time. It's easy to walk right past the unassuming door to the museum if you're not careful. If ever you make it to the Netherlands, I totally recommend visiting this beautiful city. As one American tourists said, "With all the canals, it's like Amsterdam, but smaller and with fewer tourists." And while you're there, be sure to stop at the Pilgrim Museum.
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| Signs pointing the way to the tiny museum abound. |
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| The museum is near the end of this quiet street, on the right. If you hit the church, you've gone too far. |
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| If you're not careful, you'll walk right past this doorway and all the history that resides behind it. |
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| A map out of one of the big, old books the Puritans used to plan their transatlantic sailing trip. |
But it's December now, and summer trips lie far behind. With just three full weeks to go before winter break, we've got of learning to do.
MATH
- Multiply and divide by 6s and 8s.
- Solve word problems involving area.
- Write and solve multiplication and division word problems.
READING
- Sequence of events
- Questioning
- Grammar-action vs being verbs
- Vocabulary-suffixes, "able," and "ible."
WRITING
- Finishing drafting of five paragraph essays
- Revising and editing drafts
- Publishing final drafts
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Locating our city as a member of a state, country, continent, and hemisphere
- Identifying the southern states starting with Florida
- Identifying the seven continents
- Identifying the four oceans
MISC
- With its emphasis on world geography, this social studies unit lends itself to studying holidays around the world. This week, I will be sharing the Dutch custom of Sinterklaas that takes place on December 5-6. By separating the Sinterklaas celebration from Christmas Day, the Dutch separate the secular observation from the religious. With so many different countries represented in the classroom, I would love to learn how our different cultures celebrate their winter holidays. Please email me if you would be willing to share your cultural holidays.
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| #6 claims his blue ticket award |
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| Using an online thesaurus to find synonyms for their five paragraph essays |
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| #12 teaches a guided drawing lesson during Choice Time. |
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