The Panama Canal

          Have you ever heard the phrase, “I had to go around my elbow to get to my mouth?”  Many people use this phrase to describe having to go out of the way to get somewhere.  Instead of a straight shot to where they wanted to go, they had many detours before they finally made it to where they wanted to go.  For many years, whenever a boat needed to get from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, the sailors would have to go “around their elbow to get to their mouth.”  There was not an easy way or a short cut.  The sailors would have to navigate their boat around the Cape Horn, the area between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica. 

            Why was this a problem?  For one reason, it was a long journey.  Going around the horn would add close to 1,000 miles to each trip a sailor would make from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.  While that is an inconvenience, the problem was the type of weather a sailor would have to encounter when coming into the cape.  Winds gusting at a range from 50-80 mph would meet a ship as they tried to steer through the cape.  With these winds came waves that might reach up to 90 feet high.  A crew would only have a window of about 100 days a year where they would not encounter these conditions.

            As explorers studied maps, they were convinced there had to be another way to get from one ocean to the other.  Everyone came back to one place on the map – the Isthmus of Panama.  This isthmus joins Central America to South America. To the east, the Caribbean Sea would eventually meet the Atlantic Ocean while the Gulf of Panama would merge into the Pacific Ocean on the west side.  The isthmus at one place was only 30 miles wide!  How close the two oceans were while being so far away.  Would there be a way to cut right through Panama?

            There were many problems that kept the canal from being built.  France had begun building a canal, but due to diseases, flooding and, eventual bankruptcy, they had to stop.  They wanted America to pick up where they had left off, but other problems stood in the way.  Panama had to win its independence from Colombia, and eventually did in 1903.  Since America had helped them gain their freedom, the following year, a treaty was made between the USA and Panama to allow the USA to finish building the canal. 

When finally finished in October 1913, the canal came in at 48 miles long and 200 feet wide.   The Panama Canal helped launch the United States into a world trading empire as well as allowed other countries to expand their trading.  The US Navy was able to protect America during times of war thanks to the Panama Canal.  Ultimately, the east could finally get to the west without “having to go around their elbow to get to their mouth.”  

STUDENTS: Explain why the Panama Canal was necessary for the world.  Use evidence from the text and the map to support your answer.

Which Government is for You?

What Kind of Government Would You Want Ruling You?

            In our world, many people have different visions of how people should be governed.   In early civilizations, a monarchy was the way groups of people were ruled.  In a monarchy, a monarch, a king or queen, would rule over the people of a state or country.  This leader was born into this position and held the position for life or until the next of kin was ready to assume the throne.  The monarch would make the decisions he or she thought was best for the people or even primarily for the monarchy.  The king or queen would not listen to, and some didn’t care about the people they led.  Some countries do have groups of men and women who will help the monarch make laws and other decisions that will be in favor of the people.  Ultimately though, the monarch makes the absolute decisions. 

            There were some citizens who abided under the rule of a monarch, did not appreciate being told what to do and how to live.  Sometimes these citizens would rise up and revolt.  The fighting might result in a change in the government to a democracy.  Others would just up and leave their home country to find a new land to begin a democracy, a type of government where the people have an active role in voting for those taking part in the government.  Ancient Greece was one of the first countries to have a democracy.  Their form of democracy was called a direct democracy.  This meant that each person was able to have a voice as to what going to happen and the rules that would be put in place.  The majority of countries with a democracy now have a representative form of democracy.  This allows the citizens to vote for those they want representing, or speaking for, them.  The candidates, men and women wanting to run for a place in the government, tell the citizens the ideas they have for the state or country.  Then, the citizens are encouraged to vote for the candidate they feel would do the best job.  While they are some stipulations to holding an office in a democracy, most any citizen can hold some kind of office in the government unlike a monarchy.  Time limits called, terms, were also set so one person is not always in an office.

            While some citizens fought the monarchy for a democracy, some citizens wanted to be in complete control or to dictate what happened in the government.  In this form of government, a dictator would come in with force and use their armies to wipe out the leaders that were presiding.  When the dictator would gain complete control, they would make all decisions without consulting the citizens of that country.  He or she would not listen to the citizens of the country when making decisions that would affect them.  What made a dictatorship different from a monarchy was the laws made by the dictator were usually very unfair to the citizens.  Plus, the dictator rarely followed the rules himself even though punishment was given to citizens who broke the laws.  A dictator was usually in office until another person or group of people were able to take back control.

            Each of these kinds of governments is found all over the world.  While some of these are better than others, no type is perfect.  Which do you believe is best?

STUDENTS:  After reading the text and viewing the diagram above, which government would you like to have where you live?  Why would you choose this form of government for your life?  Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Book Challenge #12 & #13

Dear Students,

     I was really hoping to get more of YOUR books read over Christmas break.  However, I am glad to say I did get 2 of your books read as well as some books that I just wanted to read.  Isn't that what Christmas break is all about anyways?  So what did I read over the break?

      Kendyl read a book for enrichment after school that had a lot of my favorites rolled into one book - Christmas, World War, New York City, historical fiction and diaries.  It is called When Christmas Comes Again.  I absolutely loved it! I have read these Dear America books before, but had never read this one.  I really like them for many different reasons, so when Kendyl told me about this one I was ready to read it.  Most of the historical fiction books I read take place during the Civil War or World War II.  This book took place in World War I.  I don't know if I have ever read anything from that time period, but loved it.  I will be looking for others now to read from this time period.  One of my favorite things about the book was seeing Simone change.  She grows up in a very well-to-do family in New York City.  Her mother is from Paris ( I loved that we had just studied France when I read this.).  Simone decides she needs to do more to help the war effort than just roll bandages at home.  She leaves a life of comfort and joins the war effort going back to her mother's home city of Paris.  The book really gives a great look at life during the war for families back home, soldiers and those who were helping.

     The next book I read was a challenge from Kaylee.  I was excited about this one as well even though it is a genre of books I don't normally care for - mysteries.  Kaylee challenged me to read Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Dance Off.  This was a great book for many reasons, but I loved seeing Nancy Drew as a young child.  As you get older, there a a TON of Nancy Drew books you can read.  Boys, never fear!  Nancy had great friends, the Hardy Boys that you can read about instead of having to read about a girl!  I love how Nancy doesn't let being a girl stop her.  She is a great problem solver and uses her brain to think about how to use the clues given to her to solve the problem.  You think you have the mystery solved when others pop up into the story! I would recommend this one to any of you!

     What did you read over the Christmas break?

      Your bookworm teacher,

Mrs. Becky

Book Challenge #7

Dear Students,

     This week I have read I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001.  Thanks to Dhanin for challenging me to read this book.  I will admit, while I love historical fiction, I was a little unsure about reading this book because I remember that day so well.  I remember teaching school that day to a class full of third graders who were trying to figure out what was going on in the world.  It was a very scary day.  You know I don't like scary, so that was another reason I was unsure of reading it.  However, I must say I enjoyed the book as much as you can enjoy a book like this.  I loved reading about Lucas and seeing his life as a child of a NYC firefighter.  I love how the author talked about how difficult a job firefighting can be because it is the truth.  I can't believe Lucas was actually there when it all happened.  I was so - wait, I don't want to ruin the ending for any of you who haven't read it!  I really couldn't believe the book was done! I wanted more! I would highly recommend this book to any of you who enjoy historical fiction or want to know more about that day in our country's history.  Be sure to read the notes and timeline after the story has finished.  You will learn a lot from that as well.

                         

Your teacher,

Mrs. Becky

Thank You for Your Service

Our school last year added to our School Improvement Plan that we wanted

our students to grow as citizens as well as growing in math and reading.

One of the ways we are trying to promote citizenship is to show them what it means to be

an American.

Last year, we began having a Veterans' Day program.

This program was to cover multiple purposes:

1.  To thank our town's veterans

2.  To teach our students what a veteran is

3.  To teach our students what the veterans have done for our country

Needless to say, the program was a huge hit and plans began for this year's program

which we had on Friday.

We met in the gym with parents and other visitors in the bleachers, the veterans in chairs in the middle of the gym and the students surrounding the veterans.

We probably had close to 60 veterans.

Our third graders took an active role in leading our thoughts as we thanked these men and women.

As part of the assembly, we set a white table and explained the meanings of the different items

on the white table.

My students introduced and welcomed everyone to the program.

After the presentation of the flags, the pledge and national anthem,

our third graders sang "You're a Grand Old Flag."

Each grade level presented a song to the veterans at different times during the assembly.

More of my students quoted lines of poems that talked about a veteran's service.

They also talked to us about the military history.

Some of our veterans listening to the children.

We, then, played a medley of all the branches anthems.  As their song was played, veterans of each branch stood.  We also presented them with pins thanking them for their service.

The kids loved clapping along to the different anthems of the branches.

Some of my students were pleased to have family members and friends who are veterans attend

 the program.

The students said their favorite part was walking among the veterans thanking them for their service.

You see in the veteran's hand gifts that were made by the students in the school.  Each veteran had a stack of thank yous in their chair when they arrived.

All of Kim and my kids were super proud to have 

"their own" veteran at the program, Mr. David (my dad).

Mr. David is a retired Air Force Pilot as well as a retired high school math teacher.

He works as a math interventionist in Mrs. Kim's room with all of our kids,

and they ADORE him!

I love teaching my students about our country as well as the men and women

who have helped to make it what it is today.

I read this book before the Veterans' Day assembly so they really understand the concept of

the white table.

We always go out and place flags out in front of the school around Veterans' Day as well.

When we do that, I read this book to them or we watch the YouTube video.

We also write thank you letters to veterans.

I ask for addresses from the students' parents of friends and family they know.

The kids take this job very seriously.

The letters are always so sincere and I love reading them.

We even hear back from some of them.

The kids love that!

I really believe it is so important to teach the kids about this part of our history.

Many might think they are too young to understand, but when I read my kids' letters telling the veterans

"Thank you for fighting for me!"

When I hear a first grader tell his teacher he may not be able to sing to the veterans because he might start crying thinking of how brave they have been,

I realize they understand WAY more than many adults.

Thank you for your service, veterans!

STUDENTS: What do you want to remember about the Veterans' Day program?

Women Changing America

America has been influenced by many different kinds of people.
Over the last week, we have been studying two women who helped change
America for the good.

Look again at the lives of these two ladies,

Nancy Ward and Susan B. Anthony.

Nancy Ward was a Cherokee Indian born at a crucial time in Cherokee history.  She was raised by her mother and her father.  At a young age, she realized that her Cherokee people were in turmoil with the English.  Ward wanted to find ways to keep peace between the Indians and the English.  In her early teen years, Ward married a Cherokee man name Kingfisher and went to the battlefield with him.  She earned the title of 'Beloved Women' which was the highest honor a Cherokee woman could have.  

Susan B. Anthony was educated by her father.  When the economy collapsed, her father lost most of his money so Anthony began working.  She worked as a teacher to help her father with money.  When she began teaching she realized that woman were paid less than half of what the men were paid.  She thought this was unfair and began a movement to give women the same rights as men.

STUDENTS:  After reading the information and exploring the timelines, answer the following questions in paragraph form:

1.  Did Nancy Ward and Susan B. Anthony ever know each other? How do you know?
2.  Do you think that Nancy Ward's life choices had an impact on Susan B. Anthony's life choices? Please provide a 'why' to your answer.

Book Challenge #5 & #6

Dear Students,

     I feel like I am finally getting in the groove of reading!  This weekend I finished two books I think you should all read.  The first one I read on Friday while I sat out with y'all at your play time. I needed to get some Vitamin D (which you get from the sun) and I love watching you play!  It is a poetry book.  I know many of you have not read a poetry book yet and neither had I!  It is called It's Thanksgiving!  It is full of poems about Thanksgiving Day and the traditions around that holiday (which just happens to be one of my favorites).  I think my favorite poem had to be the one about watching the football game.  I liked it because our family loves to watch football at anytime.  In the poem, the dad yells at the tv.  I can relate to that because I have been known to yell at the tv myself!  I think you should all read this one! There are two copies in the red bucket.

     The next book I finished was a Magic Tree House book that La'Tariyahna challenged me to read.  I love the fact that she wanted me to read a book she had read.  (If any of the rest of you want to challenge me to read a book, please do so!)  This book is called Danger in the Darkest Hour.  When I first got it, I had no idea what it would be about.  I read the inside of the jacket cover and realized it was about one of my favorite times in history - World War II.  I just loved the whole thing.  My favorite part (without giving away the ending) was that Jack learned he has the ability to do whatever he puts his mind to doing.  Kathleen had lost her magic, and Jack was freaking out that they were going to get caught by the Nazis.  She and Annie played a little trick on Jack, but it was only to give him the confidence he needed.  I really love reading anything about WWII because both of my grandfathers fought in WWII.  I think many of you would enjoy this book.  Thank you, La'Tariyahna for challenging me to read this one!

     What will I read next?  Someone (who forgot to put their name on the comment) challenged me to read I Survived September 11, 2001.  I am going to try to read that one if it is in the library.  I am worried about reading that one because I remember that day very vividly.  However, I will give it a try for sure!  What do you think I should read?

Your book loving teacher,

Mrs. Becky

Book Challenge #4

Dear Students,

     I am making some headway on my challenge! The past few weeks I went back to my "happy reading place" and read a historical fiction book called The Girl in the Torch. WOW! This one was great!  It is about a girl named Sarah who lives in Europe.  Her parents are planning to come to America when tragedy happens.  Finally, she and her mother get to America only to have her mother be stopped at Ellis Island.  It looks like Sarah will have to go back to her homeland when she decides to jump off the ship and swim to Liberty Island.  For weeks, she hides out on the island getting food out of trash cans and actually sleeping in Lady Liberty's crown.  I thought the story would end there, but it doesn't!  Many times it seems like Sarah's dream of becoming an American citizen is going to not come true.  Even at the last chapter I was beginning to wonder!  If you enjoyed our study of Ellis Island, you will enjoy this one.  Lots of adventure, suspense and history all rolled into one.  Unfortunately, I cannot count it as a mystery!  Oh well! I know many of you will enjoy reading this one!

           

Your history loving teacher,

Mrs. Becky

Book Challenge #2 and #3

Dear Students,

          For the past forever (at least it seems like it), I have been reading The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck.  I have had this book for a few years now and had never read it.  You all know how much I love (ha! ha!) fantasy books - especially animal fantasy books, so I thought I would read this one in order to say I had read it as well as to mark book #2 off of my 40 book challenge list! Even though I did not read this book quickly, I did enjoy it.  I loved the main character in the book very much.  He is not named until the very end of the book for a good reason, so I will call him Nameless as he refers to himself throughout the book.  Nameless believes he comes from nothing.  He is not the best at school.  He has no family except a dear old aunt who takes care of him.  He fights for everything, but especially trying to find out who he is.  He does not give up in the book.  We see him take his struggle of not knowing who he is all the way to the Queen of England herself which apparently mice do not show (or talk) themselves to humans.  It is against their rules.  I think quite a few of you would enjoy this book very much.  You can learn many lessons from Nameless, but the one I want you to learn as you read it is the idea that everybody is somebody.  You are important.  You can make a difference.  You matter.

          I was on a roll over Fall Break and finished another book!  This one I devoured!  You are probably thinking to yourself that it is a book that has to do with history, and, if you are, then you are correct!  The other book I read was Who Was Susan B. Anthony?.  I read this book because we are going to be studying her in social studies this week.  It dawned on me that I did not know much about this woman who is a big part of our history. How was I going to teach you about her if I did not know about her myself?  I enjoyed parts of the book because it mentioned a lot of people I have studied about in history - Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, and others.  I enjoyed seeing how and why Ms. Anthony thought it was important that women have the right to vote.  The one thing that bothered me was how the women went about getting their ideas into place.  At times they were not very nice to others about it.  They spoke ugly words.  They were mean to others.  I found myself thinking that I didn't blame the men for giving the women the right to vote the way they acted!  I do appreciate what Ms. Anthony and her group did to help get women the right to vote so our voice could be heard in the American government.  I can't wait to see what you think about her, her life and her goal! I would love for you to read this book just so you can get a better understanding of what she did to shape our history.

          Well, there you go! 3 down and 37 more to go! See I can do math!  I have missed all of you this week and am ready to be back with our little family!

                   Love from your teacher who is almost done with her fantasy books,

                                                                    Mrs. Becky

Leaders Changing the World

George Washington was the only president in United States history to have been unanimously elected.  

He was elected to the presidency twice.  

His presidency founded the United States Navy.  

He established the nation’s official money.  

George Washington created the Supreme Court.

Tutankhamun was only eight or nine when he became ruler of Egypt. Tutankhamun died when he was only 18.  

King Tut is well known because his tomb had everything in it when it was found.  

Along with a golden burial mask, King Tut's sandals were also found in the tomb. 

These had paintings of his enemies on the soles - so everywhere the king went, he trampled all over his foes!

STUDENTS: After reading the information about George Washington and King Tut. Use what you already know, in addition to these facts, to write an opinion paragraph answering the following question.

Which leader had the greatest impact on history, George Washington or King Tut?

Introduce the topic.

State your opinion.

Give reasons and evidence to back your opinion.

Restate your opinion.

                ** Remember to put your name at the bottom of the comment. 

Is Our Government a Strong Government?

The past 2 weeks we have been looking at the United States Constitution.

While we were suppose to look at it as a whole, my students got very wrapped up

in the 3 branches of government.

I have no doubt they would have been right there with our Founding Fathers trying to 

make the new nation very different from what was found in England!

Due to the nature of our discussion, our prompt is different from the prompt of the other 

third grade classes.

STUDENTS: The following words are the Preamble of our United States Constitution.

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The men who wrote our Constitution wanted to have "a more perfect union" than what they had

in England.

PROMPT: Based on what we have studied about how the United States government is set up in the Constitution, do you believe we have "a more perfect Union?"

Remember to include:

1.  An introduction

2.  Your opinion

3.  Reasons and evidence for each reasons

4. Your conclusion

5. Your name

** You cannot type your comment until Thursday.  All entries from my students that are given before Thursday will be deleted.

3 Branches of Government

As part of our social studies standards, 

we have to look at the Constitution of the United States.

With Constitution Day coming up, we are going to take some time to look at

this national document a little closer.

STUDENTS:  Our government is divided into 3 different branches.  These branches make sure all the jobs are covered so our country can operate smoothly. One of the jobs of the Constitution is to tell our nation's leaders what their job description is.  You are going to check out these websites to discover what each branch's job is.

As you search these websites, be sure to write down on your graphic organizer the jobs each branch has.

Branch #1 - Executive Branch

What's What in the Executive Branch?

What is the Executive Branch?

Branch #2 - Legislative Branch

What is the Legislative Branch?

Branch #3 - Judicial Branch

What is the Judicial Branch?

The 3 Branches of Government Review - Which branch does what?

3 Branches of Government Game

The 3 Branches of Government

Checks and Balances - How do these branches help each other?

Checks and Balances game

Checks and Balances

What was one WOW fact you learned about the branches of government?

Ellis Island Through Pictures

Ellis Island

Those words hold many different thoughts and ideas to my students now.

They have dug DEEP into this special place from our nation's history, and have had wonderful

thoughts and questions from our study.

                 STUDENTS:      In keeping with our social studies theme

To seek...

To know...

And thereby grow...

Emma Lazarus was a poet who wrote these lines in a poem, The New Colossus, about The Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor.

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Please answer this prompt.

Do you believe these words from the poem describe most of the immigrants who came through Ellis Island?  

Please use evidence from the photographs as well as knowledge of what you know about Ellis Island in your answer.

Tuesday:

I want you to seek all you can through these pictures of immigrants at Ellis Island.

Wednesday
I want you to think about what you know about Ellis Island and all we have learned about it.
Work on organizing your paragraph for the prompt above.
Remember your paragraph needs to have:
1.  a creative introduction
2.  state your opinion
3. give reasons to support your opinion
4.  use evidence from the photographs
5.  restate your opinion

** You are more than welcome to have more than one reason as long as you back it up with evidence!

Thursday

Now, I want you to grow.

Emma Lazarus was a poet who wrote these lines in a poem, The New Colossus, about The Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor.

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Please answer this prompt.

Do you believe these words from the poem describe most of the immigrants who came through Ellis Island?  

Please use evidence from the photographs as well as knowledge of what you know about Ellis Island in your answer.

American Symbols Opinion Writing

Our testing this year is 100% different.

In February, we are going to be taking 3 tests in reading, math and social studies

on the computer.  The reading and social studies test will be a writing prompt that the students will type on the computer.

In our training from Cathy, we have been told that our social studies test will mainly be centered around primary sources and the writing will more than likely be opinion writing.

Our writing team decided we needed to see what our students knew and what they could do.

In second grade, they studied in depth the American symbols.

So, we created this packet.

This packet includes the following:

1 color clip art collage

1 black and white clip art collage

1 opinion essay rubric

1 writing scoring sheet

1 color writing page

1 black and white writing page

We had the students look at this collage and answer the prompt below it.

We gave them 15 minutes to write everything they could.

We graded it according to the rubric.

Now, we have something to talk to them about that deals with their writing and where they are right now.

We also have their first writing for their writing folders.

We used this as a prewriting assessment to see where they were and where we needed to take them.

However, this would be an easy way to also assess if they understood the symbols you had talked about in your class. 

You can get it in my TPT store here.

TPT Seller's Challenge: Make Your Masterpiece

The latest TPT Seller's Challenge - which ends tomorrow (GASP!!!!) - 

has been hard for me this week.

I am sure it is because we have been out of town and in the middle of baseball

tournaments with my son.

I finally got it finished, but I don't know if I would call it a "masterpiece" yet.

Hopefully, you will see this one with a make over before too much longer.

I have always had a love for history that POURS into my classroom.

This year, I had students who loved it as much as I did.

When we read a biography on George Washington, they began devouring any presidential

biography I had, so I took that as an opportunity to teach some other important skills - 

using different types of text

note taking

placing notes in sequential order

composing introductory and conclusion paragraphs

writing a 5 paragraph informative essay

With this group of students, we also learned the valuable lesson of time management!

The students amazed me at how much they wanted to include in their essays.

I did not have this packet to help them during the time, but knew it was an activity I wanted to carry on in the following years when we studied this text.

That led to....

You can see the packet in my TPT store.

I hope this is something that can help your students as much as it did mine.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Be sure to check out Ashley, Emily, Amber and Jen to see the other AMAZING masterpieces!