Category Archives: Social Studies

Abigail Adams Project

In class, I have been working  on my Constitution Project. My topic is Abigail Adams. I am going to design something on her. My plan is to design a model of her desk. I want to make the desktop be 23 in by 16 and a half in and want the leg to be 18 in long. I am going to use parchment paper to write a pretend letter from Abigail to John, using Abigail’s own words. I am going to make a inkpot out of Model Magic and put a quill in it. I am then going to make a cardboard candleholder and put a candle in it. I know from looking at pictures that this is what she would have had on her writing desk. So far, I have done research, researching her life in general, especially her life with John Adams. I also looked at a picture of a writing desk in her house. From that research I made a design. The first design I made was a model of the White House with a writing room, but then I realized that the White House didn’t have a writing room. So, I designed a model of the home they had the before the White House, again with a writing room, but I changed my design again because I realized that the whole house would only have one room about the topic I wanted to focus on about Abigail Adams. So instead, I decided to do just the writing desk. I am very happy with my design and hope to start building soon.

*Update on my project – instead of cardboard I am going to use a plastic candle holder. I am also going to make a drawer and put a 2 page book of pretend letters. They are going to be written to John Adams.

The National Constitution Center

Philadelphia, PA, November 9th, 2018. It started out as a rainy morning for the Heathcote Elementary 5th graders. When they arrived they went to the National Constitution Center. There, the 5th graders saw four main exhibits. The main exhibit, the shows “Living News”, “Freedom Rising” and a special Alexander Hamilton exhibit.

At the Alexander Hamilton exhibit 5th graders saw incredibly well preserved artifacts, such as Alexander Hamilton’s papers, his duel gun and even a lock of his hair! At the main exhibit the 5th graders got a chance to interact in activities such as discovering the qualities people needed to be able to vote in the 1800’s. The two shows were a great learning experience. “Living News” was interactive. The students got to put in their own opinions. The second show “Freedom Rising” wasn’t interactive, but 5th grader Julia says, “I thought that it was really cool. I learned a lot from it and I liked the pictures on the screen.”

5th grader Alba says, “I thought that the National Constitution Center was very enjoyable. I had a great experience.” In the reporter’s opinion the 5th graders had a very fun, enjoyable experience. In conclusion, 5th grader Kate says, I had so much fun going to Philly! It was a great learning experience.”

 

Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton was a brilliant scientist. Newton was born in England in 1643 in a town called Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth. He would do some of his most famous work there. When he was 3 his mother remarried, but her new husband did not want a son, so Newton lived by himself. Luckily, his mother returned home soon after. Newton loved school. When he was in high school his mother pulled him out of school to work as a farmer. Luckily the school’s headmaster convinced his mother to send him back. After graduating, Newton went to college for 4 years.

After his college closed down, Newton had the theory about gravity. In 1687 Newton published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. In 1703 Newton was named president of the Royal Society. Newton was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705 because of his work in the Royal Mint. When Newton died in 1727 he became the first scientist to be buried in Westminster Abbey, the famous church where English monarchs are buried.

Isaac Newton was a very successful scientist. He discovered so many things, gravity, the method of fluxion, the modern telescope, the 3 laws of motion, calculus and physics. He had many great ideas and discoveries in his life and was overall a very successful, brilliant scientist.

 

For more sources go to:

Brainpop

 

St. Paul’s Trip

St. Paul’s Church was built in 1765. The church was built the way it was because it needed to be able to fit a lot of people and it needed to be strong. The church was used as a hospital in the American Revolution. A battle, called the Battle of Pell’s Point happened near it. The Battle of Pell’s Point was a battle so the British could not get to Manhattan and so the British could not trap Washington’s men and to delay the British. In the Battle of Pell’s Point, The American Army hid behind stone walls and when the British came they fired. Overall, I really enjoyed going there.

Colonial America Reflexion

The process of this book was long and hard. First, we had to research on regular colonial life for our Chapter 1. We also had to research for Chapter 2, but this time we picked our top 3 choices and our teacher chose our topic out of our 3 choices. Then, we had to write out our chapters 1 and 2. Next, we had to type those chapters. After that, we used our topic research to write our Chapter 3 which is a letter that has to do with your topic. Then, we typed our chapter 3. Next, we wrote our chapter 4 and typed it. After that, we had to type our glossary and bibliography. Last, we had to put in images, captions and finishing touches. That’s how we made our book.

I really liked working on the colonial america books. I especially liked writing chapter 3  because I liked being able to make something up and use history to make it into a letter. I also liked writing chapter 2 because I liked learning about colonial doctors.

The most challenging part of this process for me was researching for my chapter 2 because it was difficult to find anymore information then what I already had.

I learned that I really like to write historical fiction.

If I did this project again, I think I would have tried to find more images because I would like a few more images.

Overall, I really liked writing this book.

 

Colonial Day

I learned so much on Colonial Day! My favorite activity was Dame School because I thought it was cool to learn about what school was like in the 1700’s. I also thought it was interesting the way they punished you when you got something wrong, and how they taught you to read prayers instead of real books. I also liked Tin Smithing because I thought it was cool to make holes through a design, and for it to come out kind of like braille.

One thing I learned about the Colonial times is that people would have a stenciling artist to stencil their walls with milk paint so the bugs that ate away at the wood couldn’t eat away at the wood anymore.

One thing I want to learn more about the Colonial times is the cooking and textiles they did.

Colonial times is different from today by how much work we do vs. how much they did. For example, back in the Colonial times they actually had to spend hours making their butter, and all we have to do is go to the store and buy it.

Overall, I really enjoyed all the activities and thought Colonial Day was really fun.

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