Wow! What a great day at Youngblood Intermediate. Today, I spent some time in Ms. Fallos's class. The class is concluding their study of the Civil War in just a few days. Today the class was divided into five groups. Each group created a short lesson to teach me something that they learned during their study of the Civil War. One group read me a book called Honest Abe. This book taught me all about the trials and tribulations that Abraham Lincoln went through before he became one of our great presidents. Another group read me the book Pink and Say. This was such a touching story of two young boys who were soldiers in the Civil War. I was also introduced to the book Moses. This is the story of Harriet Tubman, another influential person during the time of the Civil War. I had a great time learning from all of these books. Two of the other groups taught me a new song about hardtack biscuits...these were little crackers made out of flour and water (and sometimes beetles) that the soldiers had to eat during the Civil War. I learned so much today. It's amazing what you can learn from books and songs!

Fort Sumter Today

I have really enjoyed my time with Ms. Lewis' classes. I have learned a lot of new information about the Civil War that I did not know. Today, I learned about the attack on Fort Sumter and how that was the start of the Civil War. Then I saw current pictures of Fort Sumter. It is now a national park that people visit in Charleston, S.C. I listened to a read aloud of Soldier's Heart. It seems like it is going to be a good book. So far, the main character Charley Goodard has enlisted into the army in Minnesota but he is not yet a man, he is only 15. When he arrived at Fort Snelling, he was given a pair of black pants, that were too short for him, a shirt, and a floppy black hat. He has learned to load and fire his weapon. Charley also has to do "drills" to help prepare his group for war. I leave Ms. Lewis' class tomorrow so I will not know how the story ends. I hope my new friends will keep me posted on how it all ends.

Causes of the Civil War

Sorry that this post is late. I learned so much on Friday that I needed the weekend to gather my thoughts. On Friday, after my arrival to Ms. Lewis' class, the students presented their Road Maps to the Civil War. This was an amazing project! From the presentations, I learned about 10 events that led to the Civil War. It seems that a lot was being done in the country to keep everything balanced and fair regarding free and slave states. There were a lot of compromises that were created to help with this but they did not help. Also, the issue of slavery period was a big deal as well. So much so, a woman by the name of Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote a book titled Uncle Tom's Cabin to tell about the cruelty of slavery. I also learned about the election of Abraham Lincoln and listened to a story about him too. I had no idea that President Lincoln had a patent! After the story, we watched a Brain Pop video about the causes of the Civil War. Tim and Moby really helped me to understand the video and they are funny too! After that, we took a quiz using an Active Classroom Response system. I thought it was pretty cool to be able to respond using the clicker instead of having to use paper and pencil. Well, today is my last day with Ms. Lewis' classes, I will blog again before I go.