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Welcome to Colm's Classroom web page................................. We'll keep you up to date with pictures and notes about some of our classroom activities.
There are links to newsletters, general parent notes and homework cover sheets through the tabs on the left of this page.
SOCIAL STUDIES.......
We are studying the history of Massachusetts.....in the fall we went on a field trip to Plimoth Plantation, which is a museum that recreates life in the mid 1620's. It tells the story of the lives of the Wampanoag Native People and the English colonists.
From the two photographs you can easily see the contrast of cultures. The clothing in the above photo is practical and made from the resources of the local environment. The photo below shows clothing not designed for farming and dependent on materials from Europe, 3,500 miles away.
The Native American dwelling known as a wetu in this region, is a simple structure with a fireplace in the middle, beds built on frames around the sides and could house an extended family.
The colonists built smaller homes, using skills learned in Europe. A wooden frame had boards nailed around it with a thatched roof and a fireplace that sometimes used stone if available. They were small designed for single families and had simple wooden furniture inside.
The fenced off area gives you a glimpse of the gardens where households grew food crops. The fencing was to keep out animals such as pigs and poultry which roamed the colony. (Unlike today where we always see farm animals fenced and the fields more open.)
The items on this table would have been transported from Europe and were not made locally. Wear and tear would be a concern and money needed for replacements. Plus, time as it took months for ships to cross the Atlantic Ocean and that was subject to seasons and prevailing winds.
The meeting house took some years to build and doubled up as a defensive fort. The colonists built a stockade fence around the whole plantation. Relations with the Native people was often tense.
This photo shows the burning of a tree stump to build a canoe. As the wood burned it was chiseled out to form the shape of a dugout canoe. Some finished canoes are in the photo below.
Again you see the use of natural resources for human needs (food, shelter, clothing and transportation.) The Wampanoag were a settled civilization that came into contact with vastly different European people. This clash of cultures had a huge impact on history.
In the classroom we have mirrored some of these historical events in our "Colony Game". Groups of students have learned about aspects of the life of these early settlers and their interaction with the Native Americans and the environment. Different phases of the game looked at aspects of the history. Each group was trying to measure its success and failures against the record of the Pilgrims at Plimoth.
We wrapped up the study creating a two sided book that compared contrasted Native American and Europeans.
Below is a picture of the planning sheet for the book.
Students collected information and chose how to display it.
Here we see those notes being transferred to the book
Below is the size of the book and you can see that it is "double sided". The design offered us the chance to compare and contrast the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag People
 
Two pages in a finished book
SCIENCE........
As part of our study of soil and its components we have made up compost bags and placed worms in them. Weekly observations give us an opportunity to observe the worms and how the food in the compost is decomposing.
 
MIT's outreach program visited us and the class had a chance to explore and experiment with some simple electric circuits. Below are some of the photos showing the experiments.
 
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