Our first stop on our tour of the West Region was Lolo Pass in Montana.
Lewis and Clark crossed this pass in 1805 on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean. When they got here, they were just about starving and resorted to eating candles and two of their horses to stay alive.
Today people come here to hike and fish and to say they followed the same trail as Lewis and Clark.
When we got back from our trip we journaled and glued our postcards into our scrapbooks.
We are packing our bags and getting ready to take a van through the West Region of the U.S.A. We are getting ready by coloring our maps and studying the route we will take so that by the end of week we will be ready to head to Montana, our first stop.
After Montana, we will head south to Wyoming, Colorado, California, and north again to Oregon, Washington and finally Alaska.
Hawaii, which is also in the West Region will be a special trip on the last day of school!
Stay tuned to hear what we see, hear and learn on our trip!
We finished our tour of the Southeast Region by visiting Montgomery,Alabama. It is here that we learned about segregation and the Civil Rights Movement. We visited the Civil Rights Memorial that was built to honor the 40 people who died during Civil Rights Movement.
Since we were in New Orleans yesterday, we decided to stay another day and celebrate Mardi Gras while we were there.
We started out by learning the reason there is a Mardi Gras and how it is the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
We then made jester hats to wear to the Mardi Gras Parade.
The next thing that needed to be done was decorate our King’s Cake with the Mardi Gras colors of purple, gold and green. We learned that purple stands for justice, gold for power and green for faith.
Next we listened to the story, Gaston Goes to the Mardi Gras.
Finally we donned our masks and hat and beads and ate our cake. Yummy!
A day of celebrating the Mardi Gras comes to and end!
Today we stopped in New Orleans. We walked through the French Quarters and heard the jazz bands. We learned about cajun food and that it is very hot and spicy.
We learned that New Orleans is a very busy port city where ships from all over the world load and unload their goods.
We learned a new word: bayou. A bayou is a stream that runs through a swamp.
Finally, we worked on our scrapbooks and journaled about what we saw.
Today we traveled on our boat into the Gulf of Mexico to visit an oil rig.
We learned that the oil is taken to an oil refinery where it is changed into gasoline for our cars. It is also used to make petrochemicals, which are used to produce buttons, plastic toys, and the soles of shoes. We learned that oil is very important to all of us!
Today we took a break from our fast paced trip to study a little history. We are traveling through the southeast, learning about cotton plantations and slavery.
It seemed like a natural to stop for a day and learn a little about the Civil War. To do this we listened to the story, Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco. This is the touching story of two young 15 year old boys who are fighting for the North in the Civil War. It is a story that shows the sadness of the war but also the bravery of the two young men trying to do the right thing.
I recommend the book to everyone. Read it with a tissue close by!
We put on our sailor caps and headed down the Mississippi River. We stopped in Natchez, MS and saw a beautiful mansion that was built on a cotton plantation.
We learned about slavery and how the slaves worked on the plantations. We learned that President Lincoln freed the slaves and that the North and South fought a war about slavery.
When we got back to the classroom we worked on our scrapbooks .
We finished the bus part of our trip by driving to Memphis, TN. We learned about the importance of the Mississippi River in creating fertile soil for the southeast region.
We saw cotton growing and were reminded how the cotton farmers in the past used slaves to help pick the cotton.
We then listened to some “Blues” music. We heard the sadness in music, very different from the Bluegrass we heard yesterday.
The sounds of the guitar and harmonica were evident in the sound of the “Blues”.
In Jamestown, VA. we boarded a bus and headed to Memphis, TN. As we traveled we viewed the beautiful Appalachian Mountains.
Our bus stopped at a coal mine in the Appalachian Mountains. We saw how miners mined coal long ago and how coal is mined today. We learned that we use coal today to make electricity.
We then heard some bluegrass music. We enjoyed listening to the bluegrass and found our toes were tapping to the music. Bluegrass music is played with guitars, banjos and fiddles.
