Wednesday, August 12, 2009

"Columbus sailed the ocean blue....."

".....inFourteen Hundred Ninety-Two!"

Also heard at my house....."Land Ho!"and "To the first man that spots land, I promise a velvet robe!", and " I claim this land for God and for Spain!"

This week, we have been studying Christopher Columbus and his voyage to The New World. We recreated his journey in our very own backyard with little more than some aluminum foil, some chopsticks, and some index cards. Oh yes, and The Little Apple's long since abandoned baby bathtub.

Our ships were very seaworthy, and bore the names of the three ships that journeyed across the ocean. The Big Apple, who was in charge of creating the Santa Maria, insisted that the sail had a Santa hat on it. Not in real life, but just for this pretend voyage, of course.
We also studied a little bit about air, wind, and how it moves things. What a perfect tie in with the unit. The Middle Apple really enjoyed demonstrating how the sails work. And insisted that Christopher Columbus needed a wife, who looked like a Polly Pocket. The Big Apple quickly corrected her and told her that the wife died before he left Spain. It's amazing how much information she absorbs when she hears a story. I didn't think she was paying attention.
They spent a long time this morning recreating the story. I simply sat back with a cup of coffee and enjoyed watching the learning unfold.

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