Show and Tell - August

Happy Tuesday!  It's a perfect time to link up with Stephanie from Forever in Fifth Grade for: for:


http://foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com/2016/08/show-tell-tuesday-heading-back-to-school.html

We don't start school until after Labor Day where I teach so I'm still focused on vacation - that's why I'll be talking more about summer vs. back to school.




Last year my sister told me about cairns (pronounced Karens), and I had never even heard of them.  Now that I know what they are - piles or towers of rocks - I see them everywhere!  When we went to Acadia two weeks ago, we saw cairns everywhere:



Check out the cairn on the left - it's an amazing example of a keystone.  The family who made this cairn told me that they had spotted the triangular rock, and they knew it would be a perfect rock to hold up their tower.


According to my sister, cairns were built to memorialize someone, but I just read a whole article on Wikipedia and learned so much more about these rock structures.  Cairns have been around for a LONG time and were used to help people find their way in areas where there are few landmarks or where there is a lot of snow.  Since cairns are tall, people can see them above the snow.  Cairns are also used to memorialize people.  Plus, now that it's summer and beach weather, you can see these cairns everywhere!




Ben Franklin was the youngest son and his sister, Jane, was the youngest daughter in a large colonial family in Boston.  Their family nicknamed them Benny and Jenny.  When they grew up, Ben and Jane wrote letters to each other, and this book details many of their letters.  My favorite parts of this book occurred when Jane lived through the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere's Ride, the Battle and Bunker Hill and the Declaration of Independence.  What an amazing time to be alive!  If you love history and primary source, check out this non-fiction book by Harvard history professor Jill Lepore:



https://www.amazon.com/Book-Ages-Life-Opinions-Franklin/dp/0307948838/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470686982&sr=8-1&keywords=book+of+ages+the+life+and+opinions+of+jane+franklin+by+jill+lepore

Click here or on the book to read more about this book on Amazon.






Finally, I have to admit that I do think about Back to School; after all, it's the second week of August, and all the stores are full of school supplies,...I did manage to snag a few items:






My favorite purchase is the pencil banner from the Target Dollar Spot - it's as cute as you've heard.  The bear, book and fox notebook will go home with the Line Leader for the week. Students write in the notebook about their adventures with the bear.

That's it for now!  Thanks for checking in!




2 comments

  1. That pencil border is adorable! I'm going to have to check out that book, especially since I teach about Ben Franklin and all of those events you mentioned. Thanks for linking up!

    Stephanie
    Forever in Fifth Grade

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a cool idea and way to make a vacation more enjoyable:) A nice tradition!

    https://ladyliteracy-sixthgrade.blogspot.com/2016/08/21st-century-skills-poster-freebie.html

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