Showing posts with label Old South Meeting House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Old South Meeting House. Show all posts

What is the Back 9 Era?

Hello there!  Yet again, I am linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for their weekly link-up:
                                FRIDAY FAVORITES~!


Back 9 Era:  What is it?

I am 65 years old and still learning new expressions.  The other day in the NYT mini, the clue was for low quality digital content.  I thought the answer was "spam."  Eventually, I got it:  "slop."  My 33 year old son asked, "Didn't you ever hear of slop?"  Ha, not when the word refers to something on the computer.

Anyway, back to the "Back 9 Era."  I have a Peloton bike that I still ride frequently (my name is "Mrswatermelon," if you want to follow me).  I started noticing the hashtag Back9era.  Then I heard Jenn Sherman talking about this term.  I thought it had to do with football.  Wrong again!  Here is what it means:

The "Back 9 Era" is a, popular fitness and lifestyle mindset, particularly for people over 50 (or roughly 40+), representing the second half of life. It uses a golf metaphor—where the final nine holes (10–18) follow the first nine—to reframe aging not as a decline, but as a proactive, intentional, and strong new chapter.

Spring brings on hope for warmer weather and longer days.  In Massachusetts, it doesn't really warm up until June, but if the sun is shining, it feels warmer.  More importantly, as long as it doesn't rain, I can take my granddaughter outside to play as well as take my dog for a walk!



Scaredy Squirrel has some new books:


If you're a Scaredy Squirrel fan, like me, you'll definitely want to check out this new book!


This new book is a chapter book!  There are 4 chapters.  I have read the first chapter to my students; Scaredy Squirrel receives a crate of unknown origin.  You can guess that Scaredy goes into panic mode!  Click here or on the book cover to check out more at Amazon!

Also, there are 4 books in this Scaredy Squirrel's Nutty Adventure Series to check out!

The Old South Meetinghouse in Boston!

If you are planning to visit Boston some day, make sure to visit the Old South Meeting House.  Right across the street, you can also see the newer statues about the Irish Potato Famine.  

Our tour guide at the Old South Meeting House was Erica.  She lead us into the Meeting House where the kids sat in the pews while Erica reviewed the history of the building.  The Old South Meeting House was built in 1729.  Benjamin Franklin was baptized in this building.  Most importantly, the colonists discussed their options when dealing with the taxes England was placing on them.  The final decision to have the Boston Tea Party was made here in December, 1773.

An interesting part of the building includes this octagonal structure above the place where a speaker would stand. (It's hanging from chains right in front of the window.)



We learned that this structure acted as a microphone by directing the speaker's voice out toward the audience.

Another amazing artifact is John Hancock's travel-size desk:


The most amazing artifact for me, was this vial of tea leaves which was saved from the Boston Tea Party.  When one of the colonists returned home from the Tea Party, he found tea leaves in his shoes, and he saved the tea to pass down to his family.  Check it out:



We spent about forty-five minutes at the Old South Meeting House, and we sat in the building where the Boston Tea Party was decided upon.  Wow, what a great opportunity to experience history first-hand!

Have a great week!  It's almost Memorial Day Weekend!








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Flying By Fast Summer: Friday Favorites!


Hello there!  Summer is the season that passes the quickest, and with good reason - there is so much to accomplish.  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything to highlight this week's Friday Favorites!

                           Friday Favorites!








Sand Castles

At Revere Beach (the first public beach in America), there is an annual sand sculpture competition.  We went on last week after the crowds were gone:







Mapping Boston!

Here's a flashback to a summer course I took: Mapping Boston In the American Revolution course.  (Click here to get teaching materials you can use in your own classroom!)  My lesson centered around mapping the Boston Tea Party - the route from the Old South Meeting House to Griffin's Wharf:


This is an enlarged section of the Bonner Map of Boston (click here to see the whole map).  The Old South Meeting House is at the corner of Cornhill and Milk Streets.  Griffin's Wharf got cut out in this picture.  The lesson plan would involve mapping the route the Sons of Liberty took.

If you want to see the location of the Old State House, it's on the upper end of King Street.

As a follow-up activity, I'd love to recreate colonial Boston.  Here's the display from the Old South Meeting House:


Click here to see a Boston Tea Party diorama on TPT.


Books About Boston


When we were at Old South Meeting House, I visited the gift shop to get book ideas:


My favorite book was the Freedom Trail Pop-Up Book, but I just checked on Amazon, and it costs $29.99.  Maybe I'll save that purchase for when/if I get a gift card. 



Animal Atlas

I read about this great book in another blog, and I had to buy it for myself:


The Animal Planet Animal Atlas is amazing and colorful.  It's full of fascinating facts and close-up pictures of so many animals.  I picked the pictures of the moose and the puffin because I want to see those animals in real life - maybe some day!  Click here to check it out on Amazon!

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

Last, but not least, I went bought some items at Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale:

This cap isn't part of the sale, but it's so cute I bought it for my daughter.  But, if she doesn't want it, I am happy to have it!

I got this black Wit and Wisdom pants for the cooler weather.




Lastly, I bought this cozy cardigan.  Years ago, I bought a "grandpa" sweater from Nordstrom.  I wear it all the time because it's so cozy so I'm hoping this sweater is equally comfortable.

Did you buy anything fun lately?  

As always, thank you for visiting today!  Remember to check out the other great blogs at:









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Keeping Focused and On Course in December!

Hello there!  Thanks for visiting today!  Check out what we've been up to these days!



Holiday Concert = A Great Success

Our very talented Music teacher put together another delightful all-school holiday show!  Here are the third graders on the risers:


music


Thank you to Music Teacher, Ms. Newman, for preparing and practicing with our students for these concerts!


Contraction Action Morning Messages

Last week we learned about contractions for Spelling so I incorporated the theme into our Morning Messages:


morning message

morning message





More About the Boston Tea Party Reenactment

Part of the Boston Tea Party reenactment is having the opportunity to interact with the "colonists" who are dressed in period costume:

Boston Tea Party reenactment

In addition, the Old South Meetinghouse has a museum with these artifacts:

Old South Meetinghouse

Check out the vial of tea leaves in the upper left corner of the picture above.  These tea leaves are supposed to be the only remaining tea leaves from the original Boston Tea Party.  One of the participants had these tea leaves in his shoes, and he saved them.  Of course, if you want to see one of the two remaining tea chests from the Boston Tea Party, you can go to the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum!



A.L.I.C.E. Training

A Woburn police officer came to speak to the kids about A.L.I.C.E. program (you can read more here.)  The day before, we watched the read-aloud of this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Im-Not-Scared-Prepared/dp/1937870286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514054476&sr=8-1&keywords=i%27m+not+scared+i%27m+prepared+book+by+julia+cook
Click on book to read more at Amazon.
Here are some of the slides shown during the assembly:



Woburn Police




Woburn police

The kids' favorite part was practicing afterwards:  the evacuation (with our coats on) and barricading the doors of the classroom.


Thank you for checking in today, and
canva



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Delightful December Showing and Telling!

Happy Winter Solstice ~ Almost!  I love knowing that each day will have an extra minute or two of daylight!

Today I'm linking up with Stephanie from Forever in 5th Grade for:

https://foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com/2017/12/show-tell-tuesday-december.html

 Boston Tea Party Reenactment

If you love history and want to participate in a reenactment, the Old South Meeting House recreates the December 16, 1773 meeting in which the decision was made to dispose of the tea on the three British ships in Boston Harbor.  Before the actual reenactment, many "colonists" mingle with the crowd:


old south meeting house

 Here are some scenes during the reenactment:

old south meeting house

 This is the second year I've attended the reenactment, and it is so much fun!  Of course, if you're ever in Boston, you can visit the Old South Meeting House ~ it's on the Freedom Trail. 




 Cara Cara Oranges & Good Luck

They're back!  Cara Cara oranges are finally back, and if you've never had one, please check them out!  Juicy Cara Cara oranges are pink inside.  These oranges were discovered in 1976 and weren't even available in the U.S. until the end of the 1980s.  I was so excited to find them over the weekend:


oranges

While purchasing my favorite oranges and other delicious fruit, my total purchase came to:



I'm always feeling lucky when my total purchase randomly comes to a number like this!

Gingerbread Exchange Fun

My students created the most amazing gingerbread and wrote letters chock full of Massachusetts history and information for our Gingerbread exchange.  Check out some of their creations:



I gave the kids two options:  a Celtics themed gingerbread or a baker with the state muffin and cookie.  Of course, I told them to feel free to create their own gingerbread people.  What a fun project this is!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog ~ it means so much to me!

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

 
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