Tea Time Eighteenth Century Style

"Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Colonial Days has begun". Our very own Town Crier announced the festivities and updated us on all the happenings locally as well as throughout the colonies in 1785. "Mrs. O'Henry has given birth to her eighth son this morning, The House of Burgesses will meet at the thirteenth hundered hour this very day........Britain has blocked the port in Boston leading to uprisings throughout the colonies......"

A special invitation brings townspeople from near and far for a formal tea. We were dressed in our finery as we gather at Madame Anderson's home on Francis Street in Williamsburg Virginia. It was a time of celebration as we contemplated all God had provided for us in the colonies AND a day to mark our resolve as patriots intent on freedom. "Huzzah, huzzah!"

Our lovely moms helped to serve us scones, clotted cream, butter, and jam with our tea.

We learned about the history of tea and importance of it socially during the 18th century.

We had opportunity to learn and practice using manners acceptable to the time period.

Don't we look great?
The students role played as they conversed over tea. Much of the conversations centered on Britain's injustice in taxing the colonists so heavily.

We decided that scones and tea were definitely tasty and a food from the 1700's that we would enjoy eating in the future.

Colonial Life Up Close

Our field trip yesterday took us back in time to the eighteenth century. We had the extraordinary privilege of touring a New England style colonial home right here in Edmond, Oklahoma! Scott and Debra Duncan, owners of this residence, were our tour guides.
We were shown unique architectural features, including the bulls eye glass above the doorway and the bowed roof.
Inside, we saw furniture, art and many items from the 1700's.

The paint is made from buttermilk!!!!
These are called "Good Morning Stairs" since people would greet one another as they met at the landing from the hallways on both sides of the house. A symmetrically designed house was very common.
A leather bucket hung was kept on hand to put out fires in the house.
A tavern sign from the 1800's.
The kitchen hearth including a dutch oven with piping hot oatmeal for us to enjoy!!! Perfect for this cold crisp morning.
Debra is showing us an apple roaster.
A toaster......

Debra is showing how to use typical household items including a mortar and pestle for grinding up spices and herbs.
Mr. Duncan showed how the differences in pewter and silver designs. We were shown three types of chair and learned they were named after the royalty of England prior to the Revolutionary War but named after the artisan (Chippendale) following Independence.
A table, chair and storage......practical use of space.
A final treat was seeing a demonstration of Mr. Duncan using a flint lock rifle......Boom!


Thank you, Duncans, for giving us a first-hand look at colonial life!

Destination Germination

"Do seeds need light to germinate?" is the question we are investigating in our current science unit on plants. We gathered our materials including: beans, soil, 1 clear cup marked "A", 1 clear cup marked "B", water, one box with a lid marked "A", and one box without a lid marked "B". Next, we soaked our northern dried beans in water for a few hours to soften the seed coat and speed up the germination process. Then we went outside to the various stations to complete the initial steps of our experiment.

Wah lah!!!! We are ready to put our A and B cups in their respective boxes and wait to see the answer to our hypothesis: Plants do need light to germinate OR Plants do not need light to germinate. Stay tuned for our results.

Wildlife Expo Field Trip

Heading out to the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie to experience the Wildlife Expo is definitely a worthwhile adventure for our fourth graders. This is a first-class act sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and is the biggest event of its kind in the nation. And did mention that it is FREE? Yes, we enjoyed kayaking, shooting, making native american crafts, sawing, mountain biking, a bird show, and fishing to name some of the highlights. There were cool reptiles to touch, insect collections and displays about habitats. The experts were on hand at each booth to demonstrate and answer our numerous questions. We ate buffalo meat, turkey jerky and venison stew. Some yummy chocolate cake was made in a dutch oven too.

What makes this field trip such a favorite for me is that is covers many of our science, history, reading and Bible topics covered in our grade throughout the year. It also is a rare opportunity to be outdoors all day in a beautiful setting nestled in Guthrie, Oklahoma. It doesn't surprise me to hear that many students convinced their families to return again the next to experience MORE of this fabulous expo.

This kayak was outfitted with EVERYHING you could ever imagine!!