The Play's the Thing

Today we started to return to what Warren Harding famously called "normalcy." Testing is over, and our field trip is done. We can now get back to that wonderfully productive routine.

Certainly that's how our morning went. We had Reader's Workshop, and then during Independent Work Time we reviewed our last story on dairy farming and began to look at the next story about the Amish. We worked on a lot of hard words today during blending. Four-syllable words are now the norm for blending, but everyone seems to understand the way to look at the words and separate them into syllables. We then discussed some vocabulary. We read and discussed the story.

After recess, we turned our attention to the play that Mrs Caruso helped to write. It is pretty long! In the story, two children pick up their mother's cell phone and are instantly transported back to the Plymouth of the first Thanksgiving. They meet up with two Wampanoag children. After some initial hesitation, they become friends. The two Native American children are concerned that their mother might die unless she receives some medication, so once they learn about the time travel phone, they want to come along to the future to get the medication. From Plymouth, the children journey through the Cumberland Gap where they meet Daniel Boone, and then attend the unveiling of the Freedman's Memorial in Washington D.C. where they meet Frederick Douglas. They go to San Francisco to see the Summer of Love, and then journey 500 years to the future where they discover the genial reason for their adventures. It's an interesting romp through American history.

I proposed to Mrs Caruso that I would watch members of both classes after lunch while she held auditions for the major roles. With Ms Jan, the RST aide, to help me, this went quite well. Mrs Caruso should be announcing the cast tomorrow or Monday. Once she is working with the actors, I will work with the musicians.

Homework: (1) Write a summary of what was seen and learned on the trip to Cabrillo. (2) Continue to work on the math workbook.