Hi, Folks,
The story of Ms. Amanda’s first love:
Once upon a time, while aboard a luxury cruise liner,I met a drifter and talented artist named Jack. He saved my life as I contemplated jumping into the ocean from the upper deck, and we fell deeply in love. He touched my soul like no one ever had before, and no one has since. Tragically, the ship hit an iceberg late one night and my beloved was doomed to a watery grave. My heart, however, will go on...
Here’s a shot of us...
OK, my first love was actually a bass player named Todd. A south Georgia trailer park kid with an incredibly limited vocabulary, a really fast motorcycle, and totally awesome hair. And he didn’t perish in the frigid Atlantic, he dumped me for a girl named (seriously) Amber.
Here’s a shot of what I imagine our family would look like if it wasn’t for that meddling Amber:
But I digress.
Jack, of course, is from the movie “Titanic”. My fascination with the Titanic, however, goes back long before Leo DiCaprio was king of the world. When I was a kid in the 1970s, the location of Titanic was still a mystery. In music class we sang the Titanic Song (It Was Sad When the Great Ship Went Down), and my friends and I fantasized about being the first to discover the wreckage.
It’s no surprise that the kids in this class are just as enthralled by the story as I once was, and what a great motivator for learning it has turned out to be! Here a few of the activities we worked on this week or will explore next week:
Titanic Math:
Measurement: How long was the Titanic? Can you name some other things that would be as long or longer? How long was the voyage? What can you do in that time?
Addition, Subtraction, Fractions, Data Analysis: How many years ago did this happen (hint-this year is a big anniversary)? How many people were in board? How many were rescued? How many died?
Numeration: Can you group the passengers onto lifeboats?
Here’s a shot of a game Bo, Oliver and Aidan R. played. The blocks are lifeboats. The yellow and blue cubes are passengers. They roll a die and count the cubes. When they get 10 cubes they can trade in for a long (the green rods) and the passengers can board the lifeboats. In this picture, they have saved 20, ( 2 tens) passengers:
Titanic Science:
Why did the Titanic sink? What causes something to float or sink? On Thursday we discussed how boats stay afloat. We looked at some other objects that float and sink (one child asked this delightful question “Why do living bodies sink, but corpses float?”...ok, who’s been watching Prime Time crime shows)?
I have asked each student to bring 2 objects from home to test. One they predict will float, one they predict will sink. Try not to test it out at home--we want to let every have a chance to make a hypothesis on each item! We will also make some boats out of Model Magic (a lightweight modeling clay), and your child is welcome to bring in any materials they want to add to their model. Keep in mind, we will test these boats for buoyancy!
Titanic Language:
Terrific Titanic Vocabulary:
Buoyant, tragedy, dire, error, compartments, watertight, deck, crow’s nest, bow, stern, hull, hymns, torches, drills, sonar, artifacts
Idioms:
Ship shape
Run a tight ship
Ships that pass in the night
Jump ship
Shape up or ship out
My ship has come in
That ship has sailed
Read alouds:
Geronimo Stilton-”The Search for the Sunken Treasure”
“The Titanic: Lost...and Found” by Judy Donnelly
Great child-led discussions about: The division between the rich and poor on board; Why women and children first? Is that fair?; Were any lessons learned from the disaster?
Titanic Feelings:
Perspective, perspective, perspective.
Your ship is sinking and there aren’t enough lifeboats? Definitely a 5 (or higher!!)on this chart. And you are permitted to act accordingly. Scream, yell, cry. Glassman is welcome when the going gets this tough. Is having to finish your journal at choice time a disaster of Titanic proportions? No, it’s probably a 1 or a 2 according to this scale. Therefore, it does not warrant a Titanic reaction.
We referred to this chart many times this week and discussed reactions to real problems that might happen in the class or at home. Ask your child these questions:
What are some examples of problems that would be big, medium, little? What are some expected ways to react to these problems?
I must be sailing off now. But before I go, I’ll leave you with Celine Dion and the theme from Titanic. Joking, joking. I wouldn’t do that to my worst enemy. Instead, here’s a version of “When That Great Ship Went Down” by Woody Guthrie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ulu8bnIBk
Have a great weekend!
Amanda and Erin
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