Presenting Pocahontas, Evening Primrose, and Squanto.
Sharing little known details of their personas, the kids taught us a lot about Pocahontas and Squanto.
Extremely busy last week with finishing up the Institute of Excellence in Writing (IEW) super essay on the Thirteen Colonies and power point presentation, I didn’t have time to supervise the construction of these character speeches.
The first time I heard them was during the presentation. They were excellent!
Why am I surprised? This is our second year with IEW, so my kids know the drill in a relaxing way. Repeatedly they start any writing/speaking project with a KWO.
Consistency is yielding results!
As Evening Primrose, I represented a Praying Indian, so named were the 17th century natives of New England who converted to Christianity.
As for my other name, Evening Primrose, the kids insisted I have an Indian name, so I asked them to recommend one. After much brainstorming based on my personality, they suggested four different names, awwww: Evening Primrose, Sweet Primrose, Quiet Waters, Rippling Brook.
Although they liked primrose because that is a type of wildflower they were quite familiar with in Texas, New England has a different type of primrose that is also lovely.
Animal Tracks Project
My son had a great time studying animal tracks (a skill he can apply on nature hikes) so he made a model to explain to everyone.
Their Super Essays (that they will soon share by power point) are on the left. An excellent Squanto audio CD from Focus on the Family is at the bottom. To the right is a rabbit skin we recently acquired. There are also some oyster shells they had collected while in Williamsburg and Jamestown a few years ago.
The kids created much of their costumes
However they wore most of their projects. The young bootmaker became a moccasin maker for this history presentation, creating a pair for himself, me, and helping his sister with hers.
Meanwhile my daughter made her wampum/seashell necklace based on some she found in her research.
For his costume, my son made the hatchet, drawstring bag, bear necklace comprised of an arrowhead, seashells, and wampum.
He also made several extra strands of wampum, tied together on his belt to be handy at any moment of need. During the presentation Grandpa asked him if he had wampum. Right on cue my son showed him the wampum tied around his waist. My dad loved that! (now we can’t find that wampum anywhere for close-up photography)
History of the Thirteen Colonies Super Essay and Power Point
The bulk of their time the last few weeks was invested in a 10-page research paper on the settling of the Thirteen Colonies, which they used to create a power point presentation.
Colonial American Feast
My son helped make the New England clam chowder.
My daughter helped roast the turkey, bake pumpkin bread with walnuts and cranberries, cook cornmeal mush with cranberries topped with maple syrup, prepare trail mix with pumpkin seed, dried cranberries, dried blueberries and corn nuts, and bake blackberry cobbler with cornmeal crust.
We served apple cider to drink.
(Editor’s Note 2011-There might not have been cranberries yet to eat, according to the Pilgrim historic site in Massachusetts. oops)
First American Christmas Carol
Then we closed with what is considered the first Christmas Carol written in America: Twas the Moon in Wintertime.
Written by Jesuit missionary Jean de Brebeuf with imagery the Huron Indians could understand of the Christ child, he set the words to a beautiful French tune.
Destroying the Huron village, the enemy Iroquois captured, tortured, and killed Brebeuf.
Huron Carol by Jesuit missionary Jean de Brebeuf
‘Twas in the moon of winter-time
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim,
And wandering hunters heard the hymn:
“Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria.”
Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapp’d His beauty round;
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high…
“Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria.”
The earliest moon of wintertime
Is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory
On the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver pelt.
“Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria.”
O children of the forest free,
O sons of Manitou,
The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
“Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria.”
