North Africa projects

As some of you know, our class has two main projects going on as part of our North Africa theme this month. We've been doing some independent research on aspects of the region or the history that interest us, and presenting that research in the form of letters to the Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta. Last Friday we took a research trip to the Mallett's Creek branch of the Ann Arbor library, and I was immensely impressed by the children's independence and excellent time management. It's a small library, so it wasn't easy finding all the information we needed, but almost everyone did a great job of staying on track and being self-reliant about seeking out the information. At this age, I hadn't honestly expected that level of self-motivation, and it was a joy to see!

We're also just beginning a mapping project, wherein we'll be drawing blueprints/maps of a North African city as it develops through the ages (this is based on a wonderful picture book called "Umm El Madayan"). We've planned the stages our city will be undergoing, and today we began the process of creating the basic layout of the land on which the city will be built. Both discussions were fun and engaged, with the children presenting lots of well-reasoned ideas about the layout and progress of the city. We should be starting the real mapping process on Thursday.

Our first read-out-loud book of the year was The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay; as we've now finished that, we're moving on to a book set in Tunisia called Benny and Omar, by Eoin Colfer. All in all, our North African theme is pulling us in some fascinating directions, and I couldn't be more pleased with the children's involvement.