Illuminated Manuscripts!

We wrapped up our unit on the Middle Ages this month! Students chose a topic we'd previously discussed that they wanted to know more about. 

They chose all sorts of things to research – medieval food and feasts, the Black Death, weaponry, inventions, castles, and the Roman Emperor Diocletian! After extensive research, the class created illuminated manuscripts that demonstrated their new-found knowledge.

Earlier this trimester, the class learned about illuminated manuscripts, which are hand-written books with beautiful decorations. 

This student chose to research Diocletian, and felt that he did a great job as Emperor.

Check out this illuminated manuscript on castles! Note the gold border – medieval monks often used precious metals when making manuscripts to signify the importance of the document.

This student learned lots about medieval weapons! 

Though the Black Plague may be a gloomy topic, this student's illustrated rat teases, "I get cheese, you get a disease!"

     

These two chose to research food from the Middle Ages. We all wondered what gooseberry pie tastes like!

Makerspace

Every week, fourth-grade walks down the stairs and lets their creative juices flow. When we visit Seabury's makerspace, we craft hot air balloons, swords and shields, costumes, toys, decorations, and more! 

The school's makerspace is a well-stocked room full of every crafting item you can imagine. When visiting, each student decides what they'd like to make and then they get to work! Some weeks, a prompt for creating is given (such as creating a classroom decoration). Most of the time, though, students are free to design and create whatever they'd like. 

Having a chance to visit the makerspace each week has helped our class grow more confident. When things don't work as planned, students learn to try again! Consistently crafting in this way helps students develop their creativity and problem solving skills. Plus, it's so much fun!

Marble Run Challenge!

This week, our class tackled our hardest STEM challenge yet – not only were they tasked with creating a working marble run, they also had to create a Hagia Sophia structure. Students learned how to appropriately scale their creations using the measurements of the real Hagia Sophia, a grand mosque in Istanbul. 

The class was split into assigned groups, challenging their teamwork skills on top of everything else! Throughout the project, we discussed strategies for working through different ideas, cooperation, and positivity when working on a difficult group task.

Watch our exit interviews to see the marble runs in action and hear from each student about their hard work.

Creating our Classroom Castle

After two weeks of castle building, we finally took our build apart today. While it was disappointing for all of us, we had so much fun throughout the entire process!

From the start, the class had a vision. We sat down and planned out each room, decoration, and feature of our future castle. The kids took inspiration from medieval castles around the world we'd studied (wall structures from English castles, turrets from Swedish castles, and decorations in the style of Japanese castles from the time period). Once we had our plan mapped out, the class grabbed some cardboard and duct tape and got to work!

Students researched historical castles to learn about all the different rooms as well as the people that occupied the fantastic homes!

Others created decorations such as flowers, torches, tapestries, and Seabury flags.

Every castle needs a portcullis and drawbridge! This was a tricky challenge that took lots of trial and error.

The castle walls were another challenge. Students created secret tunnels, a bed chamber, a kitchen, a dungeon, windows, watch towers, and more!

(Left) A knight with his crafted bow, arrows, and quiver.

(Right) A queen with her crafted crown!

Students spend their last day in the castle having fun. 

Drawbridge Challenge

This past week, the Geodragons learned more about medieval castles. The students learned about all of the parts of these castles and compared and contrasted medieval castle architecture in many different countries. 

At the end of the week, the students were presented with the challenge to create their own functioning drawbridges! Presented with simple materials, each group would have to brainstorm designs and work together to carry out this STEAM challenge. Challenges like this require students to demonstrate creative thinking, persistence, and team work.

In the pictures below, students are hard at work creating their own versions of a drawbridge!

Life in Medieval Europe

We've recently been learning about what it was like to live in medieval Europe! Yesterday, the class participated in a feudal system simulation. Each student randomly chose their destiny – some became lords and ladies, some became knights, some became peasants, and one lucky student became queen. 

The class learned firsthand how different life could be, just based on the role they were "born" into! Our queen was treated with the utmost respect and had all the food she could want, while the peasants had to give up the food they farmed on their lord or lady's manor. 

In the pictures below, knights kneel by their lord or lady at their manor. Serfs (peasants) are bound to the manor land (or, in our case, the desk).

Welcome, Geodragons!

 It's hard to believe we've only been together for a month! The Geodragons work so well together to create, explore, and question the world around them. 

We've had so much fun starting the year studying dragons and beginning our quest to uncover the history of the Middle Ages. This week, our class finished their squire training and became knights of Seabury!