Sunday, July 17, 2016

Middle Ages Worksheet #2

1- What was the purpose of chain mail?

2- Why do you think parents chose the marriage partners for their children?

3- Why did women cover their hair?

4- What was a crusader?

5- Why do you think they fostered out their children to other families? Do you think this is a good practice?

6- Describe the jobs a boy had to do before he became a knight? Why do you think they made him do that?

7- What were the five different classes of society?

8- What role did the church play in everyday life?

9- Why was the church important to people who went on pilgrimages?

10- What kind of houses did the peasants live in?

11- How did their diet compare to a wealthy person?

12- Why did they kill all their livestock before the winter?

13- How were things changing for women in the towns? Did they have it better than the girls in the manor who couldn't make any decisions?

14- Name some of the jobs in the town.

15- How did someone become a craftsmen? Was it an easy life? What profession would you pick and why?

16- Where did the craftsmen live?

17- What were the four humors of the body and why were they important?

18- Why did the girl prefer a midwife?

19- Name some of the activities that were popular? Which one would you like to do or watch?

20- Describe what you think a tournament would look like.

21- Why do you think minstrels were popular?

22- Why was the church more powerful than the king? How do you think that made the king feel about the church? 

23- Why do you think building huge cathedrals were important?

24- Why was travel by sea safer?

25- Why do you think girls did not go to grammar school? If they were allowed, why was it in a convent?

26- Pick a famous person from the time period and describe why they were important?

Middle Ages Worksheet #1

1-Why do you think the Middles Ages began when the Roman Empire fell apart?

2- What role did safe roads, stable government and coinage have to do with being an Empire?

3- When the empire fell apart who took control of the towns?

4- What role did knights play in these feudal towns?

5- Who worked the land of the manor or demesne?

6- What two types and peasants were there and what was the difference between them?

7-Who were the Normans?

8- What do the popular names tell you about the society?

9- Why was building a large home important?

10- Name three parts of the castle and define them.

11- Why do you think the girl in this book had such a large family? What happened to her mother?

12- Why do you think the servants slept on the floor?

13- Describe the bed of the lord of the manor. Do you think others had such a grand bed?

14- Who stayed in the solar?

15- What purpose did the tapestries serve?

16- Why was salt important? If you sat closer to the salt, did it make a difference in your status in the household?

17- Name three things that would be found on the table. Have you ever tasted any of them?

18- Why do you think the kitchen was the busiest place int the castle?

19- Describe some of the activities you'd find going on in there.

20- Why do you think the girl stopped having breakfast?

21- Pick three articles of clothing and describe them. Are any of them familiar with what you wear today?

Friday, July 15, 2016

Ancient Greece Worksheet #2

1-What were some of the many jobs your father might have?

2- How were boys educated? What were some of their subjects?

3- Why do you think they didn't give girls the same education?

4- How did their education differ?

5- Describe the differences between a chiton and peplos.  Why did they make the clothes from linen instead of wool?

6- If a person wore jewelry from far away, what did that tell you about their society?

7- Describe the way men wore their hair and why do you think it was important?

8- What was the significance of facial hair?

9- Write what you would expect to see in an agora. What would be a modern counterpart?

10- Why was using money an important invention in society?

11- What sport would you do in the Ancient Olympic games? Why do you think the Olympics were important? Are they as important today?

12- Who were Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates and why were they important. Pick one and describe what he taught.

13- Who was Hippocrates and why was he important?

14- What did Homer do and why was it important?

15-Why do you there are over twenty cities named for Alexander the Great?

16- Pick one of the gods of Ancient Greece and write about why they were important to the Greeks.

17- Write a story about one of them.

Ancient Greece Worksheet #1

1- What do the ruins in the middle of a city tell you about how the Greeks feel about their heritage?

2- Write a story about visiting a city in Ancient Greece. What do you think you would see? Describe the sights and smells.

3- Why was Greece called the "Cradle of Western Civilization"?

4-  People have lived in Athens for thousands of years. Name three things that may attract people to live in a city.

5- What does demokratia mean and how does it affect you today?

6- Why do you think the Greeks worshipped so many gods? Why do you think al the gods lived on Mount Olympus?

7- What did the people have in common in the many city-states of Greece? How did they show their differences?

8- Why do you think slavery was considered natural in Ancient Greece? Where did the slaves come from? How could a slave be freed?

9- Why do you think they built houses of stone in Greece?

10- Why did they keep the fire in the household hearth lit all the time?

11-Write a menu for an Ancient Greek child and then write your menu for a day. How do they differ? 

12- Why do you think the father ate separately and reclined on a cushion?

13- Why did they not like to drink water?

14- What did they use instead of sugar?

15- What is a thetes?

16- What was life like in Sparta? 

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Food on the Oregon Trail

Interesting blog post about the Oregon Trail. 

A typical food list such as that from Joel Palmer's guide would include for each adult:
two hundred pounds of flour, thirty pounds of pilot bread, seventy-five pounds of bacon, ten pound of rice, five pounds of coffee, two pounds of tea, twenty-five pounds of sugar, half a bushel of dried beans, one bushel of dried fruit, two pound of saleratus [baking soda], ten pounds of salt, half a bushel of corn meal; and it is well to have half a bushel of corn, parched and ground; a small keg of vinegar should also be taken.


When cooks loaded their wagons, they had more to think about than simply packing pounds of flour and sugar. They needed to know if the sugar had to be sifted before use, if bacon would spoil or if it was possible to make an eggless pudding over an open fire. They had to decide which mill ground the best flour and if the "meat biscuits" advertised for sale in the local newspaper were as good as the advertisement reported. Knowing the best type of foods to bring and the right
amount to pack was essential.

Did you know that sugar should be pounded in a mortar? 
Baking bread was a daily activity.
Next to bread, bacon was the food most eaten-often on the menu twice a day.



Read more here: http://www.oregonpioneers.com/FoodChoices.htm



Credit should be given to:  Jacqueline Williams




Colonial America Worksheet #2

1- Make a chart comparing the diet back in England and compare it to the food available in the New World. What do you think the colonists missed most and why?

2- How could two children from very different cultures communicate if they didn't' speak the same language? Come up a way to say fish, water, hungry, cold, and friend without using any words.

3- Why were salt, spices and vinegar important to the settlers?

4- Why do you think ale was the preferred drink?

5- Why was the first Thanksgiving so important?

6- Why is having surplus vegetables important? Other than eating them, how could that make life easier?

7- What does "breeched" mean and why do you think it was important to a little boy?

8- Name three chores a child would have to do? Which would you choose to do and why?

9- Describe a game that children played back then and compare it to one that you play today. What are the differences?

10-Why do you think only boys went to school?

Colonial America Worksheet #1

1- Describe the difference between what London looks like now with how it looked back in 1620.

2- What do the names chosen for children tell you about society?

3- Why was the king's religion so important to the people?

4- How did Henry VIII's personal life affect his religion?

5- Why do you think Henry VIII declared himself the head of the new religion?

6- Why do you think Henry's daughter Elizabeth I stayed with the new religion rather than go back to the old ways?

7- What does the name Reformers or Protestants tell you about the way people felt about the new religion?

8- Name two things they wanted to change.

9- What does the name Puritans tell you about the way they believed?

10- Why do you think they were called Separatists? 

11-Why did the Separatist who fled to the Dutch Netherlands find life hard?

12- Describe what you think the Pilgrims found when they landed in the New World? 

13- What do you think they did first?

14- What does "everything had to be made from scratch" mean?

15- Why would that be hard?

16- What is wattle and daub and why is it important when building a house?

17- Why do you think they never let the fire go out in the kitchen?

18- Why did the founding fathers call their home a plantation?

Monday, July 11, 2016

American West Worksheet #2

1- What did they use for windows?

2- What is daub and chink?

3- Why do you think the settlers worked together to put up a building?

4- What happened to the natives that lived in the area they settled and why?

5- What would you plant in your kitchen garden and why?

6- Name some of the chores you would have to do.

7- How does your classroom differ from the children in the book?

8-Why did school close in the spring, reopen in the summer and close in the fall again?

9- How much did a cowboy make a month? 

10- Why do you think the settlers were called Pilgrim, Tenderfoot, and Greenhorn?

11- Why do you think the settlers would be excited about attending a dance?

12- Name some important things that you would like in your town if you were a settler.

13- What are some of the rules that everybody must follow?

14- Why would a boy be excited about getting his own horse and why would his parents make sure he knew the rules of their society?

15- Pick two personalities from the back of the book and describe why they made an impact on the times.

American West Worksheet #1



1- Describe what kind of structures you might have on a homestead?

2- Why were people looking to relocate?

3- Why do you think the journey was called "The Great Migration of 1843"?

4- What do you think a gold miner's life was like? 

5- Why was a Conestoga wagon called a prairie schooner?

6- What were the advantages of traveling in a large group rather  than alone?

7- Make a list of what you think you'd need to make the journey.

8- What chores do you think you would have like the least and why? What would you like to do?

9- What was the creative way the girl found to churn butter? Why was it such a good idea?

10- Why do you think the wagons formed a circle at night? 

11- Name three Native tribes and find out one fact on each of them.
What do you think they had to trade? What do you think they needed from the settlers?

12- What were some of the dangers and hardships on the trip?

13- How did women's roles differ in the train than in towns?

14- How did they get the wagons across the Columbia River? Why do you think the settlers never wanted to travel back that way?