End of Unit 3 Celebration!

On Thursday, March 24, Tapestry of the Desert hosted it's first ever Olympic Games. It was a part of our End of Unit Celebration for Year 1, Unit 3, which focused on Ancient Greece. The kids were super excited to compete against each other, and super excited that unlike the original Olympic games, the Co-op Olympics did not require their Olympians to compete naked! We had three events--all three were original to the Greek Olympics. Our events were: running races, discus throw and javelin throw. After the games, we had a brief medal ceremony. Then the Upper Grammar class performed two plays that they had worked on in class: "King Midas" and "The Minotaur". We then went up to room 200 to view the tables full of the kids' work for the unit. It was a great time of fellowship and fun. The kids were all great scholars, actors and Olympians!

Co-op in Review: March 23, 2011

When in Rome . . . create art like the Romans do! This week, we started our studies of Ancient Rome. Both the Upper Grammar and Lower Grammar classes created beautiful mosaics, in the style of the Romans. The Upper Grammar class made theirs out of foam squares and cut outs. The Lower Grammar class used clay and beans to make unique designs! Both classes discussed the early period of Roman history. They focused on the founding of Rome, the legends and mythology of Rome, the gods they worshipped and the styles of architecture and art from this period of history. The Five in a Row kids read "Harold and the Purple Crayon". It's the tale of a toddler who is lead on an amazing journey of discovery, armed only with his imagination and an over-sized purple crayon! The kids then had a great time making their own imaginative art out of purple colored shapes.

Co-op in Review: March 2, 2011

This week the Upper Grammar class learned about the styles of Greek drama. They then got creative by making some Greek-style masks. They then used their masks while performing two Greek Plays. The kids were either given a role in "King Midas" or in "The Minotaur". After rehearsing, they were ready to perform in front of a live audience of students from the other two classes. Bravo, kids! The Lower Grammar class was very busy as well! They learned about Greek scientists. They did experiments with specific density and refraction, made platonic bodies (shapes with equal sides and equal angles), made and tested pulleys and finally made a book on the Parthenon. Wow. Meanwhile, downstairs, the Five in a Row kids read the story "Follow the Drinking Gourd". It's the story of a song that was passed through the slave communities of the south telling the slaves how to escape to freedom by following the constellations. The kids then made their own "freedom quilts" out of paper, ribbon and fun stickers.