Comparing Tennessee Cultures

We are wrapping up our first quarter in about a week. Some of our social studies standards have us comparing Tennessee's cultures to those in other regions of the United States. We have been taking the U. S., region by region, to compare cultural characteristics such as music, celebrations, foods, and traditions. 

I created these five regional organizers for my students to practice note taking as we read informational texts or watch video clips about each region. You can grab a free copy here. 

In other news... 

You know you're an elementary teacher when you come home splattered, from head to toe, with paper mache goo! We're making balloon globes. We took the mess outside this afternoon. We sat on plastic table cloths and dunked strips of paper into the gooey paste. One of my friends let her balloon touch the grass, and POP! Goo-coated paper exploded and landed all over me. The kiddos got a great laugh out of that. 

Tomorrow, we'll add continents, hemispheres, oceans, and the equator. Last year, we painted pumpkins blue. I thought that was a major headache,although the result was very cute. Paper mache is much messier! I'm sure the results will be worth the mess. Most importantly, the children had fun and had to do some problem solving to get the balloon covered with as few lumps as possible.

On a fun note...

We had a fabulous time on our field trip last week! The weather was great. One of the more amusing comparisons of the 19th Century versus modern day is in the photo above. THAT was a fun conversation to have with my kiddos! While I have illusions that it must have been great fun living in 'back in the day', I'm thankful for modern conveniences.