Monks and Monasteries

Dear Friend,

Today I'm doing some research on monks and monasteries. There are different types of people in the monasteries: 

Monks & Nuns: Monks & Nuns copied the books, made medicines and built the first hospitals. They also prayed and sang.

Abbot: Was in charge of a monastery.

Abbess: was in charge of a convent.

Watch the mail!

Ali

No computers!?

Dear Friend,

Did you know that before printing presses or computers were made that medieval monks in Europe had to write everything by hand!? First the monks would choose what to write.  There were not a lot of books in a library.  The choices were tales, poems like Beowulf, books about saints, the Bible and some history.  Most of the time they chose to copy the Bible and stories about saints.  They stretched animal skins to make parchment.  This is what they used instead of paper.  They used colored ink and wrote with quills made out goose or swan feathers.  They would illustrate the books with colored ink and gold.  Books were so special back then that they chain the books to their desk!  

Not mine

viking boat!

Dear Friend,
Hello!  As you saw in my other letters I was studying the Vikings and one of my projects I did was building a Viking longboat! Here's a link for how you can make one: http://www.looledo.com/index.php/viking-ship.html. I didn't use that web site but I think this would be a better one. well I have to go now keep checking the mail!


Ali




P.S make the boat, take a picture and post it down below in the comment box!

moody colors

Dear Friend,
In science I'm learning about octopuses. Octo means eight in Latin. And guess how many tentacles a octopus has! One of the many cool features an octopus has is that they change color according to their mood! So there's white for fear, red for anger, brown is the usual color. Let me show you a game that you can play:

Here's how you play:
I will post a couple pictures of octopuses and you comment below on what mood it's in.


1.

                       
2.

                    

3.

4.

         



See you next time and keep checking the mail!


Ali

What is it like today?

Dear Friend,
Sorry I haven't wrote you in a while. Well, I wanted to show you what Faeroes, Iceland, and Greenland looks like today:

                                            This is Faeroes,

                                                  This is Iceland,

                                               And this is Greenland.
I like Greenland because it looks cool.

Well I have to go now. Keep on checking the mail every day!

Ali

P.S. Comment down below on what you think! 

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! VIKINGS!!!!!

Dear Friend,
Right now I'm working on vikings, and I wanted to give you something like a tour of what they did, what they ate, and where they lived,etc. So, let the tour begin!

 This is a virtual layout that we think a viking village would look like.

people rebuilt what their idea of a viking home, with a grass thatched roof.

This is a inside of a viking home. They put cots up for them to sleep on, a small table, and their clothes

This is a viking ship. They have spots for the rowers to sit and row. They had a lot of rowers to move the big   ship

They had a wood dragon head at one end of the ship.

This is what men would wear.

And this is what women would wear.

This is a viking helmet. Belive it or not not all viking helmets had horns.

This is some of the weapons that they used.

And last but not least (because they would die if they didn't eat) their food.

OK that was the tour! I hope you liked it! If you want to learn more about  vikings then click on this link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/
Keep on checking in the mail!
Ali

King Arthur

Dear friend,
This time for history I decided to do a collage* on: King Arthur. OK this is short because I'm doing a collage but keep on looking out for my letter in the mail!
Ali  
* A collage is a whole bunch of pictures tell a story.

Exploding film canisters!

Dear friend,
I made things explode this week! I made a film canister rocket. It was really fun. Here I'll teach you how to do it:
You will need:
Empty film canister
Alka-seltzer
Hot water
paper for the outside (optional) ( I don't recommend this because the paper rips easily when wet)
Safety glasses

Put the hot water half way in the film canister and then put the Alka-seltzer tablet in the canister. Now, you have to be quick when you put on the lid or it won't pop up because there won't be any pressure in the canister. Once you have the lid  on and it's on the ground run back as fast as you can so it won't hit you.
O.K this is how it works, the chemicals in the tablets react with the water, then the pressure builds up which makes the canister fly up in the air! O.K I have to go. Keep checking the mail!
Ali

Baking!

Dear friend,
I know this doesn't have to do with school but I love it and I had nothing to write about. So ready to meet two of my many hobbies?  Baking and cooking!  In a way, I have a baking business and guess what my best seller is?  The perfect food invention : chocolate chip cookies. Well, anyway, I wanted to also tell you some tips for baking:

• Always wash your hands before you bake.
• If you need to use a knife or the stove or the oven always ask a grown up to help.
• When baking bread I always spray the pan with a oil spray and then line it with flour.
• It's a good idea NOT to lick the batter because there's raw egg and you could get sick.
• And if you accidentally burn yourself get ice to put on it.      

So dust off your cook book and get in the kitchen! Well, I have to go! Keep on checking the mail!

Ali

P.S comment below and tell me what your favorite treat is!

Melted crayons!

Dear friend,
Have you ever seen melted crayons on a canvas? Well I just finished that project in handicrafts! It was really fun. : If you want to do this go to this link: http://www.52kitchenadventures.com/2011/09/12/melted-crayon-art-tutorial/
Okay, I'm going to have to keep this letter short. Okay, keep on checking your mail!

Ali

History stories

Dear friend,

Today I'm going to show you what I have so far in my history notebook. Oh and by the way, I kind of copied from a book and made it my own :). Have fun!

                                                  The Byzantine empire

                        Time:c.500-1450

The Byzantines were famous for their fabric art, large mosaics & lots of other types of art.

                                                            The barbarian

                                   kingdoms

                                                                   Time: c.500-800

Some of the barbarians had a talent for metal work. They spent their days bending wire for necklaces or melting it for a royal crown.

                                                              Return to Christianity

                                                    Time: c. 500-800

Since most of the monks couldn't read or write, the monks did it for them. In the manuscripts a lot of the times the first letter was an illustration.

Okay, I hope you like it! Got to go now!

Ali  

Pastel

Dear Friend,
Today my elective was art! It's one of my my favorite classes, but I'm still working on making my stuff actually look good. So this last week's and this week's art project was a oil pastel drawing by Van Gogh one of the many famous artists. If you want to learn more about him go to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh
Well sorry, but I have to go. Keep checking the mail, see ya.
Ali

Cheetah Bag

Dear Friend,
Guess what I just finished! I just made a small bag.It can hold a lot of things like dolls, snacks and stuff for on the go. I can sew better now. I couldn't find how to make the same thing I did but I found something for a drawstring bag! ( Don't forget to get your mom or dad to approve and help you with this!)
http://www.makeandtakes.com/simple-sewing-for-kids-drawstring-bag
Don't forget to check your mail everyday for my letters!
                                                         
                                  Ali

Help ! Tornado!

Dear Friend,
I just completed my first science project of my school year. I made a tornado in a bottle! I did it for astronomy, to represent Jupiter's tornadoes. Jupiter has the most violent and dangerous storms ever.
And don't forget the famous red spot! It's so big that that you can fit 2 whole earths in it!!!
Now want to make a bottle tornado?  Here's how:

You will need:
A 2 2-liter soda bottle
duct tape and/or electrical tape ( I put down Duct tape and then electrical tape)
washer
tap water
(optional) glitter or small paper cut outs

Fill one bottle 2/3s of the way with water. Put glitter in if you desire. Put the washer on the top of the bottle.
Put the other bottle on top. Now tape them together. Now you're done!

Now tilt it upside down and spin it fast.Tornado!!!!! Now just turn it upside down without spinning it. Is it slower this time? It's because the air and the water are fighting for the same spot. When it's spinning, the air can go in the middle where there's a hole, and the water can go on the sides!

Good luck making the tornado! Look out for my next letter!

  See you soon!
Ali