Brilliant Mornings

Grab your candles, donuts and latkes and join a Jewish family celebrate this ancient Feast of Lights!  Throughout the evening, you will learn that your family can make a difference in the world if everyone works together! 

What was dedicated during the story of Hanukkah? 

How did Judah fight for what he thought was right? 

Materials:
Dreidels, chocolate coins - play along with the characters in the story!

Suggestions: 
Make Latkes (potato pancakes) and eat them along with applesauce! 

Literature Extension: 

Read the Poem "The Feast of Lights" by Emma Lazarus (author of "The New Colossus" which is written on the State of Liberty's pedestal).  What does each line mean? Look at it as a riddle and put that thinking cap on!

Kindle the taper like the steadfast star

Ablaze on evening's forehead o'er the earth,

And add each night a lustre till afar

An eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth.

Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre,

Blow the brass trumpet and the harsh-tongued horn;

Chant psalms of victory till the heart takes fire,

The Maccabean spirit leap new-born.

Remember how from wintry dawn till night,

Such songs were sung in Zion, when again

On the high altar flamed the sacred light,

And, purified from every Syrian stain,

The foam-white walls with golden shields were hung,

With crowns and silken spoils, and at the shrine,

Stood, midst their conqueror-tribe, five chieftains sprung

From one heroic stock, one seed divine.

Five branches grown from Mattathias' stem,

The Blessed John, the Keen-Eyed Jonathan,

Simon the fair, the Burst-of Spring, the Gem,

Eleazar, Help of-God; o'er all his clan

Judas the Lion-Prince, the Avenging Rod,

Towered in warrior-beauty, uncrowned king,

Armed with the breastplate and the sword of God,

Whose praise is: "He received the perishing."

They who had camped within the mountain-pass,

Couched on the rock, and tented neath the sky,

Who saw from Mizpah's heights the tangled grass

Choke the wide Temple-courts, the altar lie

Disfigured and polluted--who had flung

Their faces on the stones, and mourned aloud

And rent their garments, wailing with one tongue,

Crushed as a wind-swept bed of reeds is bowed,

Even they by one voice fired, one heart of flame,

Though broken reeds, had risen, and were men,

They rushed upon the spoiler and o'ercame,

Each arm for freedom had the strength of ten.

Now is their mourning into dancing turned,

Their sackcloth doffed for garments of delight,

Week-long the festive torches shall be burned,

Music and revelry wed day with night.

Still ours the dance, the feast, the glorious Psalm,

The mystic lights of emblem, and the Word.

Where is our Judas?  Where our five-branched palm?

Where are the lion-warriors of the Lord?

Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre,

Sound the brass trumpet and the harsh-tongued horn,

Chant hymns of victory till the heart take fire,

The Maccabean spirit leap new-born!

Hear the moving Thanksgiving story as it is intertwined with Squanto's life journey! 

Write the following words on a board to cross off when you hear them in the story!

pumpkin pie
crispy turkey
Mayflower
barley
eel
Oceanus
sixty-six
Holland
debate
plague
betray

For younger children, find pictures of the following items to  color when you hear them in the story (please email [email protected] for links to these resources already created):

pumpkin pie
crispy turkey
church
Mayflower
barley
eel
sixty-six
king


Primary sources were carefully studied to find information for this podcast.  We strive for accuracy and welcome any comments. The following resources were used:

1. Of 'Plimoth Plantation': http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24950/24950-h/24950-h.htm, accessed 11/24/20
2. Kirkhneely.com
3. https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/mayflower-compact

Historical Accuracy Notes:
1. The words of Governor William Bradford come directly from his diaries, Of Plimoth Plantation.
2. The stories of a youth falling into the ocean and a birth taking place aboard the Mayflower are true.
3. The thoughts and conversations of Tisquantum have been creatively constructed by this author, since there is no written account of them available.  
4. It seems that some historians only mention one trip which Tisquantum took to Spain and then England.  However, there is a record of a trip which occurred before this, and it is outlined in this episode. (Kirkhneely.com)
5. The years in Plymouth after the mostly peaceful existence during which this episode takes place were followed by many conflicts, including King Philip's War (1675-78).  Many Native Americans view Thanksgiving Day as a Day of Mourning based on subsequent events, during which Native American tribes were hurt, betrayed, and even destroyed.   

Why do we elect a President of the United States?
Which nations before us voted? 
What is a representative democracy? 

Using the illustration of a neighborhood of feuding neighbors needing to unite, we learn in this episode about the formation of the Iroquois Confederacy and learn a bit about how Americans choose electors in our Presidential vote. 

Materials:
Please have on hand a board on which to write a scoreboard for an election! 

This episode is meant to help explain the United States' Presidential Election.  Use the concepts discussed to talk with your children about the Electoral College and how the results of this year's presidential election came about.  View a map of the United States which shows the electoral votes of each state.  You can print this map color-code it!  

For older children, read through the Constitution of the United States and find the section that specifies how to choose a president.  Here are some interesting topics to note:

1. The founding fathers did not trust a direct democracy; instead they created the Electoral College to try to keep fairness and a balance. Research this idea more!

2. Interestingly, the Constitution calls for states to have electors, but does not mandate that all the people in our nation vote for president - this is not an inherent right of a citizen, according to the Constitution. States were given the responsibility of determining how the electoral votes would be decided.  Our state laws do, indeed, today call for all of its citizens to vote and therefore decide for whom the electoral votes will be cast. 

A Viking clashes two worlds (twice!) when he finds a new land, and when he brings home a new faith to his family.  Hear the story of Leif Erikson and learn the basics of Viking poetry today! 

You will need:
A globe or world map
Grapes and salmon to eat, if you wish! 

Extension: 

1. We enjoyed this tale of Leif Erikson, based on historical accounts available: https://www.amazon.com/Leif-Lucky-Ingri-dAulaire/dp/0816695458/ref=sr_1_1?crid=356SBHY6IVWZN&dchild=1&keywords=leif+the+lucky+d%27aulaire&qid=1602260344&sprefix=Leif+the+Lucky%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-1

2. If Norse poetry suits your fancy, learn more with an expert at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsX70ZSJkOQ

Thank you to Dr. Jackson Crawford for his information! 

Why do we observe a national holiday on the first Monday of each September?

Today, the Pizza and Poetry Group of friends will take a special trip through history to discover a wee little bit about James Watt’s steam engine, which gave power to factories and mines in the Industrial Revolution. In Europe and America, people streamed into the cities to work long hours in factories at tough jobs. Labor Day was created to celebrate workers across America. Sit back and enjoy the train ride today! 

The Pizza and Poetry Club stop a robbery, learn how Germany moved into a prosperous season after WWII, share poetry, help a dying butterfly population and learn what it means to be an arrow shot into the future!  It’s a full episode with an interview from Mr. Chris from Germany and some closing thoughts from the memoirs of Heinz Meyer. 

Enjoy music by Vivaldi (Italian); Bach and Beethoven.  This week, spend time listening to music from German composers as you play and work - and discover which works are your favorites!  

Spend time thinking and talking about what skills you’ve inherited or learned from your parents and grandparents.  Thank them, if possible! 

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23

Spring - it’s a time of new beginnings.  Today be prepared to hear the raw experiences from the memoirs of Heinz Meyer, my grandfather, who was a boy living in Germany during World War II.  He eloquently recounts his stories from during and after the war - and interestingly he did an amazing job comparing the end of the war to spring!  

You will need:

1. An orange and a pencil or pen to push through it, demonstrating the earth and its tilt on its axis. 

2. A globe

3. Math manipulatives - counters

4. Optional Book: The Reason for the Seasons by Ellie Peterson 

Listening: Spring by Antonio Vivaldi (Listen throughout the week, and sing the words)

Begin listening to musical selections by Bach, Beethoven and other German composers! 

Science topic: Why does the earth have seasons?

Today we begin exploring the seasons, with a collection of classic works, enjoying the concerto Spring by the Italian Vivaldi, the poem "Spring" by the English William Blake, and the beginning of the seasons of Germany's history.

Number of the week: 18
Reading Lesson of the week: Long Vowel Recognition

You will need:
Print or write out the first stanza of this poem so children can read aloud:
William Blake, ‘Spring‘.

Sound the flute!

Now it’s mute!

Bird’s delight,

Day and night,

Nightingale,

In the dale,

Lark in sky,—

Merrily,

Merrily merrily, to welcome in the year...

https://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/blake/spring.html

The Renaissance gave birth to new and revived forms of art, architecture, inventions, and ideas!  Today, we explore Martin Luther's world-changing ideas as the Pizza and Poetry group chase a thief through Central Park to retrieve a suit of armor from Martin Luther's time.

You will need:
1. Math manipulatives (17 of any type of counter that can be used to count and create math problems)
2. Paper/board and writing tools so that you can write a Haiku.
3. A globe or map with lines of longitude and latitude.

Here is a graphic novel for older elementary children on Martin Luther which gives a lot of great information on his life and the Reformation: https://www.amazon.com/Luther-Echoes-Susan-K-Leigh/dp/0758623828

Grab some math manipulatives and get ready to sing and smile (do you know how many muscles you use when you smile?)! Today we continue with the months of the year and counting to 17 for preschoolers, math problems for K-1st grade, and the Renaissance invention of the PRINTING PRESS by Johannes Gutenberg. 

Also, solve three mysteries: 
Micah's Mystery Creature
The theft at the NYC MET
The Mystery Country