Pizza With The Founding Fathers

Dear Readers, I have invited the Founding Fathers into our modern time to take them to my favorite restaurant, Mellow Mushroom.  I will buy them a Coke, a cheese pizza, and a brownie dessert.  While we eat, I will ask them these questions:

1. President Washington, you owned hundreds of slaves and your views about slavery changed throughout your life, ending with you giving your slaves their freedom upon your wife's death. What made you change your mind about slavery?
2. Do you think you still would have freed your slaves if you had not fought in the war and seen the African Americans fighting for their country alongside you?
3. President Washington, you are known as one of the greatest leaders in history. You took a makeshift army and won a war against the most powerful country on Earth. What qualities do you think make a good leader?

1. President Adams, I admire you for not owning slaves during a time when in was common and accepted. Why did you chose not to own slaves?

2. You were the last of the Founding Fathers, who are here at Mellow Mushroom with me, to die. It is reported that you said on your deathbed that, "Jefferson still lives." But actually, he died several hours earlier than you on the same day, July 4. Are you surprised to find out you were the last one standing? How do you feel about it?
3. President Adams, people wrote bad things about you during your Presidency. Your close friend and Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, is reported to have instigated some of the slander. How did this make you feel? How were you able to forgive President Jefferson?

1. President Jefferson, what were your inspirations to write the Declaration of Independence?

2. Why did you say slavery was wrong, but you still owned slaves?

3. President Jefferson, I like to read books just like you liked to read books when you were alive. If you could recommend three books to a boy my age, what would they be?

1. Mr. Franklin, what was your favorite quote from Poor Richards Almanack? My favorite one is, "Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."
2. Mr. Franklin, you had many jobs during your life - scientist, inventor, printer, writer, politician, ambassador, revolutionary, post master, and others. Which one was your favorite job and why?
3. Mr. Franklin, you spent many years as an ambassador to France for the colonies, helping us to gain France as an ally and win the war. What was your favorite thing to do as an ambassador in France?
4. May I ask you an extra question? I also admire you for choosing to stand up against slavery. What do you think are the long-lasting consequences of slavery in America?


My assignment was to write three questions for each Founding Father that both informed and inquired. This was extremely difficult for me! But, in the end, I would love to sit down with these Founding Fathers, eat good pizza, and ask them these questions.

Peace Out -
Ollie, Mom, George, John, Tom, and Ben

Week 8 Review

Last week, at the end of week 8, we finished the HBO movie series about John Adams.  I am going to be writing and publishing a review on it soon.  I also finished my unit on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.  I'm glad to have that over with!

During week 8, my mom and I finished reading this book, Master George's People.  I was surprised to learn that George Washington owned slaves.  This book is about the people he enslaved at his plantation, Mt. Vernon.  You learn some of their names and life stories.  It also documents President Washington's changing views on slavery throughout his life.  I discovered by reading it that the people who worked on Mt. Vernon made enormous sacrifices so that George Washington could be off leading the Revolutionary War and being President.  Without them, he would not have been able to make a living and keep up his most beloved Mt. Vernon.

I also learned about the Culper Code and how it helped us win the American Revolution.  I wrote a secret message for you using the code:

553 193 74 KRETL

If you want to break the code, visit this link at Mt. Vernon's website with the entire Culper Code and the history about how the code helped us win the war:

Culper Code at Mt. Vernon

Another thing I did during week 8 was write a story using my vocabulary words from the book Sign of the Beaver:

Do You Have A Mean Coach?!?
Is your coach finicky?  If he is, please read more.  If he is, and you read this essay, you might find it easier to nonchalantly walk into your next game.  Is he trying to lie and act dumbfounded if you told your parents, and they talked to your coach, and he said he didn't do it?  I bet you felt contemptuous about that.  I'm pretty sure you glowered at him next game.  Remember your manitou and rise above this incomprehensible man.  When your parents find out they are going to be disdainful toward him.  He will act disgruntled, but he always has.  You and your parents have to be wary next year.

This is a picture of a storyboard I created last week for a stop motion animated movie I am making as a report for the book Sign of the Beaver.  I made ten storyboards that outline the props, scenery, and sequence of each scene I will film for my movie.  It might take us a few weeks, but when we are done, I will publish my first stop motion animated movie!

Some other things that kept me busy during week 8:

• An All About Frogs nature club at night at Reed Creek.
• A nature walk with my mom where we saw many signs of Spring.
• Learning and testing Newton's first two laws of motion (videos coming soon).
• Some IXL grammar and Code.org coding.

That's all for now.  Peace out - 

Ollie and Mom

Week 6 Review

Last week, which seems like a long time ago since we are writing this on Wednesday instead of Monday, we celebrated Valentine's Day in our homeschool.  One of my Valentine's Day assignments was to write a letter to Abigail Adams from John Adams using conversation hearts.  During their marriage they were often separated and kept in contact by writing love letters.  Here's how my letter reads:

To My Dearest BFF Abigail,

Dear Abigail, please say yes and come visit me in France.  I hope you are very happy at home with the kids.  I barely have the power to go on without you.  The Rebels have fought like a dream in the last few battles.  The British have fought with a lot of power too.  Ask me anything you want to.  That was some sweet talk.  Lots of xoxo.  From John Adams

I wrote all the things I love in a heart.

My mom and I read about the human heart and then I drew this model and wrote 5 facts I learned.  One of them relates to the experiment we did.  The average pulse rate for a man per minute is 71, for a woman is 80, and for a child is 85.  We used our blood pressure monitor to check on the health of our hearts.  

My stats are on the top picture and my mom's are on the bottom.  We both have healthy hearts.  Our blood pressure and our pulse rates are below normal, indicating our heart muscles are strong.  My mom's heart rate is far below normal because she is a runner.  

On Friday night, my family went to Reed Creek (where I have my nature club) for a program called Nocturnal Nightcrawlers.  We learned all about the adaptations animals have to help them be successful nocturnal creatures.  We went on a walk in the dark and the instructor gave us a piece of paper and a crayon.  He asked us to draw a house, a tree, and to write down the color of crayon and paper.  It was difficult to see in the dark, but I did guess the color of my crayon correctly.  

Other things I did last week include:

• Practicing adding/subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.
• Coding.
• Finishing my persuasive essay.
• Reading many books with my mom about: George Washington, Isaac Newton, Abigail Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.
• Reading Sign of the Beaver.
• Watching another episode of John Adams.

We are finishing up many of the books we are reading this week, so soon I will have a lot of cool assignments showing what I learned from the books.  

That's all for now - 

Ollie and Mom - Out