Heritage Festival Day
Fourth Graders at Eagle Elementary School held their annual Heritage Festival Day on Friday, October 5, 2007. This day is dedicated to helping students understand what life was like for pioneer children and their families in the 1800s. During the morning students rotate between three centers: Life on the Trail, Pioneer Life, and a Candle-making center. Each center gives students a different perspective on the lives of Nebraska's pioneers.
Life on the Trail was presented to students by Les Vilda, sponsored by the Nebraska Humanities Council. Mr. Vilda has actually traveled on some of the trails that pioneers traveled in the 1800s. He teaches the students about what travelers needed to take with them as they headed west. The students got a special treat this year when he showed them how to start a fire with a magnifying glass.
Pioneer Life was presented by Ardis Moody and Jill Archer, one former media specialist and one current media specialist in Lincoln. Mrs. Moody and Mrs. Archer taught the students how make biscuits, butter, and Native American spirit pouches. The students learned how hard it was to be a pioneer at this center.
At the Candle-making center students were taught by Mary Kay Retzlaff and many parent volunteers how to make two different types of candles. They learned how to make dip candles and mold candles. The dip candles were the most common of candles made by pioneers. They were used for lighting inside the pioneer homes at night. The mold candles where made with juice cans as the mold and crayon shavings for color. These candles would have been less common as most families would not have had molds to use.
After the centers were done in the morning then we had lunch. Each student brought their own lunches in large gallon cans. They shared what they brought and then everyone ate lunch. The lunches were to be authentic pioneer lunches. After lunch some pioneer games were played. The games were Pump-Pump-Pullaway, Relay races, and an old fashioned egg toss. To finish up the day's activities Chris Sayre came from Lincoln and performed pioneer music and songs. He played many different instruments that the pioneers had in the 1800s. He played the banjo, guitar, concertina, and also the saw. He played many other instruments also. They students had a wonderful time learning from Mr. Sayre about the instruments and singing the songs that pioneers sang.
As the students left school on Friday many were sad that the day was over, but they had a great learning experience. The fourth grade teachers would like to thank all the people who came to Heritage Festival Day! Without all this help the day would not be possible.
District 145 Public Schools
and
Educational Service Unit #6, Milford, Nebraska
|
