Wrap-up of WW II History

A couple of weeks ago we had the final event for our history group. This was the culmination of our WW II studies, a chance for the kids to show all their work from the year.
It was held in the evening so the dads and grandparents could attend.

We started with dinner. (of course) We always include food in our gatherings. You know that's because to learn well a good teacher includes all five senses. I ask you, how else do you incorporate taste and smell??
( And you just thought we like to eat, ha!)

Some very special ladies joined us from central Illinois!

This was Alaina's first of many home school activities. "smile"

The kids displayed their reports and projects. It was impressive to see how much they had done.

As usual having the grandparents with us was the highlight for the kiddos. We were so glad that Katrina and Jason's Gramma was able to come.


They sang and had a couple of readings.

Sorry about the picture, but the boys did a "choral reading". Good job guys!


Then for the grand finale we listened to their production of Fibber McGee and Molly. We found the script online. This program was entitled "Scrap Collection". This was the first time the kids had heard it totally put together with sound effects and music etc. They got to hear their voices in character. It was GREAT!



Remember when they were recording? Here are a few shots from that time that I just got my hands on. This is behind the scenes in their making of Fibber McGee and Molly.



I love studying history this way in a small group. It comes alive!

This year we are studying Colonial America through the revolution! Drool!


(If you have any book recommendations, know of museums or activities from this time period, please feel free to share them.)

Old Time Radio Players

Last night we had a treat. We were able to attend a program at the library featuring Those Were the Days Radio Players.

You know we have been studying WWII and are producing our own Fibber McGee and Molly radio program.
Well this troupe performed a Fibber & Molly program as well as several speeches by Winston Churchill, FDR, and Eisenhower. It was inspiring to watch since we are so involved with it all.


It was live radio including sound effects. Here is their sound effects table complete with door, screen door, various bells, hammer, rotary dial phone, (would your kids even know what it was or how to use it? giggle) and shoes for walking.

Each episode in the actual radio drama included the opening of Fibber's closet with disastrous results. The Radio Players had a ladder with all sorts of junk on it for the noise of Fibber opening his closet! I missed getting a picture of it! Aaaaaaa!!!!


But here's a picture from our day recording sound effects. The kids loaded the stairs with all sorts of noisy junk. The boys are at the top ready, with great delight, to push things down on cue.

Here Robby and Katrina have just made all the sounds for a smashing Ukulele. Robby jumped on a tangerine crate and Katrina plucked guitar strings. "smile" Bet you can't wait to hear it!

This gentleman was a fabulous Fibber. Oh was it fun to watch and hear. Soon we will be recording the rest of our production. Can't wait.

More History Day Photos

History Days are soooo much FUN! Since I'm behind on blogging I am putting up pictures from several different times that we got together.

Reports

Each time we gather someone shares a report. They can report on anything that interests them from the WWII time period. I cannot believe how much I've learned. In some events you could see the hand of the Lord so clearly.

"The LORD sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the LORD sits as King forever. " Psalm 29: 10

For some of the kids who haven't had gavel club, it wasn't very easy to get up in front of everyone. But they did a fabulous job!



Although you can not see it well, Haley also made a woman's suit from a pattern of that time period. It was really hard to make. It required all sorts of techniques that I had only learned when I took a tailoring course in college. She did a great job and I am so proud of her.

Cartooning

Melody graciously came and taught a class on cartooning. She is not only a gifted artist, but an excellent teacher. (You know that the Lord will use that in her family and in the Body of Christ) I sure wish her family lived closer. Think of all the wacky(and educational) things we could do?!?
Thank you Melody!


Susan brought samples of cartoons from WWII. Here's one that she shared with the kids:

Crystal Radios!

Well we tried to build radios! We'll just leave it at that. I do think that the Barnard's got theirs to work thanks to Dave.

Silly Putty!

This was truly an experiment.
Nate said we'd have to mix it
for a long time.








45 minutes later it still wasn't
anything but liquid.








Jason and Katrina came later and got in on the middle of the mixing. They got the last bottle of glue which happened to be the Elmer's brand glue. Glue is glue right?? WRONG. At least not when it comes to making Silly Putty.




In less than 10 minutes their mixture began to "gel". Harrumph. Don't try this with inexpensive glue.

Although it was still a bit sticky it was well worth the experiment. We talked about a whole bunch of things that were invented during WWII.
Next time you eat MM's think WWII.

Here's the recipe:

Silly Putty
1 cup Liquid Starch(available in Grocery Stores)
2 cups Elmer's all-purpose Glue
3 drops Food Coloring
Large heavy duty Zip Lock bags

Put all ingredients into the bag. Lock the bag. Carefully squish the contents together. Don't pop the bag. When mixed add food coloring.
To keep it from drying out store in a baggie.

Ration Stamp Cafe

We ate at a special cafe for lunch. Everything here had to be "purchased" with ration stamps.

The ration prices on each item reflect how easy or difficult it would have been to get these goodies.

Some things we just plain didn't have enough of. You wanted to be in line first to have the best selection. Some of our stamps even ran out at a certain time that day! Yikes!

Our Cafe Lady noticed the service men and announced that they always get preferential treatment and got to go first! Yay


You paid with the stamps in your ration book. Although this was not really how rationing worked at the time, it gave us a tiny taste of the concept.

It's great to be able to find copies of the real things online. These are based on the real things as well as we could. Each student had their own book.

Puzzle Quiz

We had a puzzle quiz based on the life of a war correspondant. If you answered the questions correctly the answers made a poster of his life and the books he authored.

Games of the Times

Spam

We did indeed eat Spam! We ate it straight from the can (like the soldiers in the battlefield). We ate it in a recipe broiled on toast and we ate it fried!

Fried was the favorite method. The boys loved it!!

Here is a brief Spam history from the official Spam site.

Hormel Spiced Ham got off to a slightly rocky start. Other meatpackers began to introduce their own canned luncheon meats, and Hormel lost its controlling share of the market. Soon, however, they came up with a cunning plan to rectify this situation - they would give Hormel's luncheon meat a truly catchy name. Toward this end, they offered $100 for a suitable appellation. The winning name was, of course, ''SPAM'', and a legend was born.

• SPAM was launched with much high-profile advertising in mid-1937. It was called ''the Miracle Meat'', and promoted as an anytime meat.
• In 1940, SPAM was the subject of quite possibly the first singing commercial. The jingle was to the tune of the chorus of ''My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean'', and the lyrics were ''SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM/ Hormel's new miracle meat in a can/ Tastes fine, saves time./ If you want something grand,/ Ask for SPAM!''.
• Hormel also sponsored George Burns' and Gracie Allen's network radio show, which included ''Spammy the Pig''.
• During World War II, sales boomed. Not only was SPAM great for the military, as it required no refrigeration, it wasn't rationed as beef was, so it became a prime staple in American meals.
• SPAM supported the war effort more directly, too. Nikita Kruschev credits SPAM with the survival of the Russian Army during WWII.
• This one is hilarious! During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Hormel Girls performing troupe advertised SPAM as they performed throughout the country, distributed SPAM door-to-door, and even had a national weekly radio show. Ads proclaimed, ''Cold or hot, SPAM hits the spot!''

I couldn't resist this cartoon. I'm putting it here especially for our Grandfathers' enjoyment. =)

Radio Drama

We are producing a radio drama. We found the scripts of old time radio programs online!

We found a Fibber McGee and Molly drama. Fibber goes through his "closet" for the scrap drive. It's so fun.

The Library has some cd's of one of the Fibber McGee and Molly programs. The music was big band and it helped us all to get the idea. We hope to do a few of our own commercials also.
The kids are even making their own sound effects. Once Nate gets home we will record the whole thing!

Our wonderful group!