Eisenhower
4th Grade, Writing & Book Arts
Ms. Quinn / Ms. Jack
4th graders in Ms. Jack’s ELA class are deepening their close reading of The Whipping Boy, historical fiction set in the Middle Ages, with a semester long writing and book arts project. Each student created a character from the Middle Ages and is telling their story through a diary, weaving in the use of concepts and skills including figurative language, dialogue and peer editing.
Students have been closely studying medieval manuscripts, brainstorming what we can do to make our books look like they are from the Middle Ages. The class curiously demanded more information about how natural materials are used to make ink. Today we took a deep dive into natural pigments including cochineal, indigo, safflower, avocado and clover. Students made predictions about each source of color and then recorded samples. We crushed cochineal bugs to make red and soaked safflower petals in hot water to make yellow. A messy and exciting day!