lesson plans the classroom Lesson plans cover four subject areas. Click on these subject links below. |
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| LANGUAGE ARTS | |
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December 2006 |
Richardo Keens- Douglas is author of the story, Freedom Child of the Sea. It is an honest while hopeful story of the human spirit, set against a backdrop of slavery. Follow-up activities have students exploring the characters of the story through role-playing. The stunning artwork by Julia Gukova brings the complexity of the story to life. Students are encouraged to examine it and consider how the artwork was created. |
THE
NUTMEG PRINCESS: November 2006 |
The well-known Grenadian folktale by Richardo Keens- Douglas, The Nutmeg Princess, is the story of caring about others and following your dreams. Meet Petal and Aglo who go in search of the infamous Princess. With follow-up activities including creating skits and replicating the magical artwork of Annouchka Galouchko, your students will be sure to have fun with this story. |
CARNIVAL
HISTORY: October 2006 |
A reading comprehension activity about the most important cultural event in Grenada. Using an earlier FC journal, find out about J'ouvert and a Mas band. How did slaves of the past influence Carnival today? This lesson was written by cruising mom and home-school teacher Lisa Goddard. |
DANIEL'S DAY AT SEA January 2006 |
Use Daniel's journal of Jan. 21 to learn more about cruising in the Caribbean. It's easy to dream about fishing, lying in the sun, swimming and eating while your boat sails among the islands in the Caribbean. Take a closer look at Daniel's day and compare it with yours. |
A SAILOR'S JOB IS NEVER DONEJanuary 2006 |
Life aboard a sailboat is exciting and adventurous. It also comes with plenty of jobs and responsibilities. Imagine you are a crew member aboard Amanzi – what jobs would you sign up for? How do you know your sailboat is sea-worthy and safe? You must know as much about your sailboat as possible keep everything in good working order. So, of course, there are endless jobs to be done by the crew all the time. And it’s also essential that each crew member know how to do all the different jobs because if 1 crew member becomes sick and can’t do their work, another crew member can help out. So, the jobs rotate. Let’s find out what are some of the jobs on board Amanzi, every day. You are a crew member onboard Amanzi; what jobs will you do with the Captain? |
STOW IT ALL BELOWJanuary 2006 |
Students organize a list of provisions into any number of categories and come up with realistic groupings for stowing items on a sailboat. You are one of the crew on board Amanzi. One of your jobs before setting sail is to organize all the items on the provision list. As part of that job, you have to plan where you’ll store them down below in the lockers. |
HURRICANES HAVE NAMES TOO, JUST LIKE YOU November 2005 |
A hurricane name activity for grade 5 can be explored by students in all grades. Like the rest of us, hurricanes and tropical storms have names. Find out who chooses names and what names are used from year to year. Find out about the Greek alphabet that's used when names run out, as they did in 2005. Why are some names not used anymore? A hurricane called Hazel will tell you why. |
FUN FLAGS AND SECRET MESSAGES October 2005 |
A fun activity for grades 4+: Students work with nautical flag signals. Before radios, computers, satellite navigation and other electronic helpers, sailors would often signal other vessels using flags. You can learn enough about the flag alphabet to make secret messages for your friends. Have fun. |
CYBERQUEST ON THE ERIE CANALSeptember 2005 |
Cyberquest activity for grades 4-6+: Students search for information related to the Floating Classroom Erie Canal travel route. Many people wonder how Amanzi will get from Lake Ontario to New York City. The answer is in the canal systems of New York State. This activity is a cyberquest where you are linked to websites about the history of the Erie Canal. |
NAUTICAL
LANGUAGE: September 2005 |
Vocabulary activity for grades 5-6: Sailors use special words for areas on a boat and directions for sailing it. For the crew of Amanzi to communicate clearly and accurately in both calm weather and through stormy seas they must be familiar with nautical terms. Play the parts of Kim and David as they sail on their voyage.
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POETRY AT SEA September 2005 |
Poetry activity for grades 5 - 6+: Students read and write original poetry. An original poem written for Floatingclassroom captures some of the adventure of seafaring people. They would be familiar figures from Kim's Newfoundland roots. You can look for the ways that poets make poems work and try a little writing yourself. |
INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITYSeptember 2005 |
Introductory activity for grades 4-6+: Navigate your way around the Floatingclassroom website. Finding information on any website can be hard work and sometimes confusing. This activity makes it fun. The questions were created by Grade 6 students at the Island Public School in Toronto. |
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| SCIENCE | |
HURRICANES:Unexpected casualties November 2006 |
A reading comprehension activity about the effects of hurricanes on two bird species in Grenada. Here are two student-written scientific reports about the endangered Grenada Dove and the Hook-billed Kite. This lesson was written with the help of cruising kids, Emma and Ben Goddard. |
RENEWABLE
ENERGY 1: Catch the breeze September 2006 |
Students will develop an understanding of how a wind generator and a solar panel work. Students are asked to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing solar panels and wind generators in homes and schools. |
RENEWABLE
ENERGY 2: How does your September 2006 |
Most sailboats traveling for long periods of time, like Amanzi, have installed equipment to harness the wind’s power, a source of renewable energy. On board Amanzi, we use a wind generator especially designed for boats. Can you think of other sources of renewable energy? Students make a list of appliances that consume energy in their home and compare it to equipment on a sailboat that uses power. |
RENEWABLE ENERGY 3: Keeping track of the power September 2006 |
Students will plan a trip from Martinique to Barbados, keeping track of the amount of energy being used. |
WEATHER FORECAST: YOU DECIDE MAY 2006 |
Students learn about serious side of weather forecasting. This lesson is more of a challenge than the September version. It's a great group activity to figure out the terms and plot the course. |
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION: THE MAGIC OF MANGROVES March 2006 |
Students learn about the incredibly valuable network of magroves in the islands. We read so much about erosion of land by wind and water. Now we discover that mangroves not only stabilize coastlines, they acutually build new land, and they work well in groups. |
THE LIFE OF A QUEEN January 2006 |
Students learn about the Life History and can colour in an illustration of the Queen Conch. Daniel mentioned in his journal that his family catches Conch. The species of conch caught and eaten in the Bahamas is the Queen Conch. Here is a brief description of the life of the Queen and what she looks like. |
A SPINY LOBSTER MIX-UP January 2006 |
A fun and quick activity for students to learn a number of facts about an invertebrate called the Spiny Lobster. Daniel mentioned in his journal that his family catches lobster. The species of Lobster caught and eaten in the Bahamas is the Spiny Lobster. They are also called crawfish. Unscramble the words to in each sentence to make each fact true. |
HURRICANE CYBERQUEST November 2005 |
Hurricanes were big news in 2005. Grades 4+ can find out what causes them and why they are dangerous. Many people in the southern United States, Central America and the Caribbean islands found themselves without homes in the autumn of 2005. If you were in one of the areas hit by the hurricanes, you know how dangerous and scary it was. Everyone can do the cyberquest to find out how hurricanes work, where they come from and where they go. |
SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO? September 2005 |
Weather activity for grades 5+: Students sort and organize weather data to help make a decision about when to leave for the next port. As a crew member, you help make the decision of when to leave port for the next destination. Of course, weather is the most important factor. However, "weather windows" or several days of weather are looked at when deciding when to leave for an overnight passage. Join in as a crew member on board Amanzi and advise the captain should we stay or should we go. |
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| SOCIAL STUDIES | |
CHRISTOPER COLUMBUS FOUND WHAT.....? March 2006 |
Students will gain an understanding of one of the greatest discoveries in the history of civilization - that a whole new continent lay between Europe and the East. What would a newspaper or magazine of Columbus' time have said about his voyage? Was it a failure because he didn't find the riches of the Far East, or was it an astounding discovery? What would the ordinary sailor say? Create the newspaper in your group. |
WHAT'S
A SLAVE'S LIFE WORTH? January 2006 |
Students will gain an understanding of what it means to be human property and identify the reasons a slave would run away. What choices did slaves have? Running away was often one. However, slaves who thought running away was the answer were often caught and killed. |
PLANTATION
LIFE January 2006 |
Explore the Kingsley Plantation restoration in Florida. Check the January 17 Journal for more information about the site Kim and David visited. Grades 6-8 could share their answers with younger students. It's hard to imagine living without the freedom to choose your friends, visit neighbours and work for a reasonable part of the day. A family was always at risk of being separated because someone who owned them could suddenly sell one of the parents or children to another owner. See how slaves lived on a plantation and what they did to make a life for themselves. Background reading about the slave trade
from our JOURNAL |
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| MATHEMATICS | |
SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO? September 2005 |
Weather activity for grades 5+: Students sort and organize weather data to help make a decision about when to leave for the next port. As a crew member, you help make the decision of when to leave port for the next destination. Of course, weather is the most important factor. However, "weather windows" or several days of weather are looked at when deciding when to leave for an overnight passage. Join in as a crew member on board Amanzi and advise the captain should we stay or should we go. |
