American Girl History, Addy (1864) and Samantha (1904)

Last week when we finished our Samantha unit I realized I never blogged about Addy.  That was because Addy was a hard era to teach.  Trying to explain why people would have slaves is tough.  That  and limiting our studies to just slavery is an injustice to the people and culture in America during the civil war.

 Charry is an avid reader so getting her to read the books was no problem.

 For her file folder she wrote a "feelings poem."  It was a simple list of the emotions Addy felt most in each book.  We talk about whether being free made her able to feel differently and if she still felt bad/sad after being free.
She also made a comparison book of Addy as a slave and Addy free.  We talked about what was better (better food and being able to learn to read) and what was worse (not being with her entire family.)
We then made Quilt Squares to tell a story.  We picked a story from the Bible because the Bible was very important to both slave and free.

Photography was all black and white during Addy's time so Charry made a black and white chalk drawing to decorate the front.

 We also used the Addy paper dolls and craft book (the Jacob's ladder was one of the projects) to round out the unit.

Our Samantha Unit had a lot more to it.  1904 was a time of change, women wanting to make a difference, and many inventions.  It was a more positive time to study.

 I decided to have Charry do more writing, including her first typed report.  After she managed to get the title typed out I took over typing.  It was a learning experience for both of us, and one I don't plan on repeating this year.  Maybe next year after we work a bit more on organizing ideas.

We also worked on comparisons.  She drew out what visiting was like then vs. now.  This was extra humorous to me because at the time we were visiting Grandma's yet Charry had no idea how today was any different.  Once we pointed out a few differences she caught on and finished the project.

 She then colored the states, well at first she didn't color the ones that weren't states but colored everything else, including Canada and Mexico.

 The Samantha "Just for fun book" was a lot of fun.  She ran off with most of the activities before I had a chance to snap a picture.  And the papers dolls were used as a reward if she finished math early.

So two more done and only 4 more to go, we are half way done!