Fourth Grade Rendezvous

Today I got to go to the fourth grade rendezvous. It was so much fun. It is a day spent living the things the students learned in Idaho History. We started our day by taking a bus to Tautphaus Park where we met up with fourth graders from 4 other schools in the district. The first event was the singing Cowboy. He told stories, played the banjo, sang songs and played the guitar. It was really quite entertaining. The pictures from this event are all rather blurry as it was hard to get a pic when the Cowboy was standing still. After the opening procedures, my group headed over to the candle making station. They had several different cans of colored wax and the kids stood in lines, taking turns dipping their wicks into the wax. After candle making, our next stop was square dancing and games. The students learned the Virginia Reel and were able to dance one song all the way through before we headed out onto the field. In the field the students got to play toss lacrosse style. Apparently, lacrosse was originally an Indian game (they told us what it was called, but I can't remember it). From the field we went to watch the Shoban dancers. It was really iteresting and impressive. There was a young girl about the age of 5 who is considered a leader in their tribe. The rights were passed on to her from her grandmother. She sang a tribal song and then also participated in some of the dances. Most of the dancers were high school age. They all attended the Shoban high school where in addition to learning standard subjects, they also have the option to learn their native language, learn the dances, and also learn how to make the clothing they perform in. Next, came the making of leather straps and playing with pilgrim toys. I was in a group of all boys, so needless to say, they didn't spend too much time decorating their straps. At this point in the day we paused to eat lunch. During their lunch time, the students were able to go around and meet kids from other schools and trade one of the crafts they had made before coming to the rendezvous. The students from Hawthorne had made wood medallions to trade. After lunch it was time for Gold Panning. This was something that students really enjoyed. They learned how to sift through the silt and find "gold". Then they were able to trade the "gold" in at the bank and use the money to buy a piece of beef jerkey. Our last station was Native American Art. The students made clay pots. They rolled the clay into snake like ropes and then layered them on top of each other in a circle to make a pot. I was surprised how good some of them turned out. Our last activity of the day was watching the Mountain Man. He came and showed the children his gun and leather clothing. He taught them all some Indian sign language and also how to set up a teepee and trap beavers. I think everyone's favorite thing was when he loaded his musket and shot it once. Over all it was a really neat experience and I so look forward to next year when I will be one of the ones putting the rendezvous together.

side note: I tried adding the pics I took, however, I couldn't figure out how to get them where I wanted them and it was just driving me nuts. So, there are no pics here, but I have put them on my facebook.