November 2018 – Blogging As We Grow

7 November, 20188 January, 2019

Gun Powder Plot Project

Master KAF and Mrs DTB have spent the last few days focusing on all things November 5th.

It started by us watching a series on the Beeb called Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents. Master KAF was very interested to learn about how the idea of Secret Agents was not a new thing and in fact, how the Cecil family, in particular, served both Queen Elizabeth I and King James VI/I. This led right into the topic of the Gun Powder Plot – very apt for this time of year, as we had also been watching many different displays of fireworks from our vantage point over the city of Hereford.

We found some great resources from the TeachItHistory website and worked through some tasks over a couple of days, looking at the evidence of what happened and to determine if the plotters were framed or truly guilty.

One thing surprised Master KAF; that differing information on the topic can come from the same source such as:

Different opinions on how many barrels of gunpowder were used. The Parliament video said 30, then 34, but the work we did on yesterday said that there were 36. So at least we can agree that over 30 and less than 37 barrels were used!
The Parliament video said that all those captured and tried were hanged drawn and quartered, but other accounts state that Fawkes jumped from the scaffold to ensure a quick death.

So we learned that is always important to keep asking questions and keep an open mind!

2 November, 2018

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit – Our thoughts so far on the movies Part 2 (Prop Design)

This time Master KAF and MrsDTB are reflecting on the interesting appendices footage from The Fellowship Of The Rings. We got to learn lots about prop design and costumes. Here are some of our favourites.

The design of the Orcs armour, though at first glance may look completely impractical, when you take a closer look it is in fact very good. The armour they have is functional but not fancy (if you don’t count the occasional sharp parts!). Orc armour looks impractical due to the way we think about historical man-made armour, which is smooth without large areas of sharp ridges and usually made of metal. Ors armour is often made of leather because they needed it to be lightweight as they were travelling long distances on foot.

To be continued…

2 November, 20188 January, 2019

Book Review – Not So Normal Norbert – written by James Patterson and Joey Green

Master KAF has written this review, MrsDTB helped a bit and done the typing.

There are three main characters in the book. Norbert Riddle a normal schoolboy who in a fit of rage does a hilarious impression of the country’s dictator. He gets sentenced to the “Astronuts Camp” on the planet Zorquat 3. Drew Weaver who is in the same class as Norbert in Middle School 1022 in Region 154. He too is arrested by the Truth Police for laughing at Norbert’s impression of the country’s dictator and for occasional doodling. Lastly, Sophie Singer who meets Norbert and Drew on the ship taking them to Zorquat 3 and its crazy farm. She is arrested for constantly having music on her mind and making lots of music.

The story takes place on Zorquat 3 which is a distant planet, according to Drew “Zorquat Three is a bleak planet covered with quick-sand pits and giant, man-eating lizards”.

Norbert tries to prove himself to be normal so he can be sent back home to carry on searching for his parents. His Dad was arrested when he was 5 years old by the Truth Police. His Mother made art after her husband was arrested and ended up being apprehended as well.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

At the climax of the book, he finds his mother who reveals that his father is on one of the planet’s two moons and forced to work in a labour camp.

***** END OF SPOILER ALERT*****

Norbert does not succeed in proving himself normal so he is stuck on Zorquat Three. He ends up working on a TV show called Astronuts, near the end of the book. The show is meant to entertain everyone on the planet who has a Truth Screen which is this universe’s TV.

Anyone between the age of 6 and 12 would surely enjoy this book. It has a lot of humour but also has some serious parts (but not too serious).

This book could be considered part of the dystopian genre, which in definition means not perfect. A lot of dystopian books have rebels fighting back but in this book, everyone on the planet who is capable of rebelling even slightly will be sent away, because “different is dangerous, creative is crazy and imagination is insanity”.