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Explore early America, settle the west, reach the stars!
Crafting a Country

2021-2022 Weekly Topics
And Proposed Activities
September 9
Opening Celebration: Explorers and Mayflower Crossing
Component I – Colonial America
September 13-17
Building a Colony
Log houses, 13 original colonies, Mayflower Compact, surviving, Roanoke
September 20-24
Native Americans
Natural dyes, Colonial timeline, petroglyphs, Native American games, trading, Native American food
September 27 - October 1
Colonial Villages
Colonial craft, smallpox inoculation, Colonial schools, Colonial games, Colonial food storage, hopscotch
October 4-8
Colonial Farms
Spin wool, Colonial chores, square foot gardening, Colonial poetry, wells, pumpkins, Farm Families game
October 11-15
Colonial Trades
Silversmithing, pieces of eight, shop signs, Colonial money, Poor Richard's Almanac, wheat grinding, supply and demand, wheelbarrow races
October 18-22
Colonial Inventors
Printmaking, armonica, simple machines, logic problems, patents, fire brigade game
Component II – Revolutionary Era
October 27
Celebration: Revolutionary War Reenactment
November 1-5
Protests
Boston Tea Party, paying taxes, Sons of Liberty, Sugar Act, Colonial treats, tax game
November 8-12
Revolutionary War
Secret messages, Betsy Ross Flag, women in the Revolutionary War, Revolutionary music, Revolutionary War vocabulary, Revolutionary War food, Revolutionary games
November 15-19
Declaration of Independence
Fireworks craft, liberty, grievances, estimating, Preamble, pen and ink, Colonial bells, Duck, duck, goose
November 22-26 (off)
November 29 - December 3
The Constitution
Gilded walnuts, kinds of government, presidential responsibilities, checks and balances, Preamble, ex post facto, debate, quoits game
December 6-10
The Bill of Rights
Star garland, amendments, freedom of religion, math game, right to petition, eminent domain, mock trial, search and seizure
December 13-17
America Today
Pommander craft, symbols of America, how a bill becomes a law, eagle populations, poetry, string popcorn and cranberries
December 20
Holiday Celebration: Colonial Christmas
Component III – US Timeline
January 10-14
Founding Fathers
Campaign buttons, architectural styles, coin flipping, Book of Etiquette, parliamentary procedure
January 17-21
Westward Expansion
Paint with soil, vote for sheriff, budgeting for trekking, Lewis and Clarke, Oregon Trail, Pony Express
January 24-28
Civil War
Checkerboards, soldiers' items, fourscore, Gettysburg Address, Capture the Flag
January 31 - February 4
Industrial Revolution
Upcycling, industrialized food, recipes, 1000 words, assembly line, Model T Ford race
February 7-11
WWII
Trench art, WWII newspaper, Axis vs. Allies, wartime food, V-mail, moon phases, radio show, Civil War tag
February 14-18
Art and Science in America
Mount Rushmore, presidential timeline, Mars Rover, ages of presidents, art critic, art museum scavenger hunt, rockets, relay race
February 23
Celebration: All President's Day
Component IV - 50 States
February 28 - March 4
Northeast
State trees, elements, liberty, apples, minerals, Northeast food, Little League
March 7-11
The South
Paddle boats, coal garden, crossing the Missippi, poetry, Music City, cake run
March 14-18
The Midwest
cork husk dolls, caves, 3D math, Windy City, rock types, corn products,
March 21-25
Plains States
buzzer craft, tornadoes, Mount Rushmore, body language, aquifers, homesteading, Keepers of the Fire game
March 28 - April 1
Mountain States
Potato craft, rail workers, measuring horses, stories, genetics, rodeo,
April 4-8
Pacific States
Totem poles, flower dissection, apple fractions, movies, temperate rainforests, tropical fruits
April 13
Celebration: American Road Trip
Component V - California Dreamin'
April 18-22
Natural California
Poppies, leaf transpiration, blue whale, superlatives, tree height, nature scavenger hunt
April 25-29
Native Californians
Pinch pots, hunter/gatherers, Native American games, legends, comparisons, rhythm game
May 2-6
Californios
Cowboys, ranching
May 9-13
California Missions
Adobe bricks, mission model, a day in the life of mission living
May 16-20
Gold Rush
Prospector craft, gold rush game, flow chart, pan for gold, gold rush race
May 23-27
Golden Age of California
photo props, DNA model, minorities in California, movie vocabulary, red carpet, spacesuit
June 1
Closing Celebration: America the Beautiful