Today is Celebration Saturday over at Ruth Ayres’ Site, Discover, Play, Build.
Yesterday was a wonderful fall day! The air was clear and crisp. A perfect day for a field trip. The gifted program for our district takes the 4th-6th graders on a field trip every other year to St. Francisville, LA and Natchez, MS. Early Friday morning at 6 AM, our students and teachers, along with some parent and grandparent chaperones, boarded a chartered bus and headed north to St. Francisville.
In St. Francisville, we toured the haunted Myrtles Plantation home. One of the stories we heard was about a slave who had her ear cut off. This ghost apparently steals earrings, actually takes only one for her remaining ear, and is especially fond of hoop earrings. And sure enough, one of the moms had on hoop earrings. One was gone, Poof!, by the end of the tour. I had the freezons, which is Cajun for chills.
Students pose at the outdoor fountain.
After touring and walking the beautiful grounds of the Myrtles, we headed down the road to Grace Epicopal Church to their old cemetery. There the students did gravestone rubbings. Next week we will research these and write historical fiction stories.
In Natchez, we ate lunch on the grounds of the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, and the kids had the chance to run up and down Indian mounds and learn about the pottery and basketry of the Natchez Indians. A favorite souvenir for my boys were arrowhead pendants.
Then on to Longwood Plantation. Longwood is an impressive site, the largest plantation home in Natchez; however, the only completed part is the basement. The Civil War broke out, and the owner died of pneumonia. His widow raised 8 children in the completed part of the basement which was only 10,000 square feet. Imagine the completed house would have been 30,000 sq. feet. You go up the stairs and can see the framework of the incomplete mansion. It is most fascinating. Again at this plantation, the students sketched. Back at school, they will compare and contrast the life of a child at each plantation we visited.
Even though the trip was long and we didn’t get back home until 8:30 PM, the friendships made and nurtured as well as the history learned and appreciated made this field trip a valuable experience for everyone.
Reflections on the Teche 
Oh, I like how you are celebrating a field trip. It does sound like a fun day! I have to confess…I don’t like field trips. I worry so much and feel so out of place that I have a hard time enjoying myself. Thanks for making me rethink my position. 🙂
I love those trips, & your places described sound fascinating. So happy it was a good time, & more about them to come!
Field trips are so fun, but exhausting. Sounds like a great day!
What a rich day for you and your students! (and the ghost, who got another earring for her stash!)
This sounds like a wonderful day (albeit a little spooky). Can’t wait to see the writing that comes out of it!
What a fun, but long learning experience! I can’t imagine a field trip lasting that long! I would love to learn more about the Longwood Plantation because I love reading Civil War stories. I also love a good ghost story…so much fun with the hoop earrings!