13: Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Chimeras.....Oh My!

1. While I was roaming around Biltmore over New Years I became enthralled with the ornamentation found everywhere along the 780-foot façade. I love to take close-up pictures of architectural details, and Biltmore provides me with all sorts of delights.

2. One of the things that Mr. Elementaryhistoryteacher and I focused on were the many gargoyles on the house. The word ‘gargoyles’ is derived from an old French word gargouille, meaning throat. The English words gargle, gurgle, and gargoyle are derived from gargouille.

3. Some believe that gargoyles – sometimes called grotesques – are inspired by the skeletal remains of prehistoric dinosaurs and other fossils. Originally a gargoyle was considered a waterspout, directing water away from a building.

Yes, I agree.....the figure below seems rather proud of his ummmm.....attributes.

4. Technically an architect calls a waterspout on a building a gargoyle. It a stone carving does not carry water and has a face that resembles a creature, it is technically called a grotesque.

5. Many people believe that gargoyles were created by medieval architects and stone carvers to ward off evil in an imperfect world.

6. The creatures - gargoyles, grotesques, and chimeras - that decorate the façade of Biltmore House are fantastic, frightful, and fanciful. They lurk in virtually every nook and cranny from parapets, upper balconies and slither from the groins of the ornately arched windows.

7. Why are they there? Richard Morris Hunt, the architect of Biltmore, took cues from the French renaissance and Gothic styles….The influence is evident in the proliferation of curious creatures that embellish it; gargoyles have been fixtures on the cathedrals, public buildings and grand homes of Europe for centuries.

8. The masons of the Middle Ages expanded on this theme by introducing non-functional decorative elements depicting animals and humans in a grotesque (and often humorous) style, or letting their imaginations run wild with chimeras: mythical beasts that combined elements from various creatures. The gryphon, which has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, is a well-known example.

9. The monsters that adorn Biltmore House were actually dreamed up by Mr. Hunt’s architectural team.

10. Plaster prototypes of each individual statue were provided to the project’s master stone carvers, who had been imported from major cities such as New York and Chicago.

11. Working in a tent city set up for the construction crew on the estate’s esplanade, the carvers defined the basic contours of the Indian limestone sculptures on the ground, and they finessed the detail in place on the façade.

12. The home’s minor grotesques give us a glimpse of the individual style of the anonymous makers.

13. Major works, such as the two fearsome sentinels that overlook the main entrance, were executed to the architect’s specifications…..

The text for this post was taken from this article and this article.

Other bloggers participate in Thursday Thirteen as well…..you can locate them here

Bespoken Blacksmiths

Vocabulary is key when teaching any subject from Math (integer….diameter….cotangent ) to Science (antimatter…circuit…velocity) from Language Arts (compound sentence…simile…alliteration) to Social Studies ( amendment…capital resources…inalienable). If students are unable to master and manipulate the subject’s vernacular they will encounter difficulty reading various texts, understanding their notes, and once April rolls around the student might not be able to understand the questions on the all important state mandated test.

Vocabulary acts as the foundation for each instructional unit. In fact, Marzano contends in his book Building Academic Vocabulary (2005), “…students in the 50th percentile in terms of ability to comprehend the subject matter taught in school, with no direct vocabulary instruction, scores in the 50th percentile ranking. The same student after specific content-area terms have been taught in a specific way, raises his/her comprehension ability to the 83rd percentile.”

Yes, specific content-area vocabulary instruction IS very important.

Once students begin to study the English colonies the vocabulary list takes on a who’s who of colonial founders and governors along with words like indigo, indentured, and apprentice, but tucked away within the list is a great word……the word artisan.

An artisan is someone who works with his or her hands to create a product. Prior to the Industrial Revolution artisans produced goods using creative thinking and took great pride in the products they produced. If they didn’t…well, their customer base would suffer, and they wouldn’t be very successful. Knowing the customer’s needs and keeping them happy with quality work was very important.

In fact, the work of the blacksmith was bespoken meaning he only worked at the request of others.

One type of colonial artisan I like to spotlight for students is the blacksmith, and the why behind my choice is very simple. Of all the craftsmen that came to the New World the blacksmith was the most important. In fact, other types of craftsmen couldn’t have done the things they did without the help of a blacksmith.

A blacksmith forges and shapes iron with an anvil and hammer.

This article explains how the blacksmith makes the anvil sing an ancient hammer language. ”It’s a 50-part language that’s tapped out on the anvil….It’s the first thing an apprentice learns, because it’s the language that the master uses to converse with the strikers (helpers). The anvil makes a different sound depending upon where the hammer strikes. The apprentice knows where to hit the metal on the anvil based upon the “song” the master plays.”

Not only is there a special language within the singing of the blacksmith’s hammer the color of the heated metal also has a language of its own. Since early blacksmiths had no thermometer to gauge the temperature of the heated metal they learned how to judge the color. The color provides the information they need to determine when the metal is ready to twist and turn. This is the main reason most blacksmith shops are dimly lit so that the blacksmith can see the fired metal.

Hmmmm….it would seem that the blacksmith has his own content-area vocabulary….language that involves two of his five senses including observation and hearing.

Over the New Year’s holiday I got the chance to see a true blacksmith in action at the Horseshoe Bend area of the Biltmore Estate. Doc W. Cudd, Jr. (seen in my pictures with this article) gave an excellent demonstration in his smithy shop, found in the property’s 1902 horse barn, that enthralled a crowd of young and old alike. He explained that over the last 450 years there has always been at least one blacksmith in his family.

From this article I discovered that Doc Cudd received his first anvil at age 9, and began apprenticing under his dad and great uncle at age 10. After progressing to journeyman, he passed an intense test—just one portion took 18 hours—and became a blacksmith in 1995.

The article continues…."When people come see me at the barn, I always want them to feel like they're sitting on my front porch," he says. His rapport with guests is evident—he has a collection of 150 pictures that guests have sent him commemorating their River Bend Barn visit."

As I entered the smithy shop it was a tight fit as folks had stopped in and decided to stay awhile to listen to the demonstration. It is clear to this teacher that Mr. Cudd loves his profession and not only is he a master blacksmith, but he’s a master teacher as well. Passion is the true ingredient for any teacher …..and it is so very evident with Mr. Cudd.

Mr. Cudd puts the capital "A" in the word Artisan.

I witnessed Mr. Cudd creating one of his signature key rings….a key ring that is sold in the barn’s gift shop…..at the end of his demonstration he presented it and held it aloft so we could all see it.

and yes, Mr. Elementaryhistoryteacher just had to have one.

We might just have to "throw-down" over who gets to carry it.

Resources:

The poem, The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow can be found here

A video created in 1893 titled “Blacksmith Scene” can be found here. It was first kinetoscope shown in public exhibition and was created through the Thomas Edison Laboratory. The Library of Congress selected this video clip for preservation by the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

A great little sample chapter regarding content-area vocabulary instruction can be found here, and a slide-show featuring Marzano’s findings regarding vocabulary instruction can be seen here

Glober Trekker

I have this deep dark secret.

I’ve never really shared it with anyone.

My secret doesn’t exactly fit the image many have of me….the quiet unassuming married school marm who in the past has lugged home not just one but two large bags each night filled to capacity with papers to grade, materials to review and to plan lessons with, paperwork to complete, and an assortment of other effects that teachers just seem to accumulate.

Teachers just have that image...always doing the right thing, always saying the right thing, always being where they are expected to be, but I have this desire…

If I could….if the timing was right…..if I had the funds….if my health was better…..if I didn’t have so many obligations…if ….if….if….if….if…

IF

I

actually

had

the

nerve

I would run away.

Yes, you read that right.

ElementaryHistoryTeacher would love to run away.

The reason? Well, to travel, of course. I want to see and experience the world.

I want to see the Great Pyramid, the Great Wall of China, and see “the running of the bulls” in Pamplona, Spain.

I want to climb the Rockies, ride through the Alps, and see Mount Kilimanjaro.

I want to take a mud bath in China, take a cooking class in Thailand, and go on a safari in Tanzania, Africa.

I want to sleep in a Bedouin tent, belly dance in Istanbul, and explore the Greek and Roman ruins.

I want to watch the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, trace the route of Lewis and Clark, and actually lay on the stones where the Mayans performed their rituals.

I want to read a book in some quaint bookstore in England, I want to sip coffee sitting in a sidewalk café in Paris, and I want to lay in the sun topless like all the office girls do during their lunch hour in Malaga, Spain.

I want to ride the Orient Express across Europe, ride a lodge boat down the Amazon River and experience Victoria Falls via the Devil's Pool .

I want to see where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door in Wittenberg, stand in St. Peter’s Square, and most importantly walk the path of Jesus through the Holy Land.

I want to skinny dip along the beaches of the Cook Islands….in particular one of the most beautiful places there…. Aitutaki Island.

Watch the video and you will see what I mean….



How did you like the music? Did you recognize it? It’s the theme to one of my most favorite travel shows.

You see, as much as I would like to visit all of the places mentioned above and do the things I listed the likelihood of any of them coming true at this point is next to nothing. I’m not looking for sympathy here….just being realistic. I might get to some of those things, but the reality of just running away and experiencing the world is unrealistic for me at this point for many reasons.

Therefore, I have to satisfy my desire vicariously.

I’m not usually a big fan of most travel shows, but Globe Trekker on PBS is one way that I can cure my wanderlust. The guides on the show travel the way I would like to. They explore the authentic culture of every region they visit yet they still hit on the important historical sites as well. Ian Wright, one my most favorite guides on the show states he enjoys “living cheap and getting dirty” on his travels, and I have to say a little of that would be interesting. Justine Shapiro, another host on the show, states, “The way to connect with other distinct cultures is to go with an open heart and spend time with the locals.” That would be part of my schtick if I was able to just …..GO.

In fact….the guides on the show are one of the reasons why I like it so much. There are several of them and they rotate through the episodes. They all have interesting backgrounds and bring their own little spin to the show. For example, Megan McCormick is a former English teacher in Japan. Zay Harding grew up in Hawaii and became interested in world cultures through the Boy Scouts, and Holly Morris is a print and media journalist with Adventure Divas.

From time to time I’ve used clips found at YouTube or the show’s main site in the classroom. These do need to be previewed for inappropriate content, but so many of the clips have value when teaching geography, world cultures or history. Most of the episodes can be searched by location. Often I’ve used them for independent study and allowed students to just pick something and run with it the way their heart takes them.

Sometimes THAT is when the best learning takes place.

The main website for Globe Trekker can be found here . Enjoy!

Staking My Claim...Again

Some things just bear repeating.

I’ve been at the beach…again…for the last couple of days, so it’s more than appropriate to share a repeat of an earlier post written on this very same beach three years ago this month…..

Mr. EHT and I were up and out very early this morning enjoying yet another sunrise on MY beach.

It is not lost on me how things change….and how they remain the same.

Enjoy my post I Conquer This Beach in the Name of ElementaryHistoryTeacher!

Street Scenes From Savannah....

On our way back from St. Augustine we spent the day in Savannah. Here are a few pictures....many of them just snapped from the car:

13 Things I Can Do Today as I Travel

Today is travel day as we head north to Washington D.C./Annapolis. In my never ending quest to be supermom and superteacher, I multi-task as much as possible. I always try to do more than one thing…..get the laundry going while I load the dishwasher and make beds or grade papers while I run the copier outside my door preparing handouts for the next day’s lessons.

It is the very rare occaision where I just sit and do nothing, so a car ride of several hours is a very daunting process. Here are 13 things I’ve thought about doing while we travel in random order:

1. go over my summer goals…..what do I want to accomplish by July 31st?

2. brainstorm weak areas in my American History units and come up with solutions.

3. conversate with Dear Hubby and Dear Daughter

4. look at the world passing me by….try not to miss the huge peach in Gaffney, South Carolina. For those not in the know if it didn’t have a huge leaf attached to it I swear you would think it’s a huge rear end.

5. listen to music…..not the radio…CDs all the way

6. read aloud our revised church bylaws to Dear Hubby and discuss…..we need to be "in the know"

7. help Dear Hubby prepare a meeting agenda

8. notice all the interesting names of places along the way and bore Dear Daughter with the history of each area we pass through just to frustrate her. :) Her ninth great-grandfather fought during the American Revolution at Kings Mountain and Cowpens so that's a story good for at least an hour of travel time.....

9. stay alert and help Dear Hubby with his driving….he might not see that car with its brakes on, you know?

10. sleep…..but then I couldn’t help Dear Hubby drive and I’m simply compelled to do that.

11. Listen to Dear Daughter giggle as she uses Dear Hubby’s lap top to check her email, etc. as we go down the road and receive text messages on her phone. Isn’t technology wonderful?

12. Discuss all of the “must sees” in Washington D.C. we want to get to considering we have one day there.

13. Get on the rode NOW per Dear Hubby as he does not want to hit D.C. during afternoon rush hour. Oops! Gotta go.

Don’t forget to vote for me in the education/homeschooling category over at the Best of Blogs. You can vote once each day through the 26th. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to vote.

Happy Thursday!
Visit the 13 hub here to see more 13 lists from various bloggers.

Fall Break Is Around the Corner

It’s hard to believe school has been in session since the first of August. In some ways it feels like yesterday---in another way, however, I’m more than ready for Fall Break. The other night I spent some time online looking for possible destinations for my break from educational duties. I wanted to go somewhere different. Somewhere I’d never been.

Of course, my destination has to meet certain requirements. There has to be beautiful beaches, warm to hot weather, swaying palm trees, and posh condo décor. I love staying in condos. You have all the comforts of home while you are away from home. Every condo I’ve ever stayed in has been different, and I enjoy discovering all of the little decorating details. Condos make the trip more memorable because we remember each of the beautiful places we have stayed.

I believe I have found an interesting spot to travel to and wonder when Dear Hubby reads this if he’ll think the same thing. Hmmmmm………

How does Kauai, Hawaii sound? Kauai is the northernmost of the main Hawaiian Islands and is only twenty minutes by air from Honolulu. The landscape appears to be absolutely paradise. While visiting Kauai you can visit the Captain Cook monument and Fort Elizabeth, the only Russian fort remaining in Hawaii. Want to see how Hawaiian sugar plantations operated? You can visit Grove Farm Homestead, the 80-acre sugar plantation once owned by Georgia N. Wilcox. At one time the plantation covered over 12,000 acres. Wilcox was a noble under the Hawaiian monarchy, a Senator under the Hawaiian Republic, and served as a Cabinet prime minister in 1892.

The most difficult detail regarding planning a trip to Hawaii might be securing the right condo considering I’m practically on the other side of the world, however, I found Hawaiian Beach Rentals. Their website appears to be a one-stop shop for meeting my housing requirements. I can pull up pictures of each condo and I can reserve mine and hubby’s spot online. If hubby decides to bring the whole family (oh no!) we can reserve a house. Better yet Hubby and I can rent a condo and rent the rest of the crew hotel rooms!

Well, I’ve got some packing and planning to do because in the next couple of weeks I’m goin’ somewhere….

Check out Hawaiian Beach Rentals for your Hawaiian destination needs today!

Maintaining My Claim

As the picture confirms I’m still maining my claim on the beach. Day two and I am settled into my lounge with umbrella, Coke (a good Southern girl never goes anywhere without the elixir of life), cell phone, and plenty of paper and pens.

All is right with the world…..

The beach is busy this morning---not with people but with the business of being a beach. Small, greyish-white crab-like creatures scurry here and there diving into holes in the sand before my poor “graded too many papers in my lifetime” eyes can focus in on them clearly. I mimic their actions as I scurry from spot to spot camera phone open attempting to snap a picture. I hope Daughter Dear isn’t watching her crazy mother from the balcony of the condo. I finally give up leaving the minute creatures their solitude.

The birds, large and small, are soaring overhead or walking the beach nibbling this and that. Their little heads bob in and out as they walk along as if they are saying, “We’re eating this and that, this and that, this and that, this and that.” What is it that they see in the sand that I don’t?

It’s right before noon….the sun is still a bit to the left. As my gaze pans from east to west I see a long column of condo buildings as far as the eye can see running parallel to the white ribbon of beach and the blue-green of the water. Along with a long stretch of condos to the east is the Alabama-Florida state line or Floribama as the locals call it.

Directly in front of me looking out towards the horizon I see an expanse of what appears to be huge silver sequins winking and twinkling at me as the sun catches each little ripple of the water. Various kinds of boats dot the horizon here and there.



To the west the water reverts back to the blue-green, semi-transparent depths. Empty lots complete this end of Perdido Key and are dotted here and there with sea oats stretching down towards the jetty.



Occaisional trios of pelicans soar by on the prowl for tasty morsels.

If I remain patient, vigilent, and by fixing my gaze on one section of water at a time I am rewarded with the occaisional water ballet that mini-schools of small, silvery fish perform as they come in close to shore turning this way and that. The sun shines through the waves as they curl one last time to reveal brown seaweed churning in the water. A small boat motors across and as it reaches me a wave curls. For a split second I’m able to see a large fish swimming inside the wave parallel to the boat. It’s just a dark shadow but it’s a three to four foot long shadow. Is that a triangle-shape fin sticking up along the top edge of the creature? Hmmmm….I wonder if the mighty fishermen realize their prize catch is only a few feet from their deck. I think of Dear Husband. He’s been out since 5:30 a.m. on a charter boat with twenty other manly men from our church. I hope he’s having a good day and the fishing/seasick gods are being benevolent to everyone aboard.

The waves are pounding today----much larger than yesterday---more distinct clouds and a steady, steady wind. I have to fight my favorite writing tool….the spiral notebook….to keep it steady as I perch it along the handrail of my lounge.

The birds see something in the water. They are literally belly flopping into the surf diving straight down like Kamikazee pilots except they are able to crash into the water and careen right back up in the wild blue yonder proudly munching on their catch.

A large…..wrong word……a giantic bird has landed in front of me. I freeze. He....she turns around and looks my way. I mean I think he/she is looking at me. How can you tell since the eyes on the side of the head? I begin to think about my exit strategy if gigantic bird begins to come my way. This took some thinking since my “I’m not overweight just undertall” body does not always move quickly in the most graceful manner. Two groups of people walk by. You would think gigantic bird would get nervous and fly off. He/she just kept gazing out at the sea totally ignoring me and the folks passing him by. Finally he/she begins to flap and transports his/her body from the left of me to the right of me where he/she continued his/her sentry duty over the water. This continued for about five minutes before he/she finally just walked on down the beach. Just another tourist…..at least speedos weren’t involved.



As the afternoon wore on I watched the sun slowly slide on down the other side of the sky. The huge silver sequins that winked and twinkled at me earlier are also moving further and further to the west. Occaisionally a fish flips up out of the water for an instant and slides back in. I began to see gangs of dolphins swimming towards the jetty. They gave me my own personal floor show as they literally jump in and out of the water as they sail by. Wow, who needs Sea World?

Star Trek begins with these words, “Space….the final frontier.” I beg to differ with Captain Kirk. Here I sit on a fine line between the edge of a continent and a great abyss. Space is fine. I get it the need for space missions but I think even with all of our technology we have lost the determination needed for that next great discovery or accomplishment. The Cold War fueled our desire to win the space race and now it’s over and our desire has cooled. We also don’t seem to have that same collective drive or spirit as it were to have a major accomplishment. What has been the greatest space news lately? Some yahoos (and not even a full compliment of yahoos) decide Pluto isn’t a planet. It’s disheartening.

The oceans are where it’s at. This is where we should focus our attention. I sit here and look at the edge of a world we are aware of but yet we still know so little.

Deep thoughts…….

….and another day ends

…. and I still maintain my claim.