July -->> History -- The Middle of the East

This week in our history study, we turned our attention to the Middle East. We took a quick look at the different nations that have occupied this part of the world (our history book encouraged the kids to chant this poems:
Assyria, Babylon,
Persia, Alexander the Great!
Seleucids, Parthians,
Sassanids, Islamic Empire!
Ghaznavid Turks, Mongols,
Safavids -- now we've come to Abbas the Shah!) Quite a mouthful -- but with our help all of the kids chanted this poem and earned a chocolate chip:)
The picture above shows our attempt at making an arched bridge (to help us remember that Shah Abbas is famous for his "Bridge of Thirty-three Arches" that crosses the Zayandeh Rood river -- it still stands today in present-day Iran).