Blustery Day

Today was a abnormally warm, very windy day: perfect tornado weather.  Tornado warnings are popping up all of the area.  To prepare, the class had a tornado drill!  We calmy and carefully walked into the back bathroom (no windows), where we knelt against the wall.  The tornado siren can be heard very clearly in this building, so if it goes off... we will be ready!

Spelling & Handwriting-  This week's spelling list was full of words ending with the sounds "ink", "ank", "unk", and "ing".  To practice these, the students came up with rhyming words for each sound.  Then, each of them came up with their own poem, using the words from one of the sound lists!  It was a fun way to practice spelling, handwriting, and writing, in one swoop!

Art-  In art class today, Ms. Bev pulled out the homemade paper from last week's project.  The class used the homemade paper, as well as construction paper, scrapbooking paper, ribbon, and buttons, to create special Valentines!

History-  Ms. Allison began today's history class by talking about the Roman culture.  At home, the class read about Romans, Hannibal, and his elephants.  Because Romans wore money as jewelry, the class created their own penny jewelry.   My Allison then taught the class the meaning of "trade".  Each student was given a Roman sign.  The Romans were each given some money to spend at Carthage.  Our little shop at Carthage had trinkets for trade.  (The gumballs were just for show!)  Although the Romans were happy as little clams, Hannibal was not!  Hannibal was upset at the Romans for taking all of the good trinkets... and he attacked the Romans!  They discussed the role of elephants in Hannibal's army.  Ms. Allison used the demonstration to help the class remember all that they learned at home.  To top it all off, they made elephant ear pastries!

Math-  In math today, I used multilink cubes to represent two digit numbers.  We then added and subtracted single digit numbers, which did not result in regrouping.  We practiced with this concept until everyone was comfortable looking to the ones group to see if the number being subtracted could be taken only from the ones group.  They were easily adding and subtracting these numbers, mentally.  We will be building upon this concept with online videos, as we begin to regroup!

Today, after a few minor social speed bumps, I decided to take some time and talk to the class about respecting others and being kind.  So often, children are simply excited or happy, but they act in ways that do not take the feelings of others into consideration.  Today, this involved a couple instances of keeping hands to ourselves, an instance of closing the door to keep someone out, and one unintentionally rude remark to a teacher.  None of these cases involved malicious intent.  Sometimes, kids just get caught up in the excitement or fun... and do not think of others.  I cannot help but use every opportunity for a life lesson!  The class and I discussed what it means to be a good friend, what it means to be kind, and how important it is to respect others.  The class then worked on a short writing assignment, where they could write about what it means to be kind, or to respect others.  It was a great way to take the emotions of the morning and vent them onto paper.  Writing can be therapy.  Writing can help us to express our feelings, and to internalize a lesson, applying it to our lives.  The class really took this seriously, and did a wonderful job!  This class that we have is not just to learn science, history, or grammar.  It is a class that teaches how to learn in a group of peers! 

Students jump into action, showing kindness when the contents of a classmate's bookbag spilled onto the floor!

Science-  The first thing that the class did in science class was show off their amazing butterfly models!  They were creative, detailed, and well thought out!  Next, everyone shared their writing assignment on the life cycle of a frog.  Ms. Caroline taught the class more about cycles today:  life cycles and the water cycle.  At home, they will be finishing up chapter 10.  Beginning next week, the class will continue with biology, outside of the textbook.  Ms. Carline will be beginning her lessons on Georgia ecology!  Oh, and our caterpillars are starting to prepare for forming their chrysalises! 

After our science lesson, we took some time to review what we learned in math class.  The concept of adding and subtracting 10 from a two digit number ( 25-10 = 15 ) and subtracting a single digit from a two digit number, without regrouping (25-2= 23) is much easier than it seems for children.  I wanted to touch on this again before they complete their at home assignments.

We began our grammar lesson on common and proper nouns, as well as the abbreviations for the months of the year, when the weather reports started to show bad storms heading our way.  I contacted parents and we cut the day a little short.  We missed out on an alphabetical order review, but that is way less important than getting families home safe and sound before the storm!

Pajama Day!

Today was an awesome day!  Thanks to some amazing parents, we had a pajama day... complete with breakfast for lunch!  The kids absolutely loved wearing their pj's... and so did the teachers!

Spanish Activity

The kids have all mastered alphabetical order by first letter!

Future Butterflies!

Spelling List Jump 'n Jacks

Making Paper for Truly Homemade Valentines!

Squeezing the water from the pulp.

Butterflies!

Spelling- We began the day with a discussion of "ight" and "ite" both making the same sound.  The class reviewed their spelling list, orally.  Then, they created sentences with a few "igh" words, individually.  We worked on "ite" words later on in the day, finishing up with a review of the entire list.

Writing-  The class read their papers about their Christmas break.  They really enjoyed sharing their traditions, the dinners they had, and the presents they received!  I made sure to point out how well each of them did with capital letters and punctuation.  They have definitely made some major improvements in their writing!

Art-  In art class, Ms. Bev began a new, multi-staged project.  Today, they worked on background skyskapes, using paint.  They will be adding more to their projects next week.

History- Ms. Allison talked with the children about the Nazca people of Peru.  They created massive drawings that could only be viewed from the air.  Although the Nazca scraped their drawings into the Earth, our class created their stick figure drawing with flour!  They may have gotten a bit in their hair, but I bet they won't remember the lesson on Nazca!

Math-  In math class, the kids were given different groups of objects.  They had to say which group had "more" and which had "less".  Then, we worked on trying to find out how many more one group had than the other.  We used multilinked cubes to demonstrate every problem.  As they became more comfortable with the terminology (For example, "how many fewer red cubes are there than blue cubes?"), I began writing the number value of each group on the board.  This was so they could make mental connections between what they were calculating with manipulatives and the subtraction problems that it represents.  They really did a great job with this lesson.  It is a tough concept!  Continue to work on memorizing addition and subtraction facts up to 10.  It will help so much, not just now, but always!

Spanish-  Ms. Rose reviewed with the class their Spanish seasons, weather, and numbers today.  They discussed the weather that we have been having, as well as their favorite seasons.  They also worked on creating cards for their terms.

Science-  We are going to be raising caterpillars until they emerge from their chrysalises.  Ms. Caroline discussed the life cycle of the butterfly with the children.  Kids love butterflies!  Their little caterpillars are just larvae right now.  They are super tiny!  I can't wait to see how much they have grown when the kids come back next week! 

Language Arts-  We really learned a lot today!  The students learned how to put words into alphabetical order, which was a new concept for them!  We began by working through short lists of words, together.  These were very simple, and each word began with either an a, b, c, d, or e.  After they became comfortable with the process, they alphabetized some lists on their own.  As their skills grew stronger, I spaced out the words.  We had words that started with letters all through the alphabet, with gaps in between.  I was so pleased that it was a brand new concept for them, and they all nailed it!

We practiced adding suffixes that begin with vowels to words that end with a consonant after a vowel.   For instance, we changed "hop" into "hopping", "step" into "stepping", and so on.  They definitely remembered to double that final consonant.  We then practiced words that end with an silent "e", such as "hope" into "hoping".  Again, they did a great job of remembering to drop that "e". 

After the suffix lesson, we reviewed our grammar definitions for verbs and nouns.  The class pointed out nouns and verbs in many different sentences, acting out each verb!  Then, I gave each student a comic strip about a superhero dog!  The comic strip was chock full of action verbs, which we discussed.  Then, the kids colored the strips and fed them through a little "theater", making it like a little movie screen.

Keep practicing those grammar cards at home!  Committing as much to memory when they are young is so valuable!

Toga Party!

We began the day with the reading of our writing assignments!  I made a HUGE deal out of these today.  Each and every child did their absolute best, and it showed.  Their handwriting, capital letters, punctuation, and big ideas were just awesome!  There were stories of magical snowmen who melted into magic snow slush and later made into another snowman, snowmen who could turn their enemies into frozen ice, and snowmen who healed people with magic dust.  I told them that I expect more of the same when we come back for second semester!

For handwriting practice, we wrote some of the spelling words from this week's list.  All of the children made the same handwriting mistake.  All of their lower case "k"s looked like uppercase "K"s.  We spent time correcting this mistake.  They may need to work on lowercase k's at home, as well.

In art class, Ms. Bev brought in beads!  The children worked on beaded Christmas ornaments.  They loved choosing their colors and threading the beads onto the line.  There is just something about beads, buttons, rice, beans, and other beautifully tactile materials that children just love!

Today was the big Greek Party in Ms. Allison's history class!  The kids (and teachers) came in togas, headbands, and came bearing Greek food!  The children tried pita chips and hummus, pita bread and olive oil dip, spanakopitas baklava, olives, meatballs, and more!

In Spanish class, we all learned a lot as Ms. Rose explained to us the Spanish Christmas traditions that she shares with her family.  We learned about different foods that her mother and grandmother would cook for the holidays.  I think I learned more than the children!  I always love hearing of how different cultures around the world celebrate the birth of our Lord!

Math-  In math class, we have been learning, in class at at home, about measurement.  Today, the students worked with capacity.  It is so difficult for a child to first get their head around the fact that taller containers do not always hold more than shorter ones!  By the end of math class, they were all focusing more on the capacity the container has to hold liquid, rather than its height!

Science- At home, the students watched videos about different methods that single celled organisms use for movement: cilia, flagellum, and pseudopods.  Today, they reviewed the concepts in their reading and discussed the differences between the different modes of motion.

In spelling today, we focused a lot on the sound "wor" as in "worms".  This is not something that can be sounded out!  The class took their spelling list and wrote each word onto a different notecard.  Then, they had a relay.  The kids had to take turns dropping one of their notecards into the appropriate "special sounds" box.  At the end, we sat in a group and discussed the cards within each box.  There were quite a few "wor" as in "worm" cards (like work and word) in the "or" as in "morning" box!  Hopefully, after today's lesson, it will be easier for them to spot this sound.

In Language Arts, the children learned that you drop the silent "e" in words before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel.  For instance, when you turn "race" into "racing", you must drop the silent "e".  The class worked through examples of this as a group.

The class and I walked over to check out the garden.  They learned how broccoli and cauliflower grow inside the middle of the plant, tried a piece of fancy lettuce (all of the tried it!), and checked out the goat's new winter coats!

We will continue at-home assignments through Friday of this week.  Then, enjoy a nice, long, Christmas break!  At-home assignments will begin on Monday, January 6th.

Plant Roots and Word Roots

The students began their day by listening to each others' writing assignments about their Thanksgiving festivities.  They wrote about sweet potatoes, grandparents, cranberry sauce, travel, and all the other things Thanksgiving memories are made of!  We are working a lot on writing in complete sentences.  At home, spend time helping them recognize where one sentence should end and another begin.  They have come a long way in 15 weeks!

In art class, Ms. Bev showed the kids how to make some amazing Christmas ornaments, using fabric scraps!  The mental focus during this one hour class was just amazing.  They worked hard, and it showed!

 Math class was all about measurement today!  We worked with non-standard units of measurement, using paperclips, markers, and counting cubes as measuring tools.  I explained to the class that you can only measure with units that are a consistent size.  You cannot simply say "build a ship that is 94 shoes long!"  The class measured different classroom objects.  Then, each one stretched out onto a large sheet of paper.  We made marks at their feet and head.  Then, they used markers as units of measurement to see how many markers high they each are.  They will be working more with measurement at home over the week.

In Spanish class, the kids showed off their house models, where they cut out different household items and placed them into a box.  They hung lights from the top, made carpet on the floor, and decorated the walls with pictures of tables, chairs, and other furniture.  They labelled each item with its Spanish name.

Science time was pretty action packed!  The class showed off the models of the parts of a plant that they completed at home.  Then, Ms. Caroline and the students discussed the experiment with the two different flowering plants.  One has been watered and in the sun for 3 weeks.  The other was kept in the dark, with no water.  The results were pretty clear.  The students documented the results in their lab books.  As an extra test, we gave the dying plant water and sunlight.  We will check back to see if it is about to bounce back!

The class learned about seeds today, as well as the life cycle of a plant.  Ms. Caroline took the kids to the yard on a seed scavenger hunt!  They found seeds, as well as other plant parts, and brought them inside to discuss their findings.  Finally, they created collages from their treasures. 

In Language Arts class, the students worked a lot with root words and suffixes.  We reviewed the rule that you double the final consonant before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel, such as stop and stopping.  Further, I discussed with the class that this double consonant results in a short vowel sound.  For instance, the extra "p" turns hoping into hopping and turns moped into mopped.  I was really able to tell that this concept has been taught at home in their lessons!  They all worked examples on the board.  They also worked on recognizing the root words and suffixes in words such as jumped, underlining the root words and circling the suffixes.

The class reviewed the spelling list, as well.  In this list, they work with "oi" and "oy".  They seem to have much less difficulty with this concept than the "ou" and "ow" list!  We played a game where the students had to stand up if the word had an "oi" and sit when the word had an "oy".  As I called out the words boil, toy, spoil, and so on, the kids bopped up and down appropriately.

At the very end of class, we squeezed in enough time to head across the street and check out the chicks that were hatching!  We had 35 eggs in the incubator, and they were hatching like crazy!  I was glad they had a chance to see the action!

Picture Day!

Writing and Handwriting-  The kids began their day by sharing their Thanksgiving writing assignments with the class.  As always, I made sure that the positive feedback was off the chart!  In addition to learning to write in complete sentences, capitalize letters, and use good handwriting, I am trying to give the students a positive attitude towards writing.  What better way than lots of compliments and applause from classmates?  For handwriting, we worked on writing a few of the spelling words from this week's list.  This is another difficult list, as it introduces the special sounds "ir" as in "bird", "er" as in "verse", and "ur" as in "nurse".  These all sound exactly the same.  The class learned another song today.  This one was to help them remember these three tricky sounds.

Art- In art class, Ms. Bev brought in the students' homemade finger paint back in to class.  The kids learned about primary, secondary, and tertiary colors with a very hands on lesson!  Although nervous about finger painting at first, they all got into it in the end! 

In history class, Ms. Allison and the class talked about their at home reading over ancient Greece.  They read about minotaurs and the Greek alphabet.  In class, they worked on writing their names using the Greek alphabet.  The kids were really interested in this, and many kept writing other words, as well!  They also learned about Venetian pottery.  As a project, they designed a Venetian vase. 

In math today, the class learned the difference of basic shapes.  They learned about sides and angles as they compared the different shapes.  We also worked on pattern recognition.  As a major brainteaser, the we all worked on a shape Sudoku puzzle together.  It wasn't easy, but they did it!

The class used their Spanish vocabulary as they made their own models of a house!  They cut out household items from magazines and pasted them into boxes, while discussing the Spanish names for each item.  They cut out portas, mesas, camas and all sorts of other things that go inside a casa!

Science- The children checked out their experiment from last week on the needs of plants.  One rose plant was placed in the dark, while one was placed in a sunny window.  There wasn't a lot of change, but they documented what they saw.  Ms. Caroline will be posting pictures during the break so the children can continue to make observations.  The class discussed the parts of a plant, learning about their roles.  They will be reading more on plants, as well as watching some great videos at home!

Language Arts- In grammar class, the students have been learning a lot about nouns, both common and proper.  Today, they moved on to learning about pronouns.  In order to keep the definitions set in their memories, we started a set of grammar cards for each child.  They will be using these cards to study their grammar terms and lists.  We talked more about the spelling list, and went over the different sounds that all sound like "er".  They worked in their spelling and language books.  We also read aloud in our Stepping Stones books.  The students had no idea that the readers actually use the concepts and words from the spelling lists.  Those curriculum writers and geniuses! Continue to study the spelling and phonics rules at home, and we will back it all up in class!