Sodbusters and Exodusters

Grammar- Today, the class had a big review in direct and indirect objects.  It has been a while since we diagrammed them!  It didn't take long for everyone to remember how HILARIOUS indirect objects can be.  you see, in the sentence "Aunt May mailed relatives gifts.", you have to know that "gifts" is the direct object and NOT "relatives".  Aunt May doesn't mail relatives!  Yes, yes.  Grammar is a hoot.  After a review of diagramming these sentences, we added the concept of preposition phrases that describe indirect objects.  "Aunt May mailed relatives in Maine gifts."  The prepositional phrase "in Maine" tells us which relatives.  We will finish up this lesson at home.

Math- The 4A math class continued their lesson in solid shapes today.  They have learned about all types of prisms and their names.  As a matter of fact, I have learned a lot, myself!  I would have never been able to correctly name a "hexagonal prism" before today.  The 3A math class played a multiplication game.  They continued to work on the very important skill of multiplying and dividing, focusing on the "9's".

Writing-  Ms. Bev has been working to get each student to a single point in their expository writing lessons.  It is so important that each child be allowed to work through the lessons at the pace that meets their individual needs.  Those that are further along are working through stand alone writing exercises.  Once they all finish up the assignment, she will move forward as a class to the next type of writing.  The class went over the synonyms and antonyms from their at home assignments.  They also worked on putting together a single paragraph, as a class.  This was done by the students orally, as Ms. Bev wrote the sentences on the board.  They had to remember the scope and purpose of a paragraph, as well as transition words.

Science- In science class, Ms. Gail reviewed the material in chapter 2.  To kick off the biology lesson, Ms. Gail brought in a short clip of Mr. Nye the Science Guy to talk to the kids about cells.  The class learned about the different parts of a cell, drawing them on their cell diagrams. 

Literature-  The class began their new literature book today, "A Cord of Three Strands" by local author, Holly Moulder.  The book is a book of historical fiction, set in the days of the Underground Railroad.  The class listened attentively as Ms. Gail began reading the first few chapters of the book.  I can already tell that this is going to be another one where they end the class period in a chorus of "awwww!".  They are never ready to quit!

Social Studies-  The class has been learning about the Great Plains.  Today, they worked on vocabulary from their reading assignments.  They added terms from their reading to their ongoing vocabulary notecards.  The class then began working on a handout titled Western Mining Activity.  This handout follows the corresponding reading, and will be completed at home tomorrow.

Agriculture- We began our agriculture class by talking about our Fear Factor game.  The students brought in their lists of vegetables, in order from "I like it" to "I don't like it".  I was suprised by the number of new vegetables in the "like" or "don't mind it" categories! 
Afterward, we began our unit on bees!  Today was an overview.  We touched on the different types of bees, the number of different species of bees, the then we narrowed in on honey bees.  The students have a lot of background knowledge on pollinators, and bees in general.  But, over the next few weeks, we will be learning about bee life in an in depth study!  To close class, the students worked in small groups to try to guess which parts of the honey bee corresponded with the given terms.