Finding Their Inner Rockstars

Grammar- Today, we reviewed prepositions and prepositional phrases.  The students remembered that prepositional phrases can act as adjectives or adverbs.  They can describe the subject of a sentence, the verb, the direct object, the indirect object, the object of another preposition, or the predicate nominative.  At home, they will be diagramming examples of each type.

Math-Both classes have been working with decimals lately.  In the 3B class, they have been learning how to add and subtract money.  Although they may not realize that they are doing it, they are learning decimals!  It's not often that the two classes are on a similar topic at the same time!  Next week, we will combine for a large group lesson on working with decimals.  They also need to all be working on memorizing those multiplication tables at home!

Writing-  The class has been doing a phenomenal job with their narrative writing assignments!  As they work their way through the brainstorming that they did on their plot development graphic organizer, turning each "snapshot" into a paragraph, I have been reading their completed work out loud.  This has created excitement and anticipation, as their peers can't wait to hear the next section!  Today, I edited the students' "climax" paragraphs.  While I worked on each individual paper, pencils were flying.  Almost everyone completed their next section "Falling Action", in class.  I made corrections and edited these, handing them back to them later in the day.  They will be revising and typing these for class on Tuesday.  Of course, we will then share the next section with the class!

Science-  Today, Ms. Gail began class with a discussion on mammals.  They discussed adaptions, characteristics, and reproduction of mammals.  I love the interest level when it comes it comes to animals, biology, and nature!  The kids were all ears.  They did an activity where they counted the

Literature- The class began by discussing each answer from the at home comprehension questions.  Then, the kids all piled into the "reading room", listening attentively as Ms. Gail read the last few chapters of Where the Red Fern Grows.  The feeling of sadness was thick.  The only noise that the students made was the occasional turning of pages.  As my son said, "This book gives me a lump in the back of my throat."  Indeed.

Social Studies- Mr. Dennis is out cruising around in the tropics this week, so I took this opportunity to introduce Shakespeare to the class!  We will be learning about Shakespeare in writing class toward the end of the year.  For now, I wanted to teach the kids about the Elizabethan time period, the role of playwrights as entertainment of the era, and Shakespeare's life story.  After a brief introduction, I broke the class into four groups.  Each was given a topic:  The Elizabethan Era, Shakepeare's Home and Family, The Globe, and Special Effects.  They read and studied about their topic, as a group.  Then, each group taught the class! 

Agriculture- Today was the day that the class has been waiting for:  they were given the lyrics to our agricultural education parody song.  We have watched many great farming parody videos.  They enjoyed "Farm It Maybe", "Farmer Style", and "I'm Farming and I Grow It".  They were thrilled at the idea of creating our own agriculture promotion video!  I told them to hold on to their hats!  They are going to have to dig down and find their inner rock star!  It was a fun day of singing and dancing.  (Yes, I even sang into a remote control at one point.  CRAZY!)  We will be working on this super fun project in class, and after class, for the next few weeks!