It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

Spelling- The kids did an absolutely awesome job with their stories using this week's spelling word list! We really enjoyed listening to each one, and spelling the words from the list.

Grammar- We continued our lesson on direct objects today, diagramming sentences with multiple adjectives and adverbs in them, as well. When diagramming, remind them to look for the verb first. Then, ask “who” or “what” is doing the verb. Then, see if there is a direct object that receives the action. I am constantly impressed by how much knowledge these kids are soaking in during their grammar lessons!

Reading- We read to page 57 in our Macbeth books today. We have been discussing how Shakespeare uses the setting to create a mood... for instance, when it is a sad time, it is usually rainy or the sky is dark. The students are picking up on so much vocabulary lately through both spelling and reading class. Today we discussed words like “dismay”, “intervene”, and “attire”.

We did a secret craft today! I don't want to spoil anything, but just know that we pulled out the glitter and glue sticks and worked hard on a special project!

Math- What a rockin' math class today! Teacher and the Rockbots had us up and out of our chairs as we listened to songs about the multiplication tables! The kids literally couldn't stay in their seats! Afterward, we had a lesson on arrays, and how to use multiplication (multiplying the number of columns by the number of rows) to figure out how many items are in an array.

Science- We are learning about our Earth's crust and how it is made up of plates. The kids read about the plates, earthquakes, and volcanoes today. We'll be doing some great online activities with this information!

Social Studies- The students have been learning a lot about the colonies. Now, they have been introduced to a big project that they will be working on over the next few weeks! They will be covering cereal boxes with paper. This box will be used as their display of a colonial occupation: silversmith, blacksmith, apothecary, etc. The front of the box should have an image that reflects the occupation that they selected. They will be doing research on the occupation and using this box to show what they have learned! The back of the box will include a detailed description of the occupation. There will need to be at least 3 images on the box. They can use more sides of the box, too! Be creative. Neatness counts! Use the internet. Check out www.history.org/Almanack/life/trades/tradehdr.cfm. We will be working on choosing our occupations for homework, covering our boxes in class next week, and we will pick back up on them after the break!

Writing- We were very impressed with the thank you letters that the kids wrote! Even though the names and gifts were sometimes silly, the letters were serious and seemed heartfelt! In writing today, we learned how to address an envelope. This Christmas, maybe they can get some practice with this!