Story Quilts

Spanish- Our kids and our classroom is getting prepared for Thursday night's Mexican Restaurant project! The bullfighting presentation is coming together... the costumes are made... the room is being decorated... and the students know their Spanish words! I can't wait to see it all come together for a fun night with the families!

Spelling- We went over each and every spelling word today, discussing the tricky aspects of each one. There are many homophones that we went over today: poor/pour/pore, chili/chilly, and threw/through. There is also the homonym “type”. It is a homonym because it can either mean type as in “I like to type on the computer” or type as in “What type of drink would you like?”.

Poetry- We will be working on memorizing the entire poem “Hide and Seek”. I am hoping to work on our next poetry project toward the end of March!

Grammar- Today, we diagrammed more sentences that contain adverbs that describe other adverbs. The kids are getting really good at this! We also worked on our preposition memorization. Keep those preposition cards in the bookbags, as we will be using them in class as well as at home!

Reading/Writing- We combined reading and writing, as we continued to work on our book reports. The students are writing letters to movie producers describing the book that they just read and working hard to convince the producer to turn the book into a movie! In an elaborate dramatization, I played the part of the movie producer as he goes through his mail. Hopefully, I showed the kids how they need to have an exciting, descriptive, and convincing letter in order to capture the attention of their reader!

Math- We drilled multiplication tables today with both a skip counting lesson and a speed game with multiplication problems. In addition to teaching textbooks, we will be spending time at home doing online multiplication games and online flash cards. I suggest setting a timer and encouraging your child to play only the multiplication games for a certain time. Repetition is the key, and a time set aside for this will help them know that the goal is not to only answer each problem one.... it's to practice over and over!

Social Studies- Today, the class learned about the first battles in the American Revolutionary War. It was a big day with lots of information! They discussed Paul Revere's ride, “the shot heard 'round the world”, Bunker Hill, The Second Continental Congress, and The Olive Branch Petition. All of the talk of soldiers and battles created a lot of interest!

Art- Ms. Nancy helped the kids bind their watercolor technique books today. They practiced stitching with needle and thread as their bound the pages. After they completed their booklets, Ms. Nancy read to them the story by "Tar Beach" Faith Ringgold.  Faith Ringgold is known for her story quilts -- an art that combines painting, quilted fabric and storytelling.  Ms. Nancy introduced their new project that will combine art class with creative writing.  The kids will be writing their own stories and creating their own story quilts!  We will start brainstorming our stories at home on Monday.