Our eggs began hatching! The kids accurately used all of the incubation terms that they have learned... and not for me! I heard them using them in all of their excitement, as they talked to each other about what they were seeing unfold in front of them!
Spelling- The class was given a new list today... List 6! Can you believe that we are already on week 6? Last week, I stopped giving the students the definitions to the words on their lists. We began looking up the words in the dictionary, practicing our use of alphabetical order and guide words. This is a skill that needs to be worked on at home! Try having the kids look up this week words, writing down the definitions for each. Google is nice, but bypasses this important lesson!
Handwriting- Today, we worked on the cursive letter "H". As always, I reminded those that are writing in cursive already that they may make their own letters slightly different than me, or the book. That is fine! Cursive writing is a combination of writing and art. There is room for variation! I did, however, explain that if your H looks like a crazy sideways letter Z or any other bizarre shape, then it isn't correct!
Grammar- Today, each student recited their poem, "Afternoon on a Hill" for me! I recorded each one of them. Also, I took up their illustrations. Each student was assigned a different stanza to illustrate. I will be compiling their illustrations with their recitations, creating four different compilations on video! They really did a fantastic job with this memorization. We will be working on a different poem next week!
We also went over and corrected our sentence diagrams from the at-home assignment. They are really getting the hang of recognizing verbs, subjects, and adjectives in the sentences. In addition, they are doing a wonderful job remembering the different things that adjectives tell us about nouns: what kind, which one, how many, and whose. These chants and sayings will help them to commit grammar concepts to memory, and keep them there!
Math- In the 4A class, Ms. Jennifer brought in bars for the children to create part/whole models for word problems. The class took a word problem, and used the colored bars to display what is known, and what needs to be known. This type of word problem visualization will be repeated throughout the year... and things will get much harder! We will practice more with this at home. The 3A class played the game, "What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?" The older class learned this game last week. It is a really great way to learn and use the concept of negative numbers!
Writing- In writing class, we have been slowly working our way through an essay about the beach. Each student has written an introduction, which I edited for them and handed back today. Those that completed their at-home assignment have also finished their first body paragraph, which I also edited over the weekend. They received these edited paragraphs back today, as well. Those very few who did not finish it at home were given time after lunch to complete it. I am trying very hard to teach these children how to do something that many homeschoolers (and typical school children, as well) struggle with. DEADLINES. After homeschooling my first grade twins, I read an article from a college professor and homeschooling father. He wrote about the formerly homeschooled college freshmen that came to his class. For the most part, he noted that they excelled at many things, but generally lacked the ability to complete work in a certain time frame. I made a mental note, as well: Address this issue as I teach my children!
The class will be working on rewriting and correcting introduction paragraphs and their first body paragraphs at home. It is important to bring these back in on time, or it will become impossible for me to make corrections and return them to the students for their next at-home assignment. At that point, editing/revising will need to occur at home.
Spanish- Ms. Rose has kicked up her Spanish usage with the kids, and I love it! As a homeschool mom, foreign language is one subject that I simply cannot teach myself. I need someone, like Rose, who can challenge my kids, all of these kids, to comprehend and use the language! The class worked on phrases, such as for "I'm sorry" and "very good". They will be working on these more, at home!
Social Studies- In social studies today, Mr. Dennis taught the class about the Dread Scott Decision, as well as the Fugitave Slave Law, the book Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the Harpers Ferry Raid. One of the important skills that Mr. Dennis has been trying to teach the class is the ability to read, pick out the important ideas, and to highlight them. In order to do this, each child needs to bring in a highlighter. They can leave it in their cubby or in their bookbag. Although they do not have to have it, it would really help these important ideas to leap off the page, as simply underlining it with pencil just fails to do! 
Art- The class worked more on their puppet projects today. Their heads were already created, but they needed to make the bodies! Ms. Nancy brought in exciting new paper choices, and the kids were eager to get to work! They each designed an animal or human body to attach to their heads. The creativity level was high! I saw s turtle, a dragon, a British man, a monster, and a Jamaican girl named Aisha!
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