Beach Time!

Spelling-  The class received a new spelling list today: List 9.  This means we are 1/4 through the school year already!  Where does the time go?  This list had a high number of vocabulary words that were previously unknown, so we defined them together.  The students will be working on studying the definitions, as well as the spelling of each word, at home this week.  In grammar today, we talked about conjugation.  Although it was briefly mentioned back in the first few weeks of grammar class, the students mainly remembered it because it was on their weekly spelling/vocabulary list.  That tells me the lists are accomplishing what I hopes they would: retention!

Handwriting- Today, the class worked on the cursive letter P.  Because this letter is an easy one, we took it a step further.  Often, in handwriting, we write on lines that have a dotted line in the center.  However, students this age use wide ruled notebook paper for everything else.  So, we applied our lessons to regular notebook paper.  The students had questions.  "How far down to your tails drop?" "What happens when you need to write on the next line?  Should they overlap?"  I don't ever remember being specifically taught how to transfer handwriting lessons to regular notebook paper.  Hopefully, this will help with neatness in both cursive and manuscript writing!

Grammar-  After our two days of at-home review, today's grammar class was packed with new information.  So far this year, we have talked a lot about action verbs.  Today, we looked at another part of our verb definition.  The class learned about helping verbs.  First Language Lessons uses chants to help memorize lists.  The class learned a chant for the list of helping verbs.  They will be adding this list to their grammar cards so that they can practice it at home.  This memorization makes recognizing these words so much easier!  After focusing on helping verbs, we reviewed first person, second person, and third person.  We used our new knowledge of helping verbs and our review to conjugate different verbs.  The children learned how verbs have different forms, and can tell past, present, and future tense.  It was a lot to absorb, but it built upon information learned in previous grammar lessons. 

Math- Ms. Jennifer taught the 3A class how to solve two step word problems today.  They worked through Textbook p 62-63 and workbook pp 59-61.  The 4A
 class learned about equivalent fractions today.  They multiplied to come up with equivalent fractions, finally dividing them down into their simplest form. 

Writing- Today, the students were each able to show off their hard work!  They have been writing and rewriting their beach papers for weeks and weeks.  Today, the class pulled out a snack and listened respectfully to their classmates' papers.  They even had sunglasses and a beach towel to give it that extra "umph"!

Spanish- In Spanish class, Ms. Rose is really working with the class on the writing of Spanish words, not just the speaking of them.  Today's main lesson was on numbers up to 60.  She explained that once you know the basic numbers, it isn't hard to combine those words to count high!

Social Studies- Mr. Dennis began today's class by correcting and discussing the chart that the students completed at home titled, "North Against South".  The class then used their reading on the topic to answer multiple choice questions (Handout- A Nation At War Part 1). 

Art-  Ms. Nancy began class today by reading the book, "The Dot", by Peter H. Reynolds.  Some of the class is still working on their paper mache heads, but others have completed that step.  For those that are waiting, Ms. Nancy had them create their own dot project!