M is for Microscope.

Grammar-  Today, we reviewed adjectives.  Sure, adjectives tell us that a noun might be pretty or salty or sweet, but we needed to review that adjectives can also tell us how many, which one, and whose.  It took a while for the class to remember that words like "this" or "second" or "children's" can be adjectives!

Math-  The 4A class presented their at home assignments to the group.  They came up with their own real-life examples for needing to find perimeter and area.  After they shared their ideas, the class continued to utilize these skills as they worked in their workbooks.  The 3A class worked through a review test. Not all that exciting, but important, nonetheless! 

Writing-  In writing class, Ms. Bev talked more about narrative writing. I had not one, not two, but three students come up to me, thrilled and excited about their papers so far!  There is definitely a buzz in the air about this writing assignment! 

Science- In science class today, Ms. Gail introduced scientific classification.  At home, the kids colored pictures of German Shepherds... in a funny way.  Today,  they put crayons on those pictures.  Why?  So they would remember the pneumonic:  Kids Put Crayons On Funny German Shepherds!  They talked about different animals with a "Name an Animal" activity.  The students also classified different objects into categories, based on their characteristics. Finally, Ms. Gail taught the children the parts of the microscope, and how it works.  We will be looking at live protozoa next Thursday!

Literature- Ms. Gail led the class through a review of each question from their at home assignment.  Last week, the students had a difficult time with sequencing.  The class, as a whole, struggled with it.  However, this week, they all did an amazing job!  Ms. Gail and I were both thrilled to see that so much progress has been made with this skill!  Ms. Gail read on in "A Cord of Three Strands".  We will be finishing the book at home.  Next week, the author will be visiting with us to discuss the book, her writing, and any questions the children may have!

Social Studies- The class read about and discussed the rise and fall of the U.S. cattle industry.  They then worked in small groups to complete a cross word puzzle vocabulary review of the material.  They are going to begin an at home activity, which will be due on Tuesday.  They will be pretending that Joseph McCoy has commissioned them to design an advertising poster.  They will be creating posters that either encourage riders to work for him, encourage Texas ranchers to send their cattle to Abilene, or design a poster showing how certain factors helped the cattle industry to develop. 

Agriculture- Today was one of those lessons that just ignited the minds of the kids!  As we continue through our lesson on bees, I decided to swerve away from the typical information and bring out a math book from the series, "Life of Fred".  This particular "Life of Fred" book is titled, "Honey".  I chose a few chapters in the middle of the book to begin our lesson.  The class listened as Fred attended his Sunday school class.  There, he learned about honey.  Fred learned many interesting facts, but the one that went over with the biggest reaction was that sometimes, bees make hives in the bodies of dead animals.  (Did you know there were actually Bible verses that talk about this?  The kids were shocked!)  The Life of Fred books integrate math into fun stories.  So, we had some math problems along our way.  For instance, the teacher had to hand out 28 pages to the students, at 4 different tables.  How many students were at each table?  We talked about how bees make their honeycomb with hexagonal cells, because there is no wasted space.  We worked with geometry to discuss how this does not work with octagons or pentagons.  Fred was so excited about honey, that he went home to study up on them.  The class learned as Fred learned.  They also laughed.  Hard!