Tueday, 9/13/17

Today was another sunny day at class!  We began the day with morning language arts groups.  The Chicken Group worked on speed drills with their blends, which they can't seem to get enough of!  It is a trick for the brain!  They quickly look at flashcards of a consonant sound followed by a long or short vowel, and have to instantly say the blend.  We reviewed the rule that a word with one vowel usually makes a short vowel sound, while a word with two vowels usually makes a long sound.  The class is learning to mark long, short, and silent vowels, which they will use throughout the year.  In addition, we talked about the "c" or "k" sound.  They learned that a K comes before an I or E, and a C comes before the "other three".  This phrase will help them discern which to use as initial sounds.  The class also began spelling lessons today.  They will be working on list 1 at home, and we will play review games in class on Thursday! 

The Guinea class focused on spelling list 2 today.  We discussed the phonics rules behind each word, and will be working to learn them so that we can play a review game on Thursday.  The class is working on memorizing the poem, "The Duel".  Right now, they are focusing on memorizing the first stanza.  As we move forward, we will be working on a class activity with this poem!

In handwriting, the class is working on careful letter formation.  We are carrying this on throughout the school day.  For example, many kids completely forgot what was taught in handwriting by the time they made it to grammar class, slapping down their pronoun list across the lines!  I explained the importance of practicing proper handwriting skills ALL DAY, not just in handwriting class, and helped them to make corrections.  The Chicken Group is also working on vocabulary list 1.  They will continue to work on this list both in class and at home for the next week.

The students continued to learn geography skills today!  They did a great job of recalling the terms from their at-home assignment.  This grasp of the earth's "big picture" will help as they progress through history classes each year!  Mr. Jim has given each student a "What I Should Know" sheet.  This will help parents thoroughly review these lessons before we move into history topics.

In grammar, the horses worked on finishing their noun posters and hung them up for display.  Then, we returned to our discussion of plural nouns.  Last week, we talked about making plurals with a simple "s".  Today, we talked about how words that end with s, ch, sh, x, or z need an "es" to form a plural.  We will work more on this at home tomorrow!

After a quick review of nouns and verbs, the Cow Group moved on to pronouns.  At home, they watched a Schoolhouse Rock video on pronouns.  We discussed the video in class, and worked on memorizing a list of pronouns.  Because memorizing such things can be a little boring, we took things outside!  Instead of just repeating them, the kids were able to say them as they jumped their way across the pasture! 

After our independent study math time, the kids began science class.  We are beginning the year with the study of Earth science.  This complements Mr. Jim's geography lessons perfectly!  The class talked about rotation, revolution, and seasons.  They learned about the moon/sun/earth system, and began making their own visual representation.  We will finish these projects up next week!