5/8/19

Last week, the kids learned the importance of soybean farming.  They were able to see how slow the process of candle-dipping can be!  This week, each student was able to choose their own essential oil scent (or make a combination of their own), and then they made pour candles in 4oz jars.  We reviewed the terms transparent, translucent, and opaque.  I think they will remember those terms from here on out!

The class has been working on their final projects.  They were able to get very creative with these!  The kids could choose any concept that they learned or literature book that they read this school year and either write a script for a talk show or write a song parody with the information.  Today, a few groups presented their projects.  We had possibly the only skit ever written about meningeal worms, a song about how much one student loved school this year (be still, my heart!), a talk-show skit about the book Hatchet, and a song about Brian's obsession with food in Hatchet.  These were great!  I look forward to seeing the rest next week!  

In science, the kids learned about birds; specifically owls.  Today, they learned how owls swallow their food whole and then regurgitate the hair and bones in the form of a pellet.  The class worked in groups to dissect owl pellets and investigate the findings.  They compared the bones they found to their charts, and they were able to determine what types of animals were consumed.  They were also able to tell that owls each more than one rodent at a time!  Some owl pellets contained multiple skulls!

o

We took turns reading aloud from Swiss Family Robinson this afternoon.  This book is NOT easy reading. I could not be more pleased with the improvement that they have shown on their reading and comprehension!  After reading, the class continued to work on their "New Switzerland" map projects.  They added details with acrylic paints, and we talked about the different names that the Robinson's gave to all of the locations on the island.  Next week, we'll put it all together and finish these up!