January 20, 2010

With the third quarter starting this week, I've been talking with the students about how this is a great chance for them to start over. We've had some issues in the weeks after break with completing homework and doing our best work on assignments, and I'm hoping that once students get into the routine again, the problems stop.

In some very exciting news, a new student started on Tuesday! This brings our class total up to 20.

In reading, we're almost done with the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. With the book, we have been discussing setting and theme. Next week, the students are going to write a persuasive paragraph about a topic discussed in the book and create a watercolor painting showing the setting. In science, we have made density columns and learned how to measure the volume of a solid using a graduated cylinder. Next, we're going to discuss the difference between chemical and physical changes, as well as do some investigations that show these changes. We were lucky to have Father Jose Maria speak to the class yesterday about important Old Testament figures like Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David, and as soon as we finish learning about David, we're going to continue learning about the Ten Commandments.

Since we're coming to the end of several units, there are some tests coming up. Next week, we will have a reading test and social studies test. I am not sending home a study guide for reading, since the best way to prepare for that is to have read the novel and listened to our discussions. I will give students a study guide for our social studies test on reading maps. The first week of February, we will have a test on verbs in English and on properties of matter in science. Those study guides will be sent home next week.

January 7, 2010

We've had a great start to 2010! The highlight of the week has been seeing everybody's reading projects from The Whipping Boy. We had lots of wonderful castles, plus some posters about rats and a book of similes. Students put a lot of effort into their projects, and they got to teach the third grade about castles when they came over to see the projects.

In reading, we are studying themes. We discusses the theme of The Whipping Boy, a short story from one of Laura Ingall Wilder's books, and next we'll read Sarah, Plain and Tall. The students got their own chance to write a story and find the theme when they drew examples of themes out of a box, then had to write a story that fit that theme.

We've also begun our unit on physical science. We're beginning by discussing properties of matter. Students brought in examples of liquids and solids, and we'll learn how to measure mass, find the volume of liquids and solids, and test to see which objects have the higher density.

In the photos above, you can see pictures of our reading projects and from a recent field trip to see The Nutcracker on Horseback.