School Pictures Tuesday

Don't forget---school pictures are Tues! Can you tell I am excited to try out my new back drop?! I used it to take some pictures of Ian today. I think it is much better than I thought it would be. I am always figuring out new ways to make better pictures. These were with a new setting I used. Here are a few of my favorites!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2007

2ND GRADE SCIENCE - learned about mass using the metric system. used our balances to find the mass of different objects. mass is measured in the unit " gram" and 1,000 grams equals 1 kilogram. they got a kick out of the fact that they weigh about 20 kilograms. so cool! had fun weighing "gold nuggets" although they were disappointed that they weren't real. (I would have gone along with the illusion, but David pointed out that they smelled like paint and asked point blank if I painted them. darn!) they did really well.

K SCIENCE - explored our taste buds! they were real troopers letting me put foreign foods into their mouths. Nadia was the only one who liked the sour foods, even the lemon juice! they had fun discussing their favorite foods (cake, frosting and ice cream) and foods they thought were yucky (burritos, surprisingly enough!) It was a good day, worked out well being at my house.

REMINDER: TALLY YOUR POINTS FOR TUESDAY - I'LL BRING THE PRIZE BOXES THEN. WE'LL DO THAT ON THE FIRST TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH. (they were dissappointed they couldn't do that today) Ranae - Suzy has Isaac and Holden's folders at her house, so she'll bring them on Tuesday)

Good job on the blog, Suzy!

Thursday Aug. 30 Art

K-Art Lesson 6- Read and discussed art and artists: Holbein, Goya, and Beechy from Come Look with me: Enjoying Art with children. Cindy I sent home my copie so you could go over it with Nadia- just for fun. They all enjoyed looking for the three cats on page 10. All the paintings have some type of toy too. We have done this type of compare and contrast in the past. They ask great questions and enjoy looking at the art work. All the units end with this. Fun, fun, fun.
Lesson 5-We learned about french artist Henri Matisse and made a painting using a lot of colors and different kinds of lines inspired by Purple Robe and Anemones. Cindy you can find this print in the art gallery of the lesson. We also made a collage inspired by Matisse- like he did in his later years when he could no longer paint.

Pronunciations and art galleries are found in the lessons. We have completed unit 1.

2ed grade Art lesson 6- We had a great discussion about Leonardo da Vinci's life of work. It went beyond the lesson. Holden told me the light in the picture was probably coming from a window and what direction. Isaac remembered that he drew pictures of the inside of people. (for science because that was the only way they had of documentation) . Isaac also ask how do we know when a sketch is finished. I told him that art historians have had many debates over this. I think a picture is done when the artist feels it is complete. Yea! way to go guys. When they settled down they could even remember information and pictures from last years lesson. This lesson focused on Leonardo's sketches. We made quick sketches of a animal in motion. Maybe we can get Rachelle to video tape a session.

Lesson 7-Read about art and artists: Marc, Ganku, and Wyeth in How Artists See Animals.
I think the boys could read this book (pages 4-11). They were suppose to make a picture of a realistic animal- which they did- and a picture of an animal with make believe colors -which they were not interested in doing. oh well.

I will be giving the boys the end of the unit test first thing next Thursday. We are done with unit 1.

They have also compeleted Unit 2 lessons 2 and 3, thats what is on my wall. We will start with Unit 2 lesson 1 and 3 next week. I will also be introducing them to tertiary colors in this unit. I think they are ready. They picked out the primary and secondary colors in the art book page 7.

see ya, Suzy

Art

Sorry - that was Wednesday!

Tuesday K - science and history

Science- the kids had fun with using their sense of smell. We talked about "odors" and how they can be pleasant or unpleasant and how different people have different opinions of that (Nadia loves vinegar and Quinn and Ella don't). They drew pictures of odors pleasant and unpleasant to them. It wa neat to see how they wanted to label the pictures- Quinn used choc chip cookies and smoke, Ella flowers and smoke and Nadia choc chip cookies and smoke. We also talked about how odors travel (using vanilla air freshener) and you can smell without using any other sense. We used the scents of popcorn, perfume, vinegar and onion.

In history we continued with Australia and learned about the "outback" and coastal city of Sydney. They made postcards to put in their suitcase of each. We read the book about the koala bear and opposiums and looked at Rachelle's pictures. We were able to see what we had learned about, the opera house, the outback, barrier reef and the animals, it was great!

In the end we had popcorn and played with orange scented play dough.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2007

2ND GRADE HISTORY - learned about the Roman style of government: 2 consuls and 300 senators who advise them. "republic" is "rule by the people." we did discuss that those who could vote were rich men, so "the people" didn't really include everyone. made a diagram of the government as their summary page for the lesson. 2nd lesson taught about how the Romans borrowed from the Greeks their style of architecture, science, government and religion. the Romans renamed the Greek gods and goddesses (many are planets names.) there are cards in their folders that can be used to play Concentration with Greek and Roman names for the gods and goddesses.

2ND GRADE SCIENCE - learned about the scientific method. reviewed what they learned about this last year and added steps for doing an experiment. experiment - 1) gather materials 2) procedures 3) collect data. they got these steps confused with the steps in the scientific method itself (1. question 2. hypothesis 3. experiment 4. conclusion). they had great ideas for doing experiments of their own - they want to see what would happen if we put a balloon in the oven, hypothesis being "it would melt, blow up or catch fire." I told them we'd do this when it cools off enough to use the oven :) did an experiment comparing 2 balls. emphasized that scientists want to find out the truth, that they don't feel like a failure if their hypothesis is incorrect. did an experiment dissolving salt in hot and cold water. interesting results. there is a crossword puzzle in their folders that they should do this week to review the scientific method. on the assessment they had the concepts even if they couldn't remember the exact words.

don't forget about the balances and cubes for tomorrow....Rachelle

Tues. Classes

We had a really good day today. I think they are starting to get into a schedule and not get so tired by the end of it. Here is what we did:

K Music- worked on steady beat vs. no beat. practiced playing and drawing to both. Reviewed notes C & D. Reviewed some old songs and learned a new one "Johnny One Hammer" . They really got into this song and really made me laugh. Nadia said she had sung this song before. Fun class.

World Music- We reviewed Bolivia and drew a picture in our journal of the climate there. We visited Jamaica and learned all about the country. Danced and drew to the song "Three Little Birds" (Cindy, I promise I will copy those disks this weekend. We ran out of CD's and haven't replaced them yet). Go ahead and finish the pictures that go on the Jamaica page like last week. We really barley have 30 minutes so this really helped me time wise.

French- The first half we divided into groups. K worked with Jen on colors while I ran the CD for 2nd graders in their French book. They finished out with some color games together at the end.

K History- We learned about the animals in Australia. This was a fun lesson. I read 2 books "Possum Magic" (Rachelle this is in our History kit--Ella really liked it so you might want to pull it out and read it together) and "One Wooly Wombat". We talked about Australia and how all the animals are in the outback and the people on the coast. Colored the animal sheet and sorted into animals of Australia, and not animals of Australia. Danced to the Kookabura song. We looked at Rachelle's pictures of koalas and kangeroos. We all got a kick out of her hair do!! They were all able to locate 7 continents on a map and tell me their names.

2nd grade Ensemble- They did really well with their 3 new notes B, A , & G. Holden was very proud of his practicing this week and told me all about it :-) We worked on breath control and articulation.. This week they need to practice smooth and separated. When they articulate, their air stream should never stop. They all need to be able and play 3 new notes with a good tone and articulate. If they can do this, we can learn a "real" song in their books this next week. Have them get out the recorder twice this week.


**** I got my new back drop in the mail yesterday, so we will do school pictures during class next Tues. I will remind you when we get closer if you want them to wear something special.

2ND GRADE SCIENCE:

WEDNESDAY: I need 2 rubber bouncy balls for each boy - I think I have 4, so if you have any just send them. They're for a fun experiment.

THURSDAY: We'll be doing experiments with mass, so I'll need the balance and gram cubes.

See you tomorrow!

Rachelle

Help With History Items

We are starting Australia in K History. Rachelle, I know you have some things from Australia that are pretty neat. Can you send them with Ella to Cindy's? I am covering the animals on Tues. and have all I need for that, and I believe that Cindy is covering more the country info. If anyone has any Australian stuffed animals, that would be cute to send. Should be a fun week.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Wed K science & history

Sorry gals, I flaked last night:
We did science first, since they "know it all already" and I knew history would take longer. We did sense of sight. They are able to use describing words in "I Spy", to talk about their favorite toy, and with the items in the scavenger hunt bag. We also did the "how many items can you remember" game. Between all 3 of them they got all 10 items, and I don't think they even took a minute to look over items before I covered them up.

History was fun working on their suitcases and passports. We reviewed the compas rose and direction on the globe and map. They are getting that. They are able to name more continents and locate better than last week. We started talking about counties and that was a little confusing. I'm going to hang up wold map now and put the pictures and names for each continent attached with a string and we can review it each time.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2007

2ND SCIENCE - learned about the metric standard measure of volume - the liter. 1000 millileters is 1 liter. did some fun experiments using the graduated cylinder. reviewed meters and temperature - probably a good idea to throw those in wherever we can. they were focused and good listeners.

K SCIENCE - reviewed the 5 senses. focused on hearing, talked about sign language and gave examples of soft, loud, high and low sounds. they had good answers and had fun cutting out and coloring the pictures for their senses booklet. listened to the sound bites in the lesson - they thought that was fun. it was a good day.

FRENCH - more colors. 2nd grade has a sheet of review words.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2007

2ND GRADE HISTORY - reviewed archeology. long discussion about last year's dig and whether or not the artifacts found were real. Began unit 2 (ranae - you might want to add "unit" and "lesson" to your LA dictionary) Romans. they were very excited. talked about the roman empire and how far it spread, rome being located in italy, the use of latin and the latin origin of words in english. read the story of romulus and remus. they were upset by the story, how remus is killed. isaac in particular was upset and actually had tears in his eyes about remus being killed. it is a disturbing story - you might want to check it out in the reading room. made coins - they want to do more of those - they were going to give the coins to their "beary's" and "meow-meow." very cute.

2ND GRADE SCIENCE - reviewed meter, centimeter and millimeter. they remembered these today. talked about scales and creating scientific scales so that scientists all use the same units of measure. read the history of Fahrenheit and Celsius and how Celsius became the standard as it is simple to use. learned that water freezes at 0 degrees C and 32 degrees F. water boils at 100 degrees C and 212 degrees F. the human body temp. is 37 degrees C and 98.6 degrees F. this would be good to review - there are notecards in their folders for this. made our own thermometers and set the freezing, boiling and body temp. points on these. I got some photos to send in next month.

they were too silly during science especially- i'll have to make sure they get some time before class to burn off some energy:) otherwise a good day... they spent their free time making a camp site for the bears in Holden's room...

Rachelle

Tuesday August 21st

I think school wore Ian out today, what do you think?!! Here are some pictures from our day today. The ones with the scarves are from World Music Class and the ones with the floor dots are from French. Here is what we did:

K Music- more steady beat exercises. Talked about where we hear music around us (they came up with some good ideas). Introduced and reviewed dynamics (how loud or soft something is). Introduced the note C and the note D along with a rhyme for each. Reviewed fun songs from last week. Fun class!

World Music- We did the Spanish song "La Mariposa" (#2 on the CD) and learned that it came from Bolivia South America. We learned 3 spanish phrases that are used in the song and practiced them with corresponding body parts. We learned about the country and learned that this song "The Dance of the Butterfly" is performed in a yearly festival. ***We didn't have time to complete the coloring part of the lesson. Could everyone complete those before next week and glue them onto the page after Senegal. Don't fill in the coloring picture or journaling. We will do this next week.

K History- Reviewed continents and played a continent finding game on the globe with the 2nd graders. They were all able to name most of the continents on their own and all 7 with a few prompts. We introduced the compass rose and directions and played a few games using this. Cindy--they could use some more practice in moving different directions on the map tomorrow. After they settled down, we had a good class.

2nd Grade Ensemble- They are just too cute when they set up their stands and instruments for class. They are were able to show me the 3 things they were suppose to work on and did it well. After review, we played a breathing game. They were all suprised at how much air it took and how much practice it is going to take to be able to play notes for long periods of time. We introduced the notes G, A, B and practiced them with my teacher CD. They are still not in their books yet. They need to practice making these 3 notes this week. They had trouble sometimes convering the holes and when make the G and A used too much air and made the note go too high. The fingerings are B (thumb and first finger) A (thumb, first and second finger) G (thumb, first and second finger). I would say, have them get out the recorder twice and practice these notes.

Fun day today!

Monday, August 20, 2007

Hi Everyone! Ranae, thanks for hosting a great party.

I need some things for lessons this week.

Wed. - 2nd grade science - unmarked thermometers from the science kit.

Thurs. - 2nd grade science - graduated cylinder, funnel, colored drink mix (like KoolAid) Ranae has lemonade mix if anyone has any let me know - i need 3 different colors all together.

Thurs. - kindergarten science - we'll be using the senses booklets they made last week.

See you tomorrow! Rachelle

Back to School Fiesta!

Here are a few pictures from our Fiesta. Thanks for coming everyone. It was a lot of fun! See you Tues!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2007

SCIENCE 2ND GRADE - We learned about the standard unit of measure in the metric system - the meter. 1 meter = 100 centimeters = 1000 millimeters. We used a metric meter stick (sort of, I only had a yard stick with 91 cm. so we had to pretend it was 100 cm. Time to upgrade) and we practiced measuring objects from a grain of rice to the room we were in. We reviewed the scientific tools from yesterday as well and they had a little better idea what they were and how they were used.

SCIENCE KINDERGARTEN - We reviewed the 5 senses even though they "know it already, Ms. Rachelle." Went on a scavenger hunt for objects, used a flashlight and magnifying glass (they thought that was really fun). Talked about how scientists use their eyes to observe things.

FRENCH - they all seemed very focused and interested in the lesson. they learned colors and the 2nd grade learned some grammar rules. the 2nd grade has homework - they have to read the piece of writing (it's either in their backpack or their folder) once a day.

ART - Suzy said everyone did very well with the first 2 lessons. it was mostly review for both groups.

It was a good day - they played well when they had time and got along. Swimming was fun and they are all looking forward to the fiesta on Sat. Adios!

Rachelle

First Day of School

Sorry this is 2 days late! I had late church activities the last 2 nights and it has been a bit crazy! Now that I have my free day (Yeah!) I have a moment!

We had a great first day. I took pictures of everyone for our school bus on the wall, we explained their point folders and everyone seemed excited. Here's what happended in the classes I taught:

K Music- we are using the red Kindermusik Young Child CD (Cindy, I will make you a copy). We learned about different genres of music (band, choir, instrumental) and listened to examples of each. Practiced playing to a study beat, learned some music circle songs, had a parade, and introduced "ta" for quarter note "tee-tee" for eighth note and "sh" for rest.

French- Ms. LaLonde worked on colors with the K students and reviewing colors with 2nd grade. Sang songs. Good class. She told me it was a lot of fun working with more kids and they did great!

World Music (all grades). We are exploring music around the world and using the World Music CD (Cindy I will make you a copy). We introduced "Fatayo" and song from Senegal, Africa. We learned all about the country (weather, foods, language, flag etc.) We filled out our passports. We learned this song is a call response song and did a drumming activity using this idea. We danced with shakers to the song.

Ensemble Class (2nd grade) We got our stands, music, and recorders. They were told to practice once this week remembering 3 things: embouchure (there mouth should seal around the recorder with no teeth touching the mouthpiece), hand position (left hand on top, right on bottom), and breathe control (they should blow like they are making the flame on a candle flicker but not go out). In the beginning of their recorder books is an explanation of each if you would like to read further. They were very excited about thier "real " recorders!

Kindergarten History- We took a pretend rocket ride out of this world and viewed the Earth from space. We learned about the 7 continents, and sang a song about it. We played a guessing game, matching pictures to the continent they went on and looked at pictures of that continent. We read a book about a space journey called "Floating Home". They all did great.

See everyone at our "Mexican Fiesta" on Saturday at 4:30!

K Science/ Symphony

Forgot about science.
Mostly review for these guys. I think using the words "sense of sight" will be an adjustment.
We didn't get into using the chart in the book much.
I hope the "Senses" book is big enough and that the pages aren't all stuck together. When we started doing them, I couldn't see where the directions were. Now I do. Sorry.

Ranae- What time is the Symphony on the 28th? I would love to come too.

Cindy

K

Today went well, I think. I need to work on timing a little. At first it seemed like I would run out of activities, but then at the end we were out of time.
All three of them seemed to enjoy being together and it seems like there shouldn't be any need for adjusting to each other.
Sorry, I didn't get charts filled out. I would have given all 5's. There was a little silliness, but I think just because of excitement.
Next time I'll have to plan a transition activity between the 2 subjects.
It was easier for them to remember the continents on the map than globe, but we worked with both. They were interested in the Great Wall of China (how long it was)and the Great Barrier Reef (how did the sea creatures make it). I have to look into the wall, I have no idea. I did find out during bedtime reading that the reef was made up of dead coral (new info to me).
Cindy

2nd Grade

Science - Unit 1 Lesson 1 - reviewed tools for measurement (ruler, balance, graduated cylinder, and thermometer.) we need to keep reviewing these - none of them knew the name of the balance on the assessment. there are review cards in their folders that show the tool, what it measures, and what the unit of measure is. they have to put them together correctly - it's a good review tool. fun discussion about the new planet that was discovered recently and the vastness of space.

History - Unit 1 lessons 2 & 3 - reviewed continents, oceans, the compass rose and following directions on a map. reviewed equator, island, peninsula (no one remembered this) and different types of land - desert, mountains, canyon, river, lake, glacier.

Good day overall - usual new school year adjustments but it's good to be back!

Rachelle

Hey Gals- Just trying this out (I've never blogged before). This is the best, I'm really excited for this year too.
I'm glad to have met such a great group of moms. I wish I would have had this for my first 2.
Thanks for all the work you have put into this :)
Cindy

SATURDAY AUGUST 11

Oops, I forgot to mention..... I'll print off the assessments for the lessons I'm teaching. Ranae - Cindy said she'd print off the handouts that Nadia needs for each unit and they'll be in her folders. Hope everyone has a good first day!

Rachelle

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL THIS WEEK EVERYONE!

Suzy and Ranae,

For Wed. Science, I need the boys to bring their compass (whichever one they want to bring, doesn't have to be the K12 one), graduated cylinders, and the balance and gram cubes from the Science kit.

Looking forward to another adventurous year!

Rachelle