WED. APRIL 23

WRITING - talked about segue and writing a good transition between scenes or events so that your reader isn't confused about what's happening. We'll review this next week for Isaac. Ella wrote a cute story about a cat that runs away from a tornado. She was good for this class and then got crazy for history and science...

SCIENCE 2- learned about the frog life cycle. looked at lots of photos and made a frog life cycle flip book. learned about the reptile life cycle also and it's similar and different from the other life cycles we've learned. completed both lessons for this week.

HISTORY 2 - learned about Kublai Khan and how he conquered China. He extended the Grand Canal down to the new capitol of Beijing. He favored the Mongols living in China and stopped the civil service exams. The boys thought this was very unfair.

It was a good day but we missed Isaac.
Rachelle

Hobbit Info - Art

Hi everyone,

Hobbit play:10:00 Friday at Tempe Center for the Arts-700 W. Rio Salado Pkwy

Art is cancelled this week due to a piano outing and the play on Friday. Thursday science on our own this week.

See you all on Tuesday.

Take care,
Suzy

WED AND THURS APRIL 16-17

WRITING 2 - The next section of the story is coming along. They are getting adept at using quotes and dialog. They're excited about publishing these - I'll see if we can get that wrapped up by the end of May - they don't want to let go of the story, so I'll have to work on conclusions.

HISTORY 2- During the Song Dynasty the Chinese invented gunpowder, the compass, movable type, and paper money. The boys were sad to learn that gunpowder meant the end of knights and castles. The were impressed that these inventions changed the whole world forever.

SCIENCE 2- More on the insect life cycle. Began the mealworm project. Be sure to help them take care of these and write record their observations at least a couple times a week. They should be able to watch them molt, change to an adult (beetle) and lay eggs. We also learned about the fish life cycle - egg, fry and adult fish.

SCIENCE K - Learned about magnets and how they can both push and pull metal objects. We talked about how opposite poles attract ( and how that's where that saying comes from) and like poles repel each other. They had fun playing with all the magnets I have.

Rachelle

Hobbit show

Hi everyone,

Linda Smith e-mailed me re. the Hobbit show - she would like to know if we could make the 10:00 show instead of the 12:30.

Let me know.

Thanks Suzy

WED. AND THURS. APRIL 9-10

WRITING 2- good concentration for class! reviewed using quotes in a story and learned about the format for using dialog. they all have interesting plot lines and are starting to see that the story needs to be coherent. critiques went well.

SCIENCE 2 - took the unit assessment for plant life cycle - they aced it. we began the unit on animal life cycles and had interesting conversations about how death is part of the cycle and how plants and animals feed each other and are useful in death as humus. Isaac asked how chickens make eggs (good questions) and I thought for a minute that we'd vier off into reproduction but I was saved from that! we learned about the insect life cycle (egg, larva, pupa and adult - good terms to review) and reviewed insect body parts and how to identify insects from other bugs.

HISTORY 2- learned about the spread of Buddhism in Medieval China. read a story about a Chinese monk who traveled to India and brought back 500 boxes of Buddhist books and started a Buddhist school. we talked about how China took over Tibet (they asked if China had taken over any countries because it's so big - go figure) and they wanted to send our troops there to set Tibet free, just like we're doing in Iraq. moral discussions will follow, I'm sure. TUES. SUZY WILL DO LESSON 5, I'LL DO 6 ON WED. AND WE'LL DO 7 ON OUR OWN.

SCIENCE K - they played so well today that I hated breaking it up. we started the new unit on motion. they had fun going on a trip to the petting zoo and following my directions (right, left, up, down, under). we played "Simon says" and a concentration game. I think this unit will be very easy - we might want to try to make it more challenging. I had them use the directional words to describe changes made to a tableau and that seemed to be a little better. they had fun with everything we did today.

Rachelle

Science and History

Good day for all! Everyone had a good attitude and worked hard writing their words for their books, shared snack and played at free time without squabbles.

Science- we talked about corn, from the beginning of plowing the field through eating it from a can at the table. We focused on the harvesting and processing of it. Other kinds of farms (crop or livestock) got reviewed.

History- Thomas Edison and how he was an inventor. We learned three things that he invented (lightbulb, phonograph and movies).

WED AND THURS APRIL 2 &3

SCIENCE K - we reviewed all the parts of Ella's model farm. we talked about caring for crops and planted some corn and peas in my yard. if Nadia and Quinn's corn plants sprout in the baggies, you can plant those too. we made scarecrows and corn chips (turned out really bland, but they had fun making them). THEY NEED THE NEXT UNIT HANDOUTS FOR NEXT THURS.

SCIENCE 2 - reviewed plant parts, flower parts and pollination. we learned about how seeds get dispersed (wind, water, people, animals, gravity) and did some experiments with different seed forms. they saw photos on-line of the whirly-gig seeds that come off of maple trees - i grew up with those and had forgotten about them. they thought those were really cool. we learned about the other ways plants reproduce - traveling vines (strawberries), tubers (potatoes) and bulbs (onion). we planted the tulips bulbs I had and cut apart an onion to see the sprout inside. we looked at my sweet potato which is growing like crazy. THEY NEED THE NEXT UNIT HANDOUTS FOR NEXT THURS.

HISTORY 2 - took the unit assessment and aced it. we learned about King Lalibela of Ethiopia (the only Christian country in Africa) and how he built these churches carved out of single boulders. really amazing. no one knows how they were built.
THEY NEED THE NEXT UNIT HANDOUTS FOR NEXT WEEK. NEXT WEEK, we'll do Unit 13 Lesson 2 (on our own before Wed.), Unit 13Lesson 3 (Rachelle on Wed) and Unit 13 Lesson4 (Suzy on Fri.)

WRITING 2- worked on the next section of their stories. talked about keeping to the story line and how to work funny parts into the story (and not go off in some crazy direction for no reason :)). the stories are taking shape and they have very good ideas. they are getting good at critiquing each other by asking the writer good questions to clarify the story. they are started to use the vocabulary I've given them and it's so cool. ("the reader would be confused because those new characters don't have names"), that sort of thing. I told them we would try to publish these in a student journal and if they aren't accepted we'll "publish" them on our own.

Rachelle

April 3 K science and history

Sorry it's been so long since a post. I actually remembered today! :)

Science- we talked about cows and the milking process. They enjoyed making the butter and it didn't seem redundant from the other times we've done it for them.

History - the lesson was on immigrating and the family from China that crossed the Pacific to get to San Fransisco to live in an apartment and start a restaurant downstairs.

I took some pictures, so maybe I'll try to get them onto the blog later (ha ha).
Cindy

Tues. Classes & Drama Performance

The jailbird Toucan who got beat up.....hee,hee. I think she looks cute!

Hi Everyone. Here is what we did yesterday:





K History- Learned about the Statue of Liberty and how she greeted the immigrants coming into the country. Very simple lesson, but good info.





K Music- I introduced staccato and legato (Ella had heard this before in piano). We played, identified, and danced these two different styles. I tried to review some glock songs. It is getting hard because they don't have their glocks to practice, and I really don't want to push the practicing, so I am just touching on that part, but leaving a lot out. Lots of other good stuff to do though.





Drama- We really pushed them this week with their stage behavior to get them ready for the performance. If was much better, but still needs improvement. The little ones get very distracted on stage, so we are working on that. I actually got them to blend their voices on a couple of songs, and it sounded great. Shaylene is doing terrific on her solo. If I could make a request for the girls---please no skirts on Tues. or if they do wear them, please make sure they have shorts underneath. I am getting a lot of views of the land down under if you get my drift and we are on the floor a lot at my house :-)





How would May 31st be for the play? It is a Saturday. If that doesn' t work it will have to be the 2nd Saturday in June or a Friday night. We could do the performance followed by ice cream or something. The kids could even swim afterwards. It looks like it will be at my house. Our church has some openings, but they are all in April and I just don' t see them ready by then. Let me know what you think and how many will attend.





See you later!