This week we are spending a large amount of time preparing for the Christmas program on the 16th, so our academic workload will be lighter this week. We will still be studying, just not as much as a normal week.
Thursday 12/11/08- Language Arts 3: Today we read "Kids in Business" about young children who started their own businesses. They sold things like honey, homemade bread, jewelry, and hand painted clothing! Homework: Spelling sentences on handwriting paper. Underline the word.
- Language Arts 4: Today we read "Shadow of a Bull" about a young man named Manolo who lacks the desire to follow his father's footsteps into bullfighting. He learns the hard way how dangerous the sport really is. Homework: Spelling sentences on handwriting paper. Underline the word.
- Social Studies 3/4: Today we learned a little bit about three towns and cities in the Hoosier state: Paoli, South Bend, and Indianapolis. We broke into groups to design travel brochures encouraging tourists to visit one of the cities and they came out great! No homework.
- PE: Today we began learning the sport of badminton.
- We also received letters from our Austrian pen pals and began writing responses to them. I expect to have this batch of letters ready to mail by the end of next week so they can be mailed before we leave for break. The students in Vienna will not receive them until after the holidays but we are still sending them festive Christmas cards and learning how to say "Merry Christmas" in German. Our pronunciation is probably wrong but it's still fun!
Wednesday 12/10/08
- Math 3: Today we used our colored stones to learn about parts of a set and wrote fractions to represent the fractional part of a set. Most students completed 61A in class. Homework: 61B.
- Language Arts 3/4: No language arts today - Homework: Spelling words 3x.
- Science/Social Studies 3/4: Today we read a Scholastic News with a cover story about the possibility of life on Mars. It tied in nicely with the beginning of our new science unit on stars and constellations. We learned how to use a mnemonic device and made up our own devices to help us remember the names of the planets. Some of you may remember "My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas"...you can tell your child, "When I was your age, Pluto was a planet." :) We also wrote acrostic poems using the word STARS. No homework.
Tuesday 12/9/08
- Language Arts 3/4: Today we studied singular and plural nouns and learned some of the basic rules for making singular nouns into plural nouns. We were confused by some nouns that "don't follow the rules" like person, which becomes people, and moose, which is still moose in the plural sense. Homework: Spelling words in ABC order on handwriting paper.
- Religion 3/4: Today we finished up the unit we've been studying in religion and continued to practice our books of the Bible.
- We used our social studies time to concentrate on our solos and we also enjoyed playing volleyball during PE.
Monday 12/8/08- Math 3: We used measuring cups to determine how many halves, thirds, and fourths make up one cup. We also experimented with teaspoons and tablespoons and learned their abbreviations. We completed 60 A in class. Homework: 60B, which includes a TIMED fact sheet - complete as many as you can in four minutes, then switch to a colored pencil to finish the page.
- Religion 3/4: We continued practicing the books of the Bible and learned about Absalom.
- Science 3/4: We began a new unit called Stars and Constellations and conducted an experiment in which we learned that objects appear larger when they are closer and appear smaller when they are farther away. We read about the telescope and some of the men and women who paved the way for today's astronomers and helped us better understand the universe. We also talked about the importance of worshiping the CREATOR rather than the created...the universe is awe-inspiring and may move man to worship and we must be careful where we direct our worship! No homework.
