Native American Unit Poem Recitation

12/11/17

The snow has melted, and the sun came out just for us today!  The class began with a bit of excitement, as the caterpillars had formed chrysalises!  The class reviewed what they have learned about the butterfly life cycle and metamorphosis, and were able to observe this stage as we moved the chrysalises into their cage.

We made pomanders today, which are oranges with cloves. These smell wonderful, and are great to have around the house at Christmas time!

Our doe had her triplets on Saturday!  The students got to snuggle and love on all three beautiful bucklings!

The kids used forks to paint Christmas trees!  They turned out beautifully!

The class shared their journal entries, and they were great!  This week, they each studied a different colonial occupation.  They each shared what they learned with the class, and  did a great job doing so!

During grammar class, the group reviewed the different parts of speech.  We used a color coding activity to work on recognizing nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.  They even learned a new part of speech: articles.  We will use our color-coding activity more in second semester!

12/4/17

In science today, Ms. Gina taught the class all about metamorphosis.  They kicked off their lesson with The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  They had a wonderful discussion about different types of animals and their life cycles.  They made posters to show what they've learned about the caterpillar life cycle, and met some little caterpillar friends that we have here in the schoolhouse!  Ms. Gina taught them the different features that caterpillars have to help them survive in their environment.  It was a fun science day!

The class reviewed their grammar cards, checked their handwriting homework, and recited their pronoun and helping verb lists.  Then, the students read the stories that they wrote in their journals.  These kids has some seriously awesome adjective and adverbs!  We went through their stories and jotted down the adverbs and adjectives on the board.

We learned about contractions today.  First, the class learned the word "contract".  We talked about things that get shorter, or contract, before diving into the grammar lesson.  Hopefully, this will help them recall the word later!  We will work with contractions at home and continue studying them next week, as well.

In art, the class learned about patterns.  They used what they had learned to create a patchwork-style drawing.  These kids totally impressed us with their detail!   While they finished up their drawings, Ms. Gina read the story, "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble."  Since our playtime outside was spent playing with and feeding our sweet little donkey, Delilah, I thought this was a perfect story choice!

In history class, the class learned about the village that the Pilgrims built in New England.  They learned that villages during this time were usually made up of around 12 family houses with gardens, a meetinghouse in the center of town, and a village green where people would gather.  The village was usually surrounded by a palisade, or a strong fence.  We talked about the town crier, the militias, and the village government, as well.  At the end of class, we discussed the different occupations that the villagers would have.  They will be doing an activity with colonial jobs at home this week.

The class worked on the next pocket for their booklet: Building a Village.  Then, the group went outside!  Our schoolhouse played the part of the meetinghouse in the center of town, and our yard became the village green.  Each child chose a profession, and they picked out a spot for their pretend house.  Then, they played it out!  Some kids worked on their gardens, while others tended to the donkey or horse that pulled their plow.  They were in character, and it was super fun!  Then, a town crier rang the bell, and everyone came and gathered in the center green.  The town crier said that a shipment of goods was coming in, so everyone worked together to pretend to unload.  It was a perfect way to spend such a gorgeous afternoon!

Next week, we will have a small Christmas party!  I will have pizza for lunch.  Feel free to bring in a treat, side, or goodie to share!
 

11/27/17

Today began with some Farm News.  We talked about recent animal sales, which caused a little sadness amongst the class.  We discussed the reasons behind selling livestock, and how on a farm, there is a constant of births, sales, deaths, and purchases.  These are the lessons that I love teaching here on the farm.  Throughout an entire school year, the classes are able to get a realistic view of life on the farm! 

In science, the class will be learning about different organisms over the next few weeks.  They learned about plants, seeds, and photosynthesis today!  They discussed the different things that plants need to survive, and then worked in groups to create terrariums.  The class set their domes in the sun, and during lunch they were able to see the condensation forming!  The kids talked about the greenhouse effect, and how these terrariums will be a great place for their seeds to germinate.

In grammar class, the group reviewed nouns, verbs, pronouns, and adjectives.  We then talked about adverbs.  They learned about adverbs last week, but since it was a holiday week, it needed a big review!  The class added the adverb card to their grammar card ring, and they will be working with both adverbs and adjectives at home this week.  They will also be incorporating what they learned today about descriptive words into their journal entries for next week.

Today's art lesson is getting us into the holiday spirit!  The class used different textures to create a winter tree scene.  At this age, just learning to wrap materials around a shape is a lesson in itself.  They did a great job following directions, working together/sharing, and working through a little frustration!  The end results were beautiful!

For history, the class learned about the first year that the Pilgrims spent in the New World.  They learned about the hardships they faced, the temporary homes they lived in, the permanent structures they built, and the roles that Samoset and Squanto played in their survival.  They worked on the next “pocket” of their Colonial America booklet, titled “The New World”.  They will be rereading the material at home and completing the Words to Know vocabulary sheet.  We will add these to our pocket next week!

Our math game today was a hit!  The kids broke into groups of 2 or 3.  Each player drew two cards.  They had to subtract the greater card from the lesser one.  The player with the highest difference between their two cards won the round and collected the opponent’s cards.  At the end of the game, the player with the most cards in his or her stack won!   They really did a wonderful job helping each other with subtraction, and they were so motivated to do math because it was presented as a game!  Total success!

Throughout the day, we make a point to “get our wiggles out” and get some fresh air.  To me, this is very important!  Kids at this age (or adults for that matter) can only focus for a certain period of time before needing a release.  By letting the students know of upcoming breaks, it lets them look forward to a release and helps them to actually focus and be mentally present for learning time.   

11/20/17

Lego Math Skip-Counting Lesson!

Time with the Zebus

Art!

Grammar - Adjective Investigators

Meeting the Alpacas!