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.