1/21/19

Due to the cold, the class didn't do today's animal care outdoor activities.  Instead, we talked about how farmers must go out even in the cold or rain or ice... or if they have the FLU!  Thankfully, the class was able to stay warm... and Ms. Holly did all of the jobs before class began.  I explained the class that the fate of the new calf has been determined: We will keep her!  The kids were very excited!  In other farm news, the Nigerian Dwarf goats are on baby-watch at for the next few weeks.  They have all been moved into the "Maternity Ward", given their CD&T boosters, and now they just get to munch on hay and relax!

At home, the class worked on writing very descriptive paragraphs.  They were asked to choose one animal on the farm and to describe it in detail... but not to tell what animal it is!  The kids loved listening to each paper and taking turns guessing.  I was very impressed with the quality of their adjectives.  They did a great job with these!

Next, the kids were given different animal cut-outs to glue onto construction paper.  Under each flap, they came up with different adjectives to describe the animal.  We called it "Adjective Farm".  This was a great way to practice with adjectives, but also to work on handwriting and spelling skills.  We used a "word wall" to keep up with all of the different words that we need to spell.














Once our Adjective Farm activity was completed, it was obvious that we HAD to get our wiggles out!  Thankfully, the sun had come out and things were warming up just enough to bundle up, get outside, and RUN!

After working on our oil pastel cows and eating lunch, the class added the adjective card to their stack of grammar cards.  We will be working to identify words that have different forms, making them nouns in one for but adjectives in another (example: happiness/happy, hope/hopeful, joy/joyful).

As we began our literature/reading lesson, I decided to practice our vocabulary words in a different way.  Ms. Sydney and I passed out whiteboards, markers, and erasers to each student.  Then, I wrote a couple of the vocabulary words that they had studied at home on the board.  Each of the kids came up with their own sentences using one of the words.  This was a very fun (and creative) way to discuss the different meanings.  Plus, whiteboards and markers make everything FUN!

The class shared their field guide entries on European landmarks.  In this chapter book, the characters aren't experiencing a lot of wild animals or plants... but they are visiting a lot of great locations!  In the "Places" section of their field guides, the students did a great job of writing down the things they have learned!  Further, they each took turns reading their journal entry on one landmark.  These kids are doing an awesome job with their writing this year!  We talked about the Eiffel tower, Big Ben, the Sistine Chapel, and more!  After each of the students had presented, I had my son present a project that he did for his high school Roman project.  He showed them a model that he created of the aqueducts, told about the construction, purpose, and effectiveness of the aqueducts, and answered their questions.  The kids loved it!


Next, we created our next set of paper bags for European countries.  The students enjoyed making them, but they have no idea what we will be using them for!  I'm hoping that I can create a FUN way for them to enjoy researching and learning about the interesting and diverse places in Europe!

In our book, the characters are visiting a sundial.  In class, the kids made their own!  We had to talk about Daylight Savings Time and how it effects the results.  These were simple, yet worked very well!

Our science lesson for today was on plant classification.  As we begin our unit on the plant kingdom, it is important for the kids to understand the difference between spores and seeds and between vascular and nonvascular plants.  We discussed these in class, and they added a page to their science notebooks that we will work with next week.