Last week, the class learned about quotation marks and how to use them. They worked in groups to come up with short skits, with the farm animals as the characters. They worked together to write down their stories, and then we created puppets for the animals. This week, they added the finishing touches, practiced with their group, and then presented them to the class! It was a perfect day for some outdoor theater!
Our rescue barn cats have been on the prowl and keeping the rat population here on the farm to a minimum. One of the young cats, Mrs. Chippy, has made friends with the baby lamancha goats. They hang out and play together, and they are even similar in color! The class played an outdoor game called Barn Cats & Field Mice. The three "cats" had to chase the mice and catch their "tails". If the cat tagged them, they had to go sit out under the canopy. But, the mice could grab an extra tail and rescue their friends! There were sweaty faces and tired kids by the end!
Once inside, the class heard a short lesson on soybeans. Most kids don't realize how useful soybeans are, and how they have many uses outside of being food! I showed the kids a big bag of flaked soybean oil. We talked about the difference between transparent, translucent, and opaque, and then the kids were able to see how heat changes the soybean oil from opaque to transparent. In Swiss Family Robinson, the Robinsons just dipped wicks into an oil from berries to make candles. I morphed our literature lesson with our agriculture lesson today, and the class was able to see how time consuming it is to dip candles! At first, everyone was excited to give it a try... but once a few came up to participate, they realized that it would result in very delayed gratification! We continued to dip the candles throughout the day, and the kids were able to see how the wax builds up to create a candle. Next week, we'll work on a simpler and much quicker soybean oil candle so that the class will be able to take something home!
After lunch, the class had their long-awaited show and tell! There were giant stuffed llamas, maps of their upcoming summer road trip, robots, Legos, and even tadpoles!
Last week, the class used watercolor paints and watercolor paper to create an ocean background. This week, they began creating a map of the island from Swiss Family Robinson. At first, they brainstormed and came up with a list of all the spots on the island: Falconhurst, Whale Beach, Flamingo Marsh, Cape Disappointment, Tentholm, Prospect Hill, and more. They made their own creative outline of the island, and then they used paints to begin putting it all together. Next week, we will add details and labels to the island and overlay the island to their watercolor oceans.
The class read their Reader's Journal entries on boa constrictors. Some students decided to create a poem like Ernest did in Swiss Family Robinson. Ernest wrote a poem to celebrate the life of their brave donkey, and so a few students chose to write an ode to one of the class's farm animals. Our own donkey, Delilah, even had a poem of her own!
We reviewed the notebook questions for chapters 12-14 of the book, and then moved on to a lesson on Africa. At home, the class looked up some different biomes that are found in the continent of Africa. We talked about these and discussed information on a slide presentation. The class loved the mask art! We will be doing an African themed art project in class next week! The kids have a flip book to complete at home, and we will use it to guide our geography lesson next week.
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