Happy Sunday!

I hope your kids told you that the post would be delayed this weekend...I knew I wasn't getting to it until today...I hope the wait is worth your while...I have lots of pictures to share!


This was our first five day week since before Labor Day! We had a phenomenal week together...here is how it went down...


Math
We have submersed ourselves in multiplication. We have solved word problems, refined our estimating skills, found the importance of multiplication basic facts when solving the algorithm, and continued work with multiplication properties. Sometime this week we will be moving into algebra...the "mathies" in my classroom are going to LOVE it! I may even be able to convert a few "non-mathies" with the algebra unit...you never know!

Language Arts
This week we focused on the elements of a fairy tale. We discussed and identified the setting, the protagonists and antagonists, the plot, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. We found that magic and royalty exists in most fairy tales and found other similar characteristics. We read two versions of two different fairy tales. We read The Princess and the Pea and Princess Pigtoria and the Pea, and then we read Cinderella and Dinorella. Both second versions were written by Pamela Edwards Duncan. She used alliteration to enhance each of her fairy tale verisons. This week we will be mapping the story of Dinorella, identifying all key points, and then the students will use that model to write their own versions of a fairy tale. The kids will have an option to write a "Princess and the Pea" fairy tale or a "Cinderella" fairy tale using alliteration. I am really excited about this writing project!

Science
That's right...science in the house! ;-) You would have thought it was Christmas morning on Monday when the kids came in and saw science on the schedule...it was wonderful! We have jumped right into the "Chemical Tests" unit, and there is wonderful science happening in my classroom. The students have been divided into five groups and these groups will be consistent throughout the unit. They will work as teams to hypothesize, experiment, observe, collect data, analyze the data, and make conclusions about their five mystery powders! They will observe measurable properties as well as physical properties while they experiment. They take their jobs as scientists very seriously and they recorded excellent observations about each powder's properties this past week. Tomorrow we will begin testing each powder, using our schema and some research to draw conclusions and identify each substance. It really is SO fun!

And speaking of science...most of the kids have shown me a parent signature indicating you have seen the due dates for each part of the kids' science fair projects. This Thursday your child needs to share their project description with me. This description includes the hypothesis, a list of materials, the purpose, and the planned procedure. Just a helpful hint from one parent to another....as your child develops each piece, have them save it as a word document on the computer. That way, when it's time to put the project board together, they already have each piece typed up! They can show me the pieces on the organizer provided in the packet, or their typed version...that is totally up to you!

Miscellaneous Info
A field trip slip went home on Thursday. This slip is due this Wednesday! Many slips came in without the $5 fee. Please send the $5 by Wednesday...I will let you know the names of the chaperones Wednesday and then those parents will need to send $5, too. Thanks...I wish I could take all of you...but if you don't get to come on this trip, you will definitely be able to come on another one!

I am going to post the pictures in a separate post...I am at school right now (yes, it's Sunday...but I can't get it all done during the week!), and I need to upload the pictures from home...so look for that later today.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!