Wow, what a week! And now we're almost half way through the year. I can't believe it. We had a fun week.


In math we took a little break from adding/subtracting and we worked on writing songs that could help us remember how to skip count every number from 1-10.  Everyone felt comfortable with 1, 2, 5, and 10, so we broke into groups and focused on the remainder: 4, 6, 7, 8, 9. For the number 3, I shared an old song from my childhood: 3 is a Magic Number from Schoolhouse Rocks! The kids loved it, easily memorized it, and were excited to try and write their own songs. Here's the one I shared:

We came up with a grading rubric to decide how to assess this project, so everyone is on board and knows what they're doing and why.

In social, Mrs. Wilson gave the students a test on their knowledge of Peru. The tests were returned. Ask your student how they did.

In science we had a great time. We created a dichotomous key (a fancy word for a way of sorting objects) on our tables. We used these to sort a collection of rocks. The students had to decide what properties they wanted to use to break the rocks into different groups.

We also somehow managed to squeeze in a crystal-making session. We then examined them under microscopes and got some really cool views of their formations up close. 

We ended the week watching The Secret of NIMH, based on the book we read this term as a class. Next, we'll be doing a project on this, comparing and contrasting different scenes from the movie with the book and discussing why these differences might exist. 

Well, that's it for now. Have a fantastic holiday with your families and friends. Rest, enjoy, and have some fun. See you soon!