Cycle 2 Week 13

What a fun day back! We missed two of our boys - we hope Garret's family feels better next week and we will continue to miss Andrew (and secretly hope he returns to us!)

English Grammar - we did motions as we stated the definition of an Adverb
Adverbs (hold both hands in a "V" with base of palms touching & fingers diagonally up) tell
how (hold both hands out, as in "I don't know"),
when (tap wrist, like a watch),
where (hold circle hands up to eyes, like binoculars),
to what extend (begin with both hands together, then spread apart horizontally),
how often (hold fingers up 1, 2, 3),
how much (begin with both hands together, then lift top hand),
and modify verbs ("V" sign),
adjectives ("A" sign),
or another adverb (hold both hands in a "V" with base of palms touching & fingers diagonaly up)

Science - we did motions as we stated the states of matter
solid (think "rock, paper, scissors" - we did the "rock")
liquid (motion for "water")
gas (both hands lifte up with fingers "playing", like water vapor)
plasma (move body silly, like a silly mirror)

Math - we found various rectangles in the classroom. For each one, we stated the rule "The area of a rectangle equals length times width"). For length, we moved our hands DOWN our body. For width, we put our hands at our waist and stretched out for "width". The students had a tendency to say "width" twice, so please remember to practice this. You may want to give a written cue of "L" as a hint.

Geography - we looked at the compass to determine just WHERE Northern Europe can be found. Then we found Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Netherlands. We "echoed" as we listed. Example: NORWAY, Norway, Norway, SWEDEN, Sweden, Sweden, etc.

History - We did the motions a few times and then the students took turns holding up pictures of a steam engine, power loom, and cotton gin.
Motions:
Watt's Steam Engine (pump arm, like a semi horn),
Cartwright's Power Loom (both arms parrallel to each other in front of body & move back and forth),
and Whitney's Cotton Gin (act like turning something)
spurred the Industrial Revolution (move arms as if wheels of the train)
which began in the 1760's (hold up 7 fingers, then 6 fingers)

Latin - this is the same material as weeks one and two. We tried to take turns listing the conjugated verbs, but we've had a bit of a break so we'll practice a bit more :)

Timeline - I have sent an attached file to your emails with the hand motions. If I can figure out how to attach it to the blog, I will do so.

Presentations - while most of us only remembered at the last minute, I thought the children did really well :) Thank you for observing our "no electronics" policy. For next week, I encourage you to have the children retell an event that has recently occurred. For example, tell about an experience they had in the snow, family they visited for Christmas, etc.

Please remember to send a folder with your child for his/her artwork. We are in the "Great Artists" section of Fine Arts and their "self portraits" were quite interesting today. What a joy to work with this age group!

Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns.

Kristyn