2nd-Grade
In 2nd grade, we continue with our selections from the Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program and have added some selections from The Junior Great Books Series. We continue to focus on having students explore and explain sequencing, cause and effect, implications, basic literary elements, inferencing, and general themes and concepts. Everyone enjoyed discussing "The Master Cat" by Charles Perrault, and we compared and contrasted the fables, "The Lion and the Gnat" and "The Lion and the Mouse." Students also had a chance to do some creative writing in the form of a rebus story.
We are working with perimeter, distance, and estimates during our math time. Also, students are exploring a new math puzzle called Number Junctions. It is a combination of Sudoku and addition with four addends!
3rd-Grade
Our 3rd graders have continued to work hard in solving for the value of variables, using the Hands-On Equations approach to algebra. In addition to solving the equations, students were introduced to the verbal problems, where they must write their own equations and assign the variable themselves!
In our Socratic Seminars, 3rd graders have discussed a non-fiction piece: The Pledge of Allegiance. Students asked some really tough questions about how to separate respect for our flag from respect for our country, or if we really can. It was so interesting to take apart and examine something we say from rote each day and find the meaning behind it. One of our fiction selections, "Ooka and the Honest Thief" led to some interesting questions about the nature of honesty under all circumstances. We were able to compare the qualities of truthfulness from this story to those in "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes.
In our Socratic Seminars, 3rd graders have discussed a non-fiction piece: The Pledge of Allegiance. Students asked some really tough questions about how to separate respect for our flag from respect for our country, or if we really can. It was so interesting to take apart and examine something we say from rote each day and find the meaning behind it. One of our fiction selections, "Ooka and the Honest Thief" led to some interesting questions about the nature of honesty under all circumstances. We were able to compare the qualities of truthfulness from this story to those in "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes.
4th-Grade
Fourth-grade students have been working so hard this spring with both fractions and decimals.
They have been comparing fractions and decimals and ordering them from least to greatest and greatest to least--with great focus and concentration! We even worked in some time for learning about the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Spiral, when exploring patterns and sequences.
During our language arts time, we read a "late spring" story by Hans Christian Andersen, "The Snow Man." We talked a lot about how opposites attract, for better or for worse! Now that the snow has finally melted, we are discussing "The Green Man" by Gail E Haley. We found that the legend of the Green Man is quite old, and we looked at some interesting--if not scary--images of the Green Man carved on churches in Europe from as far back as the Middle Ages.
Fourth-grade students have been working so hard this spring with both fractions and decimals.
They have been comparing fractions and decimals and ordering them from least to greatest and greatest to least--with great focus and concentration! We even worked in some time for learning about the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Spiral, when exploring patterns and sequences.
During our language arts time, we read a "late spring" story by Hans Christian Andersen, "The Snow Man." We talked a lot about how opposites attract, for better or for worse! Now that the snow has finally melted, we are discussing "The Green Man" by Gail E Haley. We found that the legend of the Green Man is quite old, and we looked at some interesting--if not scary--images of the Green Man carved on churches in Europe from as far back as the Middle Ages.