December 15-19

Monday: In Bible, we finished the backside of the worksheet we started Friday on the 7 churches.  Half of language arts was spent decorating a gingerbread man, and then we read chapters 3-4.  We wrote a 6 sentence minimum on a diary entry of Imogene Herdman and answered a couple questions from chapter 4.  In the afternoon, we picked our spelling words from our spelling bee list and played hangman with a friend.  We also took a science test on earthquakes and volcanoes (study guides were due today).  Lastly, we took a look at primary documents on Prohibition.  We completed page 3-5 and page 8.

Homework: Spelling homework is due on Wednesday.  Island of the Blue Dolphin CD is due Friday.

Tuesday: This morning we talked about worship and read pages 163-164 in our Bible textbook.  We are going over John’s vision in Revelation 4-5, trying to imagine what it would be like to see such a brilliant vision of worship in God’s throne room.  We then read an article by Lee Strobel on Christmas that relates to the Herdman’s reaction to learning about the Christmas story.  We marked up the article with connections, things we found interesting,  questions, and what we wanted to remember.  We met in groups to discuss our findings and then read chapter 5.  This afternoon, we went through this PowerPoint to introduce the concept of weathering and watched the video below.  Students took notes and received points for writing them neatly. Weathering Part I We also completed the Prohibition questions from yesterday (completing document C and D).

NOTE: January 23rd is the end of the 2nd quarter.  Review current grades online to see missing work.

Wednesday: Our chapel speaker talked about how we are a light to the world.  She gave each student a battery operated candle to remind them of the message today.  Our language arts was cut short today because of the staff Christmas party.  We shared our parts of speech projects and read chapter 6.  In the afternoon, we finished our complex sentence pages to make a class book.  We also read the following article on Prohibition Prohibition- The Noble Experiment and debated whether or not Prohibition was a good idea.  Students were assigned a position, which challenged some of them to assume the perspective of their side.  We also read pages 26-31 in our science textbooks.

Thursday: Today we read through chapters 4-5 in Revelation and wrote our  own description of a worshipful scene or a praise.  In language arts, we finished reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and completed a story web on it.  For those who finished early, they got caught up on missing work.  We practiced Spanish colors and read a Spanish book.  We reviewed weathering and played a game like Jeopardy to review what we’ve learned so far.  Weathering PowerPoint Review Game with Answers  We also learned how to do the Charleston Dance a practiced a few times.

December 8-12

Monday: We prayed together as a class and finished our worksheets on symbolism in Revelation.  In language arts, we started our final project for Island of the Blue Dolphins.  The project is designing a cd with information about the book and a playlist of songs Karana might want to listen to while she was alone on the island.  This afternoon, we chose our spelling words from our spelling bee list and created word art in the form of a snowflake with the words we chose.  In Heritage, we listened to examples and non-examples of Jazz.  Our assignment was to write down a definition of Jazz.  What does it sound like?  What tone and mood are set?

(Wild Man Blues by Louis Armstrong, Grandpa’s Spells by Jelly Roll Morton, It Don’t Mean a Thing- Ella Fitzgerald, Creole Love Call- Duke Ellington, Weeping Willow Blues- Bessie Smith)

Lastly, we read pages 16-17 in science and completed the quick check.  Students made models of the 3 types of volcanoes with play dough and acted out the different types of eruptions.

Homework: Think about songs Karana would have on her island playlist, spelling homework is due on Wednesday

Tuesday: In Bible we worked on a new worksheet dealing with the names of God in Revelation, part of which was a personal reflection.  In language arts we continued to work on our final project for Island of the Blue Dolphins.  In the afternoon, we took out all our vocabulary flashcards and studied for a vocab quiz we will have tomorrow.  In Heritage, we talked a little bit more about  music in the 1920s (pages 15-18).  The lesson was on black minstrels, which will lead up to a lesson on the Harlem Renaissance.  We talked briefly about racism and borrowing from African American culture.  In science, we read pages 14-15, viewed a few pictures of artifacts from Pompeii, and completed this sheet.

Homework: Volcano creative writing piece is due on Friday

Wednesday: Our chapel speaker talked to us about listening and obeying God.  We took a vocabulary quiz: CopyofIslandoftheBlueDolphinsVocabQuiz.  We also listened to two books on listening and wrote a listening/following directions goal for the rest of the day.  Lastly, we worked on spelling homework and our final project.  This afternoon, we read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and noticed that most of the sentences in the book are complex.  We made our own page similar to the book using a complex sentence.  We will put them together to make a class book full of complex sentences!  We also read and discussed the Harlem Renaissance.  Then we finished the unit on volcanoes and earthquakes.  The students had a choice to either complete page 23 or page 24 in their science textbooks.

Thursday: Today we read the play in our student textbooks and then looked at pictures of the seven church locations in Revelation.  In language arts we completed a before reading activity for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which we will finish reading by Christmas break.  We also read chapter 1 as a class.  In the afternoon, we worked on a science study guide.  We also split into groups to work in centers to view art, read poems, and listen to music of the Harlem Renaissance.

Homework: Science study guide and test on Monday

Friday: We started working on a worksheet of the seven churches.  Students started picking up on similarities between the letters.  John seemed to be using a similar format in the letters.  During language arts, we went upstairs to reading buddies, took a spelling test, read chapter 2, and designed a t-shirt “proud to be a Herdman.”  This afternoon we made a snowflake acrostic poem in our best handwriting.  We wrote a Harlem Renaissance Poem and we studied for Monday’s science test on earthquakes and volcanoes.

Homework: Science test on Monday

Mercalli Scale	Richter Scale
Measures	The effects caused by earthquake	The energy released by the earthquake
Measuring Tool	Observation	Seismograph
Calculation	Quantified from observation of effect on earth’s surface, human, objects and man-made structures	Base-10 logarithmic scale obtained by calculating logarithm of the amplitude of waves.
Scale	I (not felt) to XII (total destruction)	From 2.0 to 10.0+ (never recorded). A 3.0 earthquake is 10 times stronger than a 2.0 earthquake.
Consistency	Varies depending on distance from epicenter	Varies at different distances from the epicenter, but one value is given for the earthquake as a whole.

December 1-5

Monday: In Bible, we spent half the time reading a Bible book given to us by Mrs. Williams.  Those will be sent home to read/look over.  Afterwards we read chapter 22 in Island of the Blue Dolphins, plotted locations on the map from the new chapters we’ve read, and were given our spelling bee words.  The spelling bee won’t be for another month or so, but I wanted to give the students the list early to study.  Our spelling list this week will be over any 10 words they choose from that list.  We also received instructions for the final project for this unit, which we won’t start until we’ve finished reading the book: Final Project Link.  In the afternoon, we used this sheet to practice our spelling words for grammar mini.  In the afternoon, we did a quick web activity and an introduction to our new unit on the 1920s.  We also took an open book quiz on the immune system that will end this unit.

 

Tuesday: In Bible we talked about our secret Santa.  Students filled out a sheet all about me and we drew names.  Students should limit their spending to $5-7 and bring their gift for our class party on Dec. 19.  In language arts, we met in partner groups to read to the end of the book.  Most groups finished the book today or got close to finishing.  This afternoon, we played a vocabulary dice game on any 6 words we didn’t know the meaning of from our spelling bee list.  Later, we viewed the following advertisements and completed a worksheet (page 4) on consumerism in the 1920s vs. today.  In science we read pages 3-7 and did an activity with Snickers bars on plate tectonics. snickersLab

Wednesday: We practiced for the Christmas program during chapel.  In language arts, we finished reading the book, answered discussion questions, and found one example of each of the following: simple, compound, and complex sentences from the book.  In the afternoon, we practiced our Spanish song “Mi Burrito Sabanero” for assembly tomorrow morning.  We also read pages 116-118 in our Heritage textbooks and wrote 1  paragraph from the perspective of someone living in the 1920s (ex. policeman, bootlegger, flapper, etc).  We finished the day by read to page 10 in science textbook and completing workbook page 4 #7-16.

Spelling Homework is Due

Thursday: We started today with an introduction to a unit on Revelation.  We made a web of things that come to mind when we think about that book of the Bible.  We read pages 155-156 in our Bible textbooks and discussed the genre of Revelation.  In language arts, we started watching the movie made from the book, “Island of the Blue Dolphins.”  This afternoon we worked on writing compound sentences and complex sentences: Complex Sentences.  The students reviewed their positions for the court case on vaccines and we held our final court case.

Friday: In Bible we worked on a worksheet exploring the symbols in the book of Revelation.  We finished The Island of the Blue Dolphins movie in language arts and took a spelling test.  This afternoon, we completed a handwriting sheet, watched the following 1920s film clips (we paused to observe details iconic of the 1920s), and we completed a science experiment where we built structures to withstand an earthquake.  We used textbook pages 12-13 and completed workbook pages 7-8.