We discussed family traditions and they each pick their favorite one and wrote a short paragraph about it.

Today in math Anna and Quinn continued working on their addition facts using the Mad Math Minute App. We reviewed lesson 1-3 and place value. We practiced writing numbers in expanded and standard form and determining what digit was in each place value. This is a skill we will continue practicing throughout the week. They then worked on the lesson 1-4 Daily Spiral Review worksheet. This worksheet covered addition, place value, time, word problems and patterns. Today’s lesson 1-4 focused on ordinal numbers. We talked about how numbers over 13 that end in the 1 end with “st” and how numbers that end in 0,4,5,6,7,8 and 9 end in “th”. They practiced on their whiteboards determining what a given number should end with. Tomorrow we will begin writing these numbers in ordinal word form.

During science class Anna and Quinn finished their Living Thing or Nonliving Thing lab. They observed that the gravel had not changed but the peas had changed in texture and size. They also noticed that the pea seeds were beginning to sprout. We reviewed what are the characteristics of a living thing. After they wrote their observations and conclusions on their lab report we read about cells. We discussed how a cell is the smallest part in a living thing. We read about the different parts inside a cell and how animals and plant cells contain different parts. Then Anna and Quinn drew an illustration of each type of cell and label the parts. We finished by completing a venn diagram to compare and contrast the two types of cells.

Introduced new vocabulary words to Anna and Quinn. They defined them and created a sentence for each.
Anna- Grammar- command and exclamation sentences.
Quinn- Wilson- Review of short vowel sounds and l,r and s blends.

Continue to draw and cut out shapes to incorporate into boxes.
Work with contrasting textures by removing top layer of cardboard to show corrugated ripples on some of the shapes.
Consider arrangement of pieces and paint color for the entire piece.

We began todays session by discussing what Anna and Quinn thought made living things different than nonliving things. We then read about how living things grow, change, reproduce,respond and some communicate. We discussed how offspring don't look identical to their parents. Anna told me how she looks just like her mom but they have different colored eyes. Anna and Quinn then determined whether different pictures showed living or nonliving things? Then they drew pictures of living and nonliving thing and explained how the knew that each fit that classification. We finished our session by starting the "What are the features of living things" lab. Anna and Quinn described and compared peas seeds and gravel. They covered each on water and predicted what they thought the pea seeds and gravel will look like on Monday.

Today Anna and Quinn continued working on Lesson 1-3. We began our lesson by reviewing and completing last nights homework. They practiced reading 6 digit numbers and writing them in standard and expanded form. The new skill today was finding the missing addend when a 6 digit number in written in expanded form. Anna and Quinn had a much better understanding of place value today. They both scored a 3 out of 3 on their lesson 1-3 Quick Check.

We reviewed family members, read two books, and played a game. Then we played bingo to reinforce numbers.

New poses: 3 different turtle poses; one new turtle pose (difficult); turtle pose handout; Star project: art sheet with Star Pose; we practiced shooting star, falling star, and starfish; Other poses we did today were whale, seal, and bow. We discussed posture and our spines, and walked with empty cups on our heads. We also practiced hooping (Anna mastered knee hooping) and Quinn used the exercise balls. Quinn had to be reminded several times to not invade Anna's space. We discussed this being a goal for Quinn. Otherwise, both Anna and Quinn were very cooperative and participated fully in class.

Today we reviewed some of the terms and ideas that we talked about yesterday. We reviewed the meaning of history, geography, and cartographer, and we reviewed why Vespucci was important. We discussed what it means to be a historian and why it is important to look at all aspects of the past and to ask questions. I told them that because they are learning about the past, they are historians. Anna and Quinn learned more about Christopher Columbus today. We watched a video on BrainPop that explained some of the controversies surrounding his treatment of the natives. We discussed why it is important to look at both the positive and the negative aspects of history. I then had them complete an activities worksheet that traced Columbus' route from Spain to the Caribbean. These worksheets are in their social studies folders. We ended class by discussing the differences between primary and secondary sources. We looked at some primary documents online (documents written by/made by people who were at a particular event). We looked at and read a letter written by someone who witnessed the murder of Abraham Lincoln. This really seemed to capture their imagination and they both asked very intelligent questions. We will continue looking at the differences between primary and secondary sources next week.