design fundamentals. Gracyn finished her first "fall" project of a scarecrow. She drew a new picture today and we will paint it next week. She also finished her elephant painting.

Gracyn practiced word wall words by finding words that begin with /f/, for example. She then read the words beginning with that specific sound. She read words ending with -ing -ang -ung -ong Read-aloud: "D.W., Go to Your Room!" She drew a picture for the beginning, middle, and end of the story. She passed a quiz on a level E story.

Friday, October 14, 2016
09:00 - 10:00; 60 min.
Science Enrichment:
Wonder whales -
Gracyn and I read a book called ‘ how to draw sea creatures’. Using the book, we followed the directions to draw dolphins, turtles and sea shells. I showed her how to use circles and ovals to represent the different body parts, and erase where they overlap. Then we read a book called ‘ wonder whales go on an adventure’. The story was not that great, but I did use the premise to introduce Gracyn to a few types of whales (humpback, sperm, beluga, orca, and narwhal). We talked about the differences between fish and dolphins.

Today, Gracyn practiced measuring length with an inch ruler. We covered exact measurement along with measurement to the nearest inch. Gracyn lined up the items with the zero mark on the ruler along with finding the inch mark that was the nearest. For the challenge problem, we measured Gracyn with only one ruler. We worked together to mark 12 inches before moving the ruler and then adding up the total amount. Gracyn is 47 inches tall. Finally, we played a game of ten more or ten less. We took turns choosing a number on the board and then found a number that was ten more or ten less than the chosen number. Once found, both of the numbers were covered with counters. The player with the longest run of counters won.

Reading Stories: Gracyn had books that we read together. She picked out the book she wanted. We had a wonderful time with the stories. She is so smart and a poised young lady. Good job, Gracyn.

We began with our traditional playing of Gracyn's favorite, "The Knuckle Song", both duet and solo. We then moved on to "Mary Had a Little Lamb", adding more of the piece. Next we transposed the song onto the white keys. We then played through "Rain, Rain, Go Away" in a method book. This piece introduced Gracyn to early musical notation and note values. We discussed half notes, which Gracyn counted and held for two beats while playing the piece. Today we also reviewed proper hand position ("bubbles"), fingers curved while playing on fingertips. I look forward to working in Gracyn's "Piano Adventures" method books, as soon as she is able to bring them to class.

Today we went to the library. I said a "word wall word" and Gracyn found it. For each row of words, she found a word that rhymes with___?" She printed a question using the words, "could" and "walk". Independent reading was a section from the book, "Should Bella Go to Bed?" She added a line to her story, drew a picture, and labeled it.

Today Gracyn made a model of the solar system. She has been asking to do this project since we began our study on the Earth and sky. She put together each planet, painted it the correct color, and attached the planet to the stand. She put the eight planets on their correct position on the stand and put the sun in the middle. She even painted them with glow in the dark paint. She made a beautiful model!

Today, Gracyn used inch tiles as measurement tools to measure length. We measured items on her worksheet and around her room using the tiles. We also discussed how we can compare the length of objects by indirect measurement or by using items on hand. Finally, Gracyn finished a subtracting 7, 8, and 9 worksheet. Once the problems were solved, the problem and answer had to be found within a number puzzle, much like a word search.

design fundamentals. we had an extra art class today. Gracyn worked on her elephant painting and she also started a series of "fall" theme paintings. Her first one is of a scarecrow.