Good morning! Enjoying the rain? I just love listening to and watching the rain. I'm happy that it's the weekend so I can enjoy it; usually I'm stuck in a classroom and miss it. Speaking of the classroom, I'm exhausted after my first week without an aide. Years ago I managed it for 6 weeks when my aide had a concussion, but it seems much more tiring now (couldn't be a sign of age, right?) Good news though, they've hired someone for me and she will begin as soon as GH processes the paperwork! I'll fill you in on details in next week's blog.
Dave and I went to Gammage last night to watch Beautiful; it was a really great show and I recommend it, if you have the chance to see it. This morning, my sister called and we rescued some produce (check out Borderland Produce Rescue online if you don't know what I'm talking about). Now I'm going to settle in for some work: blog writing, grading, and lesson planning. Tomorrow night, I'll have all the kids over for a birthday dinner. 4 out of 7 in my immediate family have February birthdays. My oldest son and I are in the beginning of the month, but Monday is my middle son's birthday and Thursday is my husband's birthday. Oh, and Wednesday is my sister's 40th birthday, so I'll be celebrating with her, too. Busy week!
Let's take a look at what's happening in the classroom this week. Only two weeks to go till the break...hang in there! I guess that's advice for me and the kids, not for you. 😊
Language Arts
Grammar - This week we'll be using our grammar time to do some practice for AZ Merit.
Literature - We're reading the next three chapters of Prince Caspian this week.
Spalding - Back to a regular week of Spalding after taking a week off.
Poetry - The kids are over halfway done with Paul Revere's Ride, and are doing an amazing job! If your child has fallen behind, please have them focus on the stanza for this week and then try to go back to pick up the missed ones later. Stanza 8 is due on Friday. This is an important stanza that reveals the underlying importance of this ride.
Composition - In order to help the kids prepare for their AZ Merit test, we'll be taking a look at some sample essays that have been scored by the state. We'll discuss the rubric so they can see what it is the state is looking for, we'll practice brainstorming and pre-writing, and we'll practice answering prompts, too. If the students don't know how to answer the question that is asked, then their whole essay is off topic. Then, on Friday, we'll write our essay for quarter 3. This one will be based on one of the AZ Merit prompts, and we will grade it following the AZ Merit rubric.
Math - We're learning how to multiply and divide with decimals now. The final test for the unit will be right before the break.
Science - What a blast we had yesterday! This week, we'll learn about the final geologic events: geysers and mountain formation. There will be a comprehension check on Thursday in which the children will have to choose one geologic event and explain what they have learned in this unit. So, they can choose earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, geysers, or mountain formation and explain how they happen.
History - Our Arizona story continues. At this point we still are not a state, but we have become our own territory. This week we'll finish the path to statehood and learn about the government.
There will be one final comprehension check next week regarding Arizona's path to statehood. Students should be able to explain why our population grew, why the citizens wanted to become a state, and when it finally happened.
We had a really fun kingdoms' activity this week. Ask you child about it, if they haven't shared already. That's it for the update. I hope you have a fabulous weekend!