Well we have completed the first full week of our 2022 - 2023 school year!  It has been a fantastic week full of wonder and discovery.  We did two fun experiments in science and we explored large numbers, maps, and the Wonderful land of OZ,  This past week end I competed in the Arizona Dance Classic Ballroom competition with my husband and instructor.  We took first in all dances and had a fantastic time at Tapatio Cliffs Resort. We also got together with all the family to celebrate July birthdays.  We have several in the month of July.  I am looing forward to a quiet weekend this week.  I hope your week end will be enjoyable. 

 MATH:  To introduce the spirit of wonder and discovery in math this last we watched Donald Duck in Mathmagicland. I encourage you to watch this inspirational 28 min. movie on YouTube  
DonaldDuck in Mathmagicland with your children and discuss it with them.   To be able to do math efficiently and correctly it is so helpful if students know their math facts.  We do not have as much time in class as students need to become proficient.  Please work with your children to improve their facts.  We have given them several ways they can practice them at home:  origami folded fortune tellers, flash cards, computer games, calculators, and games.  They should spend at the minimum 5 – 10 min. per day improving or reviewing facts.  Right now, we are concentrating on multiplication facts.  Next week we will be rounding numbers and on Thursday, August 18^th we will have our Unit 1 Test. 

 SCIENCE:  This week we will review the scientific method and concentrate on the variables in a good experiment (Independent, Dependent) and having a control.  We will soon have a comprehension check where scholars will need to write the 5 steps of the scientific method and everything, they know about conducting a good experiment.  Reviewing this several times per week would be beneficial.  They could review it in their science spiral, teach it to you, or they could write a practice paragraph. 

 LANGUAGE:

Language Arts 

     Grammar – We begin analyzing and diagramming simple sentences. Students will identify the four different kinds of sentences (declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory) and identify the principal elements in a sentence. Songs about the 8 parts of speech and sentence elements (from :10 - 1:32)

Writing – We will practice writing summaries with different texts and also our literature book. Students will be able to identify sentence fragments as well.

 Poetry – Children will memorize Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Click the link on the side to see this poem.

Literature – We read chapters 3-7 in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Your children will do a sequencing activity with illustrations as well.

 Latin & Greek Roots – Students will have a spelling test on the roots derived from unus, mono, and poly. This list of words is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aHrsmmkirvJW741WDDisUeKvyexLh3xdgupJyUNQboc/edit?usp=sharing