10/12

SCIENCE:
Jax was our leader today. He opened our class with a beautiful prayer. We read a devotional about the slow beautiful work the earth does to create caves and how it resembles the slow beautiful work God continues to do on our hearts and lives. We watched a quick video about how caves are formed then reviewed our reading for the week and filled out a Speleothem worksheet. Then we created our own cave! Each student crinkled a paper bag to look like the calcite deposit formations found in caves. Then they put them under the table or on the floor depending on whether I gave them "stalactite" or "stalagmite". It was a really fun way to sink that vocabulary in and the kids extended it on their own by forming columns with some of their peers. We read a book about a young Inuit girl hunting mussles in a sea cave for the first time called "Very Last First Time" and noted the stalactite in the illistrations. Finally, we watched a video that showed the top 10 caves around the world. If your student did the experiment at home this week, once they are done with their observations, they can keep the worksheet in their Science binder behind the "Experiments" tab.

GEOGRAPHY:

Jax led us in the flag salute and chose a clue card that led us to Asia using a fun fact few students knew. We played a four-corners type game (in this case, 5 oceans) to review what we learned last week about oceans. Then, the students began to fill out their KWL for continents (the "Know" and "Want to know" columns) while I stamped their passports Oceans page. We flipped through a few slides to learn some unique features about each continent and then put together 7 puzzles (one for each continent) to review what we had learned. Finally, we filled out the "Learned" column for our KWL and read "Over on a Mountain Somewhere In the World." It's a fun book about the mountain ranges on each continent and the unique animals you may find on each. We had a visit from ASB to explain the wreath fundraiser that kicks off today and are pumped to provide our friends, neighbors and family an opportunity to bring a little Christmas magic in their home while supporting a good cause. Each student was sent home with an envelope to get them started - please check it out. Our hope is that each student can sell 10 wreaths. If you have questions on the fundraiser, check out the Branches website (they info, links, copies, etc available).

IEW:

We started our IEW time with our memory verse song. Then I gave time for students to share their memorization. Both Grace and Jett had all three memorized and earned an extra punch! Well done! The students turned in their final drafts for Belling the Cat and were SOOO proud of them that we HAD to make time to read a few extras in class today. I can't wait to read them all! We reviewed adjectives using a video that the boys were not too fond of, but they sang along anyway :) Jax took his day of leadership to remind us about John 3:16 and we had a beautiful moment talking about the grace of our good God available to all. We finished off reviewing vocab first with a charades activity and then with a team competition - it was a close one! Two of our kiddos have filled their punch cards earning a trip to the treasure chest today and I'm sure there will be more next week! I passed out the crossword puzzles for homework. I think this might have been our most fun day yet!

We missed you Ryan, Ava, Abbie and Mia!

Hope you have a wonderful week! Feel free to reach out with any questions.