past posts

Friday, October 19, 2012

Friday 10/19- Friday 10/26

Language Studies:
We are learning short vowel sounds. We have 2 separate lists. Both share the menu choice board for homework and will be tested next Friday. Both share the idiom of the week.

List 1:    drop, plan, thing, smell, shut, sticky, spent   bonus: pumpkin                                   

List 2: lunch spent, thing, than, when, then, knock, knit   bonus: principal

IDIOM of the week: the last straw- the final problem or misfortune that makes all of the previous ones unbearable

Math:
HomeLink 1.13 - time/elapsed time review

Science:
Test on10/30

How to make Egg "Geodes"
I pulled this information from online and will find the site & cite it here soon.

I cleaned the eggshells for the kids. This was by far the most disgusting and longest part of the experiment. I let the shells dry overnight.

Supplies
clean eggshells
water
a variety of soluble solids: table salt, rock salt, sugar, baking soda, Epsom salts, sea salt, borax, or cream of tartar
small heat proof containers - we used jelly jars
spoons
food coloring
egg cartons and wax paper or mini-muffin tins
Instructions
1. When cracking eggs to save for this project, try to crack them near the narrow end so the opening is smaller and the most possible shell is saved.
2. To clean the eggshells, use hot water and run your finger around the inside of the egg. The hot water will ‘cook’ the lining of the eggshell and you can pull the ‘skin’ out with your fingers. Note: It is important to remove all of the egg membrane from the shell, if you do not your crystals may grow mold and turn black.
3. Allow the shells to completely dry.
4. Place eggshells in an egg carton lined with wax paper or in mini-muffin tins to hold them upright.
5. In a saucepan, heat water to boiling.
6. In small heatproof container pour 1/2 cup of water. Add about half the volume of solid to the water, stirring until it dissolves. Continue adding small amounts of solid until the water is super-saturated, which means water has absorbed as much solid as it is able and the solid will no longer dissolve.
7. Add food coloring.
8. Fill each eggshell with as much of the solution as it will hold without tipping or over-flowing.
9. Place the shells in a safe dry place to allow the water to evaporate. As the water evaporates, crystals will form inside the eggs.



Friday, October 12, 2012

Week of October 15-19


We are mixing up reading groups again! I am so excited to have Mrs. Arteaga come into our classroom. This will help us to  keep the groups fluid and have students working together in the classroom. 

We will be differentiating the curriculum and students will receive spelling and
vocabulary as fits their needs.

That said, this upcoming week we are just getting back into the homework groove after several weeks of holidays. For this reason, we are simply doing a review spelling list that is pulled from past lists. 

Differentiation will begin on October 19. 

Also, we will be ready to begin our new read aloud soon. Please let me know how you feel about The Lightening Thief. 

Homework due Thursday 10/18:

Language Studies 
REVIEW words - test Friday, 10/19

friend
said
two
bake
wait
name
twelve
ninety

Idiom- right off the bat,  it means: immediately or without delay 

Math ** UPDATE: no math HomeLink - we did it in class! 


Reading
Keep READING & fill out the reading log!