Did the flea flee? Is that a moose eating mouse? Are we having fun with words and playing with homophones? YES! We've had a great time thinking of words that sound the same but have very different meanings and spelled differently. Look for our funny sentences on our door soon!
We have continued to focus on word choice in our writing and finding ways to include interesting words. We thought of many ways a person might write "said" depending on how they felt...barked, mumbled, whispered, yelled....We enjoyed saying "It's raining outside," with all the different ways. We've been keeping our eyes open during reading workshop (as we read our own books) for words to add to our list. Thinking of words for "eat" was fun and enjoyed even more as we practiced eating the different ways. Did she nibble her popcorn or maybe she devoured it! Actually doing it helped us understand how much more detail we can give with just one word thus painting a vivid picture for our readers.
In math, we played with rotating and flipping designs and created some phenomenal artwork which the children are hoping to put into a coloring book to sell. We also played with tessellations and found a fun way to create a pattern piece that fits into itself over and over. Look for both of these pieces of work on our wall!
We also moved from polygons to polyhedrons. We had fun learning how to name and draw (and create!) three dimensional shapes which led us to drawing three dimensional houses and letters. It fit ever so nicely with our crystal studies as we identified crystal structures!
Mistress Wonka finally made her first appearance this year! Apparently she needed a new line of candy and wanted all the candy to be symmetrical polyhedrons. She asked her Oompas to design ideas for her new candy as well as share ideas of what interesting properties could be included in the candy (for example, ice breath or invisibility). I heard she was quite impressed with the Oompas' work and promised to return soon. Their work can be found on the windowsill.
We began multiplication! Yay!! Big cheer from the kids! We played with different ways to group numbers, revisited our factors that we were keeping track of earlier in the year, practiced our counting by and started our multiplication math games. We have played Tic-Tac-Toe with a Twist and made grid art and multiplication designs. For some, these are new games and for others, games they are revisiting. Older kids who have played these games last year, stretch themselves by working with bigger numbers. It is wonderful to see the children take responsiblity of their learning and make choices that help them grow as learners.
We began multiplication! Yay!! Big cheer from the kids! We played with different ways to group numbers, revisited our factors that we were keeping track of earlier in the year, practiced our counting by and started our multiplication math games. We have played Tic-Tac-Toe with a Twist and made grid art and multiplication designs. For some, these are new games and for others, games they are revisiting. Older kids who have played these games last year, stretch themselves by working with bigger numbers. It is wonderful to see the children take responsiblity of their learning and make choices that help them grow as learners.
In geology, we have been thinking about how rocks and minerals are used in our lives, both past and present. We know that long ago toys and games were created using the natural world around us, so it made since that many of the games we know and love today have their orgins with rocks and pebbles. We learned a couple of old old games, one of which was Mancala. We made our own boards from cartons and pebbles we found outside but also discussed that originally, the "board" was simply holes dug into the earth. Now, here is one of those wonderful teacher moments...guess what I found these two doing the next day during recess? Yes! They had created a traditional Mancala game and having a blast. Love it!
We had a great Chinese New Year celebration organized by a wonderful group of parents - thank you! The kids had a great time learning about the traditions and symbolism of foods, making lanterns, eating pot stickers, and participating in a dragon dance.
Friday kid workshops have been going well! I am always impressed with the creativity the children have with the workshops they teach. They are always coming in with new ideas. We've had how to make mazes or mud pots to sideshows about Senegal. Here Zac is teaching about one of his passions, airplanes!
In January, Fridays were spent either at the food bank or swimming at the YMCA. I spent my time out of the pool this year which allowed me the opportunity to really observe all the children (outside of my seal training duties, of course!). I loved watching all the children play together and help those who are learning to swim or teach a friend a water trick.
Looking ahead...snowshoe trip, Valentine's Day, 100th Day, more Mistress Wonka and multiplication, book responses, Latin, literature groups, and much much more! 
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