Pioneer Newsletter

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday.   No class for 2nd grade. 

A reminder that students need to bring some type of earbuds or headphones to use with the NetBooks, iPods, & iPads each week.   Students can bring them back and forth in their backpacks if they choose.  I also have baggies to keep everyone’s earbuds separated into a larger class baggie.   Students have had their noses to the grindstone all week. 

I have been reading The Odyssey to grades 2-5.  Odysseus finally got to his home island of Ithaca after 19 years of wandering.  He is in disguise staying with the pig farmer.  The pig farmer is loyal to Odysseus.  Athena went to get Telemachus (Odysseus’ son) who was off searching for information about his father.  When Telemachus arrived at Ithaca, Athena sent him to the pig farm.  There is major trouble brewing at Odysseus’ home.  Young suitors are trying to get Penelope to marry them.  They are making a mess of the royal house.  Not to mention eating up all the food stores and drinking all the wine. 

I read Pinduli to 1st grade.  It is a story about a young hyena who is made fun of by other animals of the savannah.  The overall theme is to accept people who are different than you.   Differences are a good thing and not to judge people by how they look.

Grades 3-5 did a Mensa for Kids Poetry Study.  We studied the poem “No Man is an Island” John Donne.   There is a video of Martin Luther King, Jr. quoting this poem during the Civil Rights Movement.

The app of the week was Glass Towers 2.  You have to use logic and problem solving to get rid of the blue glass blocks while retaining the red glass blocks.  It sounds simple, but it is not. 

Next week we will do a mini lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. 

1st and 2nd grades participated in a  symposium.  What talented students we have!  They were all so respectful of each other. 

First grade is only 3 compliments away from a COMPLIMENT PARTY!!! 

Here’s where every class stands.

First  12 out of 15

Second 5 out of 15

Third 8 out of 15

Fourth 2 out of 15

Fifth 5 out of 15

 PICK 3 ACTIVITIES TO DO FOR YOUR SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPATION

Things to bring on the day of your grade level Symposium.

Bed sheet to fashion into a garment.

Pillow to recline on during symposium.

Baggie of bite-sized snacks.  Examples:  grapes, crackers, fruit, vegetables, cheese, yogurt, bits of bread

Juice in a box or other non-carbonated drink.

Rules for Symposium from Ancient Greece.

No dropping your drink.

Do not tap or whistle to music.

Do not laugh at inappropriate times.

Do not spit at others in the symposium.

All of my apps are free. 

Some are the “lite” version. 

“Lite” means it is not the complete game. 

Arts

123D Sculpt, Flip It Lite, Easy Origami, Let’s Draw, Puppet Pals, Origami II, Paint Sparkles, Sock Puppets, Pottery HD Lite

Board Games

Checkers, Chess, Learn Chess, Hangman, Solitaire, Mancala

Books

iBooks has tons of free books.  

Foreign Languages

DE Lite, FR Lite, Learn Spanish, IT Lite, SP Lite, LL French

Games

Angry Birds, Cupcakes, Cut the Rope, DH Challenge, Fruit Ninja, GT2 Free, Line Runner, Pocket Frogs, Princess Dress Up, Prize Claw, Tiny Tower, SuperCow, Tiny Ball, Zombie Farm

Geography

Atlas, History Maps, TapQuiz Maps,  Stack the States

Language Arts

Bluster, Grammar Free, Grammar, Word Abacus, Poetry Magnets, Hidden Object Crossword

Logic

Geared, Geared 2, Brain Fit, Logic Box, Harbor Master, Happy Hills, Rail Maze, Open Valve, Unblock Me, Sudodu, GeoSudoku, VaultBreaker, Spot the Differences,

Math

Count Money, Math Puppy, Math Drills, Multiplication, Math Ninja, Rocket Math, My Math App, Subtraction, Bubbles, Math Board, Fast Facts,

Music

Classical I, Piano Free, Music Sparkle

References

Cool Facts, Factoid, Dictionary

Relax

ZenSpace, Naturespace, Koi Pond

Science

Cat Physics, 3D Cell Stain, iElements, Human Anatomy, Newton’s Cradle, Star Atlas,

Sports

Let’s Bowl, 3D Bowling, My Horse, Soccer Lite, Tiki Golf 2, Crazy BBall, Puffle, Slam Dunk, Bubble Shoot

Logic – Cat Confusion

Pattern Block Creations 10 minutes

Library Check Out

Language Arts – iPad App – Bluster – Grade 2 – Synonyms, Prefixes, Rhyming Words.

Outside Recess – Yea!

Math iPad Apps – My Math App and/or Math Ninja – yes there are Dog and Cat Bots and a  Talking Japanese Tomato called TomatoSan.   The first graders are singing along with the music their math facts…”11 minus 5 equals 6″  There are no lyrics.  The students are just spontaneously making up songs to go along with the music.

Lunch

Read Aloud – Eros & Psyche Comic by SAM (Special Academic Manga – a project group that produces high quality educational comics for children)        It is a rated “G” version.

Logic Links using colored chips. 

Board Games interacting with another human being following rules and being a gracious loser. 

Story w/ Hole.

Logic – Win One for the Camels

Library Book Checkout

Math Fibonacci Fun,  video of Fibonacci numbers in nature, 1 Fibonacci Worksheet, 1 on complicated other sequences

Recess OUTSIDE!!!!  Cold, but clear and sunny

Finished up Math – Whew, it was complicated.

Lunch

Read Aloud – The Land of the Dead

Poem Locate, Write, Memorize

Lateral Thinking Puzzles.