Quarter 2 Weeks 2 and 3

Last week we finished school and got a shocking surprise--the government announced that we would get a surprise holiday this week, which meant no school Saturday, Sunday, or Monday! Hooray! We were so excited we packed up the school room, forgot the blog, and didn't think about school until today, Tuesday. I (aka Teacher Lady) also made the executive decision to postpone the blog until this week since we were looking at a two day school week and how much can one really complete in two school days?

All in attendance are going to contribute to this week's blog since I, Teacher Lady, have determined it will be so.

Top Ten Things We Did in School

Number 10 (by Tehva)

We played King Philip's War. I forget who I was when we played, but Tian pretended she was the frozen dead guy in the lake, John Sassoman. It was pretty violent. Lots of settlers got captured or scalped.

King Philip, who was the Wampanoag leader (his real Indian name was Metacom), eventually got killed. They put him in a lake (Tian: NO! That was John Sassoman!). No, wait then they hung his head on a pole and left it there for 25 years!

Number 9 (by Tian)

We went out all over Muscat and collected soil samples to test, kind of like Marie Curie did when she worked with pitchblende. It was really fun. We did lots of experiments on our soil like testing the soil for magnetism. By running a magnet over the soil, we discovered that some of our samples were very magnetic while some were not magnetic at all. Mine was one of the magnetic ones and it was very cool because, with the magnet, I started picking up bits from the soil that I had not even imagined were there.

We also figured out elements our soil might contain by throwing a bit of the soil into flame. We could look at the color of the flame and that gave us an idea of what might be in the soil.

Number 8 (by Silas)

We finally tested our bridges which we had been working on for weeks. All we used were tooth picks and glue. Mine was in the shape of a triangle, because triangles are stronger than squares. Tian and Cady's had no roof on theirs so their designs were different from mine.

During the test we tested the weight they would hold by first putting a matchbox car, then a rock, then 25 grams suspended from the bridge, and then 50 grams. My bridge looked weak but it wasn't very weak at all! It held everything--all of that weight! It was amazing!

Number 7 (by Cady)

We made marble tracks. Well, we had to use at least three toilet paper tubes, three pipe cleaners, six inches of aluminum foil, a sock, paper clips, and any other kinds of objects we could think of to add to it. I added a can to my design, as well as paper, which I taped to the can. My marble track worked and the marble went through, but I didn't score very high because, as usual, I didn't follow the directions very carefully. In the end, also, my marble rolled away because I forgot to build a place for my marble to fall in.

Number 6 (by Tehva)

I did really well in handwriting. My letters actually look like letters instead of snake poop!

Number 5 (by Cady)

My reading was amazing! I can read text very well and I understand the meanings of words! I definitely couldn't do that before!

Number 4 (by Tian)

I think I did my marble track well because, when I looked at the rubric, I realized I had included all of the elements and the marble did what it was supposed to do. Apparently, if this had been graded I would have gotten an A plus! I rock!

Number 3 (by Silas)

My marble track was well done. I loved my design. I included straws, toilet paper rolls, tape, tin foil, and a beer can. Oh, and a sock. Of course as I worked I had to make modifications but it all worked out well.

Number 2 (by Jebel)

I caught a fly. And then I ate it.

I also sneezed a lot and sprayed snot everywhere. I am constant entertainment.

Number 1 ( by the teacher)

Cady and Tian made a kicking lunch on Wednesday. Tian made tomato soup from scratch, which was full of veggies. Cady made frying pan sandwiches (aka grilled cheese) and didn't burn anything. Well done, girls!

Silas began to write things in cursive unbidden which, considering he has the coordination of a spastic monkey, was very well done.

Tian finally figured out the difference between perimeter and area which meant that she did not cry when it came time to work on her math review. Finally!

Quarter 2 Week 1

I want to write about the best things in school last week. There are only three. And they are all by me, Tehva.

But first, before I do the blog, Daddy took the funniest picture of Jebel this week, so I will add that here. She was looking at my friend Izzy's dog, Rosie, and she was so angry! It didn't happen in school but it was really funny anyhow!

The Funnest Thing (in school, besides Jebel I mean)

I memorized this poem:

The Caterpillar

by Christina Rosetti Spaghetti

Small and furry,

Catepillar in a hurry!

Take your walk to the shady leaf or stalk.

My no toad spy you.

May the little birds pass by you.

Spin and die,

To live again a butterfly.

That was so fun cause it was like singing.

The Yummiest Thing

This week I made pretzels because we are studying Pennsylvania! I made the best dough because I did the longest knead and it was really fun. After we baked it mine was really good. Really good. It was so good that my tongue was full with pretzels!

The Funniest Thing

I read the Singing King book. It was a little hard and I think it was too long so we had to read it over a bunch of days. I loved the Singing King though because we read it half and half and the story was funny. When Trent's daughter puts the crate on her head to sing good...that was hilarious.

I learned the ing last week and now I know how to read words like going, camping, farting...hee hee hee...crying, shaking. After school I realized I could read books like Junie B. Jones and the Smelly Schoolbus. Well, I can't read it by myself. No, I think I can read it by myself.

That's the end.

Tehva