Week 21

Fine Arts

As you listen to the third movement of Brahms Symphony #4 work on naming the instruments and the families they belong in.  Look and listen for the triangle, as this is an instrument that does not appear in any of Brahms other works.  Also continue to listen for the "Come and get your beans boys" theme.  Do you hear it more the more times you listen?  Do you hear fragments of the the theme?  How many different instruments do you hear play the theme?

Geography

You can find a song on CC Connected of the Central American Countries sung to the Mexican Hat Dance (uploaded by user name achisek).

This was my favorite version of a song for geography for this week and next.  

I had the privilege to student teach at the American school in Guadalajara, Mexico when I was in college.  We had the two weeks around Easter free to travel.  My favorite part of traveling was seeing all of the cultural dances and outfits.  Although it hasn't been that long ago, I wish it was during a time when I had an iPad or iPhone because I was unable to record all of the amazing sights, sounds, and smells.  But it is a wonderful memory!  Here is a version of the Mexican Hat Dance just for you to enjoy.

History

The CC Connected History resources I have been using in class and at home come from these users.

georgefamily02  -  Traceable history sentences in print and cursive for each week.

melodystroud - History sentences with pictures for each week.

bbanas - History sentence fill in the blank for each week.

We will probably stick to the CCC history snippet and copy work as our additional information for history for the rest of the year.

Math

CC connected user SommerA created the fill in the blank associative law worksheet I had in class.

We sang the associative law to the song Shortnin' Bread.  I downloaded the song from CC Connected, I just can't seem to find who uploaded it.  That was my favorite way to sing it.  

In class we explained what parenthesis look like and looked at them on the picture I had.  For my young children we will explain that they hold things together.  I will probably give them some simple addition problems using the associative law this week.  If we get ambitious we will dive farther into multiplication and practice some skip counting with it too.

Science and English

Both of these subjects were sung to songs uploaded on CCC by marykbry.  We just added simple hand movements to enhance the song.  Keep it simple! 

Abecedarian Straw Bridge Construction

   

For our straw bridge construction project in the Abecedarian class we discussed how bridges have shapes like letters in the alphabet.  We all looked at several pictures of bridges together.  We noticed that the shapes on the bridges looked like the letters X, V, A, and U.  

We also discussed as a group how to tie rubber-bands around something.  This was a new fine motor skill for most of the students in the class.  They were not required to use that skill, it was just presented as an option.  

Young students in this class will get this lesson again (if they continue with CC).  When the lesson is presented again, at an older age, other age appropriate examples and comparisons can be presented. 

I was very pleased at how the students learned to work as a team with each other and not rely the adults in the room.  I teamwork is an important skill for us to learn and work on at any age.  I am proud of our simple bridges!

Week 20

Fine Arts

This is an awesome video of the first movement of Beethoven's fifth Symphony.  Use this key to follow along.  It's a great way for young children to see the music as icons (length of notes corresponds to length of lines in the video).

This video is just a fun way to remember this piece of music was composed by Beethoven!

Week 19

Sorry, I missed a few weeks there!

Fine Arts

We are going to begin our unit on the orchestra this week.  I found these instrument family worksheets that I like.

http://myfavoritekindofcrazy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Learning-about-Instrument-Families.pdf

I also like the San Francisco Symphony's kids website

http://www.sfskids.org/classic/templates/instorchframe.asp?pageid=3

and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids site

http://www.dsokids.com/

Science Experiment

You can not help your kids with science this week in class, but you can discuss the project more in depth at home if you wish to.

Science

"It is manifestly absurd to suppose that the powers with which God has endowed matter can be destroyed any more that they can be created by man`s agency" - James Joule (Physicist-developed the first law of thermodynamics)

You can find experiments on YouTube if you want to play around with the First Law of Thermodynamics at home.

Math

Since my kids are still little we used the worksheet below for math.  They were responsible for finding a radius and writing the letters down.  

http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/geometry/circles-diameter-radius_TWDDF.pdf

History

Here is a list of sad facts about N. Korea if you are interested.  I don't think I will share these with my kids this year.  But maybe next time we get to cycle 2.
http://fb-troublemakers.com/20-interesting-messed-up-facts-about-north-korea-39046/

This link is about the Christians that were executed for starting churches in N. Korea.  Probably a read just for parents. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2573621/Kim-Jong-Un-orders-33-people-executed-contact-Christian-missionary-say-South-Korean-press.html

Geography

North Korea (there are no good pictures of North Korea).
This is probably as far as we will discuss this weeks history at home too.

South Korea.  There are plenty of good pictures!  

Taiwan

Philippines

Guam