Escaping to Freedom

We finish Number the Stars today! I think it’s kind of a bitter-sweet moment for us, because we were enjoying the book so much, that it’s sad to see it come to an end, but at the same time, we were anxiously awaiting how it was going to end. But alas, end it must, and I’m happy to announce that Number the Stars received a standing ovation! (lol)

After we finished reading Number the Stars, we pretended to see what it would feel like to actually be hiding from the German soldiers in a secret, boat compartment. Here are a few fun photos that we snapped after the kids were squashed together under a table with a black covering, hiding them. Remember, these photos were supposedly taken sometime around 1943, and yes, everyone is supposed to look frightened! 😉

Just for a heads up, I will be sending home the book report project this week, so be sure to ask your child to summarize the ending and to maybe describe a few of their favorite scenes and characters.

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Objectives and Homework for February 24 – 27, 2014

ENGLISH – Identify pronouns in a sentence.

– Identify subject pronouns in a sentence.

Homework: Monday page 94

Wednesday: page 96

NUMBER THE STARS – We started Number the Stars by Newbery Award award-winning author Lois Lowry. It is about the escape of a Jewish family from Copenhagen during Occupation of Denmark on Second World War because of the Holocaust. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_the_Stars)

Each week we will be reading a few chapters in class and completing chapter quizzes. Students are allowed to re-read what we have covered in class, but I ask that they do no read ahead unless they have been given special permission to do so. Please be sure to ask your child questions on what we have read in class and allow them to summarize and describe different events in detail and in order.

SPELLING– Since we have a short week, we will not be having any spelling test.

MATH – We are having our Math Chapter 8 test on Wednesday, so we will be spending time reviewing division this week.

Homework: Monday: Homework Practice page 59 Sharks 1-6, 21-24, Iguanas and Koalas 1-3, 21-23

Tuesday: page 353 Practice Test in our Math Connects Text Book (Do as much as you can)

SCIENCE – We are finalizing our research for our Science Fair for this Thursday! 🙂

BIBLE – Identify descriptions for the categories of the books of the Bible.

– Express several purposes of the Bible.

Homework: – Study Bible Verse for Thursday. (Parents, please encourage your child/children to study and memorize his/her Bible verse. This counts towards their end of term Bible grade.)

Hear this word the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel – against the whole family I brought up our of Egypt. Amos 3:1

Reading Week Continued…Book Study Day

Well…we’ve had another wonderful day, filled with reading! Today, Pastor Paul visited us and discussed a bit about his book ‘66 Books, One Story‘. One lucky student even won a signed copy of his book! YIPPEE! (See photos below for the lucky winner!) For those of you interested in purchasing a copy of your own, they are available for $9. You can send the money with your child, and I’ll be sure to grab a book for you. 🙂

After this, we split into groups and read books by other Caymanian authors. Then, we discussed our favorite parts of each book and said what made the book different from any book they’ve read.

We are all looking forward to tomorrow, where we’ll dress up as a book character and then dine on some yummy banana splits! How exciting! (Please remember to send proper P.E. shoes with your child tomorrow, if it doesn’t go with their character outfit.)

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Congratulations Ali!!!photo 5 (2)
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Stephen was very upset that he didn’t win a copy of ’66 Books, One Story’.

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Snowball Fight

There seems to be a never-ending amount of snow in some parts of the states lately! So, in honor of such cold weather, we had a little snowball fight in the Grade 4 classroom! Instead of snow, which we obviously are lacking…we used paper that we crushed into little balls. But, before we crushed them, we wrote little clues about ourselves and THEN…we threw them at each other! After the snowball fight, we each grabbed a snowball, read the clue inside and tried to guess who had written it.We did this not only to have a bit of fun, but to also learn a little more about each other.We had a blast!

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Reading Week Continues…Author Day!

Ms. Lorraine Carey payed us a wonderful visit today! She gave us a lot of pointers as to how to become excellent writers and also read a few pages from her very own book! It was a very exciting hour and the kids were absolutely captivated by her.

Here is the book synopsis for Jonathan’s Locket, by Lorraine Carey:

Orphaned Jonathan Palmer is a fifteen year old stow away on a ship back in 1794 en route to England to find his real birth-mom. He has no idea he is on the doomed ship which was a part of the fleet that crashed into the reef on Grand Cayman which became known as the Wreck of the Ten Sails. Jonathan was not lucky enough to survive the wreck along with eight other sailors. Problem was, no one ever knew he was on the ship and was not listed in the ship’s log. Some say these ships were cursed from the start.

Two centuries later strange sightings of ghost ships, screams, and eerie lights appear off Grand Cayman’s east end. Brandon Wallace, a troubled teen seems to be having strange encounters lately in the sea where he is befriended by a mystical sea turtle who can communicate telepathically with him and leads him to the site where Jonathan drowned. Brandon must help to release Jonathan’s spirit to the other side as his body is bound by a locket that must be released. This task proves to be only more dangerous for Brandon as one of his friends has other plans for him.

Excerpt: “We sail at 06:00. The Convert shall be in the lead, followed by the other merchant ships: William and Elizabeth, the Moorhall, the Ludlow, the Britannia, the Richard, the Nancy, the Eagle, the Sally, and the Fortune.”

Once the ships were boarded, the Union Jack was raised on the Convert.

Everyone aboard pledged their allegiance to the royal flag.

“Weigh anchor!”

While Jonathan hid, Peter stood on deck waiting for the traditional boarding ceremonies to finish. He grew anxious for the boarding protocol to end.

I need to sneak down into the inner hold to release that poor boy from his temporary confinement, he mused. God help me if they find out I have helped this boy stow away. Peter wasn’t just worried about Jonathan, though. He also worried about the condition of the rough seas ahead. Unknowingly, he had put himself and Jonathan right into the path of serious danger.

Here is the amazon link, if you are interested in downloading Jonathan’s Locket for your child to read. If you purchase this, please let me know, as Ms. Lorraine promised to throw in another of her books as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Jonathans-Locket-Lorraine-Carey-ebook/dp/B00GAPQW1U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1392826873&sr=1-1&keywords=jonathan%27s+locket

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Reading Week Continues with Buddy Reading

Today, Grades 2 and 4 read to each other. We had a blast, as we met in the Grade 2 classroom. In fact, we had so much fun, that we are planning on doing this again very soon! 🙂

Be sure to remind your child to write down all of the books that he/she has read this week, on their reading log. (It should be in their school bags.) There is also a spot for you to sign if they have completed any books at home. Thanks so much!

Happy Reading!

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Reading Relay

We took a minute to snap a photo before we passed the Reading Baton on to Grade 5. WOOHOO! Looking forward to finishing the books in our hands and moving on to other ones! So exciting!!!

“Kids who read are bound to succeed!”

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