Fun Friday

This week we have been studying about the ancient Egyptian pyramids. It  has been so fascinating, especially for Avery.   This afternoon, she wanted to search the library for books on ancient Egyptian mummy's because she wanted to learn more.  

Earlier today we had an activity to make a small pyramid out of sugar cubes.  The girls had a great time constructing their pyramid and even made up a pretend Pharaoh that was buried in their pyramid.  His name is Pugnacious, because he loves to fight.  (Pugnacious is the word of the week because it is an English derivative of their Latin vocabulary word Pugno).  I was amazed that they came up with that on their own.  I certainly had no idea what Pugnacious meant when I was in 2nd & 3rd grade!

Taylor just finished reading a book about Johnny Appleseed.  Since it is harvest season, we decided to do an apple craft to decorate our classroom.  I found this cute Johnny Appleseed craft on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I have found so many helpful ideas on that website!  

Edible Cell

This week we have been studying about the anatomy of a cell.  We learned about all of the different organelles that are part of the cell.  The curriculum that we are using is Exploring Creation, and his week we had a project to complete our lesson where we created an edible cell.

 

This is what we used:

 

Jell-O & Knox Gelatin-   to represent the cytoplasm

Peanut M&M candy-   mitochondrion

Skittles-   lysosomes

Smarties-   golgi body

Fruit Roll Up-   endoplasmic reticulum

Cake Sprinkles-  ribosomes

Licorice Pull and Peels-   centrioles

Round chocolate truffle-   nucleus

 

 I made the Jell-O according to the package and then mixed an extra cup of water and packet of Knox Gelatin.  I sprayed 2 ceramic cereal bowls and filled them with the mixture. I made them the day before we assembled the cell so that it had enough time to become firm.

 

Once the Jell-O was firm, I gave the girls each their bowl and the ingredients listed above and had them gently push them into the Jell-O.  Once their cell was constructed, we flipped it over onto a plate and talked about the different parts of the cell.  The most fun was when they tried to eat it.  This was a great hands on activity and we had a lot of fun with it!

 

The Nile River

We have been into school for 4 weeks now and I feel like we are finally in a good rhythm.  We began a new history curriculum this year.  I have heard a great deal about Story of The World and I thought we would try it out.  At first, it felt a little slow and boring but I realize I just needed to give us some time to get into a groove.  My girls love the many activities and artwork that is part of each lesson.  There is a variety of activities (books to read and craft/art projects to pick from) when teaching a lesson, which I think is why I struggled at first.  But now, I am seeing why so many rave about this history curriculum.  It is very engaging and keeps my girls interested.  That can be difficult to do, especially when teaching history.  

We also started a poetry notebook this week which is part of our grammar curriculum. We are using First Language Lessons level 2.  My girls enjoyed level 1 so we decided to stick with it.  I love the approach and continuous review that is incorporated into most lessons.  We also love the poems.  My daughter recited her favorite poem, that she learned last year, at a recent family reunion talent show.  

Today we began to put together our notebook.  The girls had a great day.  Who knew Friday could be so much fun?