We had 8 kids in co-op today. Some things were a continuation of previous weeks, some were new, and some were concluded today. Here's a brief overview!
Polygon Lapbooks:
Before our northern girls arrived, the kids worked in their polygon lapbooks. We reviewed the definition of a polygon and then filled out a polygon chart; including numbers of edges, vertices, and angles for each polygon up to a decagon.
Frindle:
We read a little of Frindle and looked at the use of punctuation and more specifically, ellipses (... and ....).
Our focus was on the virtue of confidence. What is it? How do we demonstrate confidence? How does our body language show people that we are confident. How can lack of confidence cause us to miss out on wonderful opportunities and sometimes make us an easy target. We went through various scenarios, coming up with confident solutions to each.
The confidence virtue was a good segue into a little project I wanted to do with the kids on the book Growing Up with a Bucket Full of Happiness. The premise of this book is that we all have invisible buckets. If we are happy and fulfilled, then our buckets are full. If we are sad or lonely, then our buckets are empty. We talked about how we can fill our own buckets and how other people can fill our buckets. The kids have each been given buckets. Today they filled out pieces of paper with things that they are proud of about themselves, things they like to do, and things that make them happy. They are to continue this at home. If they make or do something for someone else (that fills their bucket), then they in turn get to fill their own!
Over the next week they are to work on filling their buckets as well as their siblings. They must bring their buckets for next week and we will continue the next step of bucket happiness next week! Thanks for helping me out with this little project. To be honest, as I was reading the book, I thought the kids were finding it a little hokey, but when they got to filling their bucket, they were right into it! As the day progressed, we talked about behavior that helped to fill someone's bucket. They did an amazing job being positive and supportive (without needing the recognition of a piece of paper in their bucket).
10 minutes run around outside!
Math Game:
Using 6 UNO cards, the kids had to make up the largest 3 digit number they could, say the number and then add all three numbers (for points). Once everyone had the hang of this (which happened quickly) we moved on to four digit numbers. This is a good, quick game for place value, and quick multiple number addition.
Great Lakes:
Last week we finished Paddle to the Sea. All the kids seemed to really enjoy this book and especially loved following Paddle's journey. We looked today at the geography of the lakes, and made special note of where each lake lies in relation to the Canadian provinces and American states.
After they did some map analysis and answered some questions, I had the kids draw the lakes freehand. This was not easy but it helps to cement the locations of each lake in their head!
Lunch and half hour outdoor play time!
Art
At one point I thought I must have lost my mind trying this activity with the kids but it is going well so far. Today we started a line drawing of a portion of a bike. The kids were given frames (aka windows), that they had to look through and find a portion of the bike that they wanted to draw. On a square piece of paper they drew the lines they saw. The biggest problem was having them draw thicknesses (eg/ not a single line for a spoke, rather two lines close together).
Once they had a rough drawing, they drew the same thing on a square piece of canvas. They had to make sure they used the same scale and had straight lines where they needed them.
When they were ready to paint, we discussed tints, shades and value. They had to choose one colour, and using different values of that colour, they had to paint in the negative spaces.
We will continue this project next week. So far, so good!
Frindle
After painting, we concluded our book, Frindle. Somewhere during the day, the kids did have silent reading time but I can't remember when it was. It was a whirlwind!
Thanks again everyone for lending me your kids!
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