Watch our 5th week of school in 4 1/2 minutes!
Monthly Archives: September 2018
The Arts: Poetry
Weeks 3 and 4 of school we learned about poetry using Layers of Learning, year 3 unit 2.
Each boy got a tiny composition book to write their poems in.
The first week, we wrote four diamantes and one cinquain.
The second week, we wrote four more poems. Adrian did not enjoy this poetry unit at all.
Science: Reptiles & Amphibians
Weeks 3 and 4 of school we learned about Egypt and Libya using Layers of Learning, year 3 unit 2.
We learned about the insides of snakes.
We made a paper chain coral snake.
We made frog life cycle books.
We built a pond out of lilypads while learning facts about frogs.
Cameron drew the outline of an alligator on a roll of paper. Then we read a book about alligators and wrote down some facts about them on cards which we put on the paper alligator. Then we added Flounder and Rae (who refused to get off Fritz’s hand) because alligators eat fish and birds.
We made clothespin alligators.
Geography: Egypt & Libya
Weeks 3 and 4 of school we learned about Egypt and Libya using Layers of Learning, year 3 unit 2.
We found Egypt and Libya on the big world map.
We did mapwork.
The boys each picked a video about the Nile for us to watch from a long list of short videos.
We listened to a song by a popular Egyptian singer.
We found where most of the population is in Egypt and Libya.
We learned about the Aswan Dam and compared its height to the heights of other dams around the world.
We played a memory game using Egyptian animals. Fritz and Adrian convinced their grandmother to play with them the next day. Adrian won both times. He’s got an incredible memory.
We learned about Berber rugs and compared them to traditional Navajo rugs made in this country.
The Fourth Week of School (Video)
Watch our 4th week of school in 4 minutes!
History: Ottoman Empire
Weeks 3 and 4 of school we learned about the Ottoman Empire using Layers of Learning, year 3 unit 2.
We added to our timeline.
We did mapwork to show how the Ottoman Empire grew.
We watched a YouTube video about harems.
We made toy soldiers and acted out a couple battles with them (the addition of a giant parrot made the battles extra fun).
The Arts: Fairy Tales
Weeks 1 and 2 of school we learned about fairy tales using Layers of Learning, year 3 unit 1.
We acted out Sleeping Beauty.
We talked about Pinocchio.
We acted out Stone Soup.
We read the fractured fairy tale The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Szieszka.
We went over the three parts of a fairy tale (good, bad, magic).
We made Beauty and the Beast into a news report.
Science: Insects
Weeks 1 and 2 of school we learned about insects using Layers of Learning, year 3 unit 1.
We put mushed up banana in a jar to start attempting to grow fruit flies.
We made clay insects and labeled the head, thorax, and abdomen.
We made a poster showing the life cycle of a butterfly.
After a week, we had caught some fruit flies, but didn’t see any eggs or maggots yet, so we left the jar to see if any ever appear.
We watched a YouTube video about 10 crazy types of spiders.
We completed two dichotomous key worksheets, one easy and one difficult.
We dissected a grasshopper. Cameron left the room before we even started and Adrian quit after looking at the mouth parts. Fritz, however, stuck with it and was both grossed out and fascinated the whole time.
The Third Week of School (Video)
Watch our 3rd week of school in just over 4 1/2 minutes!
Geography: Argentina and Chile
Weeks 1 and 2 of school we learned about Argentina and Chile using Layers of Learning, year 3 unit 1.
We found Argentina and Chile on the world map.
We used the atlas to label a map of Argentina and Chile.
We watched a video of the tango.
We ate Asado for dinner.
We learned about the flags of Argentina and Chile.
We watched YouTube videos of the anthems of Argentina and Chile and about the geography of Argentina.
We compared some traditions in Argentina with similar traditions in the US.
Smaller on the Outside 