*This week my Dad was visiting. We had a relaxed week of school, fitting in where we could. We rowed, "Owl Moon" using Five in a Row, Volume 2.

Math

Caileigh- Worked with Singapore math doing addition and subtraction with one digits, ordinal numbers, patterns and word problems.

Aiden- Working with mental subtraction of several digits. Learned how to do 4 digit subtraction with trading. Working on finding multiples of numbers, word problems, money.

Played math games! Played "go fish" by finding pairs that match to 10.

Using a line in the book, "100 minutes", Aiden calculated this to be one hour and forty minutes.

Bible Devotions for lent. Wee Lambs.

Language Arts We used Five in a Row to study Owl Moon this week. Many of our activities came from this book.

We learned about hyperbole and came up with examples. We reviewed simile and metaphor. We talked about imagery in writing. I had each child write a basic sentence. Aiden's original sentence was, "The cat chased the rat." I then had them go back and add description to add more depth and imagery to the sentence. "The snow white, sleek cat pranced and ran powerfully after the tiny mouse with patchy fur."

Caileigh's original sentence, "The princess walked across the ballroom." the revision was, "The beautiful, majestic princess moved elegantly across the large, bright ballroom."

We put together an Owl Moon notebook including worksheets, illustrations, copywork, definitions etc.

We memorized the poem, "There was an Owl".

Read aloud, The Box Car Children #81

When we studied Peter Rabbit last week, the kids thought it would be fun to create a squirrel character after our backyard squirrel. They named him Chatter Squirrel. This week the kids came to me and asked me to type out their story. They each took turns writing a chapter and I typed. I had to type fast to keep up with them! We printed it off, they added illustrations and we have put it into a noetbook. They read so many Geronimo Stilton that I think they modeled the 1st person and adventure style after those books.

We discussed 1st person.

I wrote the story exactly as they told me..........

Introduction

One warm morning in summer there stood a little village. I lived here and it was my first time in a mysterious village. I was very excited, for this was the day I was learning how to be a detective. I almost forgot, my name is Chatter Squirrel and I am here writing the story. This is how it began………

Chapter 1

I went to Detective School and met my teacher, Mr. Dig, the badger. He showed me my classroom. It was a very exciting classroom. It had a globe on one table and a desk with the name Chatter Squirrel on it. I went to my desk and sat down and then the other students arrived. There was a skunk, a deer, and a bear cub. They all went into the classroom and sat down at their desks. The learning began.

Chapter 2

First Mr. Dig taught us how to dust for fingerprints. Then he taught us how to use a magnifying glass and a microscope, and binoculars, and gadgets. Now I was ready to solve some mysteries

Chapter 3

This is how the mission began. I had just finished dinner. I was getting into my pajamas when I heard a mysterious, “Creak”.

Then I said, “What was that?”

Then I looked around and saw a secret passage way. I opened the door and saw an eerie shadow of crows and bats. Then it flew right past me. A bat shadow! I looked like I was going to jump a mile and I screamed at the top of my lungs, “AHHHH!”

I ran up the stairs and said, “Mommy! Daddy! A secret passageway and a bat shadow and it’s after me! Look!”

“It’s ok Chatter, it was just your imagination. Go back to bed.” Said my mother.

Chapter 4

The next day when I was walking to Detective school, I saw a strange man walking towards me with crows and bats circling over his head making eerie sounds. I screamed and ran all the way to Detective school. I yelled, “Mr. Badger, there are crows and bats and a man monster chasing me.” Mr. Badger said, “I think it time for you to use your detective skills and solve this mystery.”

Chapter 5

Mr. Badger gave me his magnifying glass to investigate with. First I started in my home. I went into the passage way and it went down, down, down. I reached the cellar and it was dark and gloomy. Luckily I had taken a candle. I looked around and then I saw it. I saw a big footprint and I studied it. Then I followed it deeper into the cellar and finally I came to the middle of the cellar and there I saw the man standing before me with bats and crows flying over him. I jumped a mile and cracked the floor boards. I ran all the way upstairs, ran out the door, ran around detective school, ran back home and then screamed at the top of my lungs, “AHHHHH, I saw it, the monster!” My classmates came running and they decided to have a meeting.

Chapter 6

After the meeting, Mr. Badger gave me the microscope to investigate for a second time. This time I found a gigantic feather and I used my scissors to cut a small piece out and put it under my microscope. I saw strange fibers inside it. I took a picture of the fibers using a special machine and showed Mr. Badger them. Mr. Badger said, “Those are no ordinary fibers Chatter, I think you need your friends to investigate now.”

Chapter 7

When I asked his schoolmates they said, “No, we’ve been busy helping people for a year and we need a break.” I went back to Mr. Badger and he said, “That doesn’t sound like your usual classmates. You better go and investigate more.” Then I went out the door. I said, “I must go back to the cellar and this time be brave.” So when I got to the cellar I said, “I think I’ll go further then this and I went further, further, until I came to the end. I saw another trap door and I went down. I looked and saw a bear claw, a deer print and a skunk print. “Hmmm, my classmates must be trying to trick me”, I said.

Chapter 8

I went back to everything I found and studied them closely. I realized that everything was a fake. The bats and the crows were plastic and the foot print was made by using a shovel. Then I saw my classmates creeping behind me and I thought, “I better hide.” I hid behind the shovel. I got brave and swooped into action. I swung out with the shovel and pranced on my classmates.

“Chatter! How did you solve this mystery?”, the classmates asked.

“You should have used slippers instead of leaving behind your foot prints”, I said.

We all went back to the classroom to tell Mr. Badger what happened. I couldn’t believe that I had solved this hard, hard mystery. Mr. Badger was impressed with my detective skills. He rewarded me with a medal.

The End

Science

We studied the moon. We learned about the phases of the moon. We learned the words waxing and waning. We completed a worksheet and used Oreo cookies to illustrate the different phases. We read books from the library about the moon.

We made cookies and we dropped them into icing sugar to show the indentations they left. We discussed how this is like craters on the moon that are left by meteorites.

We studied owls. We watched videos on youtube, discovery education and brain pop. We listened to owl calls on the owl pages site.

The kids completed a study sheet on owl facts for the great horned owl.

We talked about naturalists and how they need patience and observation skills.

We went for a nature walk and looked for signs of spring. We took pictures of the buds, melting snow etc. We noted that when a tree starts growing buds, the color is different than the old growth branches.

We found a spot where we think deer rest. We found evidence of deer poop.

We looked for animal tracks. We found dog, people and crow tracks. We looked through our

"Animal Tracks of Western Canada" book.

Wednesday night we surprised the kids at nightfall. When they would normally be going to bed, I read them Owl Moon. I asked them how the child in the story would have felt to be able to go out after dark and look for owls. They both thought it would be fun. I asked them if they would like to do this. Aiden asked me "when?" and I replied, "How about now?" The look of excitement and surprise on their faces was priceless. My Dad and Sean went out with them and they went looking for owls and the moon. Apparently Aiden kept "sensing danger"! They had a great time and came home for hot chocolate. I think it was a special memory for them.

Social Studies

We talked about the relationship between the father and the child in the story. The kids wrote a favorite memory that they have with their Dad. We talked about rules and why they are important and what their purpose is. We talked about how sometimes rules can be flexible, like in the story when the father and child went out after dark.

We had a lot of discussions about self control. We talked about how practicing self control can allow you to do more things. A lack of self control can sometimes cause you to miss out on experiences. We talked about times when this has been true.

We talked about first-time experiences. Sometimes they are dictated because of law and age, and other times for reasons like age, maturity and finances.

Fine Arts

We learned how to draw owls. We used felts, crayons and pastels.

Caileigh and Mikayla made tie dyed shirts!

Caileigh put together a "1st day of spring" party.

Caileigh wanted a pinata but I told her there wasn't time to make or buy one. She got creative and made one instead.

She made a pinata using paper and staples and put candy inside. It worked and was a lot of fun. Aiden got the winning shot.