Things that Hatch!

One of my students brought in a great show and tell a couple of weeks ago.  At home, with this family, they hatch chicks.  So, when the chicks were ready they brought them to school for the class to see.  It is a long and tedious process to hatch chicks.  First, the family picks the eggs up from a farmer.  There were 10 eggs.  Because they are not with their mother it is very important to keep them warm and safe.  So next, you put them in a tank with towels.  In order to keep them warm you must use an incubator.  Then, you wait, and wait, and wait.  Finally they hatch!  It is important to feed them and make sure they have enough water.  Soon after they hatch they need to be returned to the farmer. 

There are many other animals and even fish that lay eggs.  And they all lay different amounts of eggs.  A flamingo only lays one egg.    An iguana lays 70 eggs in its nest.  The iguana eggs are different from the bird eggs; they are soft instead of hard.  An octopus lays thousands of eggs at one time.  These are just some egg laying animals, but there are plenty more. 

Vocabulary:

Hatch chicks: take care of eggs until baby chicks come out

Tedious: hard work that needs a lot of attention

Incubator:  a light that gives off a lot of heat to keep the eggs warm

Flamingo: a pink bird that lives near the water, has very long legs

Iguana: a large lizard that lives in South America with spikes on its back

Octopus: a sea creature with 8 arms that lives at the bottom of the ocean

Vocabulary Exercise:

Use each of the vocabulary words in a sentence of your own.

Grammar: it is important to use the proper sequence when writing a story.  You do this with words such as first, second, third, next, then, last, finally, etc.  Write your own story using the sequence words.  Use my story as an example.

Lemurs

I read this story about lemurs with my class.  It is from National Geographic Young Explorer.  It is a great magazine.  My class learned that there are many kinds of Lemurs.  Most wild lemurs live in the same place forever.  They usually live in Madagascar.  Most lemurs are endangered.  Recently, a new kind of mouse lemur was discovered.  It is really small and has a long tail like a mouse.  There is a lemur that is as big as a cat called a black lemur.  The interesting thing about the name is that this lemur is not black. Lemurs find it very easy to climb trees.  Baby lemurs ride on their mother because they are too small to climb.  Another kind of lemur is the crowned lemur.  It is called this because on its head it actually has a gold color fur that looks like the lemur is wearing a crown.  The indri is the singing lemur and it is the largest of all.  Ring tailed lemurs have a black and white striped tail, and a black and white face; it looks like a raccoon.  It likes to bask in the sun.  The last of the lemurs is a sifaka lemur.  When it is on the ground it hops sideways and looks like it is dancing.  Lemurs are very a very appealing group of animals to learn about.  I would like to learn more!    

Vocabulary:

Lemurs: small fox like mammal

Madagascar: an area if Africa

Endangered: not many of these animals left

Recently: something that has just happened

Discovered: to find out some new information

Bask: lay in the sun

Appealing: another word for interesting

Word Scramble:

sabk_________________

ruslme________________________

gnadnedred__________________________

glnipapea_________________________

amadagcsra__________________________

ryelctne_____________________________

ddiesrcroeve____________________________

Grammar:

Action verbs describe the action in the sentence.  Look for three sentences in the story that have action verbs in them.  Underline the sentence.  Then, write three of your own sentences using  an action verb.   

Ladybugs

In my classroom we recently received a ladybug habitat! It is fascinating and I love watching them.  Sometimes I feel that I am more interested than the children are.  The ladybug habitat is a clear dome shaped top that fits into the bottom that looks like grass and rocks.  It is plastic and the top has a magnifying glass that you can look in.   The ladybugs arrived in the larva stage in a clear tube that had food for them to eat.  I dumped the tube into the habitat and the larva fell in and started walking around.  There is a little sponge in the habitat that has to be kept moist.  The ladybugs like the humidity.  Now the ladybugs are in the pupa stage.  They attached themselves to the side of the dome and formed their pupa.  It will be long now until they emerge from the pupa as ladybugs.  After that happens, I will take the class to playground to set the ladybugs free. 

Vocabulary:

Habitat: a placed where the ladybugs can live inside

Fascinating: to be amazed; wow!

Magnifying glass: a lens that magnifies what you are looking at; makes it look bigger so you can see it easier

Larva: the stage after the egg stage, they look like bugs

Moist: to keep wet with no puddles

Pupa: the stage after the larva stage, they enclose themselves in a case until they are ready to come out as ladybugs

Emerge: to come out

Writing activity:

Investigate the life cycles of the ladybug and butterfly.  Write a short paragraph comparing the differences and similarities, the way they are the same and different of the two.

Grammar:

A verb is the word I the sentence that tells what the subject is doing.  Find 7 subject/verb pairs and circle them. 

Description of a Beautiful Place

Come and visit this cozy getaway nestled deep in the woods.  Enjoy the beautiful landscape of green trees and shrubs lined with gorgeous flowers that surround the crystal blue lake.  Watch the wildlife roam the area, hear the birds sing their songs, and the multi colored fish swim. All while you are sitting by the log cabin relaxing.  At night, as the big yellow sun goes down you can start the fire.  The warmth of the fire feels nice as the air gets a chill. Watch as the fire’s flames roar colors of yellow and orange, as you are roasting delicious white fluffy marshmallows.    

Vocabulary:

cozy getaway: comfortable place to go for a short vacation/trip away from home

nestled: in an area by itself

landscape: surroundings, usually trees, flowers

roasting delicious white fluffy marshmallows: when you put a marshmallow on a stick and hold it over the fire to warm it, and then eat it!

Vocabulary Exercise: Use the vocabulary words to create a sentence for each of your own.

Grammar: the story used many words to describe the place.  Those are called adjectives.  Circle the adjectives in the story.  Then, write your own story describing a place using at least five adjectives.

Allergies!

Every year when spring arrives…..so do my allergies!  My allergies are so annoying!  I have to take a lot of medicine; pills, eye drops and nasal spray.  Some of the medicine and the allergies themselves make me very fatigued.  My allergies cause me to have a runny nose, sneezing, itchy eyes and throat, and cause a lot of stuffiness in my head.  Usually in the spring I cannot wear my contact lenses because my eyes are so itchy.  So I have to wear my glasses.  Every spring I get sick as a result of my allergies.  I get sinus infections and conjunctivitis.  It is a good thing my allergies are only at their worst for a few weeks.  It would go crazy if it was any longer!

Vocabulary:

Allergies: reaction the body has to certain things in the air

Nasal spray: spray that is shot up the nose to clear a stuffy nose

Fatigued: tired

Sinus infection: germs in your sinuses that causes an infection that causes a stuffy head and nose

Conjunctivitis: pink eye: an infection in the eyes that is itchy and makes your eyes puffy and red

Definitions: write the correct vocabulary word on the line

1. causes puffy, red and itchy eyes _______________________
2. shoots up your nose to clear stuffiness _________________________
3. germs that make you feel stuffy in your head and nose ___________________
4. to be very tired __________________________
5. things in the air cause your body to have _______________________

Grammar: Past tense verbs.  Find five verbs in the story and write the past tense for each one.  For example: the past tense of are is were. 

Cats

I love cats.  My cat is cute and cuddly.  Her name is Clover.  My cat is very affectionate also.  She loves to curl up in my bed.  She sleeps right next to me against my legs.  Early in the morning she will wake me up because she wants me to pet her.  She looks at me her big beautiful eyes and starts to purr.  She is also very vocal.  She is always meowing and talking to me.  It is so funny.  When I ask her questions or say hello to her she meows back at me as if she were really talking to me.  She is the most loveable, precious little girl and I love her!

Vocabulary:

Cuddly: (cuddle) to be close

Affectionate: showing love

Purr: sound a cat makes when they are happy

Vocal: to express through sounds/voice

Precious: to love dearly

Word Scramble:

1. dylcdu
2. aeftfaencoti
3. rurp
4. lcova
5. rsoipceu

Grammar: an antonym is a word with the opposite meaning.  For example bad is an antonym for good.  Find the antonym for each of the vocabulary words. 

The Best Experience of My Life

            One of the best experiences of my life to date would have to be when my husband proposed and we got engaged.  The proposal was a complete shock to me; we had been dating for about nine years at the time and because of that I always thought I would know when the engagement was coming.  I am so glad I was wrong.

            It was the perfect day.  We were away on vacation in Sedona, Arizona.  The day he proposed we were on a day trip to the Grand Canyon.  At the end of a very long and tiring day we found the perfect rock to sit on and watch the sunset on the rim of the canyon.  I was tired and cranky and could not wait to go back to the hotel which was hours away.  I was leaning on my husband and suddenly he moved and was fiddling in our bag, and said, I have to ask you something.  Before I knew it he was down on one knee and asked if I would marry him.  And, after crying as my first reaction, I said yes!

            The second best part of that day was calling home to tell everyone the news.  I will never forget the reaction at my parent’s house.  I was on speaker phone and I got to tell everyone at the same time.  It was a very emotional and exciting moment for everyone.  On May 31, 2006 a wonderful memory was created, one that I will always remember like it was yesterday.  It was perfect and the best part was that I was completely shocked.

Vocabulary:

Proposed: to ask someone to marry you

Engaged: the time before you are married

Shock: to be very surprised

Rim: the edge of the Grand Canyon

Emotional: to have feeling of happiness and excitement and sometimes sadness all at the same time

Vocabulary Activity:

1. Emotional                                         a. to ask someone to marry you

2. Rim                                                   b.the time before you are married

3. Engaged                                            c. to be very surprise

4. Proposed                                           d. the edge of the Grand Canyon   

5. Shock                                                 e. to have feelings of happy, sad, excited

                                                

                                                

                                       

Grammar: a noun is a person, place, thing or idea.  Circle the nouns in the story above. 

My Most Embarrassing Moment

          I was in second grade at the time.  My mom had taken me for a visit to the eye doctor.  It turned out, as I’m sure we expected, that I needed glasses.  I could not see the chalk board in the classroom, but I would have rather squinted than wear glasses.  So, we picked up my glasses, I still remember what they looked like, they were pink.  My parents told me that I better wear them and I’m sure they gave me a bunch of reasons. 

         So, I guess they trusted me and thought I would be following their instructions.  They were wrong.  And somehow, my Mom knew that I wasn’t wearing the glasses and to this day I really do not know how.  Well, she wrote a note to the teacher letting her know that I had glasses and to be sure I was wearing them in class.  Instead of the teacher pulling me aside or being discrete about the glasses, she read the note and said out loud to the whole class, “Loren, make sure you wear your glasses.”  I was so embarrassed!

Vocabulary:

Expected: to think you will do something, something you are supposed to do

Squinted: to close your eyes to try to see something better

Trusted: to think someone will do the right thing

Discrete: to be quiet about something, to keep it private

Embarrassed: to feel uncomfortable

Vocabulary Exercise: Matching: match the definition to the correct vocabulary word

1. Expected                           a. to think you will do something, something you are supposed to do

2. Squinted                            b. to close your eyes to try to see something better

3. Trusted                              c. to think someone will do the right thing

4. Discrete                             d. to be quiet about something, to keep it private

5. Embarrassed                      e. to feel uncomfortable

Grammar: an adjective modifies or describes a noun.  Write your own Most Embarrassing Moment using at least five adjectives to describe the way you were feeling at that moment. 

A Scary Moment that We Can Laugh About Now

Last January my husband and I went up to Jackman , Maine for a winter, snow mobile and skiing vacation.   This particular area of Maine is really dedicated to snow mobiles; there are trails throughout the entire area for sleds, even all the way to Canada.  People do live there, but it is not a very populated area.  It is mostly people traveling through on their sleds.  One afternoon we decided to go for a drive to check things out, do a little sightseeing and see what was around.  We drove about forty-five minutes away from the area where we were staying into another town.  Of course way up North, there had been snow, and the roads were not as clear as the roads we are used to.  My husband turns down this road and starts driving along, when we come to a split in the road.  Both roads at the split looked as though they were not plowed at all and were very narrow.  So, he maneuvers our small SUV and is able to turn around to go back the way we came.  The road we drove up on and now driving back on is only wide enough for one car. 

Well, here comes this pickup truck with a trailer attached to it.  My husband is driving very slow and getting as close to the edge of the road as he can.  The truck passes, and the next thing I know, our car is almost laying on its side.  I’m looking out the window and I am level with the ground.  Now, I am ready to cry! I was scared.  My husband gets out to assess the situation and comes back to the car and tells me to climb out the driver’s side door.  It is freezing cold and we are in the middle of nowhere and my imagination starts racing.  We had no cell phone service and it was going to get dark soon.  There was no house in sight and if I yelled it would have echoed; that’s how in the middle of nowhere we were.  While I am freaking out, my husband is trying to get the car out.

So, here comes a truck! It is approaching us and I step out to stop them and ask for help.  It turns out it was the same truck the passed us on the road and caused us to fall into this ditch.  They came back to help us.  They attached a rope to the front of our car and to their trailer hitch.  With one pull, our car came right out of the ditch and we were saved!  We can look back now and laugh at that experience, but I was really scared when it was happening and I think my husband was a little nervous to (even though he wouldn’t admit it!). 

Vocabulary:
dedicated- to be committed to something
populated- people living in an area
sightseeing- looking at different points of interest in an area
narrow- not wide
assess- find an answer
echoed- a repeating sound
ditch- a long, narrow hole for draining water; a hole in the grass or dirt
nervous- scared, uneasy

Cloze Activity: Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary word
1. The path in the woods was very ____________ going through the surrounding trees.
2. When people travel to Paris they may go ________________ at the Eiffel Tower. 
3. When I climbed to the top of the mountain, I yelled "hello" and my voice _____________.
4. Police men and women are _____________ to helping people in need.
5. Whenever I take a math test I am so ______________ waiting for my grade.
6. Long Island is a very __________ area to live in.
7. The baseball rolled into the _____________ near the field.

Grammar Activity: Find 5 verbs in the story and change them to the past tense.

Raising a Puppy

Raising a puppy is a tremendous amount of work.   It requires a lot of time and patience on your part.  One of the first things you must do when you bring home a new puppy is house break it.  You have to teach the puppy not to go to the bathroom in the house.  Doing this can be very time consuming because every hour or so you have to take the dog out to the yard and watch to make sure the dog is going to the bathroom.  The fun part is, after the dog goes to the bathroom you can get all excited and clap and praise the dog and give treats for a job well done.   Puppies also make a big mess that you have to clean up.  They dribble their water all over the floor after they drink form their bowl, they are very hairy and shed a lot, and when they come in the house from playing outside they have dirty paws.  Sometimes puppies will steal things, like slippers, and chew them up.  To prevent this from happening you must make sure they have plenty of their own toys to play with and chew up. 

Although raising a puppy is very hard work, it is the most rewarding feeling in the world.  The best part of having a puppy is when you come home after being out all day the puppy is so excited to see you and wants to give you puppy kisses. And of course, it gives you a cuddle buddy when you are watching TV at night.  My puppy keeps me very busy but I love her and would not trade in for anything!

Vocabulary:

tremendous- alot of something

house break- to train a pet to go to the bathroom outside

dribble- when water flows or falls in drops form the mouth

shed- when hair or fur comes off the pet

rewarding- to feel satisfied

Vocabulary Exercise: Create one sentence of your own for each of the five vocabulary words.

Gramar Point: Using the five vocabulary words, write a synonym for each.