2nd Grade Activities: Week 29

RELIGION: daily prayer; prayers in preparation for 1st Communion; attend Mass.

MATH: solve 17 addition and subtraction problems (homemade worksheet -- requested by student); 1 and 2-digit addition and subtraction problems in a workbook, and several word problems.

PHONICS: Explode the Code 4: read and answer questions containing two and three-syllable words; learn some of the rules for breaking multi-syllable words.

READING/SPELLING: reading in Phonics, and Math study; read signs, comics, websites, early readers, and picture books; IM with Dad; read 3 chapters of Betsy - Tacy and Tib, Maud Hart Lovelace.

READING: Audrey and Barbara, Janet Lawson (cute picture book of girl and cat planning a trip to the Taj Mahal -- then of course we had to look up some pictures):
http://www.tajhub.com/taj-mahal.html

HANDWRITING: practice printing lowercase letters a-z; trace sandpaper letters and numbers with fingers.

SCIENCE/NATURE: Observation and care of fish and ants; observation of birds on the porch.
"Do betta fish have teeth?"
http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_anatomy.htm
"What color are your fishes' eyes?"
"Yellow eyes and blue eyes."
Peruse the book: Inside the Whale and Other Animals, Ted Dewan (animal anatomy).

Watch Eyewitness videos: Tree, Seashore; National Geographic: Those Wonderful Dogs: learn about working dogs and their training.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Chinese: review Pinyin tones and pronunciation; Practice speaking and writing Chinese characters; attend Spanish story time; watch cartoons in Spanish.

ART: attend discoveries in art class and make a painting using the techniques taught in class; draw, color, create little animals and things with modeling clay.

MUSIC: listen to classical and contemporary music; sing children's songs and made-up songs.

P.E.: softball game; park time.

READ ALOUD:
Prairie Girl: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, William Anderson;
Daisy Comes Home, Jan Brett;
Audry and Barbara, Janet Lawson;
Betsy - Tacy and Tib,

HISTORY: Read from The Story of the World I:
Assyria, the first library (Nineveh); Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and the hanging gardens of Babylon; Early Crete, King Minos and the Minotaur, end of the Minoans; Early Greeks, the Greek dark ages, the Greek alphabet, Homer, the First Olympic games; the Persians and Cyrus the Great; Sparta and Athens; the Greek gods; Alexander the Great and his empire.

Read about the Pharos at Alexandria in the book: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Lynn Curlee. Read more about the hanging gardens of Babylon in the same book.

Read about woman explorer: Helen Thayer:
http://clairitys-place.blogspot.com/2007/03/helen-thayer-explorer.html
http://www.helenthayer.com/
Dictate info. about her life:
http://stitahistory.blogspot.com/2007/03/helen-thayer-1938.html

GEOGRAPHY: locate the various places we read about in The Story of the World on map/globe.