One of our transition songs is "Alphabet of Nations" which sparked a discussion today about what a "nation" is. All of the nations in the song, EXCEPT ONE, are real countries. Try to figure out which one!
We had a really wonderful day, in general, with lots of impromptu lessons, harmonious independent work times and group activities. Sometimes I love when technology doesn't work and we have to go out to the courtyard for our Social Studies lesson on the compass rose! (Pictures to come!) While rereading Chris Van Allsburg's The Widow's Broom for vocab, we had an random lesson about "foreshadowing." A bit advanced stuff, but really fun to point out when the kids were do into the "trick ending" of the book. We also began exploring Collective Nouns with a picture and word sort. I have also taught the kids the correct way to speak of themselves and another person. In our classroom, they are now expected to say "Mrs. Buti and I...." instead of "Me and Mrs. Buti....". Feel free to enforce this at home to reinforce the correct grammar!