Read-Aloud: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

What we're reading together...Percy Jackson &The Olympians by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson & The Olympians is an easier fantasy series (Level S-- 4th grade) with five books focusing on Percy Jackson, a 6th grader with ADHD and dyslexia. He learns he is the demi-god son of Poseidon and is sent on the kind of adventures children love to daydream about. The first book has been made into a movie. (The second book has also been made into a movie and it is due to be released in August.)

Our Extension Activities

leather duster

• Once again, we have been collecting images off the internet of vocabulary words from the book: ambrosia, caduceus, chimera, Cupid, duster, furies, hell hound, laurel wreath, mausoleum, Medusa, minotaur, peacock, pomegranate, reed pipe, tunnel of love.
• We have abalone shells and coral in our science collection and a miniature figure of the Empire State Building in our world landmarks collection that made a fun hands-on way to visualize parts of the book.
• My son has a leather duster we found for his Halloween costume last year and our recent family pictures. I used it as a visual example of the one worn by Ares in the book. It's much more fun to touch and smell the leather than to simply read about it (or even see a picture of one).
• We also have a blowable conch shell (like the one used in the book to call the campers to dinner) which everyone took turns trying to play. Of course, B. plays the trumpet and was a natural at the conch shell. He did noted that it is actually more like playing the French horn, which made for a brief but fun tie-in to our musical instruments nomenclature set. In the book, Grover also plays the pan flute (or reed pipes) and they mention a lyre several times.
• We are studying Greek mythology simultaneously, which is perfect for increasing background schema. We put together a pedigree chart for the various Greek gods to help us visualize their lineage and we have paid special attention to the Greek mythological characters, stories and elements from this book (Procrustes, Athena, Pan, the three fates, Persephone, Rive Styx, Chiron, Charon, Kronos, Cerberus, Olympus, Medusa, Hades, Ares, Dionysus, Zeus, Poseidon, Echidna, Chimera, Minotaur, the three furies, Tartarus, Erebus, Hermes, satyrs, Perseus, the Underworld and Thalia).
• We also checked out the map for the various geographic locations mentioned in the book (New York City, Manhattan, Empire State Building, Long Island, Denver, New Jersey turnpike, Los Angeles, St. Louis Arch, Las Vegas, Mississippi River, Santa Monica Pier).
• The movie for book one has provided us with the opportunity to compare the similarities and differences between the two.
• We used my Cricut machine to screen print "Camp Half-Blood" T-shirts.
• After we read a few more chapters, we are planning a meal of blue foods as homage to Percy's mother.

Down on the Farm

September 2 – September 6

We made it through the first week of school! The weekly theme was "Down on the Farm"-- Here's a recap of our week of fun.

FIELD TRIP
For the first field trip of the year we visited the Utah State Fair. It was incredibly hot but lots of fun. We visited farm animals, discussed how genetic traits are passed from parents to their offspring, critiqued the visual art displays, watched the lumberjack show, browsed the craft booths, practiced spinning wool into yarn, touched a moon rock from the NASA exhibit, and judged quilting/baking/preserving entries.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Read-Aloud
Our first selection for the year is from the genre of realistic fiction: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. It makes a fun start to the year for fourth graders (and up) and because the reading level is appropriate for most students this age, many will be excited enough by this first book to read the others in the series.

Penmanship
Each week, students are provided with copywork quotes related to the weekly theme that they can use to practice their handwriting. They are a fun addition to our Montessori classroom. Here are this week’s selections.

Reading
We read Alexander and The Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Our mini lesson (check it out here) focuses on using prior schema to make connections. It's an introductory lesson that we will build on during guided reading all year long.


Spelling 
We use the Words Their Way spelling program because it is an individualized spelling program that integrates beautifully into a Montessori classroom. This week students learned how to use their spelling folders and how to do word sorts independently.

Poetry and Literature
This week's selection is “I Know All the Sounds the Animals Make” by Jack Prelutsky. We had lots of fun creating silly poems by substituting our own animal sounds for those Prelutsky chose.

MATHEMATICS
Measurement: Money, Time and Temperature Review-- As we start our first math unit of the year, I want to make sure that my students are familiar with the common forms in which we see and use numbers. When learning about time, students must understand what "quarter 'til" and "half past" mean. They should know that temperatures drop below zero so we use negative numbers to describe those temperatures.They need to be recognize that 75 cents is the same thing as three quarters (3/4). These basic concepts will help them as we delve deeply into the Real Number system.

SCIENCE
We are using several fun matching games from the University of Utah research division on genetics and heredity.

HISTORY
Introduction to Key Events and Ideas in Utah's History and the History of the Westward Expansion of the U.S. [i.e. Manifest Destiny]; Introduction to the  Montessori Timeline

VISUAL ART
This week we got an introduction to the Drawing Center of our art studio. On day one, we learned how to put away paper and pencils, how to use our personal drawing kits, and how to store our completed drawings in our art portfolios. On the second day of art class, we talked about preparing to work and how artists find inspiration.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
One of our goals for P.E. is to show children that there are many choices for physical activities. How about exploring traditional county fair games: Horseshoes, Three-Legged Race, Gunny Sack Race, Wheelbarrow Race, Basketball Shooting, Baseball Throwing at Bottles, Hoop Rolling?

DANCE
Line dancing anyone? It's a great way to teach spatial directions.

Read-Aloud: Fablehaven

What we're reading together...Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven is a terrific fantasy series that appeals to a broad age range. There are five books total, with the first book being the shortest. The author lives here in Utah so we had the opportunity to meet him in person and get a signed copy of each book in the series.

Our Extension Activities

• It's been fun to collect images off the internet of vocabulary words from the book: aurora borealis, boathouse, bivouac, breastplate, mesa, butte, centuar, corkscrew, crossbow, fleur-de-lis, gazebo, geodesic dome, golem, griffin, hacienda, harpy, kachina, karkadann, limberjack, lammasu, lycanthrope, mannequin, manor, manticor, matryoshka doll, minotaur, paddle boat, peryton, phonograph, plateau, pueblo, quarrel, raft, roc, satyr, sirrush, sphinx, Stonehenge, toga, totem pole, unicorn, yahtzee, ziggurat.

Mississippi River

• Brandon Mull LOVES serial commas so it's an easy way to point out their use in print. These lists also provide multiple opportunities to discuss adjectives.

• We also checked out the map for the various geographic locations mentioned in the book (Mississippi River, Ethiopia, Australia, Turkey).

• I searched YouTube for videos demonstrating a limberjack to help the kids see one in action.

• We also played several games of Yahtzee, just like they did in the book.