Learning Halves, Fourths and Eighths with Apples

Last week the second graders were learning about halves, fourths and eighths in math class. We used apples to help learn about it. I chose 3 different kinds of apples, so then we could do it three times and then at the end we each got to taste the apples to find out which was our favorite. We made a tally graph and then made a bar graph to show our results. I started cutting the first apple into half and asked them how many halves make up a whole apple. We discussed that one part of the apple is called one half then. Then I asked how many pieces I would have if I cut both halves into half again (4.)

We had fourths then and knew that four fourths make up a whole. We discussed how each part of those is called one-fourth. I asked how many pieces we would have if I cut each of those into half again. Some knew right away that it would be 8.

We did that 2 more times, as I had two more different kinds of apples. Then the kids got a piece from each apple and had to decide on their favorite.

When they got done tasting their apples, they were instructed to raise their hand telling what their favorite kind was. I had 3 plates with the kind identifed on there.

As they raised their hand, I called on them to tell me their favorite. I made a tally graph as they responded. We tally each day, so the kids are getting good at that.

Here is what our results looked like...

Then the students used that information to make a bar graph based on how many students liked each kind of apple.

Music with my niece

My 6th grade niece has been learning to play the flute. A couple weekends ago when she came to my parents house, she brought her flute. I decided to pull out my violin so we could play some duets out of her lesson book.

I told her that some day we should play some duets in church.

The two performers with their instruments.

Back Home....

Andrew got back to Fargo last Saturday. We spent the weekend in Fargo and went to church there. This week he has been helping my dad a few days and working around the house. It's nice to come home after teaching to supper in the oven! We tried out the automatic timer on our camera to take a picture of ourselves and this is what we got! This was eating supper together one night.

I made a pie for supper.

We worked on it together. I made the crust and Andrew peeled the apples and helped with the filling. With just two of us, we were able to eat on the pie all week.

Coming Home!

Well, I have made it back to the states and on friday I will make it back to our state and more importantly to my wife. It has been hard on both of us, being physically apart for the last three months. But we are striving for an easier future, or actually just a certain future. We do know that everything is in Gods hands and even if we save up a million dollars, he can still direct our path away from being able to raise our children on a farm.

Well, these last couple days have been very busy on the ship with repairs that cannot be done underway. So thankfully the time is still flying for me, but I am extremely anxious to come off the airplane in Fargo and see Rebeccas pretty face!

Telling Time

Last week we made it our official "telling time" week. 2nd graders were working hard on telling time to the hour. There are 6 in this class, which makes up about one third of our school....anyways, we had projects that we did all week long relating to clocks and time. The students loved it! We made a clock book-- each page had a different time on it. The students had to write what time it was and then finish the sentence in the book "It is time to ________________" I made this book the first time when I was student teaching at a colony.

One of the second graders working hard on their book. I think she was drawing for 6:00 in the evening- time to go to church.

We did an "I have, who has" game with telling time to the hour. One person starts off with the I have _____ and who has ______" and then it continues with the person that has that corresponding time.

My second graders were all over this game. We played it all week long! I had the older students (4th-8th) graders play a similar game of "I have who has" in which it was time to the minute. The 4th graders had been learning about time to the minute, so it corresponded great!

We did a cutting out matching game. Students had to cut the clocks out and the times and then glue the correct time under the correct clock. The finished clocks were put on a white piece of paper. Kids loved it and it was a good assessment to know who got the concept!

We made our own paper plate clocks. Then I read the book "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carl. As the book goes along, each page has a time that the students can show on their clock.

Another activity was an "I Spy" game around the school. I hung 12 clocks with time to the hour and time to the half hour. Each clock had a letter on it and students took their "I Spy" sheet around and had to find the clocks and write the time of it by the corresponding letter on their sheet.

One activity that we did with the whole school was acting out times. We put the clock numbers on paper and then taped them to the floor. Then the other teacher and I would say a time and the students would use their body to illustrate it. For the older kids we did time to the minute. 2nd graders got time to the half hour to review what we were working on, and our 1st graders were given time to the hour. The whole school thought it was something else to get to lay down and actually be allowed to do that in school!

6:00

5:55

I found a little book on the internet about telling time. It goes through time to the hour, time to the half hour and finding the hour before and after a given time. I did this with the second graders and they enjoyed it. They like having their own booklets and getting to make and then take them home.

2 weekends ago....

When I was at my parents house 2 weekends ago, I decided to try out a recipe for supper..it was from a Taste of Home magazine. Anyways, it's a pasta type deal "Family-Favorite Pasta Sauce." I used bow-tie style pasta to add some attraction to it. My parents and I
Having the meal dished up

An attempted close-up of what the hotdish looks like

At night, my dad, Marty, niece Kayla and I played a few games of Go Fish

I Spy Number Line and Friday art

This last week, I found an "I Spy" game on the internet and it looked easy enough to make. I put number lines on cards and lettered them. Each number line had one letter. The number line would have one or two spaces that were blank and the student would have to use their paper and write their answers in the box beside the corresponding letter. I had 12 or 13 cards and then hung them up around our school. I had this activity for our 4th-8th graders. The kids enjoyed looking around for the cards and it was an easy thing to take for a grade. The younger students (1st and 2nd graders) were asking when they get to play "I Spy."

A 4th grade student filling in his paper based on what is missing.

He's got it! Looks like a smile on his face as he fills in his paper!

And on Friday we did a fall art project. Students traced their arm and hand on brown construction paper and cut it out. This made the "tree." They then glued it on blue paper. Then they took red, orange, yellow and green paper and tore small pieces of paper to make leaves. The project was easy enough that all the students could do it on their own pretty good!

It works good having students in pods for art especially because the older students can assist the younger ones in their pod. Here the students are tracing their arms and hands and cutting to make their trees.

Tearing the paper to make leaves

We hung the finished products in the hall. I always have a couple of older boys that want to hang up the art...I think it's so they can use the stapler!

A close up of one of the projects

Columbus Day activities

We have been studying Columbus in our American explorers this year for Social Studies, but we did a little bit extra for him, since Columbus Day is just around the corner. I'm teaching 4th-8th Social Studies this quarter (11 students) and we have been doing our history pocket book from Evan-Moor company. Each week we do a different explorer and make projects around that person.

The students had to do some writing about something that they had learned about Columbus or they could write a letter to Columbus in relation to life back then.

They also did a sequencing project. They had 6 pictures and 6 short passages that they had to put together. Then they had to put them in the correct order or which happened first, then, last, etc...

A sixth grader working on his writing assignment.





I made some hard tack. The kids were excited to hear about it and were hoping I'd get it done for class. It's a very hard, plain, bread-like biscuit. Some of the kids weren't that excited when they took their first bite and realized how hard it was. They decided that it might not be very fun or filling living on hard tack all day if you were on a voyage.