Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Day 3

We got started late today because I went to WalMart after we dropped off Aaron, instead of going straight home and getting started. I think I'll try to avoid doing that again in the future if possible. The kids really do a lot better if we start school first thing. Today wasn't horrible or anything, but we just went long and ran into lunch time. But now I know, so that's good.

We did the regular routine. Calendar took us a little bit longer today because it was the first day of September, so we had to move all the numbers around, and explain why we were switching the month.

During our reading of CCBB today we watched closely to see when the coconut tree starts to bend from the weight of the letters. We also watched to see when the coconuts fall off the tree, and tried to guess what made them fall. Lincoln decided it was either because the tree was too heavy, or because the letters pushed the coconuts out to make room for them. :) I love his responses to the questions. (By the way, in case you're curious, I get the questions out of the text book. I don't make them up myself. I'm not that cool.)

Next we did a dramatization of the book. Lincoln and Ivan took turns being the coconut tree (complete with sign that said, "I am a coconut tree.") Then we reread the first part of the book and every time a letter was called the one who wasn't the tree would find the letters and put them up in the tree. Then at the end, the tree got to collapse, that was the boys' favorite part.

After that we did a writing activity. We talked about the coconuts in the book, and how they must have felt when all the letters started invading their space in the coconut tree. Then we wrote a letter to the coconuts. I wrote down the ideas that Lincoln and Ivan told me, and modeled a letter for them. Then they got to write their own letters. Ivan colored a picture of him and Lincoln and Uncle Ryan on a rocket ship, and Lincoln and I shortened down the letter I had written and then I told him out loud how to spell the words, and he wrote them down and then colored a picture to go with. It turned out cute.

This letter says, "Dear coconut, I'm climbing up the coconut tree. Did you know coconut starts with C? From Lincoln Aaron Swan." The dark black coconut in the picture is the one falling out of the tree. Lincoln wanted me to write "sorry" to that coconut.

Like I mentioned earlier, we got started late, and so we ran into lunch time. So I made rice while the kids worked on their writing activities, and then while the were eating I played their fun song of the day for them. Today it was "A Spelling Medley" by Sharon, Louis, and Bram. It reminded me of something you'd sing around the campfire at girls camp. We're going to have to save our poem for after nap time.