Completed Books 11/20/10

History:
Bard of Avon:  The Story of William Shakespeare, Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema
Mary, Brian Wildsmith
A Medieval Feast, Aliki
Knights, Philip Steele
Food and Feasts in the Middle Ages, Imogen Dawson
Castle Diary (64 pages), Richard Platt

Lella:
Tumtum and Nutmeg:  The Great Escape (157 pages), Emily Bearn
Tumtum and Nutmeg:  The Pirate's Treasure (162 pages), Emily Bearn
Escape South (73 pages), Kim Siegelson
The Year at Maple Hill Farm, Alice and Martin Provensen
Jenny's Birthday Book, Esther Averill
I Love to Draw Dogs!, Jennifer Lipsey
Draw 50 Baby Animals, Lee J. Ames
If You Decide to Go to the Moon, Faith McNulty
The Big Book of Questions and Answers, A Consumer Guide Children's Book
Leonardo, Beautiful Dreamer, Robert Byrd

Marcus:
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (GIC-Great Illustrated Classic, 239 pages), Robert Louis Stevenson
***Marcus loved the ending.  He ran out and said, "So Mama, Dr. Jekyll IS Mr. Hyde!"  It was cute.

Both:
Bink and Gollie, Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee
Monster Math Picnic, Grace Maccarone
Fairy Tale Classics, Ziefert
The Fire Cat (63 pages), Esther Averill
A Day in the Life of Murphy, Alice Provensen
If you Made a Million, David Schwartz
Millions to Measure, David Schwartz

Great Math Pracitce Problems

My dear fried Jamy posted this site, so I thought I would share it.  All levels are represented (K-8) and the practice problems are based on the State Standards. 

IXL Math

How to use a semicolon...

From Susan Wise Bauer's blog....

"Best explanation of semicolons ever..."

How to use a semicolon - The most feared punctuation on earth

Warning:  Only look at this link.  The rest of the comics on the site are inappropriate for young eyes.

Books Completed 11/9/10

Gabriella has been reading some of the dearest books lately.  Here are a few that she recently completed:
1.  Tumtum and Nutmeg (181 pages), Emily Bearn
2.  The Milly Molly Mandy Storybook (224 pages), Joyce Lankaster Brisley
3.  Homer Price (149 pages), Robert McCloskey

All highly recommended.

Other books she has completed:
Equal Shmequal (32 pages), Virginia Kroll
The Usborne Book of Creepy Poems (32 pages), various poets

Marcus and Lella have both completed:
The Greedy Triangle, Marilyn Burns
Somewhere in the World Right Now, Stacey Schuett
Oh Theodore! Guinea Pig Poems (43 pages), Susan Katz
*They laughed out loud reading this book together and have revisited it often.
What Makes a Magnet? (32 pages), Franklyn Branley
Wiggling Worms at Work (33 pages), Wendy Pfeffer
Floating in Space (32 pages), Franklyn Branley
How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World (32 pages), Faith McNulty
*Marcus was so fascinated by this book.  He read it multiple times.
Small Potatoes Club (40 pages), Lon Levin
How Much is a Million, David Schwartz
*Both Marcus and Lella loved this book and requested the other two similar to this one.
Volcanoes (30 pages), Franklyn Branley
The Usborne Book of Fairy Tales, Cartwright and Amery
Jenny's Moonlight Adventure (32 pages), Esther Averill
*Both Marcus and Lella enjoyed this sweet book about a cat named Jenny.  Short, but written more like a chapter book with little pictures.

Marcus recently finished Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Two Spies (73 pages), Donald Sobol.

Completed History Reading (Both):
The North Wind and the Sun, Brian Wildsmith
The Miller Boy and the Donkey, Brian Wildsmith
The Master Swordsman and the Magic Doorway, Alice Provensen
East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon, P.J. Lynch
Puss In Boots, Marcia Brown
Saint George and the Dragon (32 pages), Margaret Hodges

Lella's book about dogs...

Gabriella is fascinated with dogs.  She recently checked out a book with dog facts and explanations of how to draw dogs.  The other day she had some free time and asked to do art.  I said, "Of course," and she worked for about an hour.  She handed me the book when she was finished.