Today our Wonderful Word of the Day was:  massive.  Can you think of any synonyms for massive?  After starting a new chapter in spelling, we explored our new vocabulary for the week.  “Write, Draw, Show” was a fun activity where we explained the meaning of our vocabulary words using different learning styles.  Some of us wrote sentences, while others drew the words’ meanings.  A third group of students acted out the words.  In handwriting, we practiced capital J’s.  In grammar, we learned about plural possessive nouns.  These can be very confusing, but we’re up for the challenge!  The judge is going to decide Kris’ fate in Miracle on 34th Street.  After recess, we began multiplication with 5 as a factor.  Skip counting comes in handy here.  We enjoyed counting the groups of five fingers as volunteers raised their hands for us to use.  Did you know that 18 x 5 equals 90?  Wow!  In religion, we discussed the meaning, symbols, and colors of Advent.  We shared different times in our lives when we had to wait patiently for something special.  We realized that this is what Advent is all about.  As part of our weekly theme of “family,” we will be writing a compare/contrast piece about ourselves and one of our family members.  Today, we started brainstorming and completed a Venn diagram.  This will serve as a starting point for us.  A Berenstain Bears read-aloud about grown-ups also tied into our “family” theme.  After lunch, we copied our homework and read our SSR books.  In social studies, we started our next topic:  Early America and Patriotic Symbols.  It was fascinating to learn about how America became a country.  At the end of the day, we had a creative art class.