What Do you Notice About Whales?
We are recalling that crabs and lobsters have helped us learn to count by 10’s and sea stars by 5’s. After some observations and listening to a poem about whales … each of us have made a paper cut out whale for our class Chart “Whales’ Tails Have 2 Flukes Each”.
All our whales were assembled into a triangular arrangement – one more whale in each row. After we have learned that each whale has two flukes this will help reinforce counting by 2’s.
Mrs. Calma
Everyone is working hard on their Academic Fair Projects. IC’s topic for the fair is community workers. We have been reading books and watching videos and discussing all the different community workers and how important they are to our community. The two most popular helpers are doctors and police officers.
Mrs. Calma
In February, we explored Capitulo 14 that deals with “La Tienda”(“The Store”).
The vocabulary learned has dealt with shopping and items that we can purchase at various stores. As a project, the students had to create a store brochure or flyer and label various articles using the vocabulary words learned in class.
Mrs. Pascualini
This month we have been using our conversational Spanish using all the phrases that we have learned until now to speak with each other during class. Our emphasis has been on different ways of introducing ourselves and learning what to say when we meet someone for the first time.
Mrs. Pascualini
As we are learning about compound words the students were very excited when I gave them books and had them look for compound words. They did a great job searching for compound words. Mrs. Bienemann
Students have been working hard on their Academic Fair projects and we started the first quarter by reviewing what goes into a quality research report. The end of February brings an exciting new unit on writing an autobiographical narrative. Students will work through a writing packet, brainstorming ideas as they recall childhood or recent memories. Those memories can be funny, exciting, or sad. We’ve had a great time sharing those memories aloud in class as we work on the prewriting stage! We will be writing the rough draft the end of February and the final project will be due in March.
Mrs. Candelier & Mrs. Foster
The students just began their second half of senior year by starting Economics. We discussed the fundamentals of economics and how an understanding is so vital to being a citizen in America. After this section the students began a section on one of the most important pieces of economics, money. We have discussed some of the various characteristics that money has, (portability, divisibility, etc.). As an example, I brought in money that I had acquired while traveling abroad; this was a great opportunity for the students to observe what other countries currencies look like. As a project to illustrate their understanding of this topic, each student is designing their own money. They have to explain the various characteristics of their money and then illustrate what their money looks like either through a detailed drawing or a physical representation of the money.
Mr. Fowler
The students have been discussing the Industrial Revolution to start off the second half of the year. They learned what the causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution were. We had quite a few classroom discussions about how life is so different today because of the advancements made during this time period. Students looked at primary documents from people who lived during this time period and we discussed the feelings and hardships that these people experienced. As a summative assessment the students had to write their own newspaper. In the newspaper they all had to write why the Industrial Revolution is considered a revolution, but then they got the chance to choose from four other creative writing assignments to add to their newspaper. The students got to show a bit of creativity and originality while at the same time still displaying their understanding of this time period.
Mr. Fowler
The students began the semester off returning back to Ancient Asia. Ancient China is a wonderfully exciting topic as it is so rich in culture and history. Once again due to my travels in China, in the summer of 2007, I have been able to infuse my own personal accounts of China and my travels there into our discussions. In addition, we looked over pictures and artifacts which I had acquired while I was abroad. The students seem to enjoy hearing personal accounts and are very eager to learn more about this foreign culture. As an assignment, I had the students make their own mock journal diary of Marco Polo. They had to pretend as if they had discovered some foreign city and culture; some students have quite the imagination.
Mr. Fowler
We have been reading a book titled, “…If You Lived 100 Years Ago,” by Ann McGovern with the third grade class. They were impressed to find out that if they had lived a hundred years ago they wouldn’t have gotten a chance to eat Pizza, Potato Chips, French Fries, and Frozen Foods. We read about how they did not even know what a TV was not to mention a computer, a movie, or an airplane, during that time period. We also read about how people lived in tenements and under what type of conditions they lived there. We will continue to read this to learn about how technology has changed our world.
Mrs. Ruiz