Ms. Valenti's Class: January 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

We are learning about:

Some activities we did this week:

Collected class data on favorite snacks and presented the data in different forms
Measured and created percent circles
Presented our circulatory system skits
Began studying the respiratory system
Watched a Bill Nye video on respiration
Discussed each item on the report card and what an O, S and U look like in 5V
Reflected on the second quarter by grading ourselves using the report card
Narrowed our focus for writing a feature article
Divided our article topic into parts and began formulating research questions
Read feature articles to notice the author's purpose and use of text features
Practiced spelling patterns ending with -el, -ul and -il

Notes and reminders:

We are learning about:

Some activities we did this week:

Converted between fractions, decimals and percents
Used a calculator to find percents
Played "Frac-tac-toe"
Practiced scanning articles to activate our schema
Looked for the big idea in the feature articles we read
Made an "expert" list of possible topics to write feature articles about
Worked on creating a drama piece in a group on the circulatory system
Walked through the circulatory system on our floor
Chose which homophones to use in context (waist/ waste, ring/wring)
Listened to Zach's Lie during read aloud
Read with our second grade reading buddies
Discussed the importance of answering in complete sentences and checking our spelling

Notes and reminders:

We are learning about:

Some activities we did this week:

Used pattern blocks to experiment with fractions
Added fractions with like denominators
Found equivalent fractions and decimals
Acted out the blood flow through the circulatory system
Did an experiment to see how our heart rate changes during exercise
Listened to a presentation on dental health
Learned about the types of feature articles
Noticed text features in feature articles
Activated our schema before reading an article by looking at the text features
Added detail to the first two pages of our altered books
Continuously rated ourselves on how we got our work done during independent time
Created Powerpoint presentations during computer time

Notes and reminders:

2nd quarter ends Friday, January 13th
Report cards go home Friday, February 3rd
"Principally Speaking" newsletter can now be found on our school website
Please forward photos of your child to the room parents for the memory book
Click on any photo on the right hand side of the blog to check out our class Flickr page

We are learning about:

Some activities we did this week:

Notes and reminders:

Have a great weekend!