Classroom Happenings This Week!

The staff at Megan Furth Academy want to keep the parents of our elementary and junior students informed about the subjects studied in class. This blog will be updated weekly, and please feel free to contact your child's teacher with any questions.

Friday, November 14, 2008

1st Grade, Ms. Kim

"This week in First grade, we went on a nature walk. Since our current theme is called, "Let's Look Around", we did just that! We put on our hiking boots and hunting goggles and we explored the variety of leaves that surrounds our school. We found that some leaves are monocots or dicots and compared our findings with one another. After our discussion, we took our leaves and used each one to make beautiful leaf stampings. When you walk through the hallways, you will be able to see each unique and authentic leaf stamping done by none other than the First grade! We love Autumn!"

Junior High, Ms. Unruh

5th grade students learned about the Quakers and the founding of the colonies of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and New Jersey. They discovered that life in the Middle Colonies was much different than life in the Puritan colonies of New England.
6th grade students continued their study of the empires of ancient India. They learned that warriors fought on elephants and that the game of chess was invented in the Gupta Empire.
7th and 8th grade students learned about the presidency of Andrew Jackson, who expanded democracy for many but who brought much sorrow and death for many Native Americans.

Junior High, Mr. Sullivan

Earth Science: The differences between elements, compounds, and mixtures were studied, with special emphasis on why you can't "unmix" chocolate milk.

Life Science: 5th Grade Parents have probably noticed a glass of water and a bag of water sitting in a windowsill at the house.  It's okay.  The experiment ends Monday, and we'll publish the results here!

In Mathematics, the 5th Grade finished up chapter 10, Estimation. The 6th Grade mastered the concepts of Lowest Common Multiple and Greatest Common Factor.

Pre-Algebra students began learning the Order of Operations, or PEMDAS.

Friday, November 7, 2008

1st Grade, Ms. Kim

"This week in First grade we explored a step further in physical science. We wanted to test the strength of a plain old chicken egg and see how many of our Harcourt math books it would take before the egg would crack. After 3 trials, our investigation led us to believe that it would take 20 of our math books to cause the egg to crack. Which was a total of 16 pounds! What an EGG-ceptionally, EGG-cellent EGG-periment!"

2nd Grade, Ms. Gonsalves

Here’s the scoop in Second Grade. As the election approached, we studied the geography of North America, the 50 states, and the office of the President. We were well versed in Election terms, and we had an election of our own. The students even registered to vote! We’re also learning to use Writing Webs and to do 2-digit subtraction which helps us feel like we are big kids!

4th Grade, Mrs. Saenz

Fourth grade is practicing writing expressions with variables in Math.  We are also fine tuning our summarizing skills in Language Arts.  In Science, we are studying how plants make their own food by photosynthesis!  Did you know that when leaves turn from green to brown, orange or yellow, it is caused by the chlorophyll (green in color) leaving the leaf? 

Junior High, Ms. Unruh

This week 5th grade social studies students learned about life in the New England colonies. They found that life as a Puritan child was much different from their lives today.

This week the 6th grade social studies class continued learning about Buddhism.

The 7th and 8th grade social studies class wrapped up its study of the Era of Jefferson and the War of 1812. They are launching into a new chapter on the Andrew Jackson era.

Junior High, Mr. Sullivan

The 5th and 6th graders wrapped up their graphing units in Math.  7th and 8th have begun working multi-step algebraic expressions.

In Life Science, the 5th Graders created both local and "other planet" weather reports. Did you know it rains hot sauce on planet Buddha?!? 

In Earth Science, we've begun to investigate the atomic structure of matter.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Kindergarten, Mrs. Nadelburg

"This week the Kindergartners learned all about the letter Bb!  We are very excited about our new theme called “Pumpkin Time.”  We learned all sorts of pumpkin songs! On Friday we found out that when you mix yellow and red it makes a perfectly, pumpkiny orange!" 

1st Grade, Ms. Kim

"This week in First grade we finished up our second theme, "Surprise!" and we will begin a new theme next week. We also learned about double consonants and have been hunting all over the classroom and the school to find as many as we can. As Jamir says, "there is a double consonant in the word schOOl." We are getting very excited about a certain holiday that is coming up.... HALLOWEEN! The First graders have been making beautiful and spooky decorations. We have a HUGE pumpkin in our classroom and anyone who can guess the weight of the pumpkin will get receive the mystery prize! First grade wishes you a happy halloween! (Look, there are two double consonants in the word haLLowEEn!"   **Remeber to be safe, inspect all of your candy and stay with your friends and family!"

3rd Grade, Ms. Hoskins

"Third grade is learning about the American Colonists, as well as common and proper nouns."

5th Grade Math, Mr. Sullivan

The 5th graders began building graphs, especially double bar, and line graphs.

5th Grade Science, Mr. Sullivan

We've completed Chapter 4, Plant Processes.  Ask your student about Embryo's, Cotyledons, and Photosynthesis!

6th Grade Religion, Sr. Anne Providence

"In the 6th Grade Religion Class, the students are learning about Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery to freedom! Each student wrote an “autobiographical” essay, from the point of view of the mother of Moses, the pharaoh’s daughter, or Moses as an adult! Their essays are outstanding, and will be displayed in the Junior High hallway! Sister Ann "

Junior High, Ms. Unruh

"5th grade social studies -- Students have completed their study of the conquistadors and are learning about the English, French and Dutch explorers who colonized North America.
6th grade social studies -- Students continued to study ancient India, especially the Hindu religion and how it has spread.
7th and 8th grade social studies -- Students are beginning a new unit on the Era of Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase."

Junior High, Mr. Sullivan

6th Grade Math:  We are studying the basics of graphs, both creating and interpreting the data.

7th Grade Math:  The students are learning to manipulate decimal equations.

8th Grade Math:  Our 8th graders have discovered how to interpret complex graphs.

Earth Science:  The students have been studying how water, air, and ice shape the Earth's surface.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Kindergarten, Mrs. Nadelburg

"This week we learned all about the letter Tt!  We also learned about the difference between right and left.  This was a tricky one, but we’ve almost got it!  We are beginning to sound out words to write in our journals and we can count by 10’s!"

1st Grade, Ms. Kim

"This week in First grade we had drama class for the first time with Ms. Paff and Mr.Z! We learned the tools of a drama artist; which means we use our bodies, voices, emotion and imaginations. These are the tools of an artist. For our Fun Friday activity, we decorated baby pumpkins and gave each one names, ages and personalities. We welcome anyone who wishes to stop by the First grade classroom and meet our baby pumpkins!"

3rd Grade, Ms. Hoskins

"We learned about multiplication and practiced writing instructions."

Junior High, Mrs. Unruh

"7th and 8th grade social studies students learned why political parties formed in the United States, and how the clashes between the Federalists and the Republicans affected the country. They made campaign posters for each party.

6th grade social studies students learned about the mysteries of two civilizations in ancient India. They learned some Sanskrit words and analyzed the caste system.

5th grade social studies students examined the expeditions of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors. They learned about the Columbian Exchange and the conquest of the great Aztec empire. They wrote letters to the king and queen of Spain, describing their journeys across the ocean and their first contact with native peoples they called Indians."

Junior High, Mr. Sullivan

5th graders are learning the basics of statistics, such as mean, median, and mode.  In Science, they are discovering how plants make and use food.

6th Grade is advancing their statistics skills with graphical representations, such box and whisker plots.

7th Grade Math Class learned various estimation techniques for complex computations.

8th Graders continued with multi-step inequalities, with special emphasis on word problems.  The 8th graders also began to prep for their Catholic High School Entrance Exams.

In 6-8 Science, the students are learning how water, ice and wind shape the Earth's surface. They especially enjoyed the computer simulations and visualizations at ClassZone.com

Junior High, Ms. Escobar

"Seventh and Eighth grade language art students read, “Cub Pilot on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain.  Students identified the conflicts between the characters guided by the historical context of the text.  We are learning to recognize and interpret idioms and identifying verb phrases. 

Sixth grade language art students read a pourquoi tale, “The Girl Who Married the Moon”.  Students summarized sections of the story while reading to help them understand and retain the story information, which they used along with their own experiences to make inferences about why certain events occurred.  We studied homophones in spelling and different types of verbs in grammar. 

Fifth grade language art students read, “The Fear Place” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  Students had to anticipate what might happen to predict outcomes in the story.  This week we identified the main verbs, helping verbs and linking verbs.  Fifth grade is working on their descriptive writing skills."

Friday, October 10, 2008

This week, the school had benchmark testing.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Kindergarten, Mrs. Nadelberg

This week in Kindergarten we learned about the letter Mm!  We enjoyed spending time with our Letter M Alphafriend “Mimi Mouse.”  We are currently studying patterns and spent this week learning how to extend them.  Our favorite project was making pattern necklaces out of cereal!  On Friday we got a little messy and learned how to make different shades of green by using different amounts of blue and yellow paint.  We have some expert color mixers in this group!

1st Grade, Ms. Kim

This week in the First grade we took an exciting field trip to the Exploratorium Science Center and to the beach. The First graders saw a demonstration of a cow's eye dissection. According to the First graders, "it was so cool!"  We explored the museum like little scientists and discovered a new passion for Science. It was a full day of learning and having fun!  

2nd Grade, Mrs. Gonsalves

In Second Grade, we wrapped up our unit on Communities. The students were proud to have their work on display. “Colorful Communities” will be available for viewing during the month of October. In doing such a project, we demonstrated how well we worked together and how much we can accomplish when we put our minds to it!

4th Grade, Mrs. Saenz

4th grade began collecting and organizing data in math.  We are practicing finding the median and mode from information presented in tables and line plots.  In Science, we learned the difference between an instinct and a learned behavior in animals.  On Friday, we took our biweekly field trip to the Western Addition Branch of the SF Library to turn in our books and check out new ones!   

Junior High

Mr. Sullivan

All Science and Math Classes reviewed for next week's Benchmark Testing.

Ms. Unruh

5th grade social studies students traveled to the ancient kingdom of Songhai to learn about the gold and salt trade across the Sahara Desert. They also learned how trading on the Silk Road made China a great empire, and the invention of the magnetic compass enabled Zheng He to travel to faraway lands.

6th grade social studies students learned about the great civilization of ancient Egypt along the Nile River. They discovered that beauty was important to the Egyptian society, and that both men and women wore makeup. They learned how and why bodies were mummified and placed in tombs to await the afterlife.

7-8th grade social studies students closely examined the U.S. Constitution and related it to current events of today.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Kindergarten, Mrs. Nadelberg

This week the Kindergarten started the Author's chair, as the students are beginning to write.  They've also begun to discover Colors All Around, and the letter S.

1st Grade, Ms. Kim

The First Grade had Social Studies for the first time, learning about our American Flag. They also worked on Subtraction.

2nd Grade, Ms. Gonsalves

The Second Graders learned about the Value of Communities, and in Math, Place Value.

3rd Grade, Ms. Hoskins

Did you know that the Earth's Tilt creates the Seasons?  The Third Grade knows!  And, they've learned to borrow in Subtraction.

4th Grade, Mrs. Saenz

Our 4th Grade learned about California's Natural Resources, and why it's important to conserve our non-renewables, such as oil. The Algebra concept of the variable was also introduced.

Sr. Anne Providence

Sr. Anne taught the stories of Genesis, specifically the Tower of Babel, Cain and Abel, and Noah's Ark.

Junior High

Ms. Escobar

In Language Arts, the 5th Grade learned about Sequencing, the 6th on how to factor an opinion.  Our combined 7th and 8th compared and contrasted poetry.

Mr. Sullivan

In Science, the 5th Graders are learning how to Classify Plants, and in Earth Science, 6th-8th Grade are studying Weathering and Soil Formation. Math has the 5th grade learning to write variable expressions, the 6th Grade is working on calculations with decimals, the 7th graders are solving linear equations, and the 8th graders are reviewing quadratics.

Ms. Unruh

In Social Studies, the Fifth grade just finished learning about Native Americans, the 6th Mesopotamia, and the 7/8 Class learned about the forming of the US Constitution.