Friday, February 26, 2010

March 1st - 5th

Important Dates . . .
March 1 -- Casmir Pulaski Day -- No School
March 2-5 --ISAT/IAA testing
March 2 -- February Independent Reading Folder turned in
March 5 --February Reading Party
-- End of 2nd Trimester
March 8 -- Parent/Teacher Conferences
March 9 -- Report Cards issued
March 12 -- No School

ISAT(Illinois State Achievement Test)/IAA (Illinois Alternate Assessment) Testing:
Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest and has a healthy breakfast each morning. We will be testing in the morning and afternoon. Your child may want to bring an extra snack and/or drink to help keep them focused for both tests each day.

Our ISAT Testing Schedule:
Tuesday - Math Part 1 (10:00-11:00) & Reading Part 1 (12:00-1:00)
Wednesday - Math Part II (10:00-11:00) & Reading Part II (12:00-1:00)
Thursday - Math Part III (10:00-11:00) & Reading Part III (12:00-1:00)
Friday - 4th Grade Science Part I (10:00-11:00) & 4th Grade Science Part II (12:00-1:00)

We will be completing the IAA testing individually at the same times as ISAT testing time slots with an additional time slot that varies daily in the beginning of the morning.

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and sentences this week. Students have learned the three key things to remember when writing - you can ask your child what these are. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given. Each student is to nearly independently responsible for looking up words that spelling is unknown. They have done a great job thus far with this task.

Reading
Due to state testing this week, there will be no vocabulary lesson and fluency poem this week. This will be continued next week.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Each 20 minute increment read counts for a point up to 20 points – yes, that means an additional reading grade each month for learning to love to read. Your help is greatly appreciated! Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in this Tuesday, March 2nd, to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party this Friday, March 5th. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into 3 different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 24 this week and others will be working on a separate list Lesson 3, where reading and spelling skills will be built at the same time through this list.

Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. Over the weekend would be a good time to discuss the meaning of the words. Although we work on meaning typically on Fridays and Mondays, help from home is greatly encouraged! They will be receiving them daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given every Friday. Please try to help your child study if you see they are not performing as well as you'd expect on the weekly test. One strategy you can use to help is: Stairsteps - Write words as if they are stairs, adding one letter each time. (If you are using lined paper, begin up against the left margin line. If you are using graph paper, begin on the left.)

Social Studies
The children will continue through Unit 3, Working Together. This week students will read and discuss Lesson 4, A Trip to the Bank. Students will learn about how people spend and save their money. They will also learn different ways people can pay for goods and services they buy. Students will also learn the meaning of a pie chart in relation to social studies where they will learn to read and make a pie chart. Lastly, the children will identify ordinary people who exemplify good citizenship, like a community leader and company president, Linda Alvarado.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
Due to state testing this week, we will be testing during math times.
Tuesday - Math Part I.
Wednesday - Math Part II.
Thursday - Math Part III.
Friday - No math. Fourth grade students will be taking a Science ISAT test during this time.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes daily
- turn in Independent Reading Folder Log Tuesday, March 2nd
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly

*Please check your child's homework and sign assignment notebook when complete.
**If your child is having difficulties with their homework please send a note and I will help them during free time

Friday, February 19, 2010

February 22nd - 26th

Important Dates . . .
February 25 -- Spring Pictures
February 26 -- Ozzie's Reading Club Deadline
-- Movie Night
March 1 -- Casmir Pulaski Day -- No School

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and sentences this week. Students are going to learn three key things to remember when writing - you can ask your child what these are. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given.

Reading
We will be continuing with lesson 6 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program. Your child will be coming home with 7 words that will be studied during the week in class and should be reviewed at home. On the page I will be sending home each Monday there will be suggestions on how you can work with your child & have them get extra practice.

This is the last week of doubled reading incentives! Not only can your child read 20 minutes to go to the reading party, but they can read to earn a ticket to see the Kane County Cougars! Please turn in Ozzie's Reading Club form on or before this Friday.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Each 20 minute increment read counts for a point up to 20 points – yes, that means an additional reading grade each month for learning to love to read. Your help is greatly appreciated! Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in at the end of the month to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into 3 different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 23 this week and others will be working on a separate list (Lesson 6 – Community Helpers) that will relate to the social studies, because we will be working on building social studies, reading and spelling skills at the same time through this list.

Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. Over the weekend would be a good time to discuss the meaning of the words. Although we work on meaning typically on Fridays and Mondays, help from home is greatly encouraged! They will be receiving them daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given every Friday. Please try to help your child study if you see they are not performing as well as you'd expect on the weekly test. One strategy you can use to help is: Scratch n' Sniff- Use a new sensation to teach the alphabet or spelling words. Write letters with glue on paper, then sprinkle with Jell-O. Makes a super scratch n' Sniff when tracing over the letters.


Social Studies
The children will begin Unit 3, Working Together. This unit introduces the children to work in the community. They will discuss income as it relates to spending and saving. They will differentiate between goods and services and will follow the process of taking a product from farm to factory to consumer. We will be covering Lessons 2 & 3 this week.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue linking our learning of Social Studies and Math. This week we will continue working on identification of coins and build to value of money skills. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of value; whether it be understanding through touch points, unfix cubes, other tangible objects, 100's chart, and various place value charts.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in both Independent Reading Folder Log & Ozzie's Log
- Ozzie's Log is due Friday
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 6 vocabulary words
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly

*Please check your child's homework and sign assignment notebook when complete.
**If your child is having difficulties with their homework please send a note and I will help them during free time

Friday, February 12, 2010

February 15th - 19th

Important Dates . . .
February 15 -- President's Day -- No School
February 19th - Six Flags Great America Sheets due
February 25 -- Spring Pictures
February 26 -- Ozzie's Reading Club Deadline
-- Movie Night
March 1 -- Casmir Pulaski Day -- No School

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and sentences this week. Students are going to learn three key things to remember when writing - by Wednesday you can ask your child what this are. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given.

Reading
Due to needing extra time to prepare for the Social Studies test last week, we will be continuing with lesson 5 of this program. Your child should still have the list of 7 words that should continue to be studied during the week in class and should be reviewed at home.

This month reading incentives are doubled & tripled for only a little while longer! Not only can your child read 20 minutes to go to the reading party, but they can read to earn a ticket to see the Kane County Cougars and go to Six Flags Great America! Please turn in the Six Flags Great America Sheets Friday and Ozzie's Reading Club form after you complete two weeks - that way we can award the progress of getting around the bases.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Every month each 20 minute increment read counts for a point up to 20 points – yes, that means an additional reading grade each month for learning to love to read. Your help is greatly appreciated! Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in at the end of the month to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into 3 different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 22 this week and others will be working on a separate list that will not relate to the spelling workbooks they have used up to this point, because we will be working on building reading and spelling skills at the same time through this list.

Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. Over the weekend would be a good time to discuss the meaning of the words. Although we work on meaning typically on Fridays and Mondays, help from home is greatly encouraged! They will be receiving them daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given every Friday. Please try to help your child study if you see they are not performing as well as you'd expect on the weekly test. One strategy you can use to help is: Fancy Letters - Use old magazines, catalogs, or newspapers to cut out letters and glue them down to spell your words!

Social Studies
The children will begin Unit 3, Working Together. This unit introduces the children to work in the community. They will discuss income as it relates to spending and saving. They will differentiate between goods and services and will follow the process of taking a product from farm to factory to consumer.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We have been doing mini lessons on various math skills along with comparing and ordering numbers. This week we will review and learn more about money and time skills. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of value; whether it be understanding through touch points, unfix cubes, other tangible objects, 100's chart, and various place value charts.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in both Independent Reading Folder Log, Six Flags Great America Sheets, & Ozzie's Log
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 5 vocabulary words
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly

*Please check your child's homework and sign assignment notebook when complete.
**If your child is having difficulties with their homework please send a note and I will help them during free time

Friday, February 5, 2010

February 8th - 12th

Important Dates . . .
February 12 – Valentine's Day Party in homerooms 1:30-2:15
February 15 -- President's Day -- No School
February 25 -- Spring Pictures
February 26 -- Ozzie's Reading Club Deadline
-- Movie Night
March 1 -- Casmir Pulaski Day -- No School

Ozzie's Reading Club
Thanks to everyone who sent in their reading logs for the first month of Ozzie's Reading Club. The children who have brought in their reading logs have reached second base have their base marked on the poster in their homeroom. They should be working on reading towards third base, so keep up the good work!

Language Arts
We are continuing to work on handwriting and sentences this week. Each child will have more opportunities to create their own sentences using co-writer and a word processing program called Open Office. They have been familiar with this program, now will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to eventually form a paragraph.

Reading
We will be continuing with lesson 5 of this program. Your child will be coming home with 7 words that will be studied during the week in class and should be reviewed at home. On the page I will be sending home each Monday there will be suggestions on how you can work with your child & have them get extra practice.

This month reading incentives are doubled for only a little while longer! Not only can your child read 20 minutes to go to the reading party, but they can read to earn a ticket to see the Kane County Cougars! Please turn in Ozzie's Reading Club form after you complete two weeks - that way we can award the progress of getting around the bases.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Every month each 20 minute increment read counts for a point up to 20 points – yes, that means an additional reading grade each month for learning to love to read. Your help is greatly appreciated! Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in at the end of the month to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will be divided into 3 different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 21 this week and others will be working on a separate list that will not relate to the spelling workbooks they have used up to this point, because we will be working on building reading and spelling skills at the same time through this list.

Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. Over the weekend would be a good time to discuss the meaning of the words. Although we work on meaning typically on Fridays and Mondays, help from home is greatly encouraged! They will be receiving them daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given every Friday. Please try to help your child study if you see they are not performing as well as you'd expect on the weekly test. One strategy you can use to help is: Good Clean Words -Write your words in shaving cream on a counter or some other surface that can be cleaned safely.

Social Studies
This week children will wrap up Unit 2, Our Earth, this week with lessons 4 and 5. The children will learn more intensely the concept of caring for earth's natural resources – its land, water, air, and plants – and explores different ways children can conserve and protect them. Some of the things your child will learn about is different landforms and bodies of water, how people live in different communities, and explore how one family uses and changes the land.

We will review Unit 2 on Wednesday and Thursday. The final review will go home on Thursday. The test is scheduled for Friday, February 12th. I am encouraging reviewing one lesson a night until the test; therefore, textbooks can come home nightly.

Q: How can you help your child best review for the test?
A: 1. Reread each lesson with your child.
2. Discussing answers to the questions at the end of each lesson.
3. Studying vocabulary cards.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on numbers, specifically comparing and ordering numbers. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of value; whether it be understanding through money, unfix cubes, other tangible objects, 100's chart, and various place value charts.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in both Independent Reading Folder Log & Ozzie's Log
- practice reading poem given to work on fluency
- study lesson 5 vocabulary words
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly
Social Studies – Unit 2 Test :) on Friday

*Please check your child's homework and sign assignment notebook when complete.
**If your child is having difficulties with their homework please send a note and I will help them during free time