Krasno Kids!!!

January 23rd - 27th

2012-01-20T14:20:00.000-08:00

Bee a Good Speller

Can you spell? I dare you to prove it! Take this pretest to see how well you spell.

In each of the following groups of words, only one of the words is misspelled. For each group, select the misspelled word and spell it correctly. Write your answer in the space provided.

___________ 1. arguering knives shepherd thousandth

___________ 2. baggy unreleived canine vengeful

___________ 3. contagious obituary lonliness cadence

___________ 4. millinery sacrafice caramel burglarize

___________ 5. publicity promontory sieze patriarch

___________ 6. bridle loosely breakage symtom

___________ 7. civillian primeval apologetic truancy

___________ 8. uncanny statuesque ajournment aisle

___________ 9. trigonometry exhaust Artic visualize

___________ 10. bewitches satchel vegetable obstinite

Answers
1. arguing 6. symptom
2. unrelieved 7. civilian
3. loneliness 8. adjournment
4. sacrifice 9. Arctic
5. seize 10. obstinate

Score Yourself
8 to 10 correct You can proofread my work anytime.
5 to 7 correct You'll be okay with a good spell checker.
3 to 6 correct Treading on thin ice, kiddo.
0 to 2 correct Are you Mr. Potatoe, Dan Quayle?

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style © 2003

January 16th - 20th

2012-01-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

Guide to Spelling: Hooked on Phonics
Quick and Dirty Tricks of the Trade

Whatever your level of skill, you can benefit from the following eight time-tested spelling tricks. They're easy—and they work. Try them all, or pick and choose the ones that suit your needs.

1. Classify errors. Why not specialize? Figure out what words pose the most trouble for you and concentrate on those errors. For example, if you have a problem with words that contain ie, study the “ie” rule and concentrate on the words that follow the rules and the major exceptions.

2. Break words down into smaller parts. For example, to spell bookkeeper, break the word down to its two parts: book and keeper. Then you won't forget there's a double k in the middle of the word.

3. Do word puzzles and games. There are many different kinds to choose from, including crosswords, acrostics, Scrabble, and Boggle. Each type of word puzzle or game gives you practice in spelling. As a bonus, doing puzzles also teaches you vocabulary. So what if it includes some useless words? You want, maybe, everything?

4. Use dictionaries. I know, I know, looking up a word is a pain. So is exercise, but they both work. Using a dictionary will help you remember a word's spelling and its exact meaning.

5. Try air writing. No, it's not a New Age crystal thing; it's what Miss Nelson taught you in the fourth grade. To check the spelling of a word or to learn the spelling of an unfamiliar word, try writing it in the air.

6. Guess and check. It's a free country; you're allowed to guess. To check the spelling of a word, make a guess. Write it down and see how it looks. If the planets are aligned, you'll be able to see if you're right or wrong. You'll probably also be able to see where you went wrong: omitted letter, double letter, wrong letter.

7. Use word cards. Those flash cards you used in elementary school still work quite nicely with spelling, thank you very much.

Try this three-step plan:

As you read through this section, write each difficult-to-spell word on a 3×5 index card, one word per card.

Study the cards every chance you get.

Take them with you on the bus, train, and plane; hide them in your lap and sneak a peek during dull meetings.

8. Visualize. Think about how the word is spelled; get a clear mental picture of the word. This will help you remember the word and spell it correctly in the future.

One last little trick:

Mnemonics are memory tricks that help you remember everything from the order of the planets to your grocery list. For example, to remember how to spell principal, look at the last three letters: the principal is your pal. Principle, in contrast, ends in le, like rule (which is what principle means). Create your own mnemonics to conquer spelling demons.

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style © 2003

Parent Traffic Alert Note from the Superintendent:

Parent Traffic Alert
Dear Parents:
We desperately need your help and cooperation to bring order to the
automobile traffic on the Lakeview Campus. This past school year we have
had several dangerous incidents such as cars driving in the bus lanes, cars
driving on the sidewalks, and parents dropping off children away from
designated drop-off zones where children have to cross traffic. To protect our
students, we need your cooperation and adherence to the established traffic
plan which is attached to this letter.
When it is not possible for your child to ride the school bus please observe the
following traffic rules while operating your automobile on the Lakeview
Campus:
• Never drive in the BUS LANE.
• Prairieview student drop off is clearly marked in the east parking lot.
DO NOT drop your child off in the front traffic circle where they must
cross the bus lane.
• Parking in the front traffic circle is restricted to BACC student drop-off
and school visitors.
• Lakeview student drop off is at the rear of the school. PLEASE pull all
the way up to the end of the sidewalk so that the other automobiles are
not forced to block the bus lane.
• PLEASE drive slowly and carefully through the parking lot area as
many students who walk to school cross through the parking lot.
• The traffic pattern after student drop off is to proceed west until the
fence and then south until the second row of cars where you may turn
east to exit.
• NEVER turn left upon entering the Lakeview parking lot. Please
follow the pattern above.
• Remember when exiting the Lakeview Campus that the stoplight will
activate more quickly if your front tire is 2 feet in front of the marked
stop line.
Thanks you for your cooperation. Let's have a Safe and Smooth traffic year.
Sincerely,
Jay Tiede, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

January 9 - 13

2012-01-06T06:29:00.000-08:00

MAP's will be taken by your children this week. I felt that maybe some knowledge in the area of test taking techniques could be helpful. Many restful evenings to you this week!
Mrs. K

TIPS FOR TAKING TESTS

Tests are important because they help:

the teacher evaluate your child's needs and progress.
the student gauge their own level of mastery.
the parent monitor your child's progress.
You can assist your child prepare for testing by doing the following:

Discuss the importance of testing, but not overly stress it.
Make sure your child gets a good night's sleep before a test, and make sure your child eats properly the day of a test.
Maintain a pleasant home environment and avoid unnecessary conflicts.
Ensure that your child is present during testing (children perform better when taking tests in their groups rather than at a make-up time).
If your child is disappointed after taking a test, reassure him or her that there will be plenty of opportunities to improve and succeed.
Wish your child good luck before he or she leaves for school.

Tips to give your child about taking tests:

Relax. Just do the best you can.
Your first choice is usually correct. Don't change an answer unless you have a good reason to do so.
Be aware of key words such as "all," "now," "always," "never," "only," "exactly."
In multiple choice questions the longest answer should be considered, since test writers want to be sure the correct answer is accurate.
When two answers are opposites, one of them is often correct.
Watch for negative words like "not," "no," "never."
Look for information in some of the questions. This information may help you answer other questions

Jan 2th - Jan 6th

2011-12-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

How to Nurture a Growing Reader

Reading doesn't just happen. It is a skill that must be nurtured from a child's earliest years. Once children know how to read, they still need gentle coaxing and support to reach their full potential as readers.

Here are a dozen tips for nurturing your growing readers:

* Read with your children at least once every day.

* Make sure they have plenty to read. Take them to the library regularly, and keep books and other reading materials in their reach.

* Notice what interests your child, then help find books about those things.

* Respect your child's choices. There's nothing wrong with series fiction if that's what keeps a young reader turning the pages.

* Praise your children's efforts and newly acquired skills.

* Help your child build a personal library. Children's books, new or used, make great gifts and appropriate rewards for reading. Designate a bookcase, shelf or box where your children can keep their books.

* Check up on your children's progress. Listen to them read aloud, read what they write and ask teachers how they're doing in school.

* Go places and do things with your children to build their background knowledge and vocabulary, and to give them a basis for understanding what they read.

* Tell stories. It's a fun way to teach values, pass on family history and build your children's listening and thinking skills.

* Be a reading role model. Let your children see you read, and share some interesting things with them that you have read about in books, newspapers or magazines.

* Continue reading aloud to older children even after they have learned to read by themselves.

* Encourage writing along with reading. Ask children to sign their artwork, add to your shopping list, take messages and make their own books and cards as gifts.

Adapted from Helping Your Children Become Better Readers Brochure from RIF/VISA

December 12 - 16

2011-12-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

Stress-Busting Holiday Reading Tips for Families

While the holidays can be stressful and frantic for many moms and dads, spending time reading together is a great reason to turn off the television, cuddle up, and relax.

To make reading a part of your holiday traditions, try some of these fun literacy activities.

Encourage your child to create bookmarks to enclose in a gift book or to mark the place in your own book where you leave off during read-aloud time.

Ask your child to help with holiday shopping. Have him or her write out the list and then read the items aloud as you peruse the aisles together.

Give your child a companion book to traditional holiday gifts, such as a book on juggling and several brightly colored balls; a book about fossils and a bag of plaster of Paris; or a book about stamp collecting and a stamp album.

When it's time for holiday baking, ask your child to read the directions aloud to you. While the cookies are in the oven, read a short book together.

Help your child make his or her own holiday gifts for family and friends by following the directions in a how-to-book.

Ask your child to help you write out gift nametags. Use extra large gift tags for tiny hands!

Encourage your child to volunteer to read to residents in a local retirement home or hospital.

Give a bookstore gift certificate as a holiday present so your child can select a new book on his or her own. Read the book together.

Visit the library and pick out some holiday favorites for festive family reading all season long.

Adapted from Reading is Fundamental Parent Tips

December 5 - 9

2011-12-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

Home for the Holidays . . . Reading Together

The children in your family will probably be in and around the home during their winter vacation from school. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and the U.S. Department of Education encourage you to take the time to read together during this holiday season.

Taking part in reading activities will help to prevent fall-off in children's reading skills over the winter vacation while giving you the opportunity to spend time together. Book lists located on the Web suggest a variety of materials you can read together. Links to some of those suggested reading lists are included here.

Because reading well is at the heart of all learning, you will want to listen carefully when you read with the children in your family to understand how well they are learning to read. Statistics released earlier this year tell us that approximately 40 percent of all fourth graders in the United States can't read and understand a simple paragraph from a children's book. Reading with children is an easy way to involve yourself in their education, and research on reading skills shows that children whose families spend time discussing, explaining and asking questions know more words than other children. Here are several suggestions regarding ways to make sure you are reading well together.

In many cultures, the holiday season is a time for giving. Some of the best gifts are those that are hand-made. Children who are interested in giving bookmarks to friends or family may use the designs provided for creating bookmarks at home. You may also want to consider giving reading materials to your own children or donating books to organizations serving children from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose homes may not be filled with magazines, newspapers and books. School and other libraries serving students from disadvantaged backgrounds may also appreciate the gift of new or used children's books during the holiday season and throughout the year.

Fill your holiday season with opportunities for learning by reading together.

Archived article from the U.S. Department of Education

November 28 - December 2

2011-11-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

What is The Lexile Framework for Reading?

The Lexile Framework for Reading, developed by educational measurement company MetaMetrics®, Inc., is a scientific approach to measuring reading ability and the difficulty of reading materials. The Lexile Framework includes a Lexile measure and the Lexile scale. A Lexile measure represents both the difficulty of a text, such as a book or an article, and an individual’s reading ability. Lexile measures are expressed as a number followed by an “L” (e.g., 850L), and are placed on the Lexile scale. The Lexile scale is a developmental scale for measuring reading ability and text difficulty, ranging from below 200L for beginning readers and beginning-reader materials to above 1700L for advanced readers and materials. Knowing the Lexile measures of a reader and text helps to predict how the text matches the reader’s ability—whether the text may be too easy, too difficult or just right. All Lexile products and services rely on the Lexile measure and Lexile scale to match reader with text. Because many testing and instructional companies have built products around the Lexile Framework—and a growing number of states have linked their high-stakes assessments to the framework—educators are able to connect all of the different components of the curriculum. Once you have a student’s Lexile measure, you use that measure to connect the student with books and articles from periodicals, newspapers, reference books and transcripts that are targeted to the student’s reading level.

Adapted from http://www.lexile.com/

I hope this brief information is helpful in better understanding the Lexile scores.
Looking forward to seeing all parents this week at your conference!

Mrs. Krasnodebski

November 21-25

2011-11-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

Books into Movies

We are super excited about the November 23rd release of Hugo, which is based on Brian Selznick’s mega-hit book, THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET. Hugo is a young orphan boy who is secretly living inside the walls of a busy Paris train station in the 1930s. In his time there, he has mastered the inner workings of the station’s clocks and has become their secret caretaker. But when he meets an eccentric new friend and discovers a mysterious mechanical man, Hugo must risk everything in a desperate mission to uncover the truth.

Hugo
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Johnny Depp, Jude Law
Director: Martin Scorsese
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG
Release Date: November 23rd (wide)
Based On: THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick

An orphaned boy secretly lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station and looks after the clocks. He gets caught up in a mystery adventure when he attempts to repair a mechanical man.

http://www.hugomovie.com/

Kidsreads.com

November 14-18

2011-11-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

Giving The Gift Of Reading To Kids
Check Out These Recommendations For Great Books For Young Children

WHAT DO WE HAVE FOR THE YOUNGER READERS?

"Gallop" by Rufus Butler Seder (Workman) has something fascinating called scanimation: Short lines of text are accompanied by moving pictures. The youngest kids (and their parents) will find incredible entertainment with each turn of the page.

Another great picture book is "The Wizard" by Jack Prelutsky with illustrations by Brandon Dorman (HarperCollins). The combination of illustrations and poetry are simply brilliant.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE FOR RELUCTANT READERS, THE KIDS WHO JUST DO NOT LIKE READING?

Some reluctant readers like to read books just for information instead of a story and this is where "Do Not Open" is a great choice because it's a challenge to NOT open it, but once that happens there are great pieces of information that really are compelling to anyone.

"Do Not Open" is right in line with DK's New York Times bestseller "Pick Me Up," and uses the same irreverent style to explore all the things "THEY" don't want you know about. From the Mona Lisa's hidden past to the history of Area 51, "Do Not Open" explores lost worlds, unravels secret codes, and lets readers step through the looking glass to see if they can handle the truth!

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT THE WHOLE FAMILY CAN ENJOY?

We were truly thrilled by a book called "Great Joy" by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline (Candlewick). This is a book that we at Kidsreads.com are calling an Insta-Classic. We love the old-fashioned illustrations as much as the prose.

And last but not least is a book that they'll love as a stocking stuffer: "Winter in White: A mini pop-up book" by Robert Sabuda (S&S). Pick up a couple of these as great items that will be "forever" books, meaning you bring them out each holiday season. We recommend these be kept in a "high place" until it's time to read them for the family. These books are a lot of fun to experience but are delicate and not really made for a lot of handling. They will immediately become family favorites.

This is adapted from a CBS online article by Carol Fitzgerald of KidsReads.com, TeenReads.com and The Book Report Network offered her recommendations for the best new books to give as gifts for children of all ages.

November 7 - 11

2011-11-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

LEARNING TO RELATE TO OTHERS

“The highest priority of a student is to avoid humiliation at all costs.”
–Dr. Mel Levine

School is not the only place where your child has to navigate the social scene. Check out these tips to learn how you can support your child’s social success.

1. Recognize your child’s nonverbal attempts to communicate feelings (e.g., facial expressions, sighs, gestures), and encourage him to express those feelings in words.

2. Describe the types of language used in different social situations, and role-play examples of situations. For instance, an interaction with a teacher will look and sound differently than one with a sibling.

3. Locate structured, supervised activities related to your child’s interests (e.g., scouting, art club, intramurals). If your child will be participating without you, alert the adult leader to your child’s specific social weaknesses so that he or she can monitor interactions.

4. Enlist a respected, older friend or neighbor to mentor your child who is struggling socially.

5. Use role-play to help your child learn and practice respect for personal space. For example, he could pretend that he is in different situations (e.g., standing in line, speaking with a teacher) and gauge how far away he should be from other people. Provide your child with plenty of feedback and positive reinforcement for good practice.

6. Offer suggestions for how your child can start a conversation with a classmate or peer. Some children will need explicit directions; other may only require general suggestions (e.g., when working with a partner or group on a task, compliment others on their work or offer to help finish the task).

7. Be a good listener. If your child tells you about a social dilemma, serve as a sounding board. Do not try to fix the problem; rather encourage your child to generate his own solutions to the problem.

8. Debrief appropriate and inappropriate interactions you and your child observe in real life or on television. Brainstorm strategies the person could have used to make the situation more positive.
9. Occasionally, ask your child if he knows anyone who is being bullied at school or in other environments or if he himself is being bullied. Discuss appropriate actions to take when bullying occurs.

10. Help your child enhance his ability to communicate his feelings by developing vocabulary words to label his emotions and thoughts. Encourage your child to make a list of the terms in a notebook or on a poster so that they are easily accessible.

All Kinds of Minds is a non-profit institute that develops programs to help parents, educators, clinicians, and students address differences in learning.

October 31- November 4

2011-10-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Multiplication & Division Practice

Learning how to multiply and divide can be especially frustrating to you as a parent and to your child. It is often a very difficult task to learn, and if you are not careful about the way you teach, your child can get confused quite easily. The good news is that once your child learns the basic facts, you can go beyond rote memorization when it comes to these math skills. Here are some fun and educational multiplication and division math activities for your child.

Sing and Sing Some More
You may think it is funny, but singing multiplication songs is a perfect way for your child to catch on to multiplication facts. “Schoolhouse Rock” has songs for numbers up to twelve. They are catchy and you will find that they will help your child remember the facts with no trouble. If you have access to a teacher supply store, look for other music with the multiplication tables for your child. Play them in the car or whenever your child will listen.

Multiplication and Division BINGO!
BINGO is another great way to teach division and multiplication. You can make your own, or buy a kit. If you make your own, make the cards with numbers representing the products or quotients on them. Place the math facts on the cards that you draw, such as "5 x 5" or "20 divided by 4". When you call out that problem, your child will look for the answer on the BINGO card. As your child learns the basic facts you can progress to harder math facts to make the game more difficult.

Keep a Chart
When learning multiplication, it is a good idea to keep tabs on your child’s progress. One way to do this is to keep a chart and as your child learns the facts for each number, he or she can mark it off as learned. You will want to make sure your child stays challenged and remembers the facts even after the chart is complete. Have timed tests with all of the math facts, including division periodically.

Flashcards
Of course, flash cards are also great tools when teaching multiplication. It is important when you use these flashcards that you also make sure that your child understands the way division and multiplication work and is not just memorizing the facts. You can make flashcards and then use as a manipulative to reinforce the concepts of these two math operations. Use the math facts and reverse math facts when using flashcards with your child.

This is adapted from the article Multiplication & Division Practice by Denise Oliveri.

Some websites to help with math facts:

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/bingo/

http://www.scholastic.com/kids/homework/flashcards.htm

http://www.multiplication.com/

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Mathmagician/mathsmulti.html

http://www.brainpop.com/math/numbersandoperators/multiplication/preview.weml

October 24 - 28

2011-10-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Do the math!
Adapted from Explaining Why Some Read A Lot and Others Read Very Little by Jim Trelease @ 2007

It's a fact: some people—including highly educated ones—read very little, and some — including those with or without higher education — read a great deal. Why?

Since we know that those who read the most, read the best, if we could find the answer to that question we might find clues to solving some student reading woes.

What is it that prevents some students from reading outside school? Is it the same thing that prevents adults from reading in their free time?

The answer may very well lie in the work of a man named Wilbur Schramm (1907-1987), the founder of mass communication as a science. I must confess to discovering Schramm's work only recently and am chagrined that it is not included in every edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook. Schramm's research had led him at one point to explain why some people read certain items in a newspaper or magazine and not other items. Exploring why we read what we read, he created a formula he called the Fraction of Selection. As I read it, it was as though I'd had a sudden epiphany. Here was a simple explanation of human reading behavior that is largely unknown and unexplored by professors and reading teachers, to say nothing of Secretaries of Education. It also helps us understand some of the nation's reading woes and what we can do about them.

Now to the Divisor —that is, the Difficulties or Effort Required for reading:

*Distractions are a major problem in some homes—too many TV 's, DVD's, phones, video games;or just the general state of chaos in the home or school;

*For others there's a lack of print—no newspapers, magazines, or books to read. This is most true in poverty situations;

*For some folks it's a lack of time—working too many hours, raising too many kids, rushing to too many games or malls, or too much homework;

*For some people it's a case of not being able to read easily; they're plagued by learning disabilities or decoding woes;

*Other people are surrounded by family or peers who have negative attitudes toward school and reading. "Hey! Nicky -- get your head out of the book and get in here and watch TV with us! Who you tryin' to impress with the readin'?"

*And finally there can be a lack of quiet space; they're surrounded by too much noise at home or too many tests and demands in the classroom.

October 17 - 21

2011-10-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR CREATING STRONG READERS

Without doubt, reading with children spells success for early literacy. Putting a few simple strategies into action will make a significant difference in helping children develop into good readers and writers.

Through reading aloud, providing print materials, and promoting positive attitudes about reading and writing, you can have a powerful impact on children’s literacy and learning.

✪ Invite a child to read with you every day.
✪ When reading a book where the print is large, point word by word as you read. This will help the child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the word he or she says is the word he or she sees.
✪ Read a child's favorite book over and over again.
✪ Read many stories with rhyming words and lines that repeat. Invite the child to join in on these parts. Point, word by word, as he or she reads along with you.
✪ Discuss new words. For example, "This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?”
✪ Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story.
✪ Read from a variety of children's books, including fairy tales, song books, poems, and information books.

Reading well is at the heart of all learning. Children who can't read well, can't learn. Help make a difference for a child.

Adapted from U.S. Department of Education, Office of Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs, Educational Partnerships and Family Involvement Unit, Reading Tips for Parents, Washington, D.C., 2003

October 10 - 14

2011-10-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Tips For Helping Your Fourth Grader Learn About Variables and Symbols IN Their Math Homework

http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/

In fourth grade, math integers, variables, symbols, and parentheses are used in equations called mathematical expressions. Read more to find out how to help your child master these new mathematical techniques.

The easiest way to help your fourth grader understand variables and symbols is to explain what the purpose of each concept is and what the easiest way to deal with each one is. These concepts can be broken down to better help you, the parent, better help your child. Your fourth grader can then apply this information to their homework and they will be surprised at how it suddenly makes sense.

Expressions
The most basic of these fourth grade math concepts is the actual equation itself, called an expression. An expression is a type of mathematical statement that may use numbers or variables or sometimes even both. In expressions, numbers are called integers. The integer represents any whole number (positive or negative) including zero.

A few examples of integers are 2, 4, 23, 0, -14, -66, etc. These numbers have no decimal points or fractions following them, they are just a number. Every integer has an absolute value, this being its distance from zero. Zero has no value, it is neither positive nor negative. 3 and -3 have the same absolute value, and can also be called opposites since their absolute values are the same but they are not both positive.

Variables
Variables, the next step in math expressions, are letters that represent unknown numerical values. Usually n, t, x, or y are used but others may be used to represent a certain unit of measurement. For example, t may represent time or d may represent distance.

Don't let your child get confused, a letter in place of a number always represents a numerical value. If there is a unit of measurement, it will follow in the equation or word problem. When there are variables and numbers on the same side, your child first needs to get all of the numbers on one side. An important part of this switch is that the math sign (addition, subtraction, division, or multiplication change to its opposite).

For example, if you have X + 5 = 24, your child must first put 5 on the same side as 24, This changes the addition sign into a subtraction sign in order to retain the equation's value. Once you have all the numbers on one side, the expression is much easier to figure out. If the expression is X = 24 - 5, then X = 19. Your child can check their answer by placing that numerical value in place of the X.

Parentheses
The other part of a mathematical expression, and perhaps the most confusing, is the parenthesis. Parentheses mean that what is inside them must be done first, before the rest of the equation can be figured out. By performing the inside calculations first, your child will find that the whole expression will make more sense and be easier to do.

Here is an example of how this works:

(5 x 3) + y = 30. First, find 5 x 3 so the parentheses are removed. Your child then has 15 + y = 30. They can go on to figure out that y = 30 - 15, and get the answer that y = 15

Breaking down advanced fourth grade math into simple components will help your child see that it is just the same old math problems, only with new names and some extra steps to follow. By presenting the simplified information for them in a way they understand, you have hopefully enabled them to complete their homework with less stress and more success.

Why You Should READ with Your Child
Virginia Mann Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine

Books stimulate language, mental development and family communication. Here are three important reasons to read aloud with your child and make it a shared activity. Reading exposes your child to rich language and diverse content. Book language uses a larger vocabulary and more complex grammatical structures than the short, one-way communication used in feeding and caring for children. Books allow parents to expand the language environment as they become their children’s first and most important teachers. Books of narrative fiction spark children’s imagination, entertain and inform them about their emotions. Books of informational non-fiction answer questions, providing concepts and knowledge that are cornerstones of science and math. Both types are important and all of their benefits can be realized with books in any language, so parents should feel empowered to read aloud in Spanish, Chinese — whatever their native language.

Reading with your children helps prepare their minds to succeed in school. The benefits of shared reading know no age limits. Babies are soothed by their parent’s voice; school children reading to parents can show accomplishments or seek their help. Books for toddlers can help children get ready to learn to read. I recommend books that provide nursery rhymes, songs and verse as they help children learn to appreciate the sounds within words. Hearing words in terms of syllables, consonants and vowels encourages phoneme awareness, which is the first step toward reading phonetically. Nursery rhymes and songs leap from the page when parents remember them from their own childhood and make them a part of family life. When said in English or Spanish, traditional nursery rhymes and songs help attune children to what the alphabet is all about.

Finally, reading with your child can enrich family ties and intimacy. Its virtues are strongest when parents use reading as an opportunity to enjoy a conversation. Reading together is family time, it is fun time, cuddle time, a time to share your passions, perspective, and values but it’s also a time to listen to children express themselves. When we build a conversation around a book, we encourage our children to communicate with us.

October 3 - 7

2011-09-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Organization: Advice for Parents

Developing good organizational skills is a key ingredient for success in school and in life. Although some people by nature are more organized than others, anyone can put routines and systems in place to help a child "get it together." Here's a list of strategies that you can use to help your child get -- and keep -- his life under control.

1. Use checklists
Help your child get into the habit of keeping a "to-do" list. Use checklists to post assignments, household chores, and reminders about what materials to bring to class. Your child should keep a small pad or notebook dedicated to listing homework assignments. Crossing completed items off the list will give him a sense of accomplishment.

2. Organize homework assignments.
Before beginning a homework session, encourage your child to number assignments in the order in which they should be done. She should start with one that's not too long or difficult, but avoid saving the longest or hardest assignments for last.

3. Designate a study space.
Your child should study in the same place every night. This doesn't have to be a bedroom, but it should be a quiet place with few distractions. All school supplies and materials should be nearby. If your young child wants to study with you nearby, too, you'll be better able to monitor his progress and encourage good study habits.

4. Set a designated study time.
Your child should know that a certain time every day is reserved for studying and doing homework. The best time is usually not right after school -- most children benefit from time to unwind first. Include your child in making this decision. Even if she doesn't have homework, the reserved time should be used to review the day's lessons, read for pleasure, or work on an upcoming project.

5. Keep organized notebooks.
Help your child keep track of papers by organizing them in a binder or notebook. This will help him review the material for each day's classes and to organize the material later to prepare for tests and quizzes. Use dividers to separate class notes, or color-code notebooks. Separate "to do" and "done" folders help organize worksheets, notices, and items to be signed by parents, as well as provide a central place to store completed assignments.

6. Conduct a weekly clean-up.
Encourage your child to sort through book bags and notebooks on a weekly basis. Old tests and papers should be organized and kept in a separate file at home.

7. Create a household schedule.
Try to establish and stick to a regular dinnertime and a regular bedtime. This will help your child fall into a pattern at home. Children with a regular bedtime go to school well-rested. Try to limit television-watching and computer play to specific periods of time during the day.

8. Keep a master calendar.
Keep a large, wall-sized calendar for the household that lists the family's commitments, schedules for extracurricular activities, days off from school, and major events at home and at school. Note dates when your child has big exams or due dates for projects. This will help family members keep track of each other's activities and avoid scheduling conflicts.

9. Prepare for the day ahead.
Before your child goes to bed, he should pack schoolwork and books in a book bag. The next day's clothes should be laid out with shoes, socks, and accessories. This will cut down on morning confusion and allow your child to prepare quickly for the day ahead.

10. Provide needed support while your child is learning to become more organized.
Help your child develop organizational skills by photocopying checklists and schedules and taping them to the refrigerator. Gently remind her about filling in calendar dates and keeping papers and materials organized. Most important, set a good example.

Adapted from "Tips for Developing Organizational Skills in Children" by the Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities (CCLD).
Call 1-888-478-6463 for important resources and information about learning disabilities.

September 19th - 23rd

2011-09-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

Goldilocks Strategy To Choose Books

Too Easy Books
Ask yourself these questions.
If you are answering YES,
this book is probably "Too Easy" for you.
Have fun reading it!
1. Have you read it lots of times before?
2. Do you understand the story (text) well?
3. Do you know (can you understand) almost every word?
4. Can you read it smoothly?

Just Right Books
Ask yourself these questions.
If you are answering YES,
this book is probably "just right" for you.
Go ahead learn from it!
1. Is this book new to you?
2. Do you understand some of the book?
3. Are there just a few words per page you don’t know?
4. When you read are some places smooth and some choppy?
5. Can someone help you with this book? Who?

Too Hard Books
Ask yourself these questions.
If you are answering YES,
this book is probably "Too Hard" for you.
Spend a little time with it now.
Give it another try later (perhaps in a couple of months).
1. Are there more than a few words on a page you don’t know?
2. Are you confused about what is happening in most of the book?
3. When you read, does it sound pretty choppy?
4. Is everyone else busy and unable to help you?

September 12th - 16th

2011-09-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

Thank You!
I would like to extend a thank you to all of the parents who were able to attend Curriculum Night. I enjoyed meeting you and sharing information with you about the 2011-2012 school year.

Important Dates
Mon., Sept. 12th -- Magazine drive kick-off
Tues., Sept. 13th -- Beginning band sign-up
Thurs., Sept. 29th -- Picture Day
Fri., Sept. 30th -- Early dismissal

Creative Ways to Practice Spelling Words!
ABC order- Write your words in alphabetical order.
Rainbow Words - Write your words in three colors
Backwards Words- Write your words forwards, then backwards.
Silly sentences -Use all your words in ten sentences
Picture words - Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.
Words without Vowels - Write your words replacing all vowels with a line.
Words without Consonants - Same as above but replace consonants with lines.
Story words - Write a short story using all your words.
Scrambled words -Write your words, then write them again with the letters mixed up.
Wordsearch II -Make a wordsearch with a friend, then trade and solve.
Wordsearch I - Complete a word pre-made search.
Crossword - Complete a pre-made crossword puzzle.
Surround words - Write your words on graph paper and outline in colors.
Ransom words - Write your words by cutting out letters in a newspaper or magazine and glue them on a paper.
Pyramid Words - Write your words adding or subtracting one letter at a time. The result will be a pyramid shape of words.
Words-in-words - Write your word and then write at least 2 words made from each.
Delicious words - Write your words in whipped cream, peanut butter,or anything you can eat! Bring in a note from a parent!
Good Clean Words -Write your words in shaving cream on a counter or some other surface that can be cleaned safely.
Dirty Words - Write your words in mud or sand.
Pasta Words - Write your words by arranging alphabet pasta or Alphabits. Glue on paper or bring me a note from a parent and do on a table or counter at home.
Reversed words - Write your words in ABC order -backwards!
3D words - Use modeling clay rolled thinly to make your words. Bring a note if done at home.
Create an activity - Can you think of a fun way to do your spelling activities? Try it out!
Puzzle words - Use a blank puzzle form. Write your words on the form, making sure that the words cross over the pieces. Then cut them out (color if you wish) and put them in a baggie with your name on it. When you and a friend have completed your puzzles, trade and put them back together.
Magazine words - Use an old magazine or newspaper and find your word. Cut it out and glue it on paper.
Cheer your words - Pretend you are a cheerleader and call out your words! (We will do this as a group activity.) Sometimes you'll yell, sometimes you'll whisper! If you want to do this at home with a parent, get them to send me a note that you've done it.
Sound Words - Use a tape recorder and record your words and their spelling. Then listen to your tape, checking to see that you spelled all the words correctly.
X Words - Write two words having one common letter so they criss-cross.
Other Handed - If you are right-handed, write with your left, or vice versa.
Choo-Choo Words - Write the entire list end-to-end as one long word, using different colors of crayon or ink for different words.
Silly String - With a long length of string, "write" words in cursive, using the string to shape the letters.
Backwriting - Using your finger, draw each letter on a partners' back, having the partner say the word when completed.
Telephone Words - Translate your words into numbers from a telephone keypad.
Flashwriting - In a darkened room, use a flashlight to draw letters in the air.
Newspaper Words - Search a newspaper page from top to bottom, circling each letter of a word as you find it.
30 Second Words - Write a TV commercial using all the words from your list.
Popsicles - Make words using popsicle sticks.
Secret Agent Words - Number the alphabet from 1 to 26, then convert your words to a number code.

September 5 - 9

2011-09-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

Curriculum Night
Just a reminder: Curriculum Night is on Tuesday, September 6th at 6:30 p.m. This is the perfect opportunity to get familiar with the 4th grade curriculum. Also, parents will have a chance to visit all of their child's teachers at that time. I look forward to seeing you then!

Important Dates
Tues., Sept. 6th -- Curriculum Night @ 6:30 p.m.
Wed., Sept. 7th -- Beginning Band Parent Meeting
-- Reading MAPS testing
Thurs., Sept. 8th -- Reading MAPS testing
Mon., Sept. 12th -- Magazine drive kick-off
Tues., Sept. 13th -- Beginning band sign-up
Thurs., Sept. 29th -- Picture Day
Fri., Sept. 30th -- Early dismissal

Reading
This week in reading the students will learn to use skimming and scanning skills to locate answers. During science, social studies, and reading the students will be given tasks where they have to locate answers in the text. They will practice highlighting key words in questions or clues and then skim the headlines, subtitles, captions, and passages to help them find the answers to those questions.

Beginning our Third Week Together
I am really enjoying getting to know all of the children over the last two weeks! The last few weeks allowed our classes to get to know each other, understand the rules, and begin the curriculum.

August 24 - September 2

2011-08-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

With hopes that everyone had a wonderful summer. We are happy to be coming back and are ready for a great year. Welcome back returning students and welcome to those who are new with us this year. Mrs. Krasnodebski will be working in 4th Grade Resource this year. Students will see her throughout the fourth grade area all day long! We welcome Mrs. Linde, who is new to assisting in 4th grade in the afternoon. She spends the other half of the day as a PE assistant. How lucky we are to have her as part of our team!

We are all looking forward to working with your child and helping him/her to achieve at his/her full potential. Mrs. Krasnodebski will be discussing your child's academic history with his/her classroom teachers in preparation for the upcoming year. The parent-teacher relationship is vital to your child's success in school. By working together, we can help your child have a very fulfilling learning experience.

We hope to see you at the Open House on Tuesday, September 6th . If you are able to visit, the resource room is located in the 4th Grade Wing on the second floor. Mrs. Krasnodebski may be reached during school hours at (630) 783-5068. You may leave a voice mail message. Your call will be returned as soon as possible. She may also be reached at the respective e-mail address: jkrasno@ccsd66.org . She can respond more quickly when sent an email. Throughout the year, she will communicate with the home through notes in the assignment notebook, blog, telephone calls, progress reports, school newsletters and report cards. She will also be available for parent-teacher conferences, as they are needed.

Mrs. Krasnodebski's teaching is based on the premise that all students can learn, despite any obstacles in their path. For that reason, our students receive instruction and support both in the general education classroom and in the resource room. Your child will receive an educational program that encompasses the goals and instructional strategies outlined in his/her Individualized Education Program (IEP). We will work very hard to help your child complete all of his/her goals and objectives. If you have any questions regarding your child's academic performance, please do not hesitate to make contact.

The resource room is a classroom like any other. In order to function, it must have rules and policies that ensure fair treatment for teachers and students alike. The specific rules and consequences of our classroom will be established as a class and signed within the first few weeks. If you have any questions regarding the rules, I will be happy to answer any of your questions.

Once again, welcome back! The 2011-2012 school year is going to be a great experience for your child! Thank you in advance for your support and commitment throughout the year.

May 30th - June 7th

2011-05-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 30 -- Memorial Day - No school
May 31 -- Prairieview Talent Show
June 1 -- 4th & 5th Grade Bowling
June 6 -- Prairieview Picnic
June 7 -- Last day of school - dismissal @ 9:30

Fun Upcoming Events:
* 4th & 5th Grade Bowling Wednesday - know your shoe size.
*"Take it Easy" Thursday - Bring a board game to school.
*"Film Festival" Friday - We will sit back and enjoy a film for our final reading party.
*"We Made It" Monday, June 6 - All-school picnic & Sky Dogz assembly.
*"That's All Folks" Tuesday, June 7 - Report cards and yearbooks issued.

End Of The Year Picnic:
The PTO will be serving Hot Dogs, Chips and for dessert Ice Cream. If any parent has any concerns regarding food allergies, please contact Mrs. Tshulos at terraschott@hotmail.com

Yearbooks
Any students who did not purchase a yearbook may do so on a first-come-first-serve basis on June 7th; they will go on sale after morning announcements. The cost will be $11.00 and children wishing to purchase should have exact amount. Please make checks payable to Prairieview.

Walk for Japan:
Thanks to those parents and student who made it out for the Walk for Japan. It was great to see you! It feel good to know that the victims of the earthquake in Japan will have a little more of their needs met from us through the American Red Cross.

American Red Cross for Japan:
The raffle for Japan has just begun. A letter was sent home on Wednesday, with the list of raffle items and raffle tickets. If you wish to participate, just fill in the tickets, put them in an envelope with the money, and return it to your classroom teacher. All tickets must be turned in by June 3rd. We will have the raffle at the all school assembly on June 6th. Thank you so much for your support.

Reading
As we wrap up reading class for the 2010-2011 school year, we will review all the strategies we have covered. Friday will be our last day of reading. We will be reading about Red Cross this week in correlation to our school fundraiser.

The students really enjoyed reading Phantom of the Opera. It was amazing to see all of their hard work pay off at the end of the year. They worked on decoding, fluency, prediction, clarification, and summarizing. To further wrap up the unit students will be making a special project this week.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. Keep reading!

Language Arts
As a review of concepts taught thus far students will be working on main idea, details, and composing a written paragraph in the end. They will be responsible for correct spelling, proper punctuation and capitalization, and grammar.

Spelling
This week we will have words that relate to our theme, Red Cross Birthday. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. They will also be making flashcards this week that you can use to study daily. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday.

Math
The students wrapped up the geometry unit, Chapter 13, last week. They will be reviewing various concepts taught throughout the year is last week in relation to the themed unit covered this week, Red Cross.

Science
Students are greatly enjoying the Human Body Unit. We will begin with a review and then a test on Tuesday over the unit. Students will be responsible for vocabulary and notes that can be located in their science folder. It is suggested to study the words nightly.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- Independent Reading Folder monthly turn in due Tuesday
Spelling
- Last week of spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test
Science
- study L. 1 -3 vocabulary and notes nightly
- test Tuesday

May 23rd - 27th

2011-05-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 24 -- Walk for Japan @ 3:30
May 25 -- 3rd Grade Bowling
May 30 -- Memorial Day - No school
May 31 -- Prairieview Talent Show
June 1 -- 4th & 5th Grade Bowling
June 6 -- Prairieview Picnic
June 7 -- Last day of school - dismissal @ 9:30

Walk for Japan:
Don’t forget to sign up for the 2 mile Walk Day on Tuesday, May 24th at Prairieview School. All proceeds from the event will go to the American Red Cross to help the victims of the earthquake in Japan. There will also be a raffle to help raise money for the cause, and any donations would be appreciated. (gift cards, sport items, games, services, small goodies). Anyone who would like to volunteer on May 24th, please e-mail Mrs. Cavoto ccavot@ccsd66.org or Mrs. Sulima Ssulima@ccsd66.org to let them know.

Life-Saving-Grams
Ask your child about this fundraiser sponsored by Project Challenge. It is for the American Red Cross to help victims in Japan. If a student would like to participate, the form(s) and donation need to be turned in before May 25th! Extra "grams" can be printed from our school website @ http://www.ccsd66.org/PDF/lifesavinggram.pdf !

Reading
The students really enjoyed reading Phantom of the Opera. It was amazing to see all of their hard work pay off at the end of the year. They worked on decoding, fluency, prediction, clarification, and summarizing. Now they will watch the movies of the Phantom of the Opera and compare and contrast from the novel. They will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. Keep reading!

Language Arts
As a review of concepts taught thus far students will be working on main idea, details, and composing a written paragraph in the end. They will be responsible for correct spelling, proper punctuation and capitalization, and grammar.

Spelling
There will be two different spelling lists this week. One will be on various phonograms. The other list of spelling words will continut to cover phonograms or word families, "-ash", "-ing", & "-est". They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. They will also be making flashcards this week that you can use to study daily. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday.

Math
The students still love learning about geometry unit in Chapter 13. We will wrap up this unit quickly, as a test weill be midweek.

Science
Students are greatly enjoying the Human Body Unit. We are wrapping up lesson two this week and beginning lesson three. The students will be learing about more body systems.

Students will be responsible for vocabulary and will receive a vocabulary quiz over these words. Once the vocabulary sheet goes home it will be in their science folder and it is suggested to study the words nightly.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- Independent Reading Folder due Friday
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test
Science
- study L. 1 & 2 vocabulary nightly

May 16th - 20th

2011-05-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 16 -- 5th Graders Tour of Lakeview
-- 5th Grade Parents Lakeview Meeting (6:30 p.m.)
May 25 -- 3rd Grade Bowling
May 30 -- Memorial Day - No school
May 31 -- Prairieview Talent Show
June 1 -- 4th & 5th Grade Bowling
June 6 -- Prairieview Picnic
June 7 -- Last day of school - dismissal @ 9:30

Walk for Japan:
Don’t forget to sign up for the 2 mile Walk Day on Tuesday, May 24th at Prairieview School. All proceeds from the event will go to the American Red Cross to help the victims of the earthquake in Japan. There will also be a raffle to help raise money for the cause, and any donations would be appreciated. (gift cards, sport items, games, services, small goodies). Anyone who would like to volunteer on May 24th, please e-mail Mrs. Cavoto ccavot@ccsd66.org or Mrs. Sulima Ssulima@ccsd66.org to let them know.

Life-Saving-Grams
Ask your child about this fundraiser sponsored by Project Challenge. It is for the American Red Cross to help victims in Japan. If a student would like to participate, the form(s) and donation need to be turned in before May 25th! Extra "grams" can be printed from our school website @ http://www.ccsd66.org/PDF/lifesavinggram.pdf !

Reading
The students will be continued to be divided into reading stations. The students are really enjoying reading Phantom of the Opera. It is absolutely enjoyable to see all of them excited about what will happen in the next chapter. They will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. Keep reading!

Language Arts
As a review of concepts taught thus far students will be journaling this week. They will be responsible for correct spelling, proper punctuation and capitalization, and grammar.

Spelling
The spelling words this week will continue to cover phonograms or word families, "-at", "-ate", & "-eat". They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. They will also be making flashcards this week that you can use to study daily. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday.

One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is:
Use empty film containers. Put lima beans with each spelling word letter on individual beans in the container. It is a "hands on" word scramble.

Math
The students have truly enjoyed learning about geometry unit in Chapter 13. We will continue through this unit quickly, as a test could be as early as the beginning of next week.

Science
Students are greatly enjoying the Human Body Unit. We are wrapping up lesson two this week and beginning lesson three. The students will be learing about more body systems.

Students will be responsible for vocabulary and will receive a vocabulary quiz over these words. Once the vocabulary sheet goes home it will be in their science folder and it is suggested to study the words nightly.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- Independent Reading Folder due Friday
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test
Science
- study L. 1 & 2 vocabulary nightly

May 9 - 13

2011-05-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 12 -- 5th Graders Visit Lakeview for Musical
May 13 -- Early Dismissal @ 11:00
May 16 - 5th Graders Tour of Lakeview
May 16 -- 5th Grade Parents Lakeview Meeting (6:30 p.m.)
May 25 -- 3rd Grade Bowling
May 30 -- Memorial Day - No school
May 31 -- Prairieview Talent Show
June 1 -- 4th & 5th Grade Bowling
June 6 -- Prairieview Picnic
June 7 -- Last day of school - dismissal @ 9:30

Teacher Appreciation Week
Thank you to the students and parents who helped make Teacher Appreciation Week so special. I really enjoyed the breakfast and luncheon organized by PTO. The meals were both DELICIOUS!

Special Day for 5th Graders
Thursday is our 5th grade celebration. There will be games followed by a pizza lunch. After lunch, 5th graders will be heading over to Lakeview to catch a sneak preview/dress rehearsal of their musical, Fiddler on the Roof. It should be a great day!

Shoe Rescue
Prairieview School is helping to reduce what goes into landfills by recycling shoes. Old gym shoes will be given to SCARE's (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education) annual Gym Shoe Rescue for Nike's Go Places Program. Regular shoes, in good condition, will be given to 2nd hand stores that benefit those in need. Collection dates are 5/2 - 5/11. When bringing shoes to donate, please tie them together, or place each pair in a plastic grocery bag so they do not become separated.

Life-Saving-Grams
Ask your child about this fundraiser sponsored by Project Challenge. It is for the American Red Cross to help victims in Japan. If a student would like to participate, the form(s) and donation need to be turned in before May 25th! Extra "grams" can be printed from our school website @ http://www.ccsd66.org/PDF/lifesavinggram.pdf !

Reading
The students will be continued to be divided into reading stations. The students will begin reading a new story, Phantom of the Opera. They will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will continue to cover phonograms or word families, "-ight", "-ite", & "-ide". They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. They will also be making flashcards this week that you can use to study daily. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday.

One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is:
Use empty film containers. Put lima beans with each spelling word letter on individual beans in the container. It is a "hands on" word scramble.

Math
This week students will begin a geometry unit, Chapter 13.

Science
Students are greatly enjoying the Human Body Unit. We are moving on to lesson two this week. When lesson two was introduced last week we compared the body to a tent. The students compared the two and determine that like a tent needs poles to make it stand tall, so does the human body need a skeleton!

Students will be responsible for vocabulary and will receive a vocabulary quiz over these words. Once the vocabulary sheet goes home it will be in their science folder and it is suggested to study the words nightly.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- Independent Reading Folder due Friday
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test
Science
- study vocabulary nightly

May 2nd - 6th

2011-04-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 6th -- Failure notices issued.
May 12 -- 5th Graders Visit Lakeview for Musical
May 13 -- Early Dismissal @ 11:00
May 16 - 5th Graders Tour of Lakeview
May 16 -- 5th Grade Parents Lakeview Meeting (6:30 p.m.)
May 25 -- 3rd Grade Bowling
May 30 -- Memorial Day - No school
May 31 -- Prairieview Talent Show
June 1 -- 4th & 5th Grade Bowling
June 6 -- Prairieview Picnic
June 7 -- Last day of school - dismissal @ 9:30

Shoe Rescue
Prairieview School is helping to reduce what goes into landfills by recycling shoes. Old gym shoes will be given to SCARE's (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education) annual Gym Shoe Rescue for Nike's Go Places Program. Regular shoes, in good condition, will be given to 2nd hand stores that benefit those in need. Collection dates are 5/2 - 5/11. When bringing shoes to donate, please tie them together, or place each pair in a plastic grocery bag so they do not become separated.

Life-Saving-Grams
Ask your child about this fundraiser sponsored by Project Challenge. It is for the American Red Cross to help victims in Japan. If a student would like to participate, the form(s) and donation need to be turned in before May 25th! Extra "grams" can be printed from our school website @ http://www.ccsd66.org/PDF/lifesavinggram.pdf !

Language Arts
After reading Therapy Horse, students will complete language arts and writing activities.

Reading
The students will be continued to be divided into reading stations. The students will finish reading and discussing the news article Therapy Horse. They will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will continue to cover phonograms or word families, "-ug", "-ump", & "-unk". They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. They will also be making flashcards this week that you can use to study daily. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday.

One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is:
Make a crossword puzzle using your spelling words.
Be sure to include clues. You may use Dictionary.com or WordCentral.com to look up the definitions of the words.

Math
This week students will continue with Chapter 11, Comparing and Ordering Numbers. The test is scheduled to be this Friday.

Science
Students are greatly enjoying the Human Body Unit. What they have learned and understand from lesson one is that cells make tissues, tissues make organs, and organs make a body system.

Students will be responsible for vocabulary and will receive a vocabulary quiz over these words. Once the vocabulary sheet goes home it will be in their science folder and it is suggested to study the words nightly.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- Independent Reading Folder due Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

April 25th - 29th

2011-04-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
April 25 - May 6 -- MAP Testing

Plan Ahead:
*Early Dismissal on Friday, May 13.
*No school on Monday, May 30.

Language Arts
After watching the Easter Egg Roll at the White House, students will complete a few writing activities this week.

Reading
The students will be continued to be divided into reading stations. The students will finish reading and discussing the news article Easter Egg Roll. Then, they will read another few stories in the news like Earth Day. We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. The monthly turn in is officially due this Thursday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will continue to cover phonograms or word families, "-in" & "-ine". They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. They will also be making flashcards this week that you can use to study daily. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is:
Reverse Chaining by Syllable
This is harder, for longer words.
Say the word. Then write it, saying each letter (be enthusiastic and expressive)
S-E-P-A-R-A-T-E
Skip a line and say it and write it again — minus the last syllable. Say the last syllable and spell it out loud, but don't write it.
S-E-P-A-_________
Continue until you aren't writing anything — but still say the spelling out loud.
Go back to the top. Read the word, then spell it out loud.
Fold the page over so you can't see the whole word. Say the word, spell it, and add the last syllable.
Fold the page back again. Say the word, spell it, and add the last two syllables.
Continue until you spell the whole word.
GO BACK AND CHECK — make sure you didn't leave out any letters.
should
shoul__
shou__ __
sho __ __ __
sh__ __ __ __
s __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __

Math
We will be reviewing basic math concepts, time, and money this week. In addition, this week students will continue with Chapter 11, Comparing and Ordering Numbers. The test is scheduled to be next week.

Science
Students are greatly enjoying the Human Body Unit. They did a great job identifying the organs and features of each of the six systems of the human body.

Students will be responsible for vocabulary and will receive a vocabulary quiz over these words. Once the vocabulary goes home it will be in their folder and it is suggested to study the words nightly.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- Independent Reading Folder due Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

April 18th -22nd

2011-04-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
April 21 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal
-- District Eat-Out at Panda Express
April 22 -- No School
April 25 - May 6 -- MAP Testing

Plan Ahead:

*Early Dismissal on Thursday, April 21, 11:00.

*District Eat-Out at Panda Express on Thursday, April 21. Click here for more information: http://www.ccsd66.org/PTO/FundRaisers/Panda.pdf

Language Arts
Students will be working on Easter Egg Roll story related language arts activities this week.

Reading
The students will be continued to be divided into reading stations. The students will be reading and discussing the news article Easter Egg Roll. This story will introduce the cross curricular theme for the week. We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. Keep reading!

Spelling

The  spelling words this week will continue to cover phonograms or word  families, "-ank" & "-ink". They will be receiving a spelling  practice page daily as an assignment. They will also be making  flashcards this week that you can use to study daily.  A test over this  week's lesson will be given Friday.  One strategy you can use to help  with spelling words this week is:
Reverse chaining by letterSay the word. Then write it, saying each letter (be enthusiastic and expressive)W - O - R - D
Skip a line and say it and write it again — minus the last letter. Say the last letter, but don't write it.W - O - R - ____
Skip a line and say it and write it again — minus the last two letters. Say them, but don't write them.W - O - ___ ____
Do that until you're only writing one letter.
Go back to the top. Read the word, then spell it out loud.
Fold the page over so you can't see the whole word. Say the word, spell it, and add that last letter.
Fold the page back again. Say the word, spell it, and add the last two letters.
Keep going until you spell the whole word.
GO BACK AND CHECK — make sure you didn't leave out a letter.

Math
This week students will continue with Chapter 11, Comparing and Ordering Numbers. The test will be the following next week.

Science
Students are greatly enjoying the Human Body Unit. We will explore six systems of the human body. Students will be responsible for vocabulary and will receive a vocabulary quiz over these words. Once the vocabulary goes home it will be in their folder and it is suggested to study the words nightly.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

April 11th - 15th

2011-04-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
April 14 -- Spring Open House 6:30-8:00
-- 4th graders taking OLSAT Test
April 21 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal
-- District Eat-Out at Panda Express
April 22 -- No School
April 25 - May 6 -- MAP Testing

Plan Ahead:

Check your child's grades on Friday - Midpoint of trimester
*Early Dismissal on Thursday, April 21, 11:00.

*District Eat-Out at Panda Express on Thursday, April 21. Click here for more information: http://www.ccsd66.org/PTO/FundRaisers/Panda.pdf

OLSAT Testing:

Our  4th graders will take the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) this week.   The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test is designed to  measure abstract thinking and reasoning abilities that are relevant to  school achievement. 

Here are a few reminders that you can do to help your child do their best: 

1. Make sure your child attends school on testing days unless they are sick. 

2. Make sure your child get a good night’s sleep. 

3. Provide breakfast for your child. 

4. Remind your child to ask the teacher questions if he/she does not understand the test directions. 

5. Let your child know that you have confidence in their abilities. 

6. Advise your child not to worry about the test, but do their very best.

Language Arts
Students will be working on poems this week. We are applying the brainstorming techniques with the topic of themselves in these poems. While encouraged to independently complete this task they are learning to effectively use their Quick Word Guides during this process.

Reading
The students are divided into reading stations. The students will be reading and discussing either the book Fossils in the Soar to Success Series or the news article Cherry Blossom Festival. We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. Keep reading!

Spelling

The spelling words this week will continue to cover phonograms or word families, "-oke" & "-ock". They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. They will also be making flashcards this week that you can use to study daily.  A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday.  One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is:
Don't try to learn all the words at once
Even if you learn them all in one sitting, practice them a few at a  time. Find out what works best for you — it may be one or two words or  as many as three or four. Then, add another word to your list, or start  on different ones. Each time you learn another word, go back and  practice the ones you learned before it, because, after all, practice makes permanent.  (http://www.ldonline.org/article/6192)

Math
This week students will continue with Chapter 11, Comparing and Ordering Numbers. They are working on greater than and less than.

Science
Students are greatly enjoying the Human Body Unit. We will explore six systems of the human body.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

April 4th - 8th

2011-03-31T16:38:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
April 4 -- Classes Resume
April 5 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
April 21 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal

Language Arts
Students will continue brainstorming details to a given topic. While encouraged to independently complete this task they are learning to effectively use their Quick Word Guides during this process. They are getting more comfortable at this process and should be able to show you how they would look up a word at home when needed.

Reading
This week we will continue with reading stations. In the Soar to Success station the students will begin reading and discussing either the book The Outside Dog or the news article Cherry Blossom Festival. We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday for a checkpoint of dates and minutes. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will continue to cover phonograms or word families, "-aw" & "-ay". They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Words without Vowels – Write your words replacing all vowels with a line.

Math
This week students will begin Chapter 11, Comparing and Ordering Numbers. By the end of the week they will be able to distinguish a difference between greater than and less than.

Science
Students will begin a new study on the Human Body this week. Experiment on Wednesday: How are the systems of the human body like the cars on a train?

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

March 21 - 25

2011-03-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
March 28 -- Spring Break Begins
April 4 -- Classes Resume
April 5 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
April 21 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal

Language Arts
Students will continue brainstorming details to a given topic; however, this week picture prompting will cease. While encouraged to independently complete this task they are learning to effectively use their Quick Word Guides during this process. They are getting more comfortable at this process and should be able to show you how they would look up a word at home when needed.

Reading
This week we will continue with reading stations. In the Soar to Success station the students will begin reading and discussing either the book Let's Go Rock Collecting or the news article Cherry Blossom Festival. We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 16 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in Wednesday, March 23rd for a grade, so we can have a reading party Friday before break. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will cover all of the word families learned up to this point, Lessons 1-7 Review. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Guess the word: One partner "writes" a spelling word with his/her finger on his/her partner' back.

Math
Continuing with place value. This week builds to knowing the difference between the 1's, 10's, and 100's place. Each child had done a great job last week showing their knowledge of place value using physical representation for each place value on the mimio whiteboard. The test will be midweek.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- monthly turn in on Wednesday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

March 14th - 18th

2011-03-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
March 13 -- Daylight Savings Time Begins - Spring Ahead
March 28 -- Spring Break Begins
April 4 -- Classes Resume
April 5 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
April 21 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal
April 22 -- No School

NOTE: Social Studies Unit 5 Test this Friday :)

Language Arts
We will continue building on the writing process this week. Students will be given topics and we will be working on brainstorming details.

Reading
This week we will continue with reading stations. In the Soar to Success station we will begin reading and discussing the book Allie's Basketball Dream. We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 16 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will cover two different yet similar sounding word families: - ip & -op. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Sandpaper rubbings: Cut each letter out of sandpaper and glue it to an index card or purchase sandpaper letters. Your child should spell out his word with sandpaper letters, put a piece of paper over it, and do a crayon rubbing.

Social Studies
We will wrap up Unit 5, Our Country Long Ago this Friday with a Unit Test. All of the vocabulary terms we have discussed have been in their SS folder in their binder. You should have been reviewing along the way, so if not I would suggest reviewing nightly. Also, their books will be sent home to reread and talk through the review of Unit 5 on pages 238-239.

Math
Continuing with place value. This week builds to knowing the difference between the 1's, 10's, and hundreds place. It looks as though a test will be at the beginning of next week.

Daily Homework
Reading
- read 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

March 7th - 11th

2011-03-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
March 7 -- Casimir Pulaski Day -- No School
March 13 -- Daylight Savings Time Begins - Spring Ahead
March 28 -- Spring Break Begins
April 4 -- Classes Resume
April 5 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
April 21 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal
April 22 -- No School

NOTE:
IAA (Illinois Alternate Assessment) Testing wrapped up last Friday! Each and every child completed each test they were required to per grade level expectancy. They all did a very nice job - I am proud of their effort!

Language Arts
We will continue building on the writing process this week. Students will be given topics and we will be working on brainstorming details.

Reading
This week we will continue with reading stations. In the Soar to Success station we will begin reading and discussing the book Where Does the Garbage Go? We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 16 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in every Friday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will cover two different yet similar sounding word families: - it & -ot. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Sandpaper rubbings: Cut each letter out of sandpaper and glue it to an index card or purchase sandpaper letters. Your child should spell out his word with sandpaper letters, put a piece of paper over it, and do a crayon rubbing.

Social Studies
We will continue Unit 5, Our Country Long Ago. Some concepts and vocabulary terms we will discuss are: early America, expansion westward and equality. It looks like the unit test could appear next week!

Math
Continuing with place value specifically looking at the 1's and 10's place.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

February 28th - March 4th

2011-02-25T06:55:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
March 1 -- Report Cards
March 2 -- Parent Teacher Conferences
March 4 -- Parent Teacher Conferences -- No School
March 7 -- Casimir Pulaski Day -- No School
March 28 -- Spring Break Begins
April 4 -- Classes Resume
April 5 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
April 21 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal
April 22 -- No School

IMPORTANT NOTE:
IAA (Illinois Alternate Assessment) Testing continues this week and possibly into next week in Mrs. Krasnodebski's room. Due to the fact that this is an individual assessment we need more time than ISAT testing takes. Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest and has a healthy breakfast each morning. We will be testing in the morning during our reading class. Students will be continuing with reading strategies in stations as others will be indivually tested. Your child may want to bring an extra snack and/or drink to help keep them focused for the test each day.

Language Arts
We will continue building on the writing process this week. Students will be given topics and we will be working on brainstorming details.

Reading
We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade this Monday, February 28th. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will cover two different yet similar sounding word families: - an & -ain. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Picture words – Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.

Social Studies
We will continue Unit 5, Our Country Long Ago. Some concepts and vocabulary terms we will discuss are: early America and expansion westward.

Math
This week we will be moving on to Place Value.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- monthly turn in Monday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

February 21 -25

2011-02-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
February 21 -- President's Day -- No School
February 21 -- PTO Dine-Out Fundraiser -- Noodles & Company (click for details)
February 22 -- IAA testing begins in Mrs. K's room
February 24 -- Spring Pictures
February 25 -- End of Trimester
March 1 -- Report Cards
March 2 -- Parent Teacher Conferences

IMPORTANT NOTE:
IAA (Illinois Alternate Assessment) Testing begins this week and will continue for a few weeks in Mrs. Krasnodebski's room. Due to the fact that this is an individual assessment we need more time than ISAT testing takes; therefore, it is beginning this week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest and has a healthy breakfast each morning. We will be testing in the morning during our reading class. Students will be continuing with reading strategies in stations as others will be indivually tested. Your child may want to bring an extra snack and/or drink to help keep them focused for the test each day.

Language Arts
We will be building on the writing process this week. Students will be given topics and we will be working on brainstorming details.

Reading
We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month students should be reading daily or a minimum of 20 minutes for 20 days. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade this Monday. Keep reading!

This past month reading incentives were doubled! Not only could your child read 20 minutes to go to the reading party, but they could read to earn a ticket to go to Six Flags Great America! All you need to do is fill out the yellow form sent home with the information from their red reading folder, then sign. Please turn in the Six Flags Great America Sheets this Tuesday. I will be filling out the official teacher forms Tuesday after school.

Spelling
The spelling words this week will cover two different yet similar sounding word families: - an & -ain. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Picture words – Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.

Social Studies
We will continue Unit 5, Our Country Long Ago. Some concepts and vocabulary terms we will discuss are: 13 colonies, colonists, early America, etc. Students received another news event report on Friday and this will be due Tuesday.

Math
This Wednesday we should be wrapping up Chapter 5, Addition Strategies up to 12. This chapter will be focusing on specific strategies behind adding numbers and incorporting more mental math than in the past few chapters.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

February 14 - 18

2011-02-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
Febrary 14 -- Valentine's Day Parties @ 1:30
February 21 -- President's Day -- No School
February 21 -- PTO Dine-Out Fundraiser -- Noodles & Company (click for details)
February 22 -- IAA testing can begin in Mrs. K's room
February 24 -- Spring Pictures
February 25 -- End of Trimester
March 1 -- Report Cards

Plan Ahead:
*Valentine's Day parties will be on Monday, February 14th. On Friday, February 4th, I sent a letter home with each student's name on it. Your child does not have to bring in Valentine's Day cards if he or she does not want to. However, if he or she does, he or she must bring in one for everyone in our class. Please do not send in Valentine's Day cards that have food or candy attached to them. Any candy brought in will be sent home with the student who brought them in. This is a new building policy.
*Parent Teacher Conferences during the week of February 28, 2011 - notes were sent home last Friday.

Language Arts
We will be wrapping up the unit of "Verbs" this week. We will review by working on a project, a verb poster. Your child should be able to give a you the definition of a verb (words that show action or helping words) and provide an example.

Reading
This week we will continue with reading stations. In the Soar to Success station we will read and discuss the book The Bald Eagle. We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month I will be requiring 20 days at 20 minutes. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade this Monday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will cover two different yet similar sounding word families: - ack & -ake. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily.

One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Antonyms: Write down your spelling words and write an antonym next to each word. An antonym is a word that means the opposite. Use a dictionary or thesaurus for help, if needed. Example: hot cold
How many of your words had an antonym?

Social Studies
We will continue Unit 5, Our Country Long Ago. Some concepts and vocabulary terms we will discuss are relating to types of transportation, shelter, traditions, etc. at the time of early America. Also, we will be working on sequencing events. Students should be getting another news event report later this week.

Math
We should be wrapping up Chapter 5, Addition Strategies up to 12. This chapter will be focusing on specific strategies behind adding numbers and incorporting more mental math than in the past few chapters.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

February 7th - 11th

2011-02-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
Febrary 14 -- Valentine's Day Parties @ 1:30
February 21 -- President's Day -- No School
February 21 -- PTO Dine-Out Fundraiser -- Noodles & Company (click for details)
February 22 -- IAA testing can begin in Mrs. K's room
February 24 -- Spring Pictures
February 25 -- End of Trimester
March 1 -- Report Cards

Plan Ahead:
*Valentine's Day parties will be on Monday, February 14th. On Friday, February 4th, I sent a letter home with each student's name on it. Your child does not have to bring in Valentine's Day cards if he or she does not want to. However, if he or she does, he or she must bring in one for everyone in our class. Please do not send in Valentine's Day cards that have food or candy attached to them. Any candy brought in will be sent home with the student who brought them in. This is a new building policy.
*Parent Teacher Conferences during the week of February 28, 2011.

Language Arts
We will be continuing the unit of "Verbs" this week. This week we will be working on a verb poster. You may want to begin some parent-child time cutting out pictures of verbs for their project. While doing this they should be able to give a you the definition (words that show action or helping words) and provide an example.

Reading
This week we will continue with reading stations. In the Soar to Success station we will read and discuss the book A Bicycle for Roasaura. We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month I will be requiring 20 days at 20 minutes. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade this Monday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will cover two different yet similar sounding word families: - ill & -ull. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily.

One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Antonyms: Write down your spelling words and write an antonym next to each word. An antonym is a word that means the opposite. Use a dictionary or thesaurus for help, if needed. Example: hot cold
How many of your words had an antonym?

Social Studies
We will continue Unit 5, Our Country Long Ago. Some concepts and vocabulary terms we will discuss are relating to types of transportation, shelter, traditions, etc. at the time of early America. Also, we will be working on sequencing events. Due to the snow days, students will report on their news event this week.

Math
We will continue with Chapter 5, Addition Strategies up to 12. This chapter will be focusing on specific strategies behind adding numbers and incorporting more mental math than in the past few chapters.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

January 31st - February 4th

2011-01-28T16:44:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
February 21 -- President's Day -- No School
February 25 -- End of Trimester
March 1 -- Report Cards

Language Arts
We will be continuing the unit of "Verbs" this week. Students will get to listen to various stories that explain what verbs are with great visual examples. As always with language arts, they will be using the interactive white board to practice their knowledge of verbs with the class. Next week we will be working on a verb poster. If you feel you have extra time this week, you may want to begin some parent-child time cutting out pictures of verbs for their project.

Reading
This week we will continue with Soar to Success. We will continue reading and discussing the book Baby Whales Drink Milk. Also, they will further focus on literal comprehension using a Groundhog Day themed short story.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month I will be requiring 20 days at 20 minutes. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade this Monday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will review various vowel sounds. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson and last week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily.

One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Rainbow Words: Children are to write each spelling word with their pencil. They then go back and trace each word with a crayon. They do this two more times with two different crayons.

Social Studies
This week we will begin Unit 5, Our Country Long Ago. Some concepts and vocabulary terms we will discuss are relating to types of transportation, shelter, traditions, etc. at the time of early America. We will also be working on sequencing events.

Students are to research a news event. The 5Ws are found in most news stories. Often, the five Ws are introduced in a story's opening paragraph. First of all find a news story that interests your child. They should either find it on the internet and print it out or cut out from a newspaper to bring into school at the beginning of the week. They will be asked to discuss this news event with fellow students towards the end of the week. In order to do this it would be good to ask your child to talk about the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. Circle, underline, or highlight the areas of the story that tell each of the five Ws. At school each student will be asked to report to the class the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. (Online resource suggestions: Time For Kids, Science News for Kids, Weekly Reader Feature Zone, & National Geographic Kids).

Math
We will be continuing Chapter 5, Addition Strategies up to 12. This chapter will be focusing on specific strategies behind adding numbers and incorporting more mental math than in the past few chapters.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- monthly due as late as this Monday & weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

January 24th - 28th

2011-01-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
January 25 -- District Spelling Bee
January 27 -- Chapter 6 Science Test
January 28 -- Bingo Night
February 21 -- President's Day -- No School
February 25 -- End of Trimester
March 1 -- Report Cards

Language Arts
We will be introducing the unit of "Verbs" this week. Students will get to listen to various stories that explain what verbs are with great visual examples. As always with language arts, they will be using the interactive white board to practice their knowledge of verbs with the class.

Reading
This week we will continue with Soar to Success. We will read a new story each week and focus on phonics and comprehension skills in small groups. This week we will read and discuss the book Baby Whales Drink Milk. Also, they will further focus on literal comprehension using a winter themed short story.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month I will be requiring 20 days at 20 minutes. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at this Thursday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will reflect the Language Arts unit of Pronouns - more specifically object pronouns. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over this week's lesson and last week's lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily.

One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is play a spelling game as follows: Spelling Game 1: Use Board Games, such as Monopoly

Play any game that is normally played with dice with your child -- Monopoly, for example. You can continue to move his token forward in the normal way by throwing the dice, but your child must orally spell a word to move forward.

To select words that can be used, you should first select the two spelling lists of pronouns (last week and this week), science vocabulary words, and use words from your child's schoolwork that he often misspells. Your child should make word cards of these words. It is best to use not fewer than 20 words and not more than 30. When playing a board game, the same 20-30 words can be used, or if your child already knows how to spell them, other words can be selected. You must thoroughly shuffle the word cards, and then put them in a pile upside down on the table between the two (or more) players.

When it is your child's turn to play, you must take a word from the top of the pile and then say the word aloud. Your child must spell the word. If they spell the word correctly, he may move his token the same number of spaces as there are letters in the word. For example, for a word of seven letters he may move his token forward seven spaces. The word card is then put aside. If, however, he misspells the word, you must show the word to your child, and they must spell the word aloud three times while looking at the word, and then three times without looking at it. Then the word is put at the bottom of the pile, so that it will come up again later. If your child misspells a word, he may also not move his token for that turn.

Science
We will continue with lesson three of Chapter 6, Natural Resources. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is Earth has many natural resources that people use. It is important to protect them to make them last. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards and applying them in spelling also. It is important to begin reviewing vocabulary more often as a test is coming up this week, Thursday. Students will be bringing home their science text more often this week to reread in preparation for the test.

Math
We will be starting Chapter 5, Addition Strategies up to 12. This chapter will be focusing on specific strategies behind adding numbers and incorporting more mental math than in the past few chapters,

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday & monthly due as late as Monday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

January 17th - 21st

2011-01-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
January 17 -- M. L. King Birthday -- No School
January 17 -- PTO Dine Out Fundraiser -- Papa Passero's
January 28 -- Bingo Night
February 21 -- President's Day -- No School
February 25 -- End of Trimester
March 1 -- Report Cards

Language Arts
We will hopefully be wrapping up the unit of "Pronouns" this week. Students will get to work with pronouns not only in Language Arts, but in spelling this week and the following week.

Reading
This week we will continue with Soar to Success. We will read a new story each week and focus on phonics and comprehension skills in small groups. This week we will finish The Paper Crane and work on comprehension using winter themed short stories.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month I will be requiring 20 days at 20 minutes. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at this Thursday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will once again reflect the Language Arts unit of Pronouns - more specifically subject pronouns. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is: Spell words with magnetic letters on cookie sheets.

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 this Friday.

Science
We will continue with lesson three of Chapter 6, Natural Resources. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is Earth has many natural resources that people use. It is important to protect them to make them last. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards and applying them in spelling also. It is important to begin reviewing vocabulary more often as a test is coming up next week. Students will be bringing home their science text this Friday to reread in preparation for the test.

* Note: This Wednesday we will be making something with reused items. In order to make this science investigation possible on Wednesday, please send your child with one or more items that would normally be recycled - empty kleenex boxes, cans, newspapers, cereal boxes, etc.

Math
We will be wrapping up Chapter 4 this week. This chapter was a review of basic addition and subtraction. In this chapter we focused on problem solving and choosing the correct operation. As a review of the chapter last week they problem solved with snowflakes as the subject of their number sentences. Just a reminder of the strategy the children are learning: PAL.
P = problem ( 2 + 2 = )
A = answer ( 4 )
L = label ( toys )

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

January 10th - 14th

2011-01-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
January 10-14 -- Reading and Math MAPs testing daily this week in our room
January 12 -- Dan Kirk, Juggler Assembly on Wednesday at 12:30.
January 17 -- M. L. King Birthday -- No School
January 17 -- PTO Dine Out Fundraiser -- Papa Passero's
January 28 -- Bingo Night
February 21 -- President's Day -- No School
February 25 -- End of Trimester
March 1 -- Report Cards

MAPs testing: Once again, we will be taking MAP tests from Friday, January 7th - Thursday, January 13th. Please make sure your child gets a good dinner and a good night's rest before these tests. Also, make sure they have a healthy breakfast and a healthy snack on the morning of these tests.

Language Arts
We will be working on a unit of "Pronouns" this week. Students will get to listen to various stories that explain what pronouns are with great visual examples.

Reading
This week we will continue with Soar to Success. We will read a new story each week and focus on phonics and comprehension skills in small groups.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month I will be requiring 20 days at 20 minutes. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at this Thursday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will once again reflect the sixth chapter science terms. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is playing a game: Play word games such as hangman or write a spelling word with letters missing and ask your child to write in the missing letter.

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 this Friday.

Science
We will continue with Chapter 6, Natural Resources. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is Earth has many natural resources that people use. It is important to protect them to make them last. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards and applying them in spelling also.

Math
We will be continuing with Chapter 4. This chapter is a review of basic addition and subtraction . Also in this chapter we will continue to reinforce problem solving. Just a reminder of the strategy the children are learning: PAL.
P = problem ( 2 + 2 = )
A = answer ( 4 )
L = label ( toys )

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

January 3rd - 7th

2010-12-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
January 3 -- Classes Resume after Winter Break
January 17 -- M. L. King Birthday -- No School
January 17 -- PTO Dine Out Fundraiser -- Papa Passero's (click for details)
February 21 -- President's Day -- No School
February 25 -- End of Trimester
March 1 -- Report Cards

I'd like to thank the PTO for providing us with a wonderful festive lunch on Tuesday and appetizers on Thursday for the cookie exchange. Thank you to all the parents who baked cookies and provided those wonderful appetizers for the cookie exchange. My family was very appreciative of the delicious cookies I was able to share with them.

Language Arts
We will be working on a unit of "Special Words" this week. These words will be days of the week and months of the year.

Reading
This week we will continue with Soar to Success. We will read a new story each week and focus on phonics and comprehension skills in small groups. This week they will be reading Animals in Winter.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month I will be requiring 20 days at 20 minutes. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at this Thursday. Keep reading!

Spelling
The spelling words this week will reflect the sixth chapter science terms. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is utilizing this website: http://www.kidsspell.com/ On this website students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.

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 this Friday.

Science
This upcoming week we will be introducing Chapter 6, Natural Resources. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is Earth has many natural resources that people use. It is important to protect them to make them last. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards and applying them in spelling also.

Math
We will be beginning Chapter 4 this week. This chapter is a review of basic addition and subtraction . Also in this chapter we will continue to reinforce problem solving. Just a reminder of the strategy the children are learning: PAL.
P = problem ( 2 + 2 = )
A = answer ( 4 )
L = label ( toys )

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

December 13th - 17th

2010-12-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
December 15 -- 3rd Grade bowling in the morning
December 16 -- 4th Grade bowling in the afternoon
December 17 -- Tivoli field trip in the afternoon
December 20 -- Winter Break Begins
January 3 -- Classes Resume after Winter Break
January 17 -- M. L. King Birthday -- No School.

Plan Ahead:
*Classes resume on Monday, January 3.

Holiday Service Project:
Don't forget about our Holiday Service Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. All donations are due on Monday, December 13. Thank you for opening up your hearts to help make the holidays a happy one for those who are less fortunate.

Language Arts
We wrapped up our Noun unit this week. What a great job each child did on this unit!!!

Reading/Social Studies
This week we will read from an online news subscription we just received! It reinforces our events news reports. This weeks theme is The Polar Express. Not only do we learn a little about the story The Polar Express, but we will see how it connects to social studies concepts. The news lessons also focus on word building and comprehension skills.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! This month I will be only requiring 12 days at 20 minutes. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at this Thursday. Keep reading!

Spelling
Once again the spelling words this week will reflect the fifth chapter science terms. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is utilizing this website: http://www.kidsspell.com/ On this website students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.

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 this Friday.

Science
This week we will be completing Chapter 5, Exploring Earth's Surface. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is the Earth's surface is made up of many different materials and can change over time. To begin reviewing for the Chapter 5 test you can review the science vocabulary words using flashcards, worksheets in science binder, and reread Chapter 5 in the textbook(p. 194-229) which was sent home.

Math
We will be completing Chapter 3 this week. Not only have they learned strategies to subtraction, but we will continue to reinforce problem solving throughout the chapter and year. Just a reminder of the strategy the children are learning: PAL.
P = problem ( 2 + 2 = )
A = answer ( 4 )
L = label ( toys )

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- monthly turn in on this Thursday
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

December 6th -10th

2010-12-03T05:18:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
December 6 -- PTO Dine out Fundraiser -- Buffalo Wild Wings
(Click for details and coupon)
December 15 -- 3rd Grade bowling in the morning
December 16 -- 4th Grade bowling in the afternoon
December 17 -- Tivoli field trip in the afternoon
December 20 -- Winter Break Begins
January 3 -- Classes Resume after Winter Break
January 17 -- M. L. King Birthday -- No School.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

It was great meeting with all the parents this week for conferences. Thank you for your time!

The students of Project Challenge grades 3-5 are participating in a Lion's Club Holiday Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. If you wish to participate you will need to bring the donations in by December 13. Remember that some of these families live right here in Darien. So let's help these families have a happy holiday season. PLEASE DONATE!

*Paper Recycling Fundraiser Comes to Prairieview: We are happy to announce we can now raise money for our district by recycling paper! You can help us out, too! Please collect any paper you are going to throw away or recycle (office and school paper, newspaper, magazines and catalogs, and construction paper---no cardboard!) and send it in with your child to school or drop it off at the green and yellow Paper Retriever bin in the Lakeview parking lot (near the fence by the Prairieview playground). The bin is available for drop offs 24/7. The more paper we recycle, the more money we can make! Do something good for our schools AND the environment! Thank you!

Language Arts
We are continuing on with our Noun unit this week. Thus far they have reviewed the definition of a noun, practiced writing singular and plural nouns. Can your child name nouns around your house?

Reading
This week we will continue with Soar to Success. We will read a new story each week and focus on phonics and comprehension skills in small groups. This week they will be reading Tree of Birds.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
Once again the spelling words this week will reflect the fifth chapter science terms. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is utilizing this website: http://www.kidsspell.com/ On this website students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.

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 this 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: Finger Tracing - Use your finger to spell out each of your words one letter at a time on your Mom or Dad’s back. Then it’s YOUR turn to feel and spell.

Social Studies
Students are to research a news event or report. The 5Ws are found in most news stories. Often, the five Ws are introduced in a story's opening paragraph. First of all find a news story that interests your child. They should either find it on the internet and print it out or cut out from a newspaper to bring into school at the beginning of the week. They will be asked to discuss this current event with fellow students throughout the week. In order to do this it would be good to ask your child to talk about the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. Circle, underline, or highlight the areas of the story that tell each of the five Ws. At school each student will be asked to report to the class the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. (Online resource suggestions: Time For Kids, Learning With Newsweek, Weekly Reader Feature Zone, & National Geographic Kids )

Science
This upcoming week we will be introducing Chapter 5, Exploring Earth's Surface. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is the Earth's surface is made up of many different materials and can change over time. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards.

Math
We have more subtraction tricks yet to learn! Not only have they learned strategies to subtraction, but we will continue to reinforce problem solving throughout the chapter and year. Just a reminder of the strategy the children are learning: PAL.
P = problem ( 2 + 2 = )
A = answer ( 4 )
L = label ( toys )

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test
Social Studies - current event newsclip due Monday

November 29th - December 3rd

2010-11-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
December 1 -- Parent/Teacher Conferences p.m.
December 3 -- Parent/Teacher Conferences -- No School
December 20 -- Winter Break Begins
January 3 -- Classes Resume after Winter Break

IMPORTANT NOTES:

The students of Project Challenge grades 3-5 are participating in a Lion's Club Holiday Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. If you wish to participate you will need to bring the donations in by December 13. Remember that some of these families live right here in Darien. So let's help these families have a happy holiday season. PLEASE DONATE!

Paper Recycling Fundraiser Comes to Prairieview: We are happy to announce we can now raise money for our district by recycling paper! You can help us out, too! Please collect any paper you are going to throw away or recycle (office and school paper, newspaper, magazines and catalogs, and construction paper---no cardboard!) and send it in with your child to school or drop it off at the green and yellow Paper Retriever bin in the Lakeview parking lot (near the fence by the Prairieview playground). The bin is available for drop offs 24/7. The more paper we recycle, the more money we can make! Do something good for our schools AND the environment! Thank you!

Language Arts
We are beginning on to a new unit this week on Nouns.

Reading
This week we will continue with Soar to Success. We will read a new story each week and focus on phonics and comprehension skills in small groups. This week they will be reading The Wolf's Chicken Stew.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will wrap up the list of the top 100 words with a review. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults.

Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Monday. At the beginning of the week 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 this 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: Finger Tracing - Use your finger to spell out each of your words one letter at a time on your Mom or Dad’s back. Then it’s YOUR turn to feel and spell.

Science
This upcoming week we will be introducing Chapter 5, Exploring Earth's Surface. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is the Earth's surface is made up of many different materials and can change over time. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards.

Math
We are continuing with subtraction! Not only have they learned strategies to subtraction, but they have had to learn to solve subtraction word problems. The children have done a wonderful job with the PAL rule when solving word problems.
P = problem ( 2 + 2 = )
A = answer ( 4 )
L = label ( toys )

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

*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.

November 22nd - November 23rd

2010-11-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
Tuesday, November 23 -- Report Cards
-- Picture Retake Day
-- Unit 4 Social Studies Test
November 24, 25, 26 -- Thanksgiving Holiday -- No Schoool

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 will be picture retake day. Any student that did not have their picture taken prior to this date may do so. They will be required to have a picture envelope with money to have a picture taken. Any student wishing to have a picture retaken will have to return the original picture packet for a retake.

The students of Project Challenge grades 3-5 are participating in a Lion's Club Holiday Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. If you wish to participate you will need to bring the donations in by December 13. Remember that some of these families live right here in Darien. So let's help these families have a happy holiday season. PLEASE DONATE!

*Paper Recycling Fundraiser Comes to Prairieview: We are happy to announce we can now raise money for our district by recycling paper! You can help us out, too! Please collect any paper you are going to throw away or recycle (office and school paper, newspaper, magazines and catalogs, and construction paper---no cardboard!) and send it in with your child to school or drop it off at the green and yellow Paper Retriever bin in the Lakeview parking lot (near the fence by the Prairieview playground). The bin is available for drop offs 24/7. The more paper we recycle, the more money we can make! Do something good for our schools AND the environment! Thank you!

Language Arts
We are wrapping up the Capitalization unit this week.

Reading
This week we will be reading about Thanksgiving and focusing on comprehension skills in small groups.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
No spelling list to study this week. We will be working on spelling strategies using a Thanksgiving theme.

Social Studies
We will wrap up Unit 4 this week, with a test on Tuesday, November 23rd. We have discussed and written various definitions on notecards in this unit thus far. There is a lot of information to know. Please review lessons over the weekend when the book will be sent home. The definitions/vocabulary cards will be found in their social studies folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives next week.

No news event or report this week.

Math
We are continuing on with subtraction!

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
Social Studies - current event newsclip due Monday
- study for Unit 4 test - Tuesday, November 23rd

*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.

November 15th - 19th

2010-11-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
Tuesday, November 23 -- Report Cards
-- Picture Retake Day
-- Unit 4 Social Studies Test
November 24, 25, 26 -- Thanksgiving Holiday -- No Schoool

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 will be picture retake day. Any student that did not have their picture taken prior to this date may do so. They will be required to have a picture envelope with money to have a picture taken. Any student wishing to have a picture retaken will have to return the original picture packet for a retake.

Language Arts
We are continuing on with Capitalization this week. By midweek your child should be able to answer the question: "What is a proper noun?"

Reading
This week we will continue with Soar to Success. We will read a new story each week and focus on phonics and comprehension skills in small groups. This week they will be reading Arturo's Baton.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will wrap up the list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults.

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 this 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
We will wrap up Unit 4 this week, with a test the following Tuesday, November 23rd. We have discussed and written various definitions on notecards in this unit thus far. There is a lot of information to know. Please review lessons over the weekend when the book will be sent home. The definitions/vocabulary cards will be found in their social studies folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives next week.

Students are to research a current news event or report weekly. The 5Ws are found in most news stories. Often, the five Ws are introduced in a story's opening paragraph. First of all find a news story that interests your child. They should either find it on the internet and print it out or cut out from a newspaper to bring into school at the beginning of the week. They will be asked to discuss this current event with fellow students throughout the week. In order to do this it would be good to ask your child to talk about the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. Circle, underline, or highlight the areas of the story that tell each of the five Ws. At school each student will be asked to report to the class the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. (Online resource suggestions: Time For Kids, Science News for Kids, Weekly Reader Feature Zone, & National Geographic Kids )

Math
We are moving on to the next chapter, subtraction! The children had done a wonderful job with the last chapter, especially when they are able to have hands on materials with problem solving!

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test
Social Studies - current event newsclip due Monday
- study for Unit 4 test - Tuesday, November 23rd

*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.

November 8th - 12th

2010-11-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
Thursday, November 11th -- No School - Veterans Day
Friday, November 12 -- End of Trimester
-- 3rd Grade Downers Grove Field Trip
Tuesday, November 23 -- Report Cards
-- Picture Retake Day
November 24, 25, 26 -- Thanksgiving Holiday -- No Schoool

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 will be picture retake day. Any student that did not have their picture taken prior to this date may do so. They will be required to have a picture envelope with money to have a picture taken. Any student wishing to have a picture retaken will have to return the original picture packet for a retake.

Language Arts
We are beginning on to a new unit this week on Capitalization.

Reading
This week we will begin a new comprehension program called Soar to Success. We will read a new story each week and focus on comprehension skills in small groups.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will begin working through a list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults. We will continue to work through the list of these words for the next few weeks. 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 this 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
We will review the first few lessons in Unit 4 this week. Also, we will connect our study with information on Downers Grove.

Students are to research a current news event or report. The 5Ws are found in most news stories. Often, the five Ws are introduced in a story's opening paragraph. First of all find a news story that interests your child. They should either find it on the internet and print it out or cut out from a newspaper to bring into school at the beginning of the week. They will be asked to discuss this current event with fellow students throughout the week. In order to do this it would be good to ask your child to talk about the who, where, when, what, and why of the story. Circle, underline, or highlight the areas of the story that tell each of the five Ws. At school each student will be asked to report to the class the who, where, when, what, and why of the story.
(Online resource suggestions: Time For Kids, Learning With Newsweek, Weekly Reader Feature Zone, & National Geographic Kids )

Math
We will be wrapping up the chapter on basic addition. The children have enjoyed working through this chapter, especially when they are able to have hands on materials with problem solving!

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test
Social Studies - current event newsclip

*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.

November 1st - 5th

2010-10-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
Tuesday, November 2nd -- No school - Teacher Institute
Thursday, November 11th -- No School - Veterans Day
Friday, November 12 -- End of Trimester
Tuesday, November 16 -- Report Cards
November 24, 25, 26 -- Thanksgiving Holiday -- No Schoool

Language Arts
We are wrapping up our study of punctuation this week.

Reading
This week we will complete our current level of vocabulary skills with Lesson 24! 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.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will begin working through a list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults. We will continue to work through the list of these words for the next few weeks. 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 this 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: - Use empty film containers. Put lima beans with each spelling word letter on individual beans in the container. It is a "hands on" word scramble.

Social Studies
We have completed two lessons about local and state government in Unit 4, Our Country Today. We will move on to lesson 3 midweek. We have discussed and written various definitions on notecards in this unit thus far. There is a lot of information to know. Please review lessons when possible. The information will be found in their social studies folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives next week or so.

Math
We are working in a new chapter, Addition. The children have enjoyed working through this chapter, especially when they are able to participate in interactive white board activities!

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- weekly turn in on Friday
- study lesson 24 vocabulary words
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

*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.

October 25 - October 29

2010-10-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
Friday, October 29 - Halloween Parties - 1:30 to 2:25 p.m.

Halloween Festivities:
Please keep in mind the following guidelines when helping your child pick out a Halloween costume for our Halloween party and parade (parents may come at 1:00 pm to watch our school parade) on Friday, October 29th:
*We only have 10 minutes for costume changes. Please make sure your child can change into his/her costume easily and by themselves. If the costume can be worn over their clothes, then both the time to change and the chances of losing any clothes is minimized.
*If you send your child in with make up then your child has to be able to apply it themselves.
*Please do not send any weapons (guns, swords, etc.) as part of the costume. Save those for trick-or-treating.
*We will not have time to change back into our clothes for dimissal. Your child will wear their costume home.

Language Arts
Continuing to study punctuation. We will also work on a Halloween acrostic poem!

Reading
This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 23! 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.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade this Wednesday, October 27th. The reading party date will be Friday! Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will begin working through a list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults. We will continue to work through the list of these words for the next few weeks. 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 this 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: - KidsSpell.com The Custom Spelling list feature allows you to type in your spelling list and use those spelling lists throughout the games and activities on this website.

Social Studies
We will continue on with Unit 4, Our Country Today.

Math
We are working in a new chapter, Addition.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- monthly turn in this Wednesday, October 27th
- study lesson 23 vocabulary words (quiz on Thursday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test

*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.

October 18th -22nd

2010-10-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
Wednesday, October 20 - Early dismissal @ 11:00 a.m.
Thursday, October 21 - Book Fair - 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Friday, October 22 - National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
*District 66 - Eat Out at Buona Beef http://www.ccsd66.org/PTO/FundRaisers/BuonaBeef.pdf
Friday, October 29 - Halloween Parties - 1:30 to 2:25 p.m.

This past week and next week, students are taking the MAP assessment. The MAP assessment is a new tool for our district that will provide teachers an effective means for determining students' proficiency in reading, language and math. The test will be given in three parts, on three different days. Your child has already taken the Language Arts assessment and next week will take the Math and Reading. The MAP assessment is replacing Iowa testing in District 66.

Language Arts
Was you child able to answer the question after Friday, "What happens when punctuation takes a vacation?" Punctuation is our new unit of study!

Reading
This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 22! 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.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will begin working through a list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults. We will continue to work through the list of these words for the next few weeks. 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 this 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: Window spelling - - Use Crayola Window Markers ($3 each at Wal-mart) and the kids can write their words on the windows.

Social Studies
We will begin a new unit this week, Unit 4, Our Country Today.

Math
We are working on number sense and numeration. The students have been gaining much from mini lessons followed up with multi-modal activities.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- turn in this Friday
- study lesson 22 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for 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.

October 11th - 15th

2010-10-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
Monday, October 11 - Columbus Day -- No School
Friday, October 15 - Movie Night
Wednesday, October 20 - Early dismissal
Thursday, October 21 - Book Fair

Language Arts
This Wednesday students will take an in class assessment over the unit we are completing called "What is a Sentence?" On Friday our new unit begins with a look at writing correct sentences, how to write names of people, pets, names & things, and abbreviations. After Friday, ask your child what happens when punctuation takes a vacation!

Reading
This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 21! 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.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will begin working through a list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults. We will continue to work through the list of these words for the next few weeks. 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 this 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: draw a picture and "hide" the words in the picture!

Science
We will continue with Chapter 4, Living Things in Their Environments. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is different areas have places where plants and animals find the things they need, such as food, water, and shelter. We will read Lesson 3 and review for the Chapter 4 Test coming up next week. To begin reviewing for the Chapter 4 test you can review the science vocabulary words, worksheets in science binder, and review Chapter 4 when the book is sent home.

Math
We are working on number sense and numeration. The students have been gaining much from mini lessons followed up with multi-modal activities.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- turn in this Friday
- study lesson 21 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test on Friday
Science - review science vocabulary cards, worksheets in science binder, and review Chapter 4 when the book is sent home

*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.

October 4th - 8th

2010-10-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
Friday, October 8 - Taffy Apple Orders are due
Monday, October 11 - Columbus Day -- No School

Language Arts
We will focus on what makes a complete sentence. Capitalization, punctuation, subject, verb, and details are important when writing complete sentences. The students will have have mini lessons then they work on the skills afterwards.

Reading
This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 20! 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.

Once again the children had done a superb job with their fluency poem last week! They will continue to be introduced to a new poem this Monday and be responsible for practicing reading a poem at home during the week to focus on reading fluency. This poem is always introduced on the first day of the week and they are to read it to me on Friday for a grade without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! The poem this week relates to our Science curriculum we will be reading.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade at the end of the month. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will begin working through a list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults. We will continue to work through the list of these words for the next few weeks. 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 this 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: draw a picture and "hide" the words in the picture!

Science
We will continue with Chapter 4, Living Things in Their Environments. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is different areas have places where plants and animals find the things they need, such as food, water, and shelter. In class we investigated to find out about how energy flows through setting up an environment in an aquarium. The children continue to monitor the soil, plants, and worms daily! There will be a brief vocab quiz over Lesson 2 words this week. Keep studying those vocab words! This coming week we will begin by rereading and reviewing how living things survive in different places. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards.

Math
Some of the concepts we continue to review and instruct are numeration, addition and subtraction with word problems, fractions, patterns, and geometry. The students have been gaining much from mini lessons followed up with multi-modal activities.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- turn in this Friday
- study lesson 20 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for test on Friday
Science - review science vocabulary cards at least 3 times a week to continually review and prepare for the test on Ch4

*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.

September 27th - October 1st

2010-09-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
September 28 -- Final Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 29 -- Independent Reading Folder turn in
September 30 -- Picture Day
-- Reading Party
October 1 -- Assembly

Plan Ahead:
*No School on Monday, October 11 - Columbus Day.

Language Arts
We will be continuing our review of basic writing skills in Language Arts this week. We have been reviewing capitalization, punctuation, and the four different types of sentences. The students have had mini lessons then they work on the skills afterwards.

Reading

This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 19! 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.

Once again the children had done a superb job with their fluency poem last week! They will continue to be introduced to a new poem this Monday and be responsible for practicing reading a poem at home during the week to focus on reading fluency. This poem is always introduced on the first day of the week and they are to read it to me on Friday for a grade without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! The poem this week relates to our Science curriculum we will be reading.

We will continue working on phonics, decoding, encoding, and comprehension throughout the week through direct instruction, Lexia, and hands on materials.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade on Wednesday, September 29th, to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party the next day, Thursday, September 30th. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will begin working through a list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults. We will continue to work through the list of these words for the next few weeks. 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 this Thursday. 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: Comic Strip - Use this handy blank comic strip form to create a comic strip using each of your spelling words!

Science
This past week we began Chapter 4, Living Things in Their Environments. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is different areas have places where plants and animals find the things they need, such as food, water, and shelter. In class we investigated to find out about how energy flows through setting up an environment in an aquarium. The children really enjoyed monitoring the soil, plants, and worms daily! There will be a brief quiz given as a review on animals beaks and teeth. This upcoming week we will read and learn about how living things survive in different places. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards.

Math
Some of the concepts we continue to review and instruct are numeration, addition and subtraction with word problems, fractions, patterns, and geometry. The students have been gaining much from mini lessons followed up with multi-modal activities.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log - turn in this Wednesday
- study lesson 19 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly to be turned in & study words for 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.

September 20th - 24th

2010-09-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
September 21 -- 2nd Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 22 -- PE Soccer Test (Look for study guide on Friday, September 17)
September 24 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
September 28 -- Final Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 30 -- Picture Day
-- Independent Reading Folder turn in

Reading

This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 18! 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.

Once again the children had done a great job with their fluency poem last week! They will continue to be introduced to a new poem this Monday and be responsible for practicing reading a poem at home during the week to focus on reading fluency. This poem is always introduced on the first day of the week and they are to read it to me on Friday for a grade without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! The poem this week relates to our Science curriculum we will be reading.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade on Thursday, September 30th, to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party the next day. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will begin working through a list of the top 100 words. These l00 words as listed in the "A.B.C. Language Arts Bulletin" Educational Research Service, American Book Co., account for 65% of all running words in the writing of adults. We will continue to work through the list of these words for the next few weeks. 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 this Thursday. 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: Memory Game - Make pairs of word cards. Flip them over and try to match the pairs!

Science
The children have been doing a great job with reading/reviewing chapters 1-3. This upcoming week we will be introducing Chapter 4, Living Things in Their Environments. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is different areas have places where plants and animals find the things they need, such as food, water, and shelter. To maintain a consistent understanding of the science vocabulary words, we will be building this throughout the chapter in the form of flashcards.

Math
We continue reviewing basic math concepts this week.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log - turn in on Friday
- study lesson 18 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words for 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.

September 13th - September 17th

2010-09-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
September 13 -- Magazine Sale Kick-off
--Beginning Band Parent Meeting - 7:00 p.m. - Multi-Purpose Room
September 17 -- 1st Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 21 -- 2nd Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 22 -- PE Soccer Test (Look for study guide on Friday, September 17)
September 24 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
September 28 -- Final Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 30 -- Picture Day

FYI... The magazine drive will begin with the kickoff celebration on Monday, 9/13. Look for an information packet to be sent home with your child that day.

Reading

This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 17! 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.

Once again the children had done a great job with their fluency poem last week! They will continue to be introduced to a new poem this Monday and be responsible for practicing reading a poem at home during the week to focus on reading fluency. This poem is always introduced on the first day of the week and they are to read it to me on Friday for a grade without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! The poem this week relates to our Science curriculum we will be reading.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade on Thursday, September 30th, to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party the next day. Keep reading!

Science & Spelling

In order to jump into the 1st graded Science unit, we need to begin with a review of science concepts. We will do this by reading through some chapters in Science. Last week we read and discussed Chapter Two: Animals. The next Chapter is Plants, Chapter Three. To maintain a consistent understanding of the spelling words, I have been sending a copy of definitions to the spelling words studied.

Once again the spelling words this week will reflect the third chapter science terms. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is utilizing this website: http://www.kidsspell.com/ Students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.

Math

We continue reviewing basic math concepts this week.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log - turn in on Friday
- study lesson 17 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words for 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.

Information about the picture above:

Rafflesia Flower

This incredible flower, found primarily in the shady lowland tropical forests of Indonesia, has by far the largest bloom of any flower and is one of the world's rarest and most endangered plants. Almost one meter wide and weighing over 6 pounds, it is a fleshy, malodorous plant, I have highlighted here since it is a symbol for all other endangered rainforest plants.

The flower is an excellent example of how fragile some components of the tropical forest are, for its very survival is totally dependent on one particular vine called Tetrastigma, related to the grapevine. The Rafflesia is a disembodied flower. A rootless, leafless and stemless parasite, it drains nourishment and gains physical support from its host vine. Its only body outside the flower consists of strands of fungus-like tissue that grow inside the Tetrastigma vine. It first manifests itself as a tiny bud on the vine's roots or stem. But over a period of 12 months, it swells to a cabbage-like head that bursts around midnight under the cover of a rainy night to reveal this startling, lurid-red flower.

September 6th - September 10th

2010-09-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
September 6 -- Labor Day -- No School
September 7 -- Curriculum Night 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. - Parents Only
September 13 -- Beginning Band Parent Meeting - 7:00 p.m. - Multi-Purpose Room
September 24 -- Teacher Institute -- No School

Curriculum Night is scheduled for Tuesday, September 7th for 4th & 5th graders and my class from 6:30 -7:30 p.m. This is an important evening that will highlight some important information. After being dismissed from the gym, please come to my room. I hope you can make it! If you need to contact me, the easiest way is through email – jkrasno@ccsd66.org

The children have done a great job earning "Classroom Cash” the last two weeks. A student can earn a dollar by showing good behavior, good classroom performance, remembering to get a signature when needed, showing good character, following directions, etc. They will be able to buy rewards and special prizes. They are able to pick out of a prize bin on Friday afternoons. Donations throughout the year for stickers, pencils, and other items of interest are always appreciated!

Reading
It has been greatly appreciated that many children have begun to bring an appropriate silent reading book to keep in their desk for a daily silent reading time.

This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 16! We will be continuing with this program weekly. 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.

Students had done a great job with their fluency poem last week! They will continue to be introduced to a new poem this Tuesday and be responsible for practicing reading a poem at home during the week to focus on reading fluency. This poem is always introduced on the first day of the week and they are to read it to me on Friday for a grade without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! The poem this week relates to our Science curriculum we will be reading.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade on Thursday, September 30th, to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party the next day. Keep reading!

Science & Spelling
In order to jump into the 1st graded Science unit, we need to begin with a review of science concepts. We will do this by reading through some chapters in Science. Last week we read and discussed Chapter One: Living and Nonliving. The next Chapter is Animals, Chapter Two.

The spelling words this week will reflect the first chapter science terms. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help is: ABC order- Write your words in alphabetical order.

Math
We continue reviewing basic math concepts this week.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log - turn in on Friday
- study lesson 16 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words for 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.

August 30th - September 3rd

2010-08-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .

September 3 -- Book orders due
-- Intramural sheets due to Mrs. Cushing
September 6 -- Labor Day -- No School
September 7 -- Curriculum Night 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. - Parents Only
September 13 -- Beginning Band Parent Meeting - 7:00 p.m. - Multi-Purpose Room
September 24 -- Teacher Institute -- No School

Welcome to the beginning of another new and exciting year! Last week we spent much of our time organizing our things and getting to know each other. The children spent the first day learning about the PBIS program and the three behaviors that we will be working on all year. You may want to ask them to tell you about the three "B's" they learned about. (Be safe. Be responsible. Be respectful.)

Our first week was excellent! During our second week, we will begin a lot of our core classes.
Please make sure your child makes it a routine of bringing in a healthy snack to school each day, as they all are saying they are starving come lunch time (lunch is served between 11:00 and 11:35).

* Don't forget to review the rules in the Parent Handbook with your child and please sign and send the green sheet back to school with him/her. The handbook can be found on the Prairieview web page.

* All 4th and 5th grade students have the opportunity to sign up for Intramural games. This is a "free" after school program that allows your child to stay active. Permission slips will be sent out next week. Please return them to Mrs. Cushing by Friday, September 3rd.

Curriculum Night is scheduled for Tuesday, September 7th for 4th & 5th graders and my class from 6:30 -7:30 p.m. This is an important evening that will highlight some important information. After being dismissed from the gym, please come to my room. I hope you can make it! If you need to contact me, the easiest way is through email – jkrasno@ccsd66.org

This week our class began with earning "Classroom Cash”. A student can earn a dollar by showing good behavior, good classroom performance, remembering to get a signature when needed, showing good character, following directions, etc. They will be able to buy rewards and special prizes. They are able to pick out of a prize bin on Friday afternoons. Donations throughout the year for stickers, pencils, and other items of interest are always appreciated!

Reading
It would be greatly appreciated if every child would an appropriate silent reading book to keep in their desk for a daily silent reading time.

This week we will jump right into vocabulary skills! We will be continuing with this program weekly. 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.

Students will be introduced to a poem and be responsible for practicing reading a poem at home during the week to focus on reading fluency. This poem is introduced on Monday and they are to read it to me on Friday for a grade without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! The poem this week relates to our Science curriculum we will be reading.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade on Thursday, September 30th, to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party the next day. Keep reading!

Science & Spelling
In order to jump into the 1st graded Science unit, we need to begin with a review of science concepts. We will do this by reading through some chapters in Science.

The spelling words this week will reflect the first chapter science terms. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help is: ABC order- Write your words in alphabetical order.

Math
We will begin reviewing basic math concepts this week.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log - turn in on Friday
- study lesson 15 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words for 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.

May 31st - June 2nd

2010-05-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 31 -- Memorial Day -- No School
June 1 -- All-school picnic
June 2 -- Report Cards issued
Last day of school

PTO Picnic:
On Tuesday, the PTO will be providing lunch for the students. Each student will get one hot dog, a bag of chips, a bottle of water, and an ice cream treat. If your child does not eat hot dogs or needs more food than what is being provided, please send in a small sack lunch.

Yearbooks:
Will be handed out to students on June 2nd. Any students who did not purchase a yearbook may do so on a first-come-first-serve basis on June 2nd; they will go on sale after morning announcements. The cost will be $10.00 and children wishing to purchase should have exact amount. Checks can be made out to Prairieview. There is a limited supply. Prairieview yearbook orders were not paid for at registration. A flyer was sent out on November 12, 2009 and orders were due by Tuesday, December 9, 2009.

I sincerely want to thank you for a wonderful year! I have been so blessed to work with your children and family. I so appreciate all of you that have shown your gratitude for the education your child has received this year. I thank you for being such supportive, involved partners with us this year. It truly has been a joy and a privilege to know and work with all of you! I wish all of you a safe, fun summer filled with lasting memories of special times spent with your children, families, and friends.

OVER THE SUMMER:
Your child should continue to read this summer! Check out one of the great library programs in your area! In addition, if you are looking for some help in a certain subject area for your child, go on to the district website, look at the left hand side margin under “Students”, click on “Educational Websites.” Here you will find a long list of websites under each subject heading that you can check out. I hope you find this useful!

May 24th - 28th

2010-05-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 25 -- 3rd Grade Bowling Field Trip in a.m. (* bring a sack lunch )
May 28 -- 3rd Grade Chicago Boat Trip (* bring a sack lunch or $10 )
-- 4th Grade Bowling Field Trip in p.m.
May 31 -- Memorial Day -- No School
June 1 -- All-school picnic
June 2 -- Report Cards issued
Last day of school

Language Arts
The students are wrapping up writing good sentences this week. They will also work on creating a special poem this week using Co-Writer.

Reading
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 15 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

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 week (no later than Wednesday, May 26th) to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party on Thursday, May 27th. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will be working on a different list, 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 utilizing this website: http://www.kidsspell.com/ Students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
This week we will wrap up adding coins for the year. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented. They have done well with coins in isolation, but it is more difficult for them when adding mixed coins. One way to continue their practice of adding up coins and money would be having your child help make purchases. This would greatly help in their understanding and retention of money concepts.

Daily Homework
Reading- 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due Thursday,May 27th
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
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

May 17th - 21st

2010-05-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 18 -- Beginning Band Concert
May 25 -- 3rd Grade Bowling Field Trip in a.m. (* bring a sack lunch )
May 28 -- 3rd Grade Chicago Boat Trip (* bring a sack lunch or $10 )
-- 4th Grade Bowling Field Trip in p.m.
May 31 -- Memorial Day -- No School
June 1 -- All-school picnic
June 2 -- Report Cards issued
Last day of school

Students from Project Challenge have started a fundraiser for the ASPCA, a foundation to stop animal cruelty. The kids will be selling "Smencils", (scented pencils), for $1.00 each. The pencils will be sold each morning in the grade level areas. The sales will go through May 28th. We will track our sales on the bulletin board by the multi-purpose room. For every twenty dollars we raise, one food bowl will go up on the bulletin board. So please save our animals. Buy Smencils.

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and good main idea sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given.

Reading
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 14 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

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.

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 35 this week. Others will be working on a sports list, 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 utilizing this website: http://www.spellingcity.com/ Students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.

Science
We will dive right into Chapter 3, Plants. The children will be learning about the parts of a plant, how plants differ, and what are some plant life cycles. This information will build on our knowledge from Chapter 1. Through investigations and insta labs, the children should be ready for a brief test at the end of the week. Please review vocabulary and lesson notes nightly beginning Tuesday.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
This week we will begin with just adding quarters then we will continue working on adding the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter all together. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented. They have done well with coins in isolation, but it is more difficult for them when adding mixed coins.

Daily Homework
Reading- 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due every Monday
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
Spelling- Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly
Science - test Friday, May 21st- Reread Ch. 3 p.114-141, Study vocabulary words & lesson reviews for test

*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

May 10th - 14th

2010-05-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .

May 10 -- 4th grade trip to Robert Crown
May 14 -- Early Dismissal @ 11:00
May 18 -- Beginning Band Concert
May 25 -- 3rd Grade Bowling Field Trip in a.m. (* bring a sack lunch )
May 28 -- 3rd Grade Chicago Boat Trip (* bring a sack lunch or $10 )
-- 4th Grade Bowling Field Trip in p.m.
May 31 -- Memorial Day -- No School
June 1 -- All-school picnic
June 2 -- Report Cards issued
Last day of school

Weekly Reminders:
*All 4th grade students need to bring a sack lunch and drink on Monday. They will be eating in the classroom before we go to the Robert Crown Center. Students may want to bring a second snack for when we return in the afternoon.
*Chapter 2 Science test on Friday.

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and good main idea sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given.

Reading
Your child will be not be coming home with 7 words from Elements of Reading Vocabulary program this week. Due to schedule changes because of field trips and early dismissal we will take a break from vocabulary for the week and utilize all of our reading time on decoding and sight word reading this week.

It's still important to keep reading 20 minutes nightly for the Independent Reading Program. Did you know that showing your child that you enjoy reading makes a lasting impression on the importance of the life long skill of reading? 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.

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 34 this week. Others will be working on a farm animal list, where science, 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 utilizing this website: http://www.spellingcity.com/ Students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.

Science
There is a lot of information to know in Chapter 2, Animals. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is there are many kinds of animals. Animals can be grouped by their traits. The children have finished the second lesson, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish. Each child has a lot to share of their knowledge about animals. I would like them to be able to not only be interested in the animals discussed, but to know the characteristics of each animal group and how they differ by specific traits. This week we will be moving on to the Lesson 3, Life Cycles of animals. Finally, we will end the week with a Chapter 2 test
on Friday morning. Please review vocabulary in folder and Lesson 1 & 2 notes this weekend in preparation for the test.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
This week we will begin with just adding quarters then we will continue working on adding the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter all together. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading- 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due every Monday
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
Spelling- Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly
Science - test Friday, May 14th
- Reread Ch. 2 p.78-113 - Study vocabulary words & lesson reviews for test

*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

May 3rd - May 7th

2010-04-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .

May 9 -- Happy Mother's Day, Moms!
May 10 -- 4th grade trip to Robert Crown
May 14 -- Early Dismissal
May 31 -- Memorial Day -- No School

Students from Project Challenge have started a fundraiser for the ASPCA, a foundation to stop animal cruelty. The kids will be selling "Smencils", (scented pencils), for $1.00 each. The pencils will be sold each morning in the grade level areas. The sales will start Friday, April 30th, and go through May 28th. We will track our sales on the bulletin board by the multi-purpose room. For every twenty dollars we raise, one food bowl will go up on the bulletin board. So please save our animals. Buy Smencils.

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and good main idea sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given. We will also work on creating a poem this week using Co-Writer.

Reading
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 132 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

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.

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 33 this week. Others will be working on an animal list, where science, 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 utilizing this website: http://www.spellingcity.com/ Students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.

Science
There is a lot of information to know in Chapter 2, Animals. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is there are many kinds of animals. Animals can be grouped by their traits. The children have finished the first lesson, Mammals and Birds. Each child has a lot to share of their knowledge about animals. I would like them to be able to not only be interested in the animals discussed, but to know the characteristics of each animal group and how they differ by specific traits. This week we will be moving on to the Lesson 2, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
Instead of adding on the value of quarters, the class spent more time focusing on adding just pennies, nickels, and dimes last week. So, this week we will continue working on the value of coins, and more specifically adding the value of a quarter. Then, we will be adding the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter all together. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading- 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due every Monday
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 13 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

April 26th - 30th

2010-04-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
May 14 -- Early Dismissal
May 31 -- Memorial Day -- No School

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and good main idea sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given. We will also work on an essay this week using Co-Writer.

Reading
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 12 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

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 (no later than April 29th) to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party on Friday, April 30th. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 32 this week. Others will be working on a different list, 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: Spelling with Crayons and Paper. Want to get started right away -- maybe today -- with some fun spelling activities? Do you have paper and crayons on hand? Sure you do! Here is a super easy spelling idea! Have your child completely cover a half sheet of paper with crayon. Use a variety of bright colors in any pattern at all. Then you can do a couple of things with the waxy page. Your child can scrape the spellings into the wax with his fingernail or the end of pen cap. Another idea is to place the waxy side face down on a clean piece of paper. Write the spelling words onto the backside of the colored page, pressing down hard. The wax will press onto the clean sheet, making rainbow letters. Colors are used to emphasize the spelling and improve memory of the words.

Science
The children have begun a new chapter in science last week. There is a lot of information to know in Chapter 2, Animals. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is there are many kinds of animals. Animals can be grouped by their traits.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
The class will continue building on to our knowledge of coin value. So far we have covered the value of pennies, nickels, and dimes. This week we will continue working on the value of coins, and more specifically adding the value of a quarter. Then, we will be adding the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter together. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading- 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due every Monday
- turn in Independent Reading Folder Log no later than Thursday, April 29th
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 12 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

April 19th - 23rd

2010-04-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
April 22 -- Early Dismissal
May 14 -- Early Dismissal
May 31 -- Memorial Day -- No School

Language Arts
We had a blast working on poetry last week! Each child wrote two different poems that turned out spectacular! The students are continuing to work on handwriting and good main idea sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given.

Reading
Due to a lack of time because of other events last week we will continue on with the same lesson this week. Your child should still have their list of 7 words from lesson 11 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program that will continue to be studied during the week in class and should be reviewed at home.

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 (April 29th this month) to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party on Friday, April 30th. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 31 this week. Others will be working on a different list, 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: Water Wash - (Warm day required!) Use a paintbrush and water to write your words on the sidewalk!

Science
The children have done an outstanding job with reading and activities in Chapter 1, Living and Nonliving Things. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is that living things have needs and they change as they grow. We are currently observing what plants need. More specifically, what will happen if we don’t water one plant, but water the other. We are beginning the week with a final review of the chapter and taking a chapter test. The test will be Tuesday, April 20th. Continue studying by rereading the text and studying the 6 vocabulary terms.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We all have been so excited to use the mimio and elmo lately to review, teach, and play review coin games! The class will be doing the same this week too, just building on to our knowledge of coin value. So far we have covered the value of pennies, nickels, and the combination of both. This week we will continue working on the value of coins, and more specifically adding the value of a dime and adding the penny, nickel and dime together. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading
- 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due every Monday
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 11 vocabulary words
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly
Science
– test Tuesday, April 20th
- Reread Ch. 1 p.48-77- Study 6 vocabulary words for test

*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

April 12th - 16th

2010-04-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
April 22 -- Early Dismissal
May 14 -- Early Dismissal
May 31 -- Memorial Day -- No School

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given. Every student is to nearly independently responsible for looking up words that spelling is unknown. Each week they are improving drastically from the last and taking it to the next level!

Reading
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 11 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

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 different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 30 this week. Others will be working on a different list, 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: Memory Game - Make pairs of word cards. Flip them over and try to match the pairs!

Science
The children are doing a great job with the beginning of Chapter 1, Living and Nonliving Things. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is that living things have needs and they change as they grow. We went outside to observe and write about what living things (birds) eat - what an awesome science inquiry we had because they didn't eat our food options! This week we are seeing what plants need for an inquiry. Towards the end of the week we will be reviewing the chapter. The test will be Tuesday, April 20th. Start studying by rereading the text and studying the 6 vocabulary terms.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We all have been so excited to use the mimio and elmo lately to review, teach, and play review coin games! The class will be doing the same this week too, just building on to our knowledge of coin value. So far we have covered the value of pennies, nickels, and the combination of both. This week we will continue working on the value of coins, and more specifically adding the value of a dime. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading
- 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due every Monday
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 11 vocabulary words
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly
Science
- Reread Ch. 1 p.48-77
- Study 6 vocabulary words for test

*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

March 29th - April 9th

2010-03-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
March 29 -- Spring Break Begins
April 5 -- Classes Resume

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given. Every student is to nearly independently responsible for looking up words that spelling is unknown. Each week they are improving drastically from the last and taking it to the next level!

Reading
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 10 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

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 different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 29 this week. Others will be working on a Clothing list, 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: Memory Game - Make pairs of word cards. Flip them over and try to match the pairs!

Science
The children are doing a great job with the beginning of Chapter 1, Living and Nonliving Things. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is that living things have needs and they change as they grow. We went outside to observe and write about living and nonliving things what an awesome science inquiry we had!

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We all have been so excited to use the mimio and elmo lately to review, teach, and play review coin games! The class will be doing the same this week too, just building on to our knowledge of coin value. So far we have covered the value of pennies, nickels, and the combination of both. This week we will continue working on the value of coins, and more specifically adding the value of a dime. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due every Monday
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 10 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

March 22nd - March 26th

2010-03-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
March 29 -- Spring Break Begins
April 5 -- Classes Resume

*4th grade fieldtrip - Museum of Science and Industry field trip is on Wednesday, March 24th. The students will explore all 6 simple machines in the Simple Machines Lab at the Museum of Science and Industry. I am sending home some information to go over with your child prior to the field trip. For lunch, your child has the option of bringing a sack lunch from home or approximately $8.00 to purchase a lunch at the museum food court. The students will not be allowed to visit the gift shop or attend exhibits that require additional money.

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given. Every student is to nearly independently responsible for looking up words that spelling is unknown. Each week they are improving drastically from the last and taking it to the next level!

Reading
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 9 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

It’s that time of month coming up - - Independent Reading Folders are due this Thursday, March 25th! 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 (March 25th) to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party. Keep reading!

Spelling
This week we will continue to be divided into different spelling groups. Some will be working on Unit 28 this week. Others will be working on a seasons and weather list, 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: Sing Them Loud, Sing Them Soft - Mom or Dad sing the letters of a spelling word to you in a loud voice. Your child should echo the spelling and then sing it again softly. Now BOTH of you sing the word in the voice you choose!

Social Studies
We used the newest technology that our classroom received to review for the test. The students really enjoyed reviewing as a group utilizing the technology to play a concentration type of vocab review. The children did a nice job wrapping up Unit 3, Working Together on Friday. They truly showed the knowledge learned. They showed great performance on their tests too! Also, they all did a very nice job participating in the Trade Fair. It was very interesting to see how they chose their trades.

Science
The children will begin a new chapter in science this week. There is a lot of information to know in Chapter 1, Living and Nonliving Things. The "Big Idea" of this chapter is that living things have needs and they change as they grow.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We all have been so excited to use the mimio and elmo lately to review, teach, and play review coin games! The class will be doing the same this week too, just building on to our knowledge of coin value. So far we have covered the value of pennies and nickels. This week we will continue working on the value of coins, and adding nickels and pennies together. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log due 3/25
- students should practice reading poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 9 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

March 15th - 19th

2010-03-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
March 17 -- Trade Fair
March 19 -- Social Studies Unit 3 Test

Language Arts
The students are continuing to work on handwriting and sentences this week. They will continue building on writing grammatically correct sentences that relate to the topic given. Every student is to nearly independently responsible for looking up words that spelling is unknown. Each week they are improving drastically from the last and taking it to the next level!

Reading
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 8 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

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 different spelling groups. Some will be working on the review Unit 26 this week. Others will be working on a transportation list, Lesson 15, where reading, social studies, 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: Picture words - Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.

Social Studies
The children will wrap up Unit 3, Working Together. This week students will review the five lessons, take the Unit 3 test, and participate in a Trade Fair.

The Trade Fair will be next Wednesday, March 17th, the students will demonstrate understanding of trade and trading by participating in a project where they will be making homemade goods with a sign and setting up a “Trading Post”. The information can be found in the Social Studies section of your child’s binder.

They should have already been studying for Unit 3 test which is scheduled for next Friday, March 19th. 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. (This reading can count for the 20 min. a night)
2. Discussing answers to the questions at the end of each lesson.
3. Studying vocabulary cards.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We all have been so excited to use the mimio last week to review, teach, and play review coin games! The class will be doing the same this week too, just building on to our knowledge of coin value. So far we have covered the value of pennies and nickels. This week we will continue working on the value of coins, and more specifically the value of a dime. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in both Independent Reading Folder Log
- students should practice reading Moving Goods poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 8 vocabulary words
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly
Social Studies - begin working on Trade Fair project due Wednesday, March 17th
- study for Unit 3 test next Friday, March 19th

*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

March 8th - 12th

2010-03-05T06:40:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
March 8 -- Parent/Teacher Conferences
March 9 -- Report Cards issued
March 12 -- No School
March 17 -- The Trading Post project due
March 19 -- Social Studies Unit 3 Test

Look for the flyer that was sent home Friday. It announces a reading incentive program that Prairieview is encouraging called “Raise a Reader.” Parents sign up your child starting Monday the 8th by going to:

http://www.parents.com/reading/prairieviewschooldowil

All students who sign up will get to put their first name and teacher's name up on the bulletin board in the front hallway. So join the fun and keep reading!

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
Your child will be coming home with 7 words from lesson 7 of the Elements of Reading Vocabulary program 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.

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 25 this week and others will be working on a separate list Lesson 4, 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: Practicing typing spelling words on the website - geoGreeting http://geogreeting.com/#t, uses buildings from around the world to type your words! You can either copy to send the code from your own email program or you can email from this page.

Social Studies
The children will continue through Unit 3, Working Together. This week students will read and discuss Lesson 5, Countries Trade and Move Goods. They will learn meanings for the words trade and transportation. They will explore the ways in which countries exchange goods by using different means of transportation. They will also discuss and learn what it means to barter. Next Wednesday, March 17th, the students will demonstrate understanding of trade and trading by participating in a project where they will be setting up a Trading Post. Look for more information in your child’s binder towards the end of the week. Finally, begin studying for Unit 3 test which is scheduled for next Friday, March 19th. 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 linking our learning of Social Studies and Math. So far we have covered the value of pennies and nickels. This week we will continue working on the value of coins, more specifically the value of a dime. The children will be encouraged to use Touch Math to solve the values of the coins presented.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in both Independent Reading Folder Log
- students should practice reading Money poem nightly to parents to work on fluency
- study lesson 7 vocabulary words
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words with parents nightly
Social Studies - begin working on The Trading Post project due Wednesday, March 17th
- begin studying for Unit 3 test next Friday, March 19th

*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

March 1st - 5th

2010-02-26T15:20:00.000-08:00

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

February 22nd - 26th

2010-02-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

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

February 15th - 19th

2010-02-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

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

February 8th - 12th

2010-02-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

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

February 1st - 5th

2010-01-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
February 2 -- Teacher's Institute -- No School -- Groundhog Day
February 15 -- President's Day -- No School
March 1 -- Casmir Pulaski Day -- No School

Ozzie's Reading Club
Thanks to everyone who sent in their reading logs for the first two weeks 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. We will be starting reading towards third base, so keep up the good work!

Language Arts
We are working 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 we are building on writing grammatically correct sentences that follow the rules we have learned this year.

Reading
Our second week working with these new vocabulary skills was also excellent! The students really enjoyed making an ice cream concoction on Thursday! I have to say they were all full of glee and very creative with their concoctions! We will be continuing with lesson 4 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! 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! Starting January 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
We will be working on Unit 20 this week. 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: Type ‘Em - Type all of your spelling words on the computer or on a typewriter. You can even email them to me!

Social Studies
This week children will begin Lesson 2 of Unit 2, Our Earth. The children have been introduced to 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.

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 Independent Reading Folder Log & Ozzie's Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
- study lesson 4 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

January 25th - 29th

2010-01-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
January 26 - PV Bingo Night permission slips due ( limit 100)
January 27 - 4th grade - Mr. Lee's Science Magic
January 29 - PV Bingo Night
- Family Reading Night permission slips due
February 2 -- Teacher's Institute -- No School
February 15 -- President's Day -- No School
March 1 -- Casmir Pulaski Day -- No School

Ozzie's Reading Club
Thanks to everyone who sent in their reading logs for the first two weeks of Ozzie's Reading Club. The children who have brought in their reading logs have reached first base and have received a bookmark. We will be starting the next two weeks of reading towards second base, so keep up the good work!

4th Grade Mr. Lee's Science Magic:
On Wednesday, January 27th, Mr. Lee will visit Mrs. Cushing/Mrs. Flynn's classroom for most of the day to do many activities with us on electricity. Please have your child wash their hair the day or night before (Tuesday). They should also refrain from using hairspray, gel, mousse, etc. Clean, dry hair will work best with one of the experiments.

3rd Grade Cosmic Capers:
Friday, January 29th will be a class field trip with Ms. Pellin's Room! This is an "in class" field trip where students will make models of eclipses and craters on the moon. They will even get to taste astronaut ice cream! I wonder if the taste will send them in orbit!

Language Arts
Each child has successfully built their skills from recognizing and identifying sentences to identifying two main parts of a sentence: the subject and predicate of a sentence. Due to a delay in lessons last week, students will finish the review of all lessons taught in this series relating to sentences and be assessed on Tuesday.

Reading
Our second week working with these new vocabulary skills was also excellent! The students really enjoyed making an ice cream concoction on Thursday! I have to say they were all full of glee and very creative with their concoctions! We will be continuing with lesson 3 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! 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! Starting January 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
We will be working on Unit 19 this week. 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: Picture words - Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.

Science
We have and will continue doing mini lessons on electricity and space throughout the week. The children have really enjoyed this in little bursts!

Social Studies
The children will begin Unit 2, Our Earth. This unit introduces the children to 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.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on numbers – ordinal numbers, 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 Independent Reading Folder Log & Ozzie's Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
- study lesson 3 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

January 18th - 22nd

2010-01-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
January 18 -- M.L. King's Birthday -- No School
January 19 -- Check your child's grades (halfway through the trimester)
February 2 -- Teacher's Institute -- No School
February 15 -- President's Day -- No School
March 1 -- Casmir Pulaski Day -- No School

Language Arts
Each child has successfully built their skills from recognizing and identifying sentences to identifying two main parts of a sentence: the subject and predicate of a sentence. This week students will review all lessons taught in this series relating to sentences and be assessed at the end of the week.

Reading
Our first week working with these new vocabulary skills was excellent! We will be continuing with this program weekly. 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! 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! Starting January 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
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: ABC order- Write your words in alphabetical order.

Science
The class is wrapping up Chapter 9, Matter. We will review the chapter on Wednesday. The test is scheduled for Thursday, January 21st. All definitions have been thoroughly discussed and written on notecards in this chapter. There is a lot of information to know. Please review lesson study guide sheets and definitions this weekend. The information will be found in their science folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives Thursday.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on numbers – ordinal and place value and applying it to everyday situations. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of place 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 Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
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

January 11th - 15th

2010-01-08T15:22:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
January 11-15 IOWA Week
January 18 -- M.L. King's Birthday -- No School

Hot Lunch: Please be advised that as of January 4, 2010 there will be a price increase in the student hot lunch program. The price of hot lunch will be $2.50 per meal.

Weekly Reminders:
*No spelling unit this week.
*IOWA Testing - Monday through Thursday.

The IOWA Basic Skills testing will take place during the week of January 11th. Please make sure that your child gets plenty of rest and eats a good breakfast each morning. Since we will be testing in the morning and afternoon on Monday through Wednesday, your child may want to bring an extra healthy snack & drink for the afternoon Monday and Tuesday.

IOWA Testing Schedule:
Monday - Vocabulary, Spelling, Reading Part 1, and Math Concepts and Estimation.
Tuesday - Capitalization, Reading Part 2, and Math Computation.
Wednesday - Usage and Expression, Punctuation, and Math Problem Solving.
Thursday & Friday - Make Ups

Language Arts
Each child has successfully built their skills from recognizing and identifying sentences to identifying two main parts of a sentence: the subject and predicate of a sentence. This week students will review all lessons taught in this series relating to sentences and be assessed on Friday.

Reading
Our first week working with these new vocabulary skills was excellent! We will be continuing with this program next week.

We will be reading various stories about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this week. They all review the beliefs and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. These are perfect stories to read for two reasons: because they teach about such great character and the fact that we will be celebrating Martin Luther King Day on Monday, January 18.

This month reading incentives are doubled! 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! See flyer that went home this Friday. 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! Starting January 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
*No spelling unit this week due to IOWA’s.

Science
The children have begun Chapter 9, Matter. We will continue with Lesson 3 this week, “What are Liquids?” and Lesson 4, “What are Gasses?” We have discussed and written various definitions on notecards in this chapter thus far. There is a lot of information to know. Please review lessons when possible. The information will be found in their science folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives next week.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will have very short math periods this week due to IOWA's. We will continue focusing on numbers – ordinal and place value and applying it to everyday situations. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of place 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 Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
*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

January 4th - 8th

2009-12-18T06:29:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
January 4 -- Classes Resume after Winter Break
January 11-15 IOWA Week
January 18 -- M.L. King's Birthday -- No School

Language Arts
We are continuing to build our skills from recognizing and identifying sentences to identifying two main parts of a sentence. Beginning this week students will learn how to locate the subject and predicate of a sentence.

Reading
We will not only be working on our fluency, phonics and phonemic awareness, but will be building on our skills by working specifically on our vocabulary skills in a very structured way. 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 senting home each Monday there will be suggestions on how you can work with your child & have them get extra practice.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Starting January each 20 minute increment read counts for a point up to 20 points. I am strongly encouraging your child to learn to love to read! Your help is greatly appreciated! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. 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
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: Picture words - Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.

Science
The children have begun Chapter 9, Matter. We will continue with Lesson 2 this week, “What are Solids?” We have discussed and written 3 definitions on notecards in this lesson. Including these words in conversation at home would be helpful to better understand the meaning. Then we will continue on to Lesson 3, “What are Liquids?” There is a lot of information to know. Please review lessons when possible. The information will be found in their science folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on numbers – ordinal and place value and applying it to everyday situations. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of place 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 Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
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

December 14th - 18th

2009-12-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
December 15th - 3rd Grade Bowling
December 17th - 4th Grade Bowling
December 18th - Independent Reading Program folders due
December 21 -- Winter Break Begins
January 4 -- Classes Resume after Winter Break

Christmas Theme Unit
We will be working on Christmas related activities and lessons in all areas. In reading and social studies we will be completing a Christmas webquest. In Language Arts we are focusing on capitalization rules this week. We will be working with a Christmas spelling list to build vocabulary and practice spelling. There will be no test this week, but students will still complete practice pages nightly.

Reading
We will read various Christmas stories this week. The first tells about the history and customs behind Christmas. The next few relate to the theme of Christmas, but we will be focusing more on story elements like character, plot, setting and summarizing throughout these short stories.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. 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 Thursday to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party. Keep reading!

Spelling
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: Reading a Christmas story locating their spelling words within the story or Writing a Christmas letter to a long-distance family member using many of their spelling words.

Science
The children are two lessons into Chapter 9, Matter. We will revisit this unit upon our return in January. There is a lot of information to know in this chapter. Please review vocabulary cards over the next few weeks when possible. The information will be found in their science folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives mid January.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on numbers – ordinal and place value and applying it to everyday situations. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of place 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 for 15 days this month
- fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
-turn in Independent Reading Folder Log Thursday
Spelling
- Practice Page nightly & study words with parents

*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

December 7th - 11th

2009-12-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
December 8th – Last day to turn in gifts for our holiday service project
December 9th - Drury Lane field trip
December 15th - 3rd Grade Bowling
December 17th - 4th Grade Bowling
December 18th - Independent Reading Program folders due
December 21 -- Winter Break Begins
January 4 -- Classes Resume after Winter Break

Don't forget our Special Holiday Project!
Each year Prairieview School adopts needy families of cancer patients who struggle financially. Specific information about this project and our family was handed out. Have you seen this yet? If not, please ask your child about it. The economy is difficult right now, but if you are able to brighten Christmas for this family in any way, it would be greatly appreciated! All gifts are due by December 8th.

Miss Pellin's Blog for information about her family: http://mpellin.blogspot.com/
Mrs. Cushing's Blog for information about her family: http://cushingscorner.blogspot.com/

Language Arts
We are continuing to build our skills from recognizing and identifying sentences to identifying two main parts of a sentence. Beginning this week students will learn how to locate the subject and predicate of a sentence.

Reading
We will continue our study of Charles Dickens story, "A Christmas Carol". We will continue focusing on story elements like character, plot, setting and summarizing throughout this study. This study will better prepare us for our field trip this Wednesday. We will explore new vocabulary and compare and contrast the story with the play.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. 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
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: Words without Vowels - Write your words replacing all vowels with a line.

Science
The children have begun Chapter 9, Matter. We will continue with Lesson 1 this week, “What is Matter?” We have discussed and written 3 definitions on notecards in this lesson. Including these words in conversation at home would be helpful to better understand the meaning. Then we will continue on to Lesson 2, “What are Solids?” There is a lot of information to know. Please review lessons when possible. The information will be found in their science folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on place value and applying it to everyday situations. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of place 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 for 15 days this month
- fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words with parents

*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

November 30th - December 4th

2009-11-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

November 30th – December 4th
Important Dates . . .
November 30 -- December 4 -- P/T Conferences
December 1 -- Report Cards
December 1 – Yearbook deadline
December 4 -- P/T Conferences -- No School

Yearbook:
Now's the time to place your orders. Yearbooks are $10.00 and the deadline for your orders is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Please make checks payable to Lifetouch. Please make sure your student's name, teacher's name and grade level are marked on the order form. If you have multiple students, please fill out one for each child. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 12th and there are a few extra envelopes available; please try not to lose them. If your child loses it, you can send an envelope with the following information on it: student's name, teacher's name and grade level along with a check made payable to Lifetouch for $10.00. It is very important that you put the information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child's teacher is. Prairieview Yearbook orders are not paid for at registration.
Language ArtsWe are continuing to build our skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences. They should be able to identify that a sentence has two parts: a who or what part that tells who or what the sentence is about and a does what part that tells what the who or what does. Students have been able to work in partners and generate sentences including those parts accurately.

Reading
We will begin the study of Charles Dickens story, "A Christmas Carol". We will continue focusing on story elements (character) and summarizing throughout this study. This will better prepare us for our field trip next Wednesday. We will explore new vocabulary and compare and contrast the story with the play.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. 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
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: Sound Words - Use a tape recorder and record your words and their spelling. Then listen to your tape, checking to see that you spelled all the words correctly.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on place value and applying it to everyday situations. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of place 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 Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words

*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

November 23rd - November 27th

2009-11-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
November 25, 26, 27 -- Thanksgiving Holiday -- No School
November 30 -- December 4 -- P/T Conferences
December 1 -- Report Cards
December 1 -- Deadline for Yearbooks

Yearbook:
Now's the time to place your orders. Yearbooks are $10.00 and the deadline for your orders is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Please make checks payable to Lifetouch. Please make sure your student's name, teacher's name and grade level are marked on the order form. If you have multiple students, please fill out one for each child. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 12th and there are a few extra envelopes available; please try not to lose them. If your child loses it, you can send an envelope with the following information on it: student's name, teacher's name and grade level along with a check made payable to Lifetouch for $10.00. It is very important that you put the information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child's teacher is. Prairieview Yearbook orders are not paid for at registration.

Independent Reading Program
Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. 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 next Monday, November 30th, to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party. Keep reading!

Thanksgiving Theme Unit
Since there are only two days this week, we will be working on Thanksgiving related activities and lessons in all areas. In reading and social studies we will be completing a Thanksgiving webquest. We will be working with a Thanksgiving spelling list to build vocabulary and practice spelling. There will be no test this week, but students will still complete practice pages nightly.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and fill in Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words

*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

November 16th - November 20th

2009-11-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .

November 19 – Picture Retakes
November 25, 26, 27 -- Thanksgiving Holiday -- No School
December 1 -- Report Cards
November 30 -- December 4 -- P/T Conferences

Yearbook:
Now's the time to place your orders. Yearbooks are $10.00 and the deadline for your orders is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Please make checks payable to Lifetouch. Please make sure your student's name, teacher's name and grade level are marked on the order form. If you have multiple students, please fill out one for each child. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 12th and there are a few extra envelopes available; please try not to lose them. If your child loses it, you can send an envelope with the following information on it: student's name, teacher's name and grade level along with a check made payable to Lifetouch for $10.00. It is very important that you put the information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child's teacher is. FYI - Prairieview Yearbook orders are not paid for at registration.

Language Arts
We are continuing to build our skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences. They should be able to identify that a sentence has two parts: a who or what part that tells who or what the sentence is about and a does what part that tells what the who or what does.

Reading
We are working on story elements and decoding skills. The story element being focused on is character. Students need to work on recall of information and details relating to characters. Also, we will be working on paragraph or short story summaries. To do this we will be focusing on key words in sentences to better help us retell that sentence.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. 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
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: Sound Words - Use a tape recorder and record your words and their spelling. Then listen to your tape, checking to see that you spelled all the words correctly.

Science
Last week we wrapped up lesson 3 of our Introduction Unit: Inquiry Skills; therefore, the test will be Wednesday, November 18th. Please re-read the unit (p.1-37) with your child this weekend to help refresh their memory of the information learned prior. The information listed on the study guide is a must to study for understanding what is expected on the test. Many of the questions are taken directly from the vocabulary cards, notes, and quiz in their Science Folder in their binder. There is a lot of information to know. You should have been reviewing the notes and vocabulary cards all along, so this should make it an easier weekend of studying.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on place value and applying it to everyday situations. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of place 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 Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words
Science – Introductory Unit Test Wednesday

*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

November 9th - November 13th

2009-11-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Important Dates . . .
November 11 -- Veteran's Day -- No School
November 19 – Picture Retakes
November 25, 26, 27 -- Thanksgiving Holiday -- No School
December 1 -- Report Cards
November 30 -- December 4 -- P/T Conferences

Language Arts
We are continuing to build our skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences. They should be able to identify that a sentence has two parts: a who or what part that tells who or what the sentence is about and a does what part that tells what the who or what does.

Reading
We are working on story elements and decoding skills. The story element being focused on is character. Students need to work on recall of information and details relating to characters.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. 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
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: X Words - Write two words having one common letter so they criss-cross.

Science
We will wrap up lesson 2 and move onto lesson 3 in our introductory chapter this week, Inquiry Skills. This is otherwise known as the skills to use when following the steps in the Scientific Method. There is a lot of information to know. Please review notes and vocabulary cards when possible. The information will be found in their Science folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives.

Science at Home: There are plenty of opportunities to do science experiments at home. Together think of a question to ask, such as what dissolves in water, what floats or sinks, etc. Then come up with a hypothesis and an experiment plan. Have your child write the steps of the experiment and try it (Hint: if you need assistance the science folder is a good place to help you). Remember to record data during the experiment. Help your child come up with a conclusion and share your findings with family members.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on place value and applying it to everyday situations. The children will be encouraged to use various manipulatives and strategies to achieve understanding of place 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 complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words

*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

November 2nd - November 6th

2009-10-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
November 11 -- Veteran's Day -- No School

Language Arts
We are continuing to build our skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences. They should be able to identify that a sentence has two parts: a who or what part that tells who or what the sentence is about and a does what part that tells what the who or what does.

Reading
We are working on story elements and decoding skills. The story element being focused on is character. Students need to work on recall of information and details relating to characters.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Due to some confusion, you may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. Keep reading!

Spelling
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: Popsicles - Make words using popsicle sticks.

Science
We will continue our introductory chapter this week. This chapter highlights information that students can use throughout the year. We will review Lesson 1 this week, “What are Tools for Inquiry?” We have discussed the definition of the root word of inquiry: inquire (to ask a question). Then we will continue in our introductory chapter, lesson 2. There is a lot of information to know. Please review lessons when possible. The information will be found in their Science folder in their binder. This will help when the test arrives.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will move on to Chapter 3, Place Value and apply it to everyday situations.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words

*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

October 26th - October 30th

2009-10-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
October 29 – Independent Reading Program folders due
October 30 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
November 11 -- Veteran's Day -- No School

3rd Grade Notes:
Third Grade will be taking a field trip to Downers Grove as part of our Social Studies unit about our city. A permission slip for the Downers Grove field trip was sent home. The signed permission slip was due on Friday, October 23rd. You may also send $7.50 along with the signed permission slip to cover the cost of a Giordano's (Downers Grove) pizza lunch. If you do not wish to have your child participate, please send a cold lunch on the day of the field trip (no money is necessary). Everyone will eat at Giordano's restaurant (cold or pizza). If you would like, though it is not necessary, you can also send $5-$8 in cash on the day of the field trip. Your student can spend this money at any of the downtown Downers Grove shops. Each student will be responsible for their own money.

In addition, the 3rd graders from my room will be joining 4th graders for the Christmas Carol production at Drury Lane on December 9th. This field trip will be a culminating activity with our literature study of the Christmas Carol. Permission slips and $8.50 are due asap.

4th Grade Notes:
A permission slip went home last week regarding “all” field trips for 4th grade that will be taken this year. Please sign the form (on each line) and return the form with one check by October 27th.

Halloween Party:
Halloween is right around the corner. We will “not” be having the typical Halloween party. On October 29th, we will begin our afternoon at 12:30 with the annual parade. The afternoon will then consist of a snack, assembly, and pumpkin decorating contest. Your child can bring in things from home to help decorate their pumpkin. We will “not” be carving pumpkins. In addition, if you child would like to bring in something to pass out to the class on that day, it is fine. We will be “sending” home these items.

Language Arts
We will be working on various language arts skills through DOL activities and other various Halloween themed activities. They will be expected to build on their skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences.

Reading
Through the theme of Halloween we will be reading about the history behind the holiday and reading a few plays as a class. Students will be expected to recall of information and details relating to information read and discussed.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Due to some confusion, you may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The final turn in day for the month will be Wednesday, October 29th. Keep reading!

Spelling
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: Halloween Colored Words - Write your words in orange and black.

Science
We will continue to link our introductory chapter to the Halloween Pumpkin Science. The students will have to apply actual science to pumpkins this week.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on various basic math skills as they relate to Halloween. The children will work on graphing, patterns, fractions, calendar concepts, and addition.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- Independent Reading Folder Log due 10/30
- practice reading play part
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words

*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.

October 19th - 23rd

2009-10-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
October 21 -- Early Dismissal @ 11 a.m.
October 22 -- Chapter 1 Math Test
October 29 – Independent Reading Program folders due
October 30 -- Teacher Institute -- No School

3rd Grade Notes:
Third grade will be taking a field trip to Downers Grove as part of our Social Studies unit about our city. The permission slip for the Downers Grove field trip was sent home recently. The signed permission slip is due on Friday, October 23rd. You may also send $7.50 along with the signed permission slip to cover the cost of a Giordano's (Downers Grove) pizza lunch. If you do not wish to have your child participate, please send a cold lunch on the day of the field trip (no money is necessary). Everyone will eat at Giordano's restaurant (cold or pizza). If you would like, though it is not necessary, you can also send $5-$8 in cash on the day of the field trip. Your student can spend this money at any of the downtown Downers Grove shops. Each student will be responsible for their own money.

4th Grade Notes:
A permission slip went home last week regarding “all” field trips that will be taken this year. Please sign the form (on each line) and return the form with one check by October 27th.

Language Arts
We are continuing to build our skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences. They should be able to identify that a sentence has two parts: a who or what part that tells who or what the sentence is about and a does what part that tells what the who or what does.

Reading
We are working on story elements and decoding skills. The story element being focused on is character. Students need to work on recall of information and details relating to characters.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Due to some confusion, you may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The final turn in day for the month will be Wednesday, October 29th. Keep reading!

Spelling
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: Choo-Choo Words - Write the entire list end-to-end as one long word, using different colors of crayon or ink for different words.

Science
The children will begin with an introductory unit of study for the science text. This will highlight information that students will use throughout the year. We will continue with Lesson 1 this week, “What are Tools for Inquiry?” We have discussed the definition of the root word of inquiry: inquire (to ask a question). Including this word in conversation at home would be helpful to better understand the meaning.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
Chapter 1 test will be this Friday. They will continue focusing on basic addition, but now adding three numbers for our last lesson. The children are using various techniques to achieve the sum; whether it be a numberline, touchpoints, manipulatives, make a ten, addition table or memory.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words
Math – Chapter 1 Test Friday
- practice counting, one to one correspondence, and addition facts with sums up to 20

October 12th - 16th

2009-10-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
October 12 -- Columbus Day -- No School
October 21 -- Early Dismissal
October 29 – Independent Reading Program folders due
October 30 -- Teacher Institute -- No School

Trimester Midpoint:
If you haven't already, please take a few minutes to check your child's grades in each subject.

Language Arts
We are wrapped up the Level I unit on sentences. We will advance our knowledge in this area with Levels II and III. Students build their skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences. They should be able to identify that a sentence has two parts: a who or what part that tells who or what the sentence is about and a does what part that tells what the who or what does.

Reading
We are working on phonics and sight word reading skills daily. They will continue working throughout the week practicing a poem focusing on fluency. This poem is introduced on Monday and they are to read it to me on Friday without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! Also, they will continue sorting information independently into categories to find the main idea.
Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Due to some confusion, you may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The final turn in day for the month will be Wednesday, October 29th. Keep reading!

Spelling
Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. 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: Delicious words - Write your words in whipped cream, peanut butter,or anything you can eat!

Science
The children will begin with an introductory unit of study for the science text. This will highlight information that students will use throughout the year. We will begin with Lesson 1 this week, “What are Tools for Inquiry?” This lesson will be continued next week.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on basic addition facts for a couple more lessons. The children are using various techniques to achieve the sum; whether it be a numberline, touchpoints, manipulatives, make a ten, addition table or memory.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words
Math - practice counting, one to one correspondence, and addition facts with sums up to 20

*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.

October 5th - 9th

2009-10-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
October 6 – Progress Reports (D's & F's only) mailed home
October 12 -- Columbus Day -- No School
October 21 -- Early Dismissal
October 29 – Independent Reading Program folders due
October 30 -- Teacher Institute -- No School

Trimester Midpoint:
Please take a few minutes to check your child's grades in each subject.

Language Arts
We are wrapped up the Level I unit on sentences. We will advance our knowledge in this area with Levels II and III. Students build their skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences. They should be able to identify that a sentence has two parts: a who or what part that tells who or what the sentence is about and a does what part that tells what the who or what does.

Reading
We are working on phonics and sight word reading skills daily. They will continue working throughout the week practicing a poem focusing on fluency. This poem is introduced on Monday and they are to read it to me on Friday without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! Also, they will continue sorting information independently into categories to find the main idea.

Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for a minimum of 20 days in the month to complete the Independent Reading Program! Due to some confusion I have made a new sheet, you may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The final turn in day for the month will be Wednesday, October 29th. Keep reading!

Spelling
Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. 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: Pyramid Words - Write your words adding or subtracting one letter at a time. The result will be a pyramid shape of words.

Social Studies
The children will complete their study of Unit 1 this week. They should be able to explain that they live in a town which is part of a state that belongs to a country. Then the larger part is how a country is part of a continent which is part of the world; hence, Lesson 5: Our Country in Part of Our World. To study for the test they may want to remember the phrase Never Eat Soggy Waffles to remember North, South, East, & West. We will review on Wednesday and Thursday. The study guide will go out on Wednesday. The test is scheduled for Friday. On Wednesday I can send home books; however, the worksheets and vocabulary cards are a great start and mainly what they will need to know for the test.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on Make a Ten strategy. Then we will work on basic addition facts for a couple of lessons. The children are using various techniques to achieve the sum; whether it be a numberline, touchpoints, manipulatives, or memory.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words
Math - practice counting, one to one correspondence, and addition facts with a sum of 10
Social Studies – Unit 1 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.

September 28th - October 2nd

2009-09-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
September 30 – Independent Reading Program folders due
October 12 -- Columbus Day -- No School
October 21 -- Early Dismissal
October 30 -- Teacher Institute -- No School

Please check home folders each night for papers and notes. Signing the assignment notebook upon your child completing all homework would be greatly appreciated.

Language Arts
We are wrapped up the Level I unit on sentences. We will advance our knowledge in this area with Levels II and III. Students build their skills from recognizing phrases and sentences to identifying attributes of sentences. They should be able to identify that a sentence has two parts: a who or what part that tells who or what the sentence is about and a does what part that tells what the who or what does.

Reading
We are continuing with brief assessments of each child's skills. It's nice to see each child's individual strengths in the area of reading! We are working on phonics and sight word reading skills daily. This week they will work independently on sorting information into categories to find the main idea. Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Due to some confusion, you may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The final turn in day for the month will be Wednesday, September 30th. Keep reading!

Spelling
Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. 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: Surround words - Write your words on graph paper and outline in colors.

Social Studies
The children will learn the meaning of the word capital. They will also learn that they live in a state and a country and that both places have capitals. We will also continue working on directions on a compass rose. They learned the phrase Never Eat Soggy Waffles to remember North, South, East, & West. Working on directions (right & left too!) as you are traveling throughout the community will better help them apply their knowledge into everyday situations.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will continue focusing on Make a Ten strategy. Then we will work on basic addition facts for a couple of lessons. The children are using various techniques to achieve the sum; whether it be a numberline, touchpoints, manipulatives, or memory.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words
Math - practice counting, one to one correspondence, and addition facts with a sum of 10

*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.

September 21st - 25th

2009-09-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
September 22 -- Early Dismissal @ 11 a.m.
September 30 – Independent Reading Program folders due

Please check home folders each night for papers and notes. Signing the assignment notebook upon your child completing all homework would be greatly appreciated.

Language Arts
We are advancing well through the unit on sentences. It looks like we will wrap up this unit by the end of the week. Also, we will continue focusing on each individual child's knowledge of personal information. Handwriting will continue to be important whether it be a structured lesson or in every day writing.

Reading
We are continuing with brief assessments of each child's skills. It's nice to see each child's individual strengths in the area of reading! We are working on phonics and sight word reading skills daily. This week they will work independently on sorting information into categories to find the main idea. Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! Due to some confusion, you may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. This orange folder should be turned in every Monday to make sure they are staying on track. The final turn in day for the month will be Wednesday, September 30th. Keep reading!

Spelling
Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. They will be receiving them daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given every Friday.

Social Studies
The children will be expanding their knowledge from neighborhoods make up communities to identifying different types of living communities. They should be able to differentiate between an urban, rural, and suburban community. Also, they are working on directions on a compass rose. They learned the phrase Never Eat Soggy Waffles to remember North, South, East, & West. Working on directions (right & left too!) as you are traveling throughout the community will better help them apply their knowledge into everyday situations.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We will begin the week with continuing on the strategy of doubles. We will also be focusing on Make a Ten strategy. The children are using various techniques to achieve the sum; whether it be a numberline, touchpoints, manipulatives, or memory.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words
Math - practice counting, one to one correspondence, and addition facts with a sum of 10

*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.

September 14th - 18th

2009-09-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
every Fri. Spirit Day – Favorite team or PV apparel
September 22 -- Early Dismissal @ 11 a.m.

Your child is continuing doing a great job adjusting to the routine of their new grade. Please check home folders each night for papers and notes. Signing the assignment notebook upon your child completing all homework would be greatly appreciated.

Language Arts
We are beginning a unit on sentences this week. Be sure to ask your child questions about what he has learned about sentences. One way to work at home with your child in this area is to read a story with them. As you read together, have your child point to the sentences and track the entire sentence from beginning to end. When your child reaches the end of a sentence, ask if it is a telling or an asking sentence. Also, we will continue focusing on each individual child's knowledge of personal information. Handwriting will continue to be important whether it be a structured lesson or in every day writing.

Reading
We are continuing with brief assessments of each child's skills. It's nice to see each child's individual strengths in the area of reading! We are working on phonics and sight word reading skills daily. Also, they will continue sorting information into categories to find the main idea. Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program!!!

Spelling
Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. They will be receiving them daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given every Friday.

Social Studies
The children will be learn to recognize the diversity in communities. Also, they will learn how communities change over time. One way to apply what we are learning is when you are out in the community, have your child identify things such as what makes up their neighborhood and how many neighborhoods make up a community.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We began working on understanding addition and then moved on to a strategy called counting on. The students needed a review of these concepts as complete independence was not achieved; therefore, we will begin the week with a review of these concepts and move on to the strategy of doubles. The children are using various techniques to achieve the sum; whether it be a numberline, touchpoints, manipulatives, or memory.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words
Math - practice counting, one to one correspondence, and addition & subtraction math facts

*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.

Thank You!
I would like to extend a belated thank you to all of the parents who were able to attend Curriculum Night. I enjoyed sharing information with you about the 2009-2010 school year. A few parents who were unable to attend sent in requests for 1st Trimester conferences. I will be sending home times available for conferences next week.

September 7th - 11th

2009-09-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .
September 7 -- Labor Day -- No School
September 22 -- Early Dismissal

Your children are doing a great job adjusting to the routine of their new grade. Please help
them remember to bring their binder and assignment notebook to school every day. Parents
should be checking home folders each night for papers and notes.

Language Arts
We have begun our Language Arts curriculum focusing on each individual child. They have created acrostic poems and written about themselves with guidance. Also, we have focused on handwriting. The students will continue to work in this area for quite sometime. Next week we will begin grammar instruction.

Reading
I will continue assessing each child's skills for proper instruction. I look forward to seeing each child's individual strengths in the area of reading! We will continue sorting information into categories to find the main idea. Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program!!!

Spelling
Practice pages will be assigned for the upcoming week's list on Friday to give additional study time. They will be receiving them daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given every Friday.

Social Studies
Our first lesson will be Living in a Neighborhood. We will identify ways people work together in the classroom and community by obeying rules and laws, and how rules and laws can be changed.

Math (Mrs. K's Math class only)
We began by a few days of pre-assessment in a variety of areas. Then, we began working on addition strategies that focus on counting on and using doubles to add sums to 18. We are working on the following addition strategies: counting on, using doubles, using doubles plus 1, and making 10 to find sums. Students are using various techniques to achieve the sum; whether it be a numberline, touchpoints, manipulatives, or memory.

Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words
Math - practice counting, one to one correspondence, and addition & subtraction math facts
*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.

Week of August 31st - September 4th

2009-08-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

Important Dates . . .

September 1 -- 3rd Grade Curriculum Night 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
September 3 -- 4th/5th Grade Curriculum Night 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
September 4 -- Book orders due
September 7 -- Labor Day -- No School
September 22 -- Early Dismissal

Welcome to the beginning of another new and exciting year! By this week, your child should be bringing in a healthy snack to school each day. Also, I would like each child to have an appropriate silent reading book to keep in their desk for a daily silent reading time.

This week our class began with earning "Classroom Cash”. A student can earn a dollar by showing good behavior, good classroom performance, remembering to get a signature when needed, showing good character, following directions, etc. They will be able to buy rewards and special prizes. They are able to pick out of a prize bin on Friday afternoons. Donations throughout the year for stickers, pencils, and other items of interest are always appreciated!

Curriculum Night is scheduled for Tuesday, September 1st for 3rd graders and Thursday, September 3rd for 4th graders, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room. This is a very important evening that will highlight some important classroom information. After being dismissed from the gym, please come to my room versus the homeroom. I hope you can make it! If you need to contact me, the easiest way is through email – jkrasno@ccsd66.org

How to keep up with the right blog! We are into the second week of school now and you are probably wondering, "What blog should I read?" Here is the answer to your question: "Mrs. Krasnodebski's Blog" - for most academic classes. "Mrs. Beseth's Blog" - if your child is in her math class. "Mrs. Cushing's Blog" or "Miss Pellin's Blog" - mainly referring to the class events like parties and the such. Does that begin to help you out? If not please email me.