Friday, December 4, 2009

Sulima's Scoop - Week of December 7

Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 14 spelling pretest on Monday.
*All gifts for our Holiday Service Project are due Tuesday.
*Field trip to Drury Lane on Tuesday. Please dress nice.
*Home Run Inn pizza lunch on Tuesday (for those who ordered). Please bring a drink.
*Unit 2 - Nouns- English test on Wednesday.
*Chapter 4 math test on Thursday.
*Lesson 14 spelling test on Friday.
*Open-book chapter 2, lesson 3 science quiz on Friday.
*
Plan Ahead:
*Chapter 6 social studies test on Monday, December 14.
*Chapter 2 science test on Wednesday, December 16.
*Bowling field trip on Thursday, December 17.
*Tivoli field trip on Friday, December 18.
*Winter Break - December 21 - January 1. Return to school on January 4.
*
Parent Teacher Conferences:
I would like to thank you all for making our first round of parent teacher conferences so successful. I will be meeting with each child throughout the week to discuss their 2nd trimester goals. Your child will bring home a copy of the goals which you can keep at home. Please remind your child often to focus on reaching these goals.
*
Homeroom Happenings:
Science - We will move on to chapter 2, lesson 3. This lesson focuses on the life cycle of animals. We will finish chapter 2 this week. The children will take the test on Wednesday, December 16.
Items to review for the test:
*Class notes
*Key vocabulary:trait, heredity, gene, photosynthesis, life cycle, direct development, and metamorphosis
*How are traits inherited? How are traits developed? Nature vs. Nurture.
*What are the stages in the life cycle of a plant? How do plants reproduce?
What are the stages in the life cycle of an animal? How do some animals grow and develop?
*
Social Studies - The children will complete their southeast farmer projects. They brought home their rough drafts, please take time before Tuesday to help them edit their writing. We will be writing our final drafts on Tuesday. This project is worth 25 points (grading checklist is in your child's S.S. pocket), but the children can earn 2 bonus points for adding addition information or fun facts that are not listed on the grading checklist. We will finish chapter 6 by looking at other resources found in the southeast. The children will fill out a "how to study" sheet on Wednesday. The chapter 6 test will be on Monday, December 14.
Items to review for test:
*Key vocabulary - barrier islands, Outer Coastal Plain, wetlands, Inner Coastal Plain, Piedmont, fall line, key. hurricane, hurricane season, endangered species, extinct, pulp, and fossil fuel.
*Indentify and describe major landforms in the Southeast.
*Explain how barrier islands were formed.
*Compare and contrast landform elevations in the Southeast. (Use diagram done in class.)
*Describe the climate of the Southeast.
*Describe how hurricanes form and the effects of hurricanes.
*Explain the function of lighthouses.
*Describe the importance of protecting endangered species.
*Identify ways in which resources of the Southeast are used.
*Identify a renewable and a nonrenewable resource found in the Southeast.
*Explain why coal is an important resource in the Southeast.
*Describe a place you could visit in the Southeast. Why would you go there and what would you see and/or do? (Magic Kingdom and all related parks are closed!) Ideas: Everglades National Park, Key West, Myrtle Beach or any other place you may know of.
*
Spelling - Lesson 14 will practice "au" words. Please have your child practice their words in cursive.
*
W.O.W. Words - Our W.O.W. words for the week are: banter, indulge, revel, relish, and excursion.
*
English - We have now finished unit 2 - nouns. The children filled out a "how to study" sheet on Thursday. Our test will be on Wednesday. Please help your child review for this test. The lessons on singular and plural possessives seems to be difficult for many children. We will review in class on Monday.
Here are some Internet games to help your child review:
*
Reading - We will finish our study of "A Christmas Carol" this week. The children will sequence important events from the story. We will also read our readers' theater again on Monday. The children will be graded on accuracy, volume, rate, expression, and fluency. I was very impressed by our practice reading on Thursday. On Tuesday, we will see the play at Drury Lane, and on Wednesday we will be watching Mickey's Christmas Carol. The children will be doing a triple Venn diagram comparing the book to the play to the movie. We will begin a short novel at the end of the week. It is a favorite of mine - Sarah, Plain and Tall.
*
Accelerated Math Menu:
Monday: Multiplying by 3-digits.
Tuesday: Math at 1:30-2:15. Fill out "how to study" sheet. Review what will be on the test.
Wednesday: Math at 1:30-2:15. Review for test.
Thursday: Chapter 4 test. Don't forget to bring in your "how to study" sheet.
Friday: We will begin our next chapter on Division.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 30

Weekly Reminders:
*Parent Teacher Conferences on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday.
*No spelling pretest on Monday due to 4-day week.
*Yearbook orders due on Tuesday.
*Home Run Inn Pizza Order due on Tuesday (sorry for the short notice).
*Report Cards go home on Tuesday.
*Accelerated Math Checkpoint (Chapter 4, lessons 1, 3, 4, & 5) on Wednesday.
*Open-book Chapter 2, lesson 2 science quiz on Wednesday.
*Tivoli permission slip and fee due on Thursday.
*Bring "A Christmas Carol" readers' theater back on Thursday.
*Lesson 13 spelling test on Thursday.
*No school on Friday.

Plan Ahead:
*Field Trip to "A Christmas Carol" at Drury Lane on Tuesday, December 8.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science: We will continue to work on Chapter 2, lesson 2. This week we will set up a "sprouting seeds" investigation. The children will take an open-book quiz on photosynthesis, life cycle of flowering plants, life cycles of ferns, and other ways for plants to grow. This information can be found on pages 98-109.

Social Studies: This week we will learn about the resources that can be found in the Southeast region. Each child will become a Southeast farmer of cotton, peanuts, oranges, or peaches. The children will be given some time to research in class, but some will need to be done at home. We will also begin writing our Southeast farmer stories on Thursday. For homework, the children will need to finish the rough drafts of their Southeast farmer stories and have their story edited by an adult by Tuesday, December 8.

English: We will continue to work on Unit 2 - Nouns. This week the children will learn about singular possessive nouns and plural possessive nouns. We will fill out a "how to study" sheet on Thursday. The test on Unit 2 - Nouns will be on Wednesday, December 9. We will review for this test on Monday, December 7.

Spelling: We will be working on lesson 13 this week. Due to the 4-day school week, we will not take a spelling pretest.

W.O.W. Words: We will not have W.O.W. Words this week due to the 4-day school week. We will continue our vocabulary study on December 7.

Reading: We will continue our study of "A Christmas Carol". We will be reading Charles Dickens' version. The children will be involved in sequencing and summarizing activities while we read the classic story. The children should have read the whole readers' theater that was sent home last week. They should also practice their reading parts. The children should not memorize their parts. Instead I will be listening for expression and fluency while the children read their parts. All students MUST bring their readers' theater script on Thursday!

Accelerated Math Menu:
Monday - Estimating products to the greatest number and to the nearest 10. H.W. Daily Review 40.
Tuesday - Multiplying by 1-digit numbers. H.W. Daily Review 41.
Wednesday - Open textbook/notes checkpoint quiz on chapter 4, lessons 1, 3, 4 & 5. H.W. Review multiplication facts.
Thursday - Multiplying by 2-digit numbers. H.W. Daily Review pgs. 44 (#1-10) & 45 (#1-4).
Friday - No school.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 23

Weekly Reminders:
*Southeast Map Test on Monday.
*No school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Holiday Service Project:
We are once again going to be involved with the holiday service project helping families who have a child with cancer. Information was sent home on Friday. Please help make this family's holiday a bit brighter.
YEARBOOKS:
Now’s the time to place your orders. Yearbooks are $10.00 and the deadline for your order is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. No orders will be accepted after that date. 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. 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 this information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child’s teacher is. Prairieview Yearbook orders were not paid at registration!

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - We will begin lesson 2. This lesson focuses on the life cycles of plants. We will review photosynthesis and discuss the life cycle of a plant. We will also learn about the life cycle of a fern plant.

Social Studies - We will be taking the Southeast map test on Monday. The children should know the correct location and spelling for each state in the Southeast. They can also earn bonus points by writing the capital with the state. They will earn 1/4 point of bonus for every correct capital. The children do not have to memorize the spelling of the capitals. They should spell these as best as they can.

Spelling - We will not have a spelling list this week.

English - We will continue working on nouns this week. We will focus on nouns ending in y and more plural nouns (irregular).

Reading - This week, we will begin our Christmas Carol Study. On Monday, we will discuss the life and times of Charles Dickens. The children will also be given a readers' theater and assigned parts. They need to read the whole readers' theater and practice their parts for Thursday, Dec. 3. We will be reading A Christmas Carol out loud in class on Thursday, Dec. 3. We will also listen to A Christmas Carol in class and do activities to extend on the book/story. This study will end with our field trip to see "A Christmas Carol" at Drury Lane.

W.O.W. Words - We will not have W.O.W. words this week or next week.

Accelerated Math Menu:
Monday - Multiplication Properties
Tuesday - Mental Math: Multiplication Patterns Using 10, 100, and 1,000.
Wednesday - Friday: No school.