Sulima's Scoop - Week of December 3

This school year is flying by. Wow! Can you believe it is already December?

Parents, I would like to thank all of you for your support throughout this school year. I enjoyed meeting with each of you this past week for parent teacher conferences. Let's continue to work together throughout this second trimester to help the children reach their goals.

Reminders:
*Lesson 13 spelling pretest on Monday.
*Yearbook orders due on Monday.
*English pretest on Tuesday.
*Second Jr. Achievement session on Tuesday. (Dollars and $ense program)
*Gifts and donations for our family and LutherBrook are due on Wednesday.
*Chapter 4 Math Test on Wednesday.
*Lesson 13 spelling test on Friday.
*Wear red on Friday for our Character Counts Spirit Day.
*Please send in bowling permission slips and report card envelopes.

English:
The children will be taking a pretest on Nouns on Tuesday. On Tuesday night they will need to choose their enrichment options. We will begin our noun unit on Wednesday.

Reading:
The children will begin "book clubs" this week. On Monday they will find out which book they will be reading. They will also meet with their book club group to make a reading schedule. Much of their reading will be done at home. They can also use relaxed reading time and some of their reading time to complete their reading assignment. The children should not read ahead. Our first book club discussion will be on Friday. Each child will need to have their discussion sheet filled out by Friday.

We will also continue our expository essays this week. The children already have their introductions complete. This week we will work on our body paragraphs and conclusions.

Science:
We will finish our adaptations unit this week by studying pollution, endangered and extinct animals, and fossils. On Thursday we will fill out our "how to study" sheet. We will review for the test on Monday, Dec. 10. Our test will be on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

Social Studies:
Our focus this week will be on the resources of the southeast. Agriculture is important to the southeast. The children will write a short story from the perspective of a cotton, orange, peach, or peanut farmer. They will need to research their crop & where it would be grown in the southeast. We will be visiting the lab throughout the week to complete this research.

Math: (Mrs. Sulima's math students only)
We will review all of chapter 4, as a class, on Monday. On Tuesday we will play a review game to prepare for our test which will be on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday we will begin our next unit on geometry.

Website of the Week:

Research your Southeast crop at:

http://home.comcast.net/~ssulima/social_studies.htm

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 26

Reminders:

*Lesson 12 spelling pretest on Monday.

*Parent-Teacher Conferences on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Times are listed below.

*First Jr. Achievement Session (Dollars and $ense program) on Tuesday.

*Report Cards go home on Tuesday.

*John Lynn Appalachian Trail Presentation on Wednesday.

*Lesson 12 spelling test on Thursday.

*Library check-out on Thursday.

*No school on Friday.

*Yearbook orders due Monday, Dec. 3.

Holiday Service Project:

Each year Prairieview runs a service project around the holidays. Our efforts will benefit two organizations: a cancer family and a children's shelter. Each classroom at Prairieview has a family or an individual that is in need at this time. In addition to the cancer families, we will also be making donations to LutherBrook, a shelter for less fortunate boys and girls.

This year our class has a very special family.Our family includes:
~Karla (cancer patient) -12 years old female

~Mom

~Dad
Sadly, Karla has cancer. Not only does this family struggle with the stress of treatments and illness, but they are less fortunate than us financially, too. In order to make this a special holiday, we have “adopted” them. If you could send in a NEW, not used, present for one or more of the family members, that would be appreciated.

Directions:

*Please wrap the gift. (Food items should not be wrapped.)

*LABEL the item with what it is and who it is for, with a post-it.

Some ideas for NEW (not used) gifts include, but are not limited to:

Karla (age 12): age appropriate games/toys, books, crafts, winter hat/gloves, jewelry, etc.

Mom: bath and body, perfume, jewelry, candles, kitchen accessories, picture frames/albums, gift certificates,gift baskets, slippers, etc.

Dad: book/magazine, wallet, socks, cologne, slippers, scarf/gloves, gift certificates, etc.
Family Gifts: a couple strands of Christmas lights, ornaments (the class thought it would be nice if we each brought in one ornament), popcorn tins, candy canes, food gift pack, a family game, home supplies, gift certificates, etc.

Gift certificates to consider: Jewel, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, K-Mart, Sears, JC Penney’s, Chili’s, TGIFridays, Subway, McDonalds, Burger King, etc.

These gifts will be delivered before Christmas along with a freshly cut tree donated by Strong Landscaping.

Gifts for LutherBrook: We are accepting Cash or Target gift cards in any denomination. This goes towards gifts on the children's wish list and toward a special holiday party! This is greatly appreciated! Thanks for your support!

Parent-Teacher Conferences:

Monday, Nov. 26th-

3:00 -3:15 Sean

3:15-3:30 Evan

3:30-3:45 Ryan

Tuesday, Nov. 27th -

11:10-11:25 Lisa

3:00-3:15 Claudia

3:15-3:30 Max

3:30-3:45 Michael

Wednesday, Nov. 28th-

3:00-3:15 Taylor

3:30-3:45 Jackie

3:45-4:00 Natalia

4:15-4:30 Sam

4:30-4:45 Kevin M.

4:45-5:00 Ali

5:00-5:15 Jeff

5:15-5:30 Andrew

5:30-5:45 Matthew

6:00-6:15 Lara

6:15-6:30 Megan

6:30-6:45 Michelle

6:45-7:00 Dana

7:00-7:15 Mackenzie

7:15-7:30 Nikitha

English:

We will continue working on our expository essays. The children are writing an essay about a place they would like to visit if they could go anywhere in the world. On Tuesday, we will work on writing our introductions. Our focus will be to catch the readers attention in the first couple sentences. On Wednesday and Thursday, the children will write their body paragraphs and conclusion. Final drafts will be done on Thursday. Next week, we will begin our next English unit. The children will take a pretest on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Reading:
This week we will be reading and working with a story called Chasing After Annie. This story is written in a diary format. The two main characters are Richie and Annie. When Richie tries to get Annie's attention by replacing her lost dog, Fritz, with a look-alike, he gets more trouble than he bargained for. This is a humorous and enjoyable story.

Science:

We will continue chapter 4 this week. The children will learn about living in groups, taking care of young, migration, hibernation. All of these are adaptations that help animals survive in their environment.

Social Studies:

This week we will learn about the land in the southeast. We will draw a diagram to help us understand the different elevations in this region. Our Southeast map test will be on Tuesday. Spelling will count. The children will be given a blank map. They will need to fill in the state names. Optional: The children can fill in the capitals before the state names (ex. Springfield, Illinois) to earn an additional 1/4 point for each correct capital. John Lynn will bring in a slide show and the stories about his personal adventures on the Appalachian Trail.

Math: (For my math students only)

We will continue our unit on graphing and probability. Our lessons this week will cover stem & leaf plots, line graphs, probability, and spinners. The children should continue practicing their multiplication and division facts. They should be on division facts by now!

Website of the Week:

Learn more about the Appalachian Trail at:
http://www.fred.net/kathy/at/atstate.html

Sulima's Scoop - November 19 & 20

Reminders:

*No spelling unit this week.

*A Family Apart test on Tuesday.

*Continue studying the southeast states and capitals. Our test will be on Tuesday, Nov. 27.

*Tuesday is the end of the first trimester.

*No school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

YEARBOOK:

Now’s the time to place your orders. Yearbooks are $9.00 and the deadline for your orders is Monday, December 3, 2007. 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. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 15th and there 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 $9.00. It is very important that you put the information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child’s teacher is.

Holiday Service Project:

Each year our school collects gifts and donations for cancer patient families and Lutherbrook. Lutherbrook is a home for children who have been removed from abusive homes. A note will be sent home soon with more information regarding this collection. Please watch our blog for information on ages and genders of members of our family. Our goal is to make this family's holiday season a bit merrier. Donations for the Lutherbrook home are being taken in the forms of Target gift cards, checks, or cash.

English: Continue working on expository writing.

Reading: We will finish A Family Apart and take an open book test on the book on Tuesday.

Science: We will work on chapter 4. This chapter introduces plant and animal adaptations.

Social Studies: Our focus for the two days will be Jamestown, Virginia.

Math: We will learn about ordered pairs & create a "mystery picture" using ordered pairs.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Animal Adaptation Links

Links for Chapter Four Animal Adaptation Project

Professor of Protective Coloring

Colorful Disguises: http://members.aol.com/Art1234567/Camo.html


Critter Camouflage- Disruptive Coloration: http://www.saczoo.com/3_kids/20_camouflage/camouflage_disruptive.htm

Critter Camouflage- Mimicry" http://www.saczoo.com/3_kids/20_camouflage/camouflage_mimicry.htm

Evolution of Camouflage: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/1/l_011_03.html


Foxes: Camouflage: http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirtrep/animal/foxes.htm


If You Can't Run You've Got to Hide!: http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webunits/adaptations/camou1.html

Insect Camouflage and Mimicry: http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/camo.html


Specialist of Structural and Behavioral Adaptation

Reasearch many different animals at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/


Visit Kratt's Creatures at: http://pbskids.org/krattscreatures/login.shtml
Username: igroup
Password: adapt


Master of Migration and Hibernation

Migration Basics: http://www.nps.gov/akso/ParkWise/Students/ReferenceLibrary/general/MigrationBasics.htm

Learn about animals that migrate at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/migrate.shtml

Learn about animals than hibernate at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/Hibernate.shtml


Hibernator vs. Deep Sleeper at: http://chattanooganaturecenter.org/ask_naturalist.htm

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER FOR KIDS

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html

Sulima's Scoop - Weeks of November 12 & 19

Reminders:

*Lesson 11 spelling pretest on Monday, Nov. 12.

*Lakeview Character Counts Club will visit our classrooms on Thursday, Nov. 15.

*Wear your favorite sports team spirit wear on Friday, Nov. 16.

*Lesson 11 spelling test on Friday, Nov. 16.

*End of first trimester on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

*No school on Nov. 21-23. Gobble, Gobble!

Writing:
We will work on writing expository introductions this week. An introduction should begin with an attention getter. We will review using sound effects, action, dialogue, or a question to gain the attention of the reader. An introduction should also include our main topic, which we will refer to as an "argument."

Reading:

We will continue to read A Family Apart. Throughout the book we will work on summarizing, making connections, visualizing, and character traits.

Science:

We will begin the week by completing our Inspiration food webs. If time allows, this week, we will also begin chapter 4 on surviving in our environment.

Social Studies:

We will begin our study of the Southeast region this week. The children will be bringing home a Southeast map this week. It will be labeled with the capitals and state names. They should study this map. Our Southeast map test will be on Tuesday, November 27. The children will not have a word bank of state names or capitals. If your child learns the capitals, they will earn 1/4 point per correct capital. Spelling will count.

Math: (Mrs. Sulima's Math Students Only)

We will begin a new math unit this week on Data and Probability. We are not going to take a pretest. This week we will collect data, find the mean (average), median, mode, and range, make a bar graph, and make a pictograph. This is an enjoyable unit for children (and their teachers).

Website of the Week:

Read about plant and animal adaptations at:

http://library.thinkquest.org/J001644F/

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 5

Reminders:
*Lesson 10 spelling pretest on Monday.
*English Unit 1 test on Tuesday.
*Roller Skating Party on Tuesday.
*Lesson 10 spelling test on Friday.
*Chapter 3 science test on Friday for both Mrs. Sulima's & Mrs. Cavoto's students.

BIG THANK YOU!
I would like to extend a BIG thank you to all the parents who made our Halloween Party a huge success. The children had a wonderful time and loved the snacks & drinks!

English:
The children should be studying for the Unit 1 test which will be on Tuesday. On Friday, the children brought home the Unit 1 check-up. They should look over this review while studying for the test.
This week we will also begin a mini-unit on expository writing. We will not be doing a unit from the English book until we are done with this mini-unit.

Reading:

This week we will begin our next novel study. We will read a wonderful piece of literature called A Family Apart. This (historically accurate) heroic tale follows the adventures of the six children who are sent out west on the Orphan Train by their impoverished mother in hope that they will find better life. Frances Mary, the eldest of the Kelly children, shepherds her siblings through the Orphan Train trip and struggles to find them good homes. Frances Mary and Petey are adopted by the Cummings’ and find themselves involved in the Underground Railroad movement. This book, as well as the accompanying activities, will challenge your students in various ways. Be sure to ask about this story!

Science:

Mrs. Sulima's Class - We will finish chapter 3 this week with a Food Web project. The children will work in groups to create a food web on a computer webbing program called Inspiration. They will be assigned an ecosystem. The groups will need to research, using trade books and the Internet, to find at least 2 producers, 3 consumers, 1 scavenger, 2 decomposer, and non-living things in the ecosystem. They will then show how these connect and rely on each other for survival and energy. On Tuesday, we will fill out our "how to study" sheet. The chapter 3 test will be on Friday.

Mrs. Cavoto's Class - This will be the last week I will be teaching science to Mrs. Cavoto's students. Soon we will be starting our science kits. The time I have been meeting with this class is not long enough to do a thorough job of covering all the concepts in our kits. Mrs. Cavoto and I decided it would be best if we covered the rest of the science units with our own classes. I have enjoyed getting to know and teaching each of the children in this class! On Monday, we will watch a Bill Nye movie on Food Webs. On Tuesday, we will fill out the "how to study" sheet. On Wednesday and Thursday, the students will work in groups to create a food web with at least 1 producer, 3 consumers, 1 scavenger, 1 decomposer, and a non-living thing. These food webs will show how the living and non-living things connect and rely on each other for survival in an ecosystem.

Social Studies:

Please read Mrs. Cavoto's Blog at http://ccavotoccsdorg.blogspot.com/ to find out what is happening in this last week of social studies with Mrs. Cavoto. I will begin teaching our class social studies next week. We will begin our study of the Southeast.

Math: (Mrs. Sulima's Math Students Only)

Students should be practicing their multiplication facts each and every night. Watch your child's Target to see how they are doing on their timed target tests. This week in math we will go over the rules of division, using manipulatives, thinking multiplication, and repeated subtraction as ways of solving division problems. On Wednesday, we will do a problem solving activity together. They will then use what we did in class on Wednesday to do an assessed problem solving activity on Thursday. Mrs. Swaekauski and I have decided that we will not be taking a formal test on this chapter (since we will continue multiplication & division target tests throughout the school year). Instead we will take a checkpoint review on Friday. The children may use notes and their textbooks during the checkpoint.

Website of the Week

Learn more about the Orphan Trains at:

http://www.kidskonnect.com/content/view/274/27/