Sulima's Scoop - Week of January 5

WELCOME 2009! Can you believe it? We are about half way through our school year. Boy, time flies. I hope to make the rest of your child's 4th grade experience even better than the first half. If we continue to work together, we can surely do this! Please remember to e-mail or call me with any questions or concerns.

I hope you all had a wonderful winter break and are relaxed and refueled for the remainder of this school year.

Weekly Reminders:

*Lesson 15 spelling pretest on Monday.

*Open book science quiz on chapter 1, lesson 1 will be on Wednesday.

*Lesson 15 spelling test on Friday.

Plan Ahead:

*IOWA Basic Skills testing during the week of January 12. Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest and eats a good breakfast each morning. The children will be given time to eat their healthy snacks during the morning. We will test Monday through Thursday during the morning.

*Open book science quiz on chapter 1, lesson 2 will be on Monday, January 12.

*Verb test on Tuesday, January 13. Enrichment will be due this day.

Classroom Happenings:

Science: We will continue our study of animal and plant cells this week. The children should look over the information on the 5 kingdoms that will be coming home early this week. A quiz on this material will be on Wednesday.

Social Studies: The children will finish their research about their crop. We will then begin writing a rough draft and final draft of our Southeast Farmer stories.

Accelerated Math: Our study of geometry will begin this week. We will cover many concepts this week. The children will learn about points, lines, line segments, rays, planes, parallel lines, intersecting lines, perpendicular lines, and skew lines. We will also explore angles and use a protractor to measure angles. The children will then move onto a study of polygons.

Each child will be given a protractor to use during this unit. They are responsible for its safe keeping and will be expected to return it when it is no longer needed. It might be helpful to have a protractor at home too, so your child does not have to travel back and forth with it. We will begin using our protractors on Tuesday. Looking ahead...we will also be using a compass, to make circles, in the near future. The children will get one to use at school. This may be something you may want to get for home too.

We will be using a ruler compass like this:

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*(This type of compass is very hard to find. A regular compass will work too. I will show the children how to use both.)

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Spelling: The children will work with lesson 15 this week. This week we will be working with two rules - "ou" and "ow".

English: We will continue our study of verbs by covering past tense verbs with helping verbs, irregular verbs, and contractions with not. The verb test will be on Tuesday, January 13.

Reading: The children will share their figurative language projects this week. If your child was unable to finish before the break, I will give them some time to work on it, and they will share later in the week. If any work can be done at home that would help a great deal. We will also be reading a biography about Gloria Estefan. The children will work on vocabulary and comprehension this week. We will also continue working on the skill of compare and contrast.

Some children have said that they are unable to open files from their flash drive at home. In District 66, we use Open Office. You can download Open Office for free at: http://www.openoffice.org/.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of December 15

Holiday Service Project Update: Our class was able to provide at least 10 gifts for each member of our adopted family, as well as, a few gifts for the family. I thank you all for making the holiday season a bit merrier for this struggling family. We also had a large box of donations for the shelter. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

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Weekly Reminders:

*No spelling unit this week.

*Winter concert for students on Monday at 1:15.

*Home Run Inn P.T.O. Fundraisers days on Monday and Tuesday, from noon-10:00 p.m. Click here to print out a flyer. http://www.ccsd66.org/PDF/HRI_Voucher.pdf

*Bowling field trip Tuesday afternoon.

*Southeast map test on Thursday. Students should know the location and spelling of all 12 states. Capitals will be extra credit (1/4 point per correct capital).

*Tivoli field trip on Friday.

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Plan Ahead:

*Winter Break - Weeks of December 22 and 29.

*School Resumes on Monday, January 5.

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Classroom Happenings:

Science - We are going to begin our unit on Life Science this week. Our focus will be on comparing plant and animal cells.

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Social Studies - The children will become southeast farmers. They will need to choose a crop to grow, research the crop's growing needs, and find out what products are made using these crops. Some of this research will need to be done at home.

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Accelerated Math - We will continue learning about algebra. The children will need to review the class notes each day. On Thursday, we will have an open notes checkpoint review.

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Spelling - We are taking this week off from spelling due to afternoon field trips that interfer with our Language Arts block. Enjoy!

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English - We will continue our unit on verbs. This unit will continue after winter break. After I plan for the weeks after break, I will let you know an approximate test date.

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Reading - The children did such a wonderful job on our readers' theater of A Christmas Carol. This week we will continue working on our figurative language projects. The children are exploring alliteration, hyperbole, metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, personification, and idioms. We may have to finish these projects after winter break.

Figurative Language Games:

http://www.gamequarium.com/figurativelanguage.html

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz2436841be67e8.html

http://languagearts.pppst.com/figurative.html

http://www.quia.com/hm/80390.html

http://www.quia.com/ba/61460.html

Sulima's Scoop - Week of December 8

Weekly Reminders:

*Lesson 14 spelling pretest on Monday.

*Holiday Service Project gifts due by Wednesday.

*Chapter 8 science test on Wednesday.

*Chapter 5 math test on Wednesday.

*Lesson 14 spelling test of Friday.

Plan Ahead:

*Holiday Band/Choir Concert on Monday, December 15, at 1:15.

*Bowling on Tuesday, December 16 in the afternoon.

*All School field trip to the Tivoli Theater on Friday, December 19.

Holiday Service Project:

Please remember that the deadline to turn in gifts for our family and the shelter is Wednesday. At this point, we have a few gifts for the family and shelter. Please help to make the Christmas season a bit merrier by sending in gifts, gift cards or cash donations. Gifts sent in for our "cancer patient family" should be wrapped and labeled with a post-it note. Gifts for the Family Shelter Service should not be wrapped. Thank you all for your support in this service project.

Classroom Happenings:

Science-We will review for the chapter 8 test on Monday. The children will take the test on Wednesday. The test will cover the following concepts:

-What are some of Earth's landforms?

>Identify and describe major landforms.

>Explain how landforms develop.

-What causes changes to Earth's Landforms?

>Describe Earth's structure.

>Identify and describe the forces that change Earth's surface.

-What are fossils?

>Define fossils and tell how they form.

>Explain what the fossil record is.

Social Studies-We will finish our posters displaying the the major landforms of the southeast on Monday. During the rest of the week we will look into the climate, wildlife, and resources of the southeast. At the end of the week, the children will need to decide on which crop they will grow as a southeast farmer.

Accelerated Math-The children will take an open book/notes checkpoint review on Monday. The checkpoint will cover lessons 7-12. We will review all lessons on Tuesday. The children will take the chapter 5 test on Wednesday.

The test will assess:

*relating multiplication and division as inverse operations

*order of operations

*using mental math, basic facts, and patterns to find quotients

*using compatible numbers to estimate quotients

*use divisibility rules

*dividing 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-digit numbers by a 1-digit number

*using short division

*zeros in the quotient

*finding averages (possibly into decimals)

We will be stepping outside of our textbook for the rest of the week and the following week. Our focus will be on Algebra. There will be many key words and concepts that the children should review each evening. They will not be taking notes in their journals. I have made copies of the notes for each child.

Spelling-We will work with lesson 14 this week. This lesson practices "au" words. Your child should practice their words at home in cursive.

English-We will continue our unit on verbs this week. Our lessons will include helping and main verbs, present, past, and future tense verbs, and subject-verb agreement.

Reading-Our study of A Christmas Carol will continue this week. On Tuesday, the children will perform our readers' theater of A Christmas Carol. Then we will fill out a story structure map based on the story we read together. On Wednesday, we will practice our skills in compare and contrast with a 3-way venn diagram on A Christmas Carol (the book), A Christmas Carol (Drury Lane play), and Mickey's Christmas Carol (the Disney movie).

Computer Project (Language Arts Class)-We will begin a computer-based project this week. Each child should have a flash drive to allow them to save and continue their work at home. If they do not have a flash drive, please try to get one before Monday. I can e-mail documents home if needed.

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I would like to thank the parents of my Language Arts students for taking time out of their busy schedules to meet with me during parent-teacher conferences. I enjoyed meeting with you and discussing your child's second trimester goals. I appreciate all the support and kind words that I received throughout many conferences. Let's continue to work together, as partners, in your child's education.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of December 1st

Weekly Reminders:

*Parent Teacher conferences Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

*Lesson 13 spelling pretest on Monday.

*Report Cards given out on Tuesday.

*Drury Lane field trip on Wednesday. Please dress nicely.

*Wheel of Wisdom assembly on Wednesday.

*John Lynn - Appalachian Trail Assembly on Thursday.

*Lesson 13 spelling test on Thursday.

*Thursday we will be following a Friday schedule. Be prepared for music class.

*Lesson 3 science quiz on Thursday.

*No school on Friday.

*Our chapter 8 science test will be on Wednesday, December 10.

*Last day to turn in gifts for cancer patient family and/or Family Shelter Services will be on Wednesday, December 10.

Please turn in permission slip for Tivoli field trip as soon as possible.

Classroom Happenings:

Science-Our focus this week will be on fossils. This will be the last lesson in our study of Earth Science. Our test on chapter 8 will be on Wednesday, December 10.

Social Studies-We will finish our Northeast region scrapbook on Monday. Students will be turning these in on Tuesday for their first region grade. On Tuesday, we will begin our study of the Southeast. Our focus will be on the land of the southeast.

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Math-We will continue working on long division this week. On Monday, we will work with problems that have zero in the quotient. On Tuesday, we will divide larger numbers. We will not have math on Wednesday due to the field trip. Thursday, the children will work on finding averages. Next week, we will finish this chapter by learning short division. Our test on Chapter 5 will be on Wednesday, December 10 or Thursday, December 11.

Spelling-We will be working on words with "aw" this week. Please help your child practice their words in cursive.

English-I will be meeting with each child on Monday to review their enrichment choices for our new unit on verbs. We will also do one lesson this week on action verbs.

Reading-We will continue A Christmas Carol this week. The children will be summarizing the story by focusing on the sequence of events. We will also work on vocabulary. The words are very challenging in this novel. Please have your children review the words each night. We will have a vocabulary quiz during the week of December 8. The children will be receiving a reader's theater script, of A Christmas Carol, early in the week. We will read this together on Tuesday, December 9.

Prairieview School Service Project

Prairieview School families recognize the great many things we have to be thankful for as the holidays approach. We also know the importance of good character. We understand that responsible citizens of a community help those in need, and caring people sympathize with the hardships of others. Therefore, we would like to share the joys of the holiday season with those less fortunate than us.


Our efforts will benefit two organizations:
1) Families of cancer patients who struggle financially
2) Family Shelter Service (supporting victims of domestic violence)


Cancer Family Collection: We are collecting for a family of 3. There is an eight year old girl (Janaia), 5 year old boy (Nick), and Mom. The eight year old girl has cancer.
Donation ideas:
*New toys, games, books, puzzles, sports equipment, jewelry, and other accessories.
*Popcorn tins or holiday treat/candies
*Gift Cards (Jewel, Meijer, WalMart, Target, JC Penney, etc)
*Check made out to Center Cass School District or cash are also wonderful donations.
Please wrap (or put in gift bag) gifts. Put a post-it note on each gift indicating the contents and the recipients first name.

Family Shelter Service Collections:
Donation ideas:
• New toys, games, books, puzzles, sports equipment, and jewelry/other accessories*
• Warm gloves and hats
• Gift Cards
• Cash or Check (made payable to Family Shelter Service)
*More gift ideas at http://www.familyshelterservice.org/pdf/holidayshoppe2008.pdf
Gifts should not be wrapped – clients of the shelter will be “shopping” for their children at a Holiday Shoppe provided by Family Shelter Service. If you would like to volunteer to help at the Holiday Shoppe, please contact Kathy Vorel at (630) 221-8290 ext. 115 or kvorel@familyshelterservice.net


Donations must be at school by Wednesday, December 10th!

THANK YOU!!!

**Please visit last week's blog, to check out what is happening in our classroom.**

Sulima's Scoop - Weeks of November 17 & 24

Weekly Reminders:

*Lesson 12 spelling pretest on Monday, November 17.

*Roller Skating Party on Tuesday, November 18, 4:00-6:45.

*Review for English test on Wednesday, November 19 & Thursday, November 20.

*Chapter 5 open book/notes Social Studies test on Thursday.

*English test (nouns) will be on Friday, November 21.

*Lesson 12 spelling test on Friday, November 21.
*End of first trimester on Friday, November 21.

*No spelling lesson during the week of November 24.

*Open book lesson 2 science quiz on Tuesday, November 25.

*No school on November 26, 27, & 28.

Plan Ahead:

*Parent-teacher conferences on December 1-3.

*Report cards go home on Tuesday, December 2.

*Drury Lane field trip on Wednesday, December 3.

*John Lynn - Appalachian Trial Assembly on Thursday, December 4.

*No school on Friday, December 5.

Announcing Prairieview 2008-2009 Yearbook. Order your yearbook today!!! The cost of the yearbook is $10.00 and make payments to Lifetouch. Order deadline date is December 1, 2008. No orders will be accepted after that date. Parents just a reminder-- Prairieview yearbooks are not paid for at registration. Please place your order now. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 13th 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 $10.00. It is very important that you put the information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child’s teacher is. There will be a limited supply in June. Order Today!!!

Weekly Happenings:

Science-We will focus on what causes changes to Earth's landforms. We will begin by looking at the layers of the Earth. Our explorations this week will also cover volcanoes and earthquakes. We will also learn about deposition and how wind & waves make changes to our Earth.

Social Studies-We will finish chapter 5 this week. Our final lesson looks at cities in the Northeast. The children will take an open book/notes test on chapter 5 on Thursday. We will review in class on Wednesday.

Accelerated Math-We are now moving into chapter 5. We will move through this chapter slowly. We will cover the following lessons before Thanksgiving break: relating multiplication and division, order of operations (Please Meet Dear Aunt Sally), using mental math to divide, using compatible numbers to estimate, divisibility rules, and dividing by 1-digit divisors.

Spelling-Our spelling unit this week works with adding 'ing' and 'ed' to verbs that end in y. Please have your child practice both forms for each word. This will be the last spelling test for first trimester.

English-Our last lesson on nouns will be on Tuesday. We will review plural possessive nouns. A group of students in our class have been working on making noun board games. We will play these games on Wednesday and Thursday to review for our test. The test will be on Friday, November 21. Enrichment will be due the day of the test. The test on nouns and enrichment will be included in second trimester grades.

Reading-The children will need to bring their book club books and completed discussion sheets to school on Tuesday. The clubs will meet for approximately 30 minutes to discuss the first 1/3 of their book. In class, we will be working with another story from our anthology called The Boss of the Plains. During the week of November 24, we will begin our study of The Christmas Carol. The children will also have their second book club discussion on Tuesday, November 25.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 10

Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 11 spelling pretest on Monday.
*Pointsettia orders are due on Monday.
*No school on Tuesday due to Veteran's Day.
*Wednesday we will follow a Tuesday schedule.
*Lesson 11 spelling test on Friday.
*Book donations collected through Friday.



Plan Ahead:
*Roller skating party on Tuesday, November 18, 4:00-6:45.
*First trimester ends on Friday, November 21.
*Thanksgiving Break - Wednesday, November 26 through Friday, November 28.
*Parent/Teacher conferences the week of December 1.
*Report cards will be sent home on Tuesday, December 2.

Classroom Happenings:
Science: We will begin chapter 8 this week. This chapter focuses on landforms. The children will be creating landform models and a landform picture dictionary this week. Our quiz on lesson 1 will be on Friday, November 14.

Social Studies: We will continue to discuss the people of the Northeast. Abolitionism and the Women's Suffrage Movement will be our main focuses for the week. The children will also need to turn in their immigration interview by Friday.

Accelerated Math: The children will review all the concepts from chapter 4 on Monday. We will take a chapter 4 test on Wednesday. This test will only cover: the properties of multiplication, estimating products, multiplying multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000, and multiplying by 1-digit, 2-digit, and 3-digit numbers. We will move onto chapter 5, dividing by 1-digit numbers, on Thursday.

Spelling: We will cover lesson 11 this week. The children will practice adding "er" and "est" to adjectives that end in "y". Please have them practice both the "er" and "est" formation of each word at home. I will be mixing them up on the test.

English: Our unit on nouns will continue. This week our lessons will focus on irregular plural nouns and singular possessive nouns. We will finish the lessons on Tuesday, November 18. The class will review on Wednesday and Thursday. Our test will be on Friday, November 21.

Reading: The children will find out their book club selection on Monday. I will try to give each child their first or second choice. The children will be reading histrorical fiction novels. Most of the reading of this novel will be done at home or during relaxed reading. The children will bring home a calendar of book club meeting dates and assignments. Book Club discussion sheets and books must be at school on the day of the discussion. In class we will work with a story called Tomas and the Library Lady. Our reading strategy is summarizing, and our focus will be on putting events of a story in sequential order.

WORM RACE RESULTS

Wow! The children had some fantastic looking racetracks. I could tell they thought very carefully about what variables would be best to use to help encourage their worms to the finish line.

And now...what you have all been waiting for...the RESULTS:

1st Place: Zack's worm

2nd Place: Karina's worm

3rd Place: Emma & Hannah's worms

4th Place: James' worm

All the worms and their owners did a wonderful job in the race!

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 3

Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 10 spelling pretest on Monday.

*No School on Tuesday - Teacher Institute.

*Buona Beef District Fundraiser on Wednesday. (Click here: http://www.ccsd66.org/PTO/Nov52008_BB.pdf)

*Picture Retakes on Thursday.

*Parent Support Group Meeting Thursday evening, 7-9 at PV.

*Lesson 10 spelling test on Friday.

Plan Ahead:

*Monday, Nov. 10 - poinsettia order forms due.

*Friday, Nov. 14 - Roller Skating permission slips due.

*Tuesday, Nov. 18 - Roller Skating Party, 4:00-6:45.

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Help Wanted:
The Social Studies committee is looking for two parents who have an education or history background to be involved in the adoption of new Social Studies textbooks. You would have to meet with the committee and provide input choosing our textbook for the coming years. The Social Studies committee will be meeting once every other month for the next two years. Please email mpellin@ccsd66.org if you would be interested in joining the Social Studies committee. Thank you!

November 3 through November 14, 2008 - Book Worm Angels

We are delighted to be holding a book drive for Book Worm Angels, a program designed to place New or Gently Used Fun Books in Chicago Elementary Schools where a majority of the children read below grade level. Please look on your book shelves...look in your attic..look in your basement...ask your friends and neighbors to look for new or gently used fun books that could help a child (PreK-8th grade) learn the enjoyment of reading. Please no religious, text books or encyclopedias.

Halloween Thank You: I would like to thank all the parents that made our Halloween Party a success. We all had a "spook-tacular" time!

Classroom Happenings:

Science: We will continue our worm study. Children will bring home their worms on Friday. They should make sure their soil is moist. Worms will need to return to school on Wednesday or Thursday. They will need to worm-sit for a few days. On Monday, we will go over the race track rules for our "Worm Race." The children should use the information they have gained from our experiments to develop a race track that meets the criteria and will encourage their worm to move toward the finish line. Race tracks will need to be brought in on Thursday, which is racing day! May the best worm win!

Social Studies: We will begin chapter 5. This chapter focuses on the important people of the Northeast. We will start by studying the Narragansett Tribe.

Accelerated Math: We have now finished our unit on Data and Statistics. Your child will receive their chapter 3 test early in the week. This week, we will begin working on chapter 4. This chapter covers multiplying whole numbers. We will begin the week by reviewing the multiplication properties. Then we will move onto estimating and finding exact products when multiplying by 2 and 3-digit numbers.

Spelling: Our spelling unit fits in perfectly with our English lessons this week. We will be working on making nouns plural that end in a y. Please practice your words in cursive.

English: We will continue our study of nouns. Our focus on Wednesday and Thursday will be on forming plural nouns.

Reading: The children will receive a Readers' Theater script on Monday. They should practice their reading parts each day. Scripts should stay in their reading pocket all week. The children may have time during class to practice with other students. We will read together on Thursday. The children will also watch Skylark, which is the sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall, on Thursday and Friday.

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Language Arts Students: Please send in a 1 GB portable storage companion (flash drive). Make sure your name is on the flash drive. You can get these at Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, etc. (Look for sales...the cheapest one will do.) We will be typing stories and projects in the computer lab. What doesn't get finished, we will finish at home. Please try to have one by the week of Nov. 10. Thanks!

Sulima's Scoop - Week of October 27

Weekly Reminders:
*Earl the Earthworm's habitat is due on Monday.
*Chapter 3 Accelerated Math test on Wednesday.
*Open book/notes social studies end of chapter assessment on Wednesday.
*Lesson 8 spelling review test on Friday.
*Halloween parade Friday at 1:15 (outside...weather permitting).
*Halloween Party Friday at 1:30.

Plan Ahead:
*Book Worm Angels drive November 3-14.
*No School/Teacher Institute on Tuesday, November 4.
*Picture Retakes on Thursday, November 6.
*Parent Support Group on Thursday, November 6 at Prairieview (7:00-9:00).

Halloween Costumes: Children should bring their costume to school in a bag labeled with their name. They will have a very brief time to change into their costumes. There will not be time for putting on make-up. We will change in our classrooms. Boys and girls will be in different classrooms. They will be unable to go to the washroom to change into their costume. If possible send in a costume that can go over your child's clothing.

Halloween Party Helpers: Those parents who signed up to help with the party may arrive around 1:15. Please check-in with the office before coming up.

NutriKids Lunch Accounts: If you are going to send in a check to replenish your child's lunch account, please continue to send in on Mondays. If you have extra lunch tickets at home, please send them in a sealed envelope with your child's name, homeroom, and number of tickets. The money for these tickets will be deposited into your child's account.

Classroom Happenings:
Science: We will begin our worm study this week. The children will be using the scientific process during our worm observations.

Social Studies: The children will take an open book/notes assessment on chapter 4 on Wednesday. They can review for this by looking over their t-charts and quizzes/worksheets for each lesson, reread the lessons, and attempt the problems in the chapter review (located at the end of the chapter).

Accelerated Math: We have now finished our data/statistics chapter. We will take the chapter 3 test on Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday will be used to review the many tables, charts, graphs, and ways to summarize and organize data. This will be more of a performance-based test. The children will be given sets of data and will be asked to organize the data in a variety of ways. Part of the test (not on Wednesday) will be in the computer lab. The children will be asked to create a double bar graph based on a set of data. We will do another sample computer graph before the final assessment.

Spelling: We will be working on lesson 8 this week. This is a review unit. Your child will receive a list on Monday. We do not take pretests on review weeks. The children should spend the week working on the workbook pages and reviewing the rules from all the previous lessons. The list that they receive on Monday is not necessarily the words that will be on the test on Friday, but it does help your child focus on the specific rules that we practiced in lesson 1-7. The test will be a different format. The children will be asked to find the misspelled word in each group of words.

English: On Monday, your child will receive their new English contract. They will need to choose their enrichment option by Tuesday. We will begin the new unit on Wednesday.

Reading: We will begin the week by finishing Sarah, Plain and Tall. The children will continue to work with the 4 types of questions (Right There, Think & Search, Author & You, and On Your Own). We will also watch the movie on Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Writing: The children will finish their creative Halloween narratives. I am hoping to also make a class book of Halloween Alliterations this week. Alliteration is the repetition of an initial sound. (Ex. The spooky spotted spider sat still on its stringy silk.)

Earl the Earthworm...

Here are some links that may help in the designing of Earl's habitat.

http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/worm/index.html

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/agriculture/sustainable_agriculture/faqs/earthworm-faq.html

http://www.nysite.com/nature/fauna/earthworm.htm

http://www.backyardnature.net/earthwrm.htm

http://www.mcwdn.org/Animals/Earthworms.html

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/earthworms.htm

http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/about/ecology.html

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/facts/index.html

http://www.biologyjunction.com/earthworm%20facts.htm

http://www.allaboutworms.com/10-great-earth-worm-facts

https://c1.livetext.com/doc/3396732/17337605

Please remember that Earl's habitat is due on or before

Monday, October 27.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of October 20

Northeast Region Update:
I would like to thank the following families for making our northeast resource tasting a success: Fisher, Pierropoulos, Blazevich, Knight, Dourdourekas, Wascher, Kryk, and Liu. We enjoyed grapes hand-picked from the vineyard, cranberry juice & dried cranberries harvested from the bog, pancakes (made by Chef Sulima), and maple syrup made from sap collected from the many sugar maple trees found in the northeast. What a treat!


Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 7 spelling pretest on Monday.
*Lesson 4 science quiz on Tuesday.
*Early dismissal on Wednesday, 11:00.
*Unit 1 English test on Thursday (The Sentence).
*Lesson 7 spelling test on Friday.




Plan Ahead:

*Worm Habitat due on Monday, October 27.
*Halloween Parade and Party on Friday, October 31.





Band Update:
Wow! What a responsible group of band students I have this year! They are doing well with choosing band buddies, watching their schedule, and completing assignments missed. I am so proud of them! This is such a WONDERFUL opportunity for them to learn to play an instrument and develop responsibility skills that will last a lifetime.

Classroom Happenings:
Science: We will finish our study of soil on Monday. The children will have a quiz on lesson 4 on Tuesday. This is the last lesson in Chapter 7, The Rock Cycle. We will review during the rest of the week and take the Chapter 7 test on Friday.
Some helpful sites:
http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/thezone/rocks/games/index.htm
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/wick_ed/science/rock.php
http://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/diagram.html
http://classroom.jc-schools.net/coleytech/dynamic_curriculum/science/rockcyc_jeapordy.ppt
http://www.kidsgeo.com/geology-games/rocks-game.php
http://www.lizzadromuseum.org/rm/Challenge.html

On Monday, your child will receive a note from Earl the Earthworm. They will need to research what Earl would need to live and create a habitat that would support those needs. These worm habitats will be due on or before Monday, October 27.

Social Studies: We will continue our study of the Northeast by exploring Chesapeake Bay. Find out more about Chesapeake Bay at:
http://www.beanies-webworld.com/chesapeake/index.html
http://www.baydreaming.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/bayfun.htm
http://www.livingclassrooms.org/lbo/index.html

Accelerated Math: The children will take an open book/notes checkpoint review on Monday. They should have a solid understanding of qualitative/quantitative, line plots and frequency tables, bar graphs, line graphs, pictographs, pie charts, mean, median, mode, and range. They will be allowed to use a calculator during this review. On Tuesday and Wednesday, our focus will be on stem-and-leaf plots. Stem-and-leaf plots provide a concise way to organize many numbers by their front digits. At the end of the week, we will explore coordinate graphing.

Spelling: We will work on lesson 7 this week. These are words spelled with ie or ei. Remember this phrase: i before e, except after c, or when sounded like a, as in neighbor or weigh.

English: The children have now finished the lessons from Unit 1, The Sentence. We will review for the test on Tuesday. Our test will be on Thursday. The children should review the following concepts:
*Sentence or Fragment
*Statements and Questions
*Commands and Exclamations
*Subjects and Predicates
*Simple Subjects and Simple Predicates
*Correcting Run-on Sentences

Reading: We will be working on the 4 types of questions this week. We have already covered 2 types during our Earthquake Terror book clubs. These were the "thin" (Right There) questions and "thick" (Author and You) questions. We will add Think and Search and On Your Own questions this week. We will be using a wonderful short novel called Sarah, Plain and Tall. The children will be answering and writing Right There, Author & You, Think and Search, and On Your Own questions based on this novel.

Writing: The children are using their creativity and imagination to write Halloween stories. We will be going to the computer lab on Thursday to publish these wonderful stories.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of October 13

Weekly Reminders:
*No school on Monday due to Columbus Day.
*No spelling lesson this week.
*Tuesday we are following a Monday schedule.
*Science quiz on weathering, erosion, and sinkholes on Tuesday.
*Northeast Map test on Tuesday.
*Book Fair on Thursday, 6:30-8:00.
*Social Studies quiz (open notes/book) on Friday.


Plan Ahead:
*Early Dismissal (11:00) on Wednesday, October 22.
*Halloween Parade/Party on Friday, October 31.

Classroom Happenings:
Science: We are really "digging deep" into our Earth Science study with lesson 4 on soil. We will compare particle sizes in different types of soil, describe what soil is, and explain how soil forms and differ.
Get the "dirt on soil" at: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/soil/
Take and Underground Adventure at: http://www.fieldmuseum.org/undergroundadventure/virtual_tour/index.shtml
Is soil made through magic? Find out at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/education/squirm/skQ1.html
Solve the case at "Soiled Again" http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/case2/index.html

Social Studies: Now that we know about the land of the northeast, we are going to move on to explore what resources are common in this region. I am looking for a few volunteers to bring in some goodies to help make these resources more memorable. If you are interested, please contact me, and I will let you know what you can send in to help make this possible. The students will be taking an open book/notes quiz on chapter 4, lesson 2 on Friday.

Accelerated Math: This week we will continue our unit on data and statistics. On Tuesday, we will focus on summarizing data using mean, median, mode, and range. On Wednesday, we will return to the computer lab to finish our double bar graphs. The children will also explore the other kinds of graphs that OpenOffice Calculator (Excel) can make. During the rest of the week we will work on graphing data and reading graphs. Our graphing will include: bar graphs, line graphs, pie graphs, and pictographs.

Spelling: We are taking the week off of spelling due to the shortened week. Please note: most four day weeks we will do spelling. The next unit is a more difficult one, and the fourth grade team felt a full week would be better for the children.

English: We will continue with our unit on sentences. This week we will cover subjects and predicates, simple subjects, simple predicates, and correcting run-on sentences. Since we are not doing spelling this week, my plan is to do English on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. These lessons will conclude this chapter. Our test on sentences will be on Thursday, October 23.

Reading: We will finish A Family Apart this week. The children have been doing a wonderful job on GIST summaries and character traits. We will have a comprehension test (children can use their book) on Thursday. They will not have a reader's response on this test. It will be multiple choice, true & false, and one question on character traits.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of October 6

Weekly Reminders:

*Midpoint of trimester one...please check your child's grades online.

*Beginning band lessons start this week.

*Science Quiz covering the Rock Cycle on Monday.

*Lesson 6 spelling pretest on Monday.

*Accelerated Math test covering Chapter 2 on Tuesday.

*Lesson 6 spelling test on Friday.

Plan Ahead:

*No school on Monday, October 13.

*We will follow a Monday schedule on Tuesday, October 14.

*Northeast Region test on Tuesday, October 14.

*Book Fair on Thursday, October 16, from 6:30-8:00.

Classroom Happenings:

Science: The students will take a quiz on the rock cycle on Monday. This will conclude lesson 2. In lesson 3, we will attempt to answer how weathering and erosion affect rocks. We will probably have a quiz on lesson 3 on Friday. Watch your child's assignment notebook for a definite date.

Social Studies: We will begin our tour of the northeast this week. Our focus will be on the land and resources of the northeast. The children should be studying the 11 states in the northeast at home. We will take our northeast map test on Tuesday, October 14. The children will need to know location and spelling of each state. They can also earn 1/4 point for each capital city that they correctly identify and if they can label our nation's capital.

Fun Links to help practice for the northeast test:

http://users.tellurian.com/teach/regions/

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm

http://www.maps.com/FunFacts.aspx?nav=FF

http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html

http://www.primarygames.com/states/start.htm

Accelerated Math: Our pretests on chapter 2 showed that the children did not need to spend a great deal of time on the concepts covered in this chapter. We have done a quick review of addition properties, using compatible numbers or compensation while solving problems mentally, inverse operations, rounding whole numbers and decimals (to get a closer estimate), adding and subtracting whole numbers, and adding and subtracting decimals. We will review all these concepts one last time on Monday. Our test on this chapter will be on Tuesday. Our next unit will be on data and statistics. We will begin this unit on Wednesday.

Spelling: Please help your child practice their spelling words at home in cursive. We are working on lesson 6 words this week.

English: On Monday, I will meet with each child to discuss their selection for an English enrichment projects. We will begin our sentence unit on Tuesday. This week we will review sentences versus fragments, statements, questions, commands, and exclamations. If your child has shown mastery of these concepts on the pretest, they will be working on their enrichment projects during the time I am teaching these lessons in class.

Reading: We will continue our historical fiction novel, A Family Apart. Ask your child about the huge sacrifice that was made in the fourth chapter. We will continue working on our GIST summaries (20 words or less). This strategy is helping to focus the children on the most important events and details in the story. We will also work on character traits this week.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of September 29 - October 3

Weekly Reminders:

*Lesson 5 spelling pretest on Monday.

*Chapter 1 (Place Value -whole numbers & decimals) accelerated math test on Monday.

*Last magazine turn in on Tuesday.

*Quiz on lesson 1 in Earth Science on Wednesday.

*Capitalization and Punctuation test on Wednesday.

*English enrichment due Wednesday.

*Lesson 5 spelling test on Friday.

*Movie Night on Friday, 6:30-8:45.

Plan Ahead:

*Quiz on lesson 2 science on Monday, October 6.

*Tuesday, October 7 - Midpoint in Trimester. Check your child's grades online.

*No school on Monday, October 13.

*Book Fair on Thursday, October 16.

Classroom Happenings:

Science: This week we explored the physical properties of minerals. We found out that we need to consider more than one property when identifying minerals. The class observed the size of crystals in igneous rocks. We discussed where the rocks were formed based on the size or lack of crystals. During this upcoming week, we will observe sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. We will take a quiz on lesson 1 (see note sheet in your child's science pocket). We will conclude the week by discovering how rocks are formed through the rock cycle. The students will take a quiz on the rock cycle on Monday, October 6.

Social Studies: We will finish our study of the two presidential candidates. The children will work on making campaign posters this week. These posters will need to display the beliefs and promises of the candidate. We are going to hold off on doing a classroom presidential election because we are going to participate in a school-wide voting on Monday, November 3.

During the week of October 6, we will begin our United States Tour by visiting the northeast region. The children will receive a blank northeast map on Wednesday. We will have a test on the location of the northeast states on Tuesday, October 14. Spelling will count! The children will have the opportunity to earn bonus points by learning the capital cities of each state in the northeast. They can earn 1/4 point for each correct capital.

Accelerated Math: The children will take the Chapter 1 Place Value test on Monday. This week we will also begin our next unit on Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers and Decimals. I will be pretesting the children this week. My hope is to be able to combine or compact some lessons in this unit since many of these concepts are a review from last year.

Spelling: We will work on lesson 5 spelling this week. Keep practicing your cursive writing at home. This will help during the test on Friday.

English: At the beginning of the week, we will review for the Capitalization and Punctuation test. This test will be on Wednesday. Please note that English enrichment projects are due the day of the test. We will pretest on the next chapter on Thursday.

Here are some great links to help review for the English test:

http://gamequarium.com/punctuation.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/punctuation/commas/

http://www.childu.com/sample_act/34lang_confusion.html Find Comma Confusion.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/adventure/grammar2.htm

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! Find out more about the Orphan Train and other historical events that we will encounter while reading A Family Apart. Visit this website: http://www.bgcs.k12.oh.us/reinhart/apart/default.htm

Sulima's Scoop - Week of September 22

Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 4 spelling pretest on Monday.
*Magazine turn-in days on Tuesday & Thursday.
*Picture Day on Thursday.
*Social Studies test on chapter 2, lessons 2 & 3 only.
*Lesson 4 spelling test on Friday.

Plan Ahead:
*Accelerated Math test (Place Value) on Monday, September 29.
*English test on capitalization and punctuation on Wednesday, October 1.

New Student: A new student joined our classroom this past week. We would like to welcome Molly to our school.

Classroom Happenings:
Science: We will begin our unit on Earth Science this week. The "big idea" for this part of the unit is: Rocks and soils are formed and broken down by natural processes. The essential questions that we will attempt to answer during the next couple weeks are: What are the types of rocks? What is the rock cycle? How do weathering and erosion affect rocks? and What is soil?

Social Studies: The children will take a test on Thursday covering lesson 2 and 3 in chapter 2 of our textbook. To help them review for this test, they should review the patriotic quest, three branches of government graphic organizer, video quizzes, lesson 3 question sheet, levels of government graphic organizer, and reread the pages in the textbook (pgs. 46-63).

Hints for the test:
-What is the Constitution and why is it important?
-What are the three levels of government?
-What are the responsibilities of each of the three branches of government?
-How can the constitution be changed?
-What are 2 ways that a person can become a citizen of the U.S.?
-What are 3 types of services that are paid for by taxes?
-What are 3 responsibilities of U.S. citizens?
-Why is voting an important responsibility in the U.S.?
**Please note: the children are not being tested on lesson 1. We did not cover this lesson in class.***

We will continue to compare the 2 presidential candidates this week. During the week of September 29, we will have an election in our classroom to see who we think should win.

Accelerated Math: Now that we have covered place value of whole numbers, we can move onto place value of decimals. We will cover decimals to the thousandths, comparing and ordering decimals, and rounding decimals. Our 2nd checkpoint review will be on Thursday. We will review, with a game, on Friday. Our Place Value test will be on Monday, September 29.

Great Website for decimal practice:
http://www.toonuniversity.com/flash.asp?err=496&engine=9

English: We will continue our unit on capitalization and punctuation this week. Our main focus for the week will be quotations. We will also work on writing titles correctly. Our test on this English unit will be on Wednesday, October 1. All enrichment will be due the day of the test. If your child has not finished their enrichment and does not have any lesson days left, I have suggested to them to use their relaxed reading time to finalize their projects. If need be, their project can be finished at home, but I would prefer that most (if not all) is done in school.

Spelling: We are moving onto lesson 4. Our final test on Friday will need to be done in cursive. Please have your child practice writing their words before the test.

Reading: We have just finished our first book club novel. We will take a week off before our next novel. During this week, we will focus on building vocabulary, predicting, visualizing, story mapping, and comprehension.
Practice vocabulary for Grandfather's Journey at: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/tnc/gr4/gr4_th1_sel2.html
http://www.quia.com/jg/311936.html

Presidential Election 2008

Who will be our next President?

Let's get the facts...

Republican

John McCain
Read John McCain's Message to Young People!
John McCain's Official Website

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Democrat
Barack Obama
Read Barack Obama's Message to Young People!!
Barack Obama's Official Website

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Other Sites:

Time for Kids Election Connection
Weekly Reader's Election Center

Scholastic's Election 2008

BBC News - Candidates and Issues
http://uspolitics.america.gov/uspolitics/elections/candidates.html

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/candidates/

Sulima's Scoop - Week of September 15

I would like to thank all who were able to attend the 4th grade curriculum night on Thursday evening. I hope I was able to answer many of your questions about classroom routines, homework procedures, curriculum, and more. If you have additional questions, please feel free to e-mail me at: ssulima@ccsd66.org.

Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 3 spelling pretest on Monday.
*Magazine Drive Kick-off on Monday.
*Beginning Band Parent Meeting on Monday at 7:00.
*Early Dismissal (11:00) on Tuesday.
*Beginning Band Conferences on Wednesday & Thursday afternoon. Please contact Mr. Brian Ohlsen at bohlsen@ccsd66.org if you are interested in setting up a conference.
*Lesson 3 spelling test on Friday.

Classroom Happenings:

Science: We will finish our "getting ready for science" unit this week. These lessons should prepare the children for experimenting throughout the rest of the school year. We will have a test covering lessons 1-3 on Thursday. The concepts on the test will include: scientific tools, inquiry skills, and the scientific method.

Social Studies: We will compare local, state, and federal governments. This week we will also take a closer look at the Presidential candidates. If you find articles in magazines or newspapers to support our study of the upcoming Presidential election, please send them in.

English: This week we will only have English lessons on Wednesday and Thursday. Our lessons will cover commas in a series and more uses of commas.

Spelling: We will work with lesson 3 spelling words this week. Don't forget that the spelling test on Friday will need to be done in cursive.

Reading: The children will read the rest of Earthquake Terror this week. They will also fill out a different kind of discussion sheet - a story map. Our second book club discussion will be on Thursday. We will also use our time in class to review predicting, author's viewpoint, prefixes, suffixes, compound words, and root words.

Accelerated Math: We are moving into the 5th grade curriculum. Our first unit will be on place value. We will spend the beginning of the week trying to understand the magnitude of one billion. The rest of the week, we will compare and round whole numbers. On Friday, the children will take a "checkpoint review" on these concepts.

Website of the Week:
If you have a few minutes, please check out the Book Adventure website. "Book Adventure" is a free online reading motivation program for students in grades K-8. After children read a book, they can take an online comprehension quiz. There are over 7,000 book choices/quizzes on "Book Adventure." Students will earn points for each quiz they complete. There are also prizes that can be earned. If you would like to check out this website and register, please visit http://www.bookadventure.org/. When registering, our class name is Sulima and the teacher name is SSulima. To register, click on New Users (Register Now). Then click on Kids Register. Follow the directions carefully. Parents please help your child register. E-mail me if you register & let me know what you think.