Sulima's Scoop - Week of March 3

Weekly Reminders:

-No school on Monday due to Casimir Pulaski Day.

Find out more about Casimir Pulaski at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_Pulaski_Day.

-Third Trimester begins on Tuesday.

-Lesson 23 spelling pretest on Tuesday.

-Second book club discussion on Tuesday.

-We will have a Monday schedule on Wednesday. Be ready for music class!

-Lesson 23 spelling test on Friday.

-ISAT testing begins on Monday, March 10th.

-Parent Teacher Conferences on March 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Parent Teacher Conferences: Second Trimester conferences will be held during the week of March 10th. These conferences are scheduled on an as needed basis only. If you would like to have a conference with any of your child's teachers, please contact them by e-mail, note, or phone to set up a date and time with them. I will be contacting parents from my homeroom and math class during the next week if I feel there is the need for a conference.

A Big Thank You!!!

We would like to thank Mrs. Arlt, Mr. Knight, Mrs. Ryan, and Mrs. Spear for running stations during our Wheels, Levers, and Pulleys in-school presentation.

Classroom Happenings:

English: We will take the week off to focus on ISAT preparations.

Reading: We will continue to do mini-lessons this week. The topics we will cover are author's purpose, genre, figurative language, and plot.

Science: Fourth graders will be taking the Science ISAT test during the week of March 10th. We will watch a short movie clip each day this week to review concepts covered in previous grades. We will also continue our unit on simple machines.

Social Studies: Our study of Illinois will continue. The children will be choosing a famous Illinoisan to research. Soon your child will receive project directions and a grading rubric for the 4th grade Illinois Wax Museum Project.

Math: Our week will be spent in preparation for ISAT testing. On Tuesday, we will work on multiple choice problems that are similar to what your child will see on the ISAT test. On Wednesday, we will work on an extended response problem. Thursday and Friday we will continue our preparation with Trivia Challenge and a game.

Website of the Week:

Here is a list of famous Illinoisans-

http://www.50states.com/bio/illinois.htm

Sulima's Scoop - Week of February 25

Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 22 spelling pretest on Monday.
*Project Challenge on Tuesday.
*DuPage Children's Museum-Wheel's, Levers, and Pulleys in-school presentation on Thursday.
*Spring Pictures on Thursday.
*Pronoun test on Thursday.
*Lesson 22 spelling test on Friday.
*Friday is the last day of 2nd Trimester...my, oh my, where has the school year gone?
*No school on Monday, March 3.
*Second (final) book club discussion on Tuesday, March 4.

Parent Teacher Conferences:
Second Trimester conferences will be held during the week of March 10th. These conferences are scheduled on an as needed basis only. If you would like to have a conference with any of your child's teachers, please contact them by e-mail, note, or phone to set up a date and time with them. I will be contacting parents from my homeroom and math class during the next week if I feel there is the need for a conference.

Classroom Happenings:
English: This week we will finish our unit on pronouns. On Tuesday, we will learn about pronouns and homophones. We will also fill out our "how to study" sheet. Our test will be on Thursday. My goal is to grade these and get them on your child's 2nd trimester grade. This will allow us to start fresh in 3rd trimester. We will be taking a short break from English, for the next couple weeks, to allow time to do our final preparations for ISAT testing.

Reading: The children should read the rest of their book for their next book club discussion on Tuesday, March 4 (the children asked for a bit more time to finish their reading). During reading on Monday through Thursday, we will review many reading concepts including: alliteration, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, finding the main idea & supporting details, cause and effect, and plot.

Science: We will continue our study of simple machines. The concepts we will cover this week are force, work, and energy. We will also begin looking at levers.

Social Studies: We will visit the computer lab a few times this week to continue researching Illinois. The children will be creating a travel brochure persuading tourists to visit Illinois. In the near future your child will need to choose a famous Illinoisan for our "Wax Museum" project. I will be sending a list of people and project details home soon.

Math: We will continue our unit on time and measurement. Since ISAT tests are quickly approaching, we will be taking a couple days each week to prepare the children for the math section of this test. The children will have multiple choice questions, short-response questions (PAL - Problem, Answer, Label), and extended-response questions (t-chart) on the ISAT tests.

Websites of the Week - Review for our pronoun test at these great sites.
Pronoun Clubhouse: http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/pronoun_clubhouse/index_pre.html
Grammar Blast: http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/hme-quiz-directions.cgi?Grade=5&Unit=6&Topic=Pronouns
Many Pronoun Links: http://grainvalley.k12.mo.us/gvsd/eagle_resources/pronouns.html
EZ Pronoun Game: http://www.ezschool.com/Games/Pronouns.html

Sulima's Scoop - Week of February 18

Weekly Reminders:
*No School on Monday due to Presidents' Day!
*Lesson 21 spelling pretest on Tuesday.
*Chapter 9 Social Studies test on Tuesday. See study hints below.
*Book Club Discussion #1 on FRIDAY. Bring your books and discussion sheets. (Change in day!!!)
*Lesson 21 spelling test on Friday.
*Six Flags Great America Sheets due on Friday.
*Book Club Discussion #2 will be on Friday, Feb. 29. (Change in day!!!)
Thank you:
On behalf of the children, I would like to thank Mrs. Koniecko, Mrs. Pinto, Mrs. Smiles, Mrs. Ferreri, and Mrs. Fisher for planning games and suppling goodies for our Valentine's Day party. We all had a wonderful time!

Help Wanted:
*We are running very low on treasure box prizes. Any donations would be greatly appreciated.

*I will need 5 parent helpers for our DuPage Children's Presentation on Thursday, Feb. 28, from 9:20-11:00. Please e-mail me or send a note if you can help.


Classroom Happenings:

English: We will continue our pronoun unit this week. The children will learn about using I and me, possessive pronouns, and contractions with pronouns. This is a quick unit. Our test will probably be on Friday, Feb. 29.

Reading: The children should continue to read their book club books. Their first discussion will be on FRIDAY. Each child will need to have their discussion sheet & book for their discussion. In class we will continue working on reading responses - hamburger style. We will do a written response together to practice correct format.

Science: The children will continue working with inclined planes at the beginning of the week. Then we will move onto force and friction. We will also explore two types of energy.

Social Studies: We will take the chapter 9 test on Tuesday. Here are some general topics that your children should be familiar with:
-Describe early Ojibwa culture.
-Describe the ways Ojibwa culture has changed since the mid-1600's.
-Describe why the French came to the Midwest in the 1600's.
-Identify the roles of Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette in the fur trade.
-Explain the role fur trading played in the development of towns in the Midwest.
-Explain why Du Sable was considered "the father of Chicago."
-Explain some events that forced Native American tribes in the Midwest to give up their land.
-Compare and contrast a home built out of sod and one built out of logs.
-Explain the difficulties settlers faced in farming the land and their ultimate successes.
-Describe John Deere's importance to the Midwest.
-Describe the causes and long-term effects of farming the prairie, including the Dust Bowl.
-Describe Cahokia as the early trading center of the Midwest.
-Identify the goals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
-Identify the role of the steamboat in shipping.
-Describe the advantages (pros) and disadvantges (cons) of steamboats, railroads, and highways.
We will be going to the lab this week during social studies. We will finish our SE region scrapbook pages and begin our MW region pages. Our study of Illinois will also begin this week. The children will be doing an Illinois scavenger hunt using the Internet, trade books, and Encyclopedias.

Math: We will not have math until Thursday due to classes having in-school presentations. On Thursday, we will begin a new chapter on time and measurement. The children will be getting a measurement hint bookmark that they should keep in their math pocket at all time. They may use this helpful bookmark on class assignments, homework, quizzes, and tests.

Websites of the Week:
Learn about these famous people:

Marquette and Jolliet - http://www.mrnussbaum.com/history/marquette.htm

Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable - http://library.thinkquest.org/2667/DuSable.htm

John Deere - http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/39.html

Lewis and Clark (awesome site...interactive journey log) - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/

Sulima's Scoop - Week of February 11

IOWA Testing Schedule:

Monday - Vocabulary and Reading Part I

Tuesday - Reading Part II, Spelling, Capitalization, & Punctuation

Wednesday - Usage & Expression and Math Concepts

Thursday - No Testing...Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday - Math Problem Solving and Math Computation

Please make sure your child get's plenty of sleep and a good breakfast each day.

Weekly Reminders:

*Please have name and address of person or people you are sending Stanley to by Monday.

*No spelling unit this week due to IOWA testing.

*Valentine's Day Party on Thursday.

*No school on Monday, Feb. 18.

Classroom Happenings:

English: The children will begin a unit on pronouns on Wednesday. This week we will cover what is a pronoun, subject pronouns, and object pronouns.

Reading: We will work on writing a friendly letter this week. Our Stanleys will be off on their travel adventures later in the week. Each child will bring their letter and Stanley home. Please try to mail out your letter by the weekend. We will also continue our Illinois reading workbook this week.

Science: We will begin our Simple Machines unit by exploring inclined planes. This is a hands-on unit. The children will be doing many experiments to learn about the 6 simple machines: inclined planes, levers, pulleys, wedges, screws, & wheel and axel.

Social Studies: We will use this week to finish chapter 9....but this will not conclude our study of the Midwest. For the rest of February we will learn all about the wonderful state we live in - Illinois.

Math: This week we will only have math class on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. We will use these 3 days to work on problem solving.

Website of the Week:

Check out this great site on simple machines...
http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/