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/
