Sulima & Pluta Planner - Week of March 2

Weekly Reminders:
*No school on Monday - Casimir Pulaski Day.
*ISAT testing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
*No spelling lesson this week.
*Wednesday is a Monday schedule. We will have library with Mrs. Bouton. We will not have art on Wednesday.
*End of 2nd trimester on Friday.

ISAT NEWS:
Tuesday, March 3: Reading Session I 8:30 & Math Session I 12:00
Wednesday, March 4: Reading Session II 8:30 & Math Session II 12:00
Thursday, March 5: Reading Session III 8:30 & Math Session III 12:00
Friday, March 6: Science Session I 12:00
Monday, March 9: Science Session II 8:30

Plan Ahead:
*Finish ISAT testing on Monday, March 9.
*Report Cards go home on Tuesday, March 10.
*Parent Teacher Conferences on Monday, March 9, Tuesday, March 10, and Wednesday, March 11.
*Early Dismissal on Thursday, March 12.
*Thursday, March 12 is Ms. Pluta's last day.
*District Fundraiser on Thursday at Buono Beef.
Click here: http://www.ccsd66.org/PTO/MarchFR.pdf
*No school on Friday, March 13.

Classroom Happenings:
Science - The children will learn about animal adaptations this week. They will have a chapter 3 lesson 1 quiz on Friday. Ms. Pluta will review with them on Thursday.

Social Studies - The children have been partnered up and are working on a state travel brochure. Each day this week we will be going to the computer lab to work on our brochures. If your child has a flash drive, please have them bring it each day. This will allow them to transfer graphics from one computer to another.

Accelerated Math - We will not be switching for math this week. Please have your child continue to look over the ISAT prep pages and extended response pages we have done in class. Also, each child needs a calculator for ISAT testing. If your child has misplaced their calculator, please send them with a new one on Tuesday.

Spelling - We will not be switching this week for Language Arts, therefore, we will not have a spelling lesson this week.

English - We will not be switching for Language Arts. Please have your child send or deliver Stanley if they have not already. Also, Ms. Pluta would like the children to work on their Flat Stanley stories. Please have your rough drafts complete by Monday, March 9.

Reading - We will not be switching for Language Arts. Please have your child review "Our Recipe" for writing a good written response. The directions include:
1) Turn the question around into your topic sentence.
2) Choose a text proof to support your topic sentence.
3) Interpret or explain in your own words.
4) Choose another text proof to support your topic sentence.
5) Interpret or explain in your own words.
**If you have time and you find a strong 3rd text proof, you could add that here with an interpretation.**
6) What I learned OR a general statement.

Sulima & Pluta Planner - Week of February 23

Weekly Reminders:

*Lesson 23 spelling pretest on Monday.

*Chapter 8 open book/notes social studies test on Monday.

*Midwest Map test on Tuesday.

*Midpoint Accelerated Math Evaluation on Tuesday.

*Project Challenge after school on Tuesday.

*Chapter 2 open book/notes science test on Wednesday.

*Pronoun test on Thursday.

*Lakeview Library visit on Thursday. Volunteers should wait for us on the benches outside the office around 12:55.

*Spring Pictures of Thursday.

*Lesson 23 spelling test on Friday.

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Spring Picture Day - Thursday, February 26, 2009

All students will be photographed. Please notify your student's teacher if you do not want an individual portrait taken of your child.
Look Before You Buy: Send no money now - View your portraits before you buy. Your finished portrait package will be sent home for review. Simply return any un-used portrait sheets with your payment.

Plan Ahead:

*No school on Monday, March 2 - Casimir Pulaski Day.

*ISAT Testing on March 3, 4, 5, 6, & 9.

*Conference Week is March 9-11. If you would like to meet with me regarding homeroom or math, please contact me as soon as possible so I can arrange a time for you.

Classroom Happenings:

Science: The children will review with Ms. Pluta on Tuesday for the Chapter 2 open book.notes test which will be on Wednesday. We will wait until the week of March 2 to begin chapter 3 on adaptations.

Items to review for the chapter 2 test:

*What is heredity?

-Key vocabulary: trait, heredity, gene, nature vs. nurture.

*What are some life cycles of plants?

-Key vocabulary: photosynthesis, life cycle, embryo, germinate, seedling stage, flowering stage, pollinate, sporesclone, tuber, and grafting.

*What are some life cycles of animals?

-Key vocabulary: marsupials, infant stage, direct development, molting, metamorphosis, complete metamorphosis, and incomplete metamorphosis.

Social Studies: The children will take an open book/notes test on chapter 8 on Monday. Ms. Pluta will begin chapter 9 with the students this week. This chapter reviews history and people of the midwest. Don't forget that we will take the Midwest test on Tuesday. The children have had plenty of time to study these states. Spelling of state names does count! Your child can also earn 1/4 bonus for each correct capital city.

Items to review for the chapter 8 test:

*How were the Great Lakes formed?

*How are the Great Lakes connected to the Atlantic Ocean?

*Define waterway, canal, lock, and barge.

*Why was the flow of the Chicago River changed?

*What are the advantages of shipping by water?

*What was the landscape and climate of the Badlands 67 million years ago?

*Define erosion and prairie.

*What types of life live in a prairie?

*Why did the climate of the Badlands change?

*Why is the Midwest an important agricultural region?

*Why do some farmers irrigate their crops?

*How does the rainfall in the Midwest affect growth of crops?

*What are 10 crops of the Midwest?

*What are some of the crops in the Central Plains and the Great Plains?

Accelerated Math: Most of the week will be spent on preparation for ISAT testing. On Tuesday, the children will take the midpoint evaluation. This will not be taken as a grade, but it will be one of the items we will look at when we are deciding if a child qualifies for advanced math in fifth grade. Our main focus for the week will be math extended responses. Fourth graders are allowed to use their calculator during the entire math ISAT test. Many of the students have misplaced their calculators or they are no longer working. Please ask your child about their calculator. If they need a new one, please send it as soon as possible.

Spelling: This weeks words have either "ch" or "tch". Don't forget to take the time to practice your words in cursive.

English: Our pronoun lessons will end on Tuesday. Ms. Pluta will do a review of pronouns on Wednesday. The children will take the pronoun test on Thursday. This unit is only 7 lessons. If your child received 90% or higher on the pretest, they will need to decide whether or not they are taking the test for a higher grade. Enrichments will be due on the day of the test. We will not begin our next unit until after ISAT testing.

Reading: We will continue our Flat Stanley unit this week. On Monday, each child will bring the letter to be sent and Stanley home. Please mail or deliver these letters as soon as possible. I am hoping that we can have all our Stanley's back to Prairieview before spring break. The children will each design their own flat self. We will begin writing a creative story about being flat. ISAT tests are approaching quickly. The children will practice writing an extended reading response. We have a recipe that we follow. Ask your child about our recipe.

We will visit Lakeview Library on Thursday. If you are one of the volunteers, please arrive around 12:55. Wait for us on the benches outside the office.

Sulima & Pluta Planner - Week of February 16

Weekly Reminders:
*No school on Monday - Presidents' Day.
*Lesson 22 spelling pretest on Tuesday.
*Fuddrucker's Benefit on Tuesday. Click here for more information: http://www.ccsd66.org/PTO/Fuddruckers2_09.pdf
*Lesson 3 science quiz on Wednesday.
*Great America reading sheets due on Friday.
*Lesson 22 spelling test on Friday.
*Family Bingo Night on Friday from 7:00-8:30. Ms. Pluta, Mrs. Sulima & her kids will be there. Bring in a donation for the men and women in Afghanistan.

Plan Ahead:
*Midwest Map test on Tuesday, February 24.
*Accelerated Math midpoint evaluation on Tuesday, February 24.
*Project Challenge on Tuesday, February 24.
*Spring Pictures on Thursday, February 26.
*ISAT Testing - March 3 thru March 6.

Conference Week:
Parent/Teacher Conferences are the week of March 9th. Spring conferences are being held on an "as needed" basis with your child's homeroom and/or math teacher. If you should wish to schedule a conference, please contact your child's teacher(s) as soon as possible. Please include if you prefer a phone conference or if you would rather meet in person. Please indicate which day (Monday - 3/9, Tuesday - 3/10, or Wednesday - 3/11) you prefer. Once all requests have been received, a conference date/time will be provided.

Valentine's Party: Ms. Pluta and I would like to thank all the parents who helped in making our Valentine's Party such a great success. The children had a WONDERFUL time and enjoyed all the tasty goodies and drinks.

Classroom Happenings:
Science: Ms. Pluta and the children will continue their unit on Life Cycles. This past week they learned about the life cycles of animals. They will have their Chapter 2, Lesson 3 quiz on Wednesday with a review in class on Tuesday. Review the concepts on the notes sheet and reread the lesson to prepare for the quiz.

Social Studies: Ms. Pluta will continue working with the children on the Midwest region. Students are also finishing their southeast region scrapbook.

Accelerated Math: Ms. Pluta will finish the measurement unit. The measurement test will be on Friday. It will be open notes. We will also continue working on Extended Responses this week. The children will be bringing home examples of completed extended responses this week. Please review these with your child.

Spelling: The words this week will either have "ge" or "dge". Please practice your words in cursive.

Ms. Pluta and I would like to congratulate Vishal and Lawson on doing so well in the district spelling bee. They are truly "Super Spellers."

English: Ms. Pluta will continue the unit on pronouns.

Reading: Ms. Pluta will begin an enjoyable unit using a story called Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley is a humorous tale of a boy who becomes "flat" when his bulletin board falls on him. Stanley realizes that there are several advantages to being flat, such as the ability to slide under doors, through bars, and yes, being mailed in an envelope for long trips. We will each send Flat Stanley to someone. Please start thinking about someone in the United States that would welcome Flat Stanley into their home for a week or so. Try to pick someone that would use creativity, imagination, and a camera to make it a fun-filled visit for Stanley.

Sulima & Pluta Planner - Week of February 9

Our district spelling bee will be on Wednesday, February 11 at 1:00. We will be "silently" cheering on the Lawson, Vishal, and Matt (our fourth grade representatives). We wish them the best of luck.

Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 21 spelling pretest on Monday.
*Lesson 2 science quiz on Tuesday.
*Project Challenge after school on Tuesday.
*Open book/notes math checkpoint on lessons 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9.
*District Spelling Bee on Wednesday at 1:00.
*Valentine's Day Challenge projects due on Thursday.
*LA Class Lakeview visit on Thursday (volunteers...please arrive around 12:55 - Wait for us by the benches in the front hall.)
*Lesson 21 spelling test on Friday.
*Valentine's Day Party on Friday at 1:30 (parent helpers may come up at 1:25).

Plan Ahead:
*No school on Monday, February 16.
*Six Flag Great America reading sheets due by Friday, February 20.
*Midwest Map test on Tuesday, February 24.
*Project Challenge on Tuesday, February 24.
*Spring Pictures on Thursday, February 26.

Weekly Happenings:
Science: Ms. Pluta will continue working with the children on Chapter 2. They will take a quiz on the information in lesson 2 on Tuesday. This will not be an open book quiz. Make sure your child reviews pages 102-108. Here are the key words to review: photosynthesis, embryo, germinate, germination, life cycle, seedling stage, flowering stage, pollinate, seeds, spores, tuber, and grafting. They will also work on lesson 3 this week. This lesson focuses on the life cycles of animals.

Social Studies: The children will finish their Southeast region scrapbook throughout the week. Ms. Pluta will also begin our study of the Midwest. The children will fill out a Midwest map on Monday. On February 24, the children will take the Midwest region map test. As before, the students will need to know the correct location and spelling of each state in the Midwest. They can also earn 1/4 point bonus for each correct capital.

Accelerated Math: Ms. Pluta will continue working with the children on measurement. The children will explore metric mass, temperatures, perimeter, and area. On Wednesday, the children will take an open book/notes checkpoint on lessons 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9. The children will also be working on math extended response this week.

**We will be taking a midpoint evaluation on Tuesday, February 24. This will not be a graded assessment, but will be used as one of the components on our placement matrix for accelerated math next year. This midpoint evaluation will include only the concepts we have covered to this point: decimals, place value, basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, graphing/data analysis, multiplying by 1- and 2-digit numbers, dividing by 1-digit numbers, basic algebra, geometry, and measurement. Your child may want to consider reviewing these concepts prior to this evaluation. {The students will not be able to use a calculator. They will need to show all their work.}**

English: Ms. Pluta will begin a unit on Pronouns on Tuesday. They will be covering the definition of a pronoun, subject pronouns and object pronouns this week.

Spelling: The words this week are a bit tricky. The children should think about what the base (root) word is and then figure out what needs to be done before adding suffixes. (Ex. tap = tapped and tape = taped)

Reading: We will finish our Mystery Unit this week. On Monday, we will use our detective skills to locate evidence to support our argument on a reading extended response prompt. This week we will also continue to work with our agencies to earn Super Sleuths. Please do not forget that our class will visit the Lakeview Library this Thursday.