Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 30

Weekly Reminders:

*Parent Teacher Conferences on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday.

*No spelling pretest on Monday due to 4-day week.

*Yearbook orders due on Tuesday.

*Home Run Inn Pizza Order due on Tuesday (sorry for the short notice).

*Report Cards go home on Tuesday.

*Accelerated Math Checkpoint (Chapter 4, lessons 1, 3, 4, & 5) on Wednesday.

*Open-book Chapter 2, lesson 2 science quiz on Wednesday.

*Tivoli permission slip and fee due on Thursday.

*Bring "A Christmas Carol" readers' theater back on Thursday.

*Lesson 13 spelling test on Thursday.

*No school on Friday.

Plan Ahead:

*Field Trip to "A Christmas Carol" at Drury Lane on Tuesday, December 8.

Homeroom Happenings:

Science: We will continue to work on Chapter 2, lesson 2. This week we will set up a "sprouting seeds" investigation. The children will take an open-book quiz on photosynthesis, life cycle of flowering plants, life cycles of ferns, and other ways for plants to grow. This information can be found on pages 98-109.

Social Studies: This week we will learn about the resources that can be found in the Southeast region. Each child will become a Southeast farmer of cotton, peanuts, oranges, or peaches. The children will be given some time to research in class, but some will need to be done at home. We will also begin writing our Southeast farmer stories on Thursday. For homework, the children will need to finish the rough drafts of their Southeast farmer stories and have their story edited by an adult by Tuesday, December 8.

English: We will continue to work on Unit 2 - Nouns. This week the children will learn about singular possessive nouns and plural possessive nouns. We will fill out a "how to study" sheet on Thursday. The test on Unit 2 - Nouns will be on Wednesday, December 9. We will review for this test on Monday, December 7.

Spelling: We will be working on lesson 13 this week. Due to the 4-day school week, we will not take a spelling pretest.

W.O.W. Words: We will not have W.O.W. Words this week due to the 4-day school week. We will continue our vocabulary study on December 7.

Reading: We will continue our study of "A Christmas Carol". We will be reading Charles Dickens' version. The children will be involved in sequencing and summarizing activities while we read the classic story. The children should have read the whole readers' theater that was sent home last week. They should also practice their reading parts. The children should not memorize their parts. Instead I will be listening for expression and fluency while the children read their parts. All students MUST bring their readers' theater script on Thursday!

Accelerated Math Menu:

Monday - Estimating products to the greatest number and to the nearest 10. H.W. Daily Review 40.

Tuesday - Multiplying by 1-digit numbers. H.W. Daily Review 41.

Wednesday - Open textbook/notes checkpoint quiz on chapter 4, lessons 1, 3, 4 & 5. H.W. Review multiplication facts.

Thursday - Multiplying by 2-digit numbers. H.W. Daily Review pgs. 44 (#1-10) & 45 (#1-4).

Friday - No school.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 23

Weekly Reminders:

*Southeast Map Test on Monday.

*No school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Holiday Service Project:

We are once again going to be involved with the holiday service project helping families who have a child with cancer. Information was sent home on Friday. Please help make this family's holiday a bit brighter.

YEARBOOKS:

Now’s the time to place your orders. Yearbooks are $10.00 and the deadline for your order is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. 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. If you have multiple students, please fill out one for each child. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 12th. 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 this information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child’s teacher is. Prairieview Yearbook orders were not paid at registration!

Homeroom Happenings:

Science - We will begin lesson 2. This lesson focuses on the life cycles of plants. We will review photosynthesis and discuss the life cycle of a plant. We will also learn about the life cycle of a fern plant.

Social Studies - We will be taking the Southeast map test on Monday. The children should know the correct location and spelling for each state in the Southeast. They can also earn bonus points by writing the capital with the state. They will earn 1/4 point of bonus for every correct capital. The children do not have to memorize the spelling of the capitals. They should spell these as best as they can.

Spelling - We will not have a spelling list this week.

English - We will continue working on nouns this week. We will focus on nouns ending in y and more plural nouns (irregular).

Reading - This week, we will begin our Christmas Carol Study. On Monday, we will discuss the life and times of Charles Dickens. The children will also be given a readers' theater and assigned parts. They need to read the whole readers' theater and practice their parts for Thursday, Dec. 3. We will be reading A Christmas Carol out loud in class on Thursday, Dec. 3. We will also listen to A Christmas Carol in class and do activities to extend on the book/story. This study will end with our field trip to see "A Christmas Carol" at Drury Lane.

W.O.W. Words - We will not have W.O.W. words this week or next week.

Accelerated Math Menu:

Monday - Multiplication Properties

Tuesday - Mental Math: Multiplication Patterns Using 10, 100, and 1,000.

Wednesday - Friday: No school.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 16

Weekly Reminders:

*Lesson 12 spelling pretest on Monday.

*Roller Skating party from 3:45-6:30 on Tuesday.

*A Family Apart test on Wednesday.

*Chapter 3 accelerated math test on Wednesday and Thursday.

*Picture Retakes on Thursday. Students must have original order form or packet.

*Parent Focus Group on Thursday at Prairieview. All are welcome!

*Lesson 12 spelling test on Friday.

*Open-book science quiz on Friday.

*End of first trimester on Friday.

Plan Ahead:

*Thanksgiving Break, November 25, 26, & 27.

*Yearbook orders due by December 1.

*Parent Teacher Conferences, November 30, December 1 & 2.

Homeroom Happenings:

Science - We are going to begin chapter 2 on Life Cycles. The first lesson focuses on inherited characteristics and traits. The key words are trait, heredity, and gene. Students will take an open-book science quiz on Friday.

Social Studies - We are moving into the Southeast region. Lesson 1 of chapter 6 identifies and describes major landforms in the Southeast. We will also learn how the Barrier Islands were formed. The children will also compare and contrast landform elevations in the Southeast.

Spelling - Lesson 12 works with adding "ed" and "ing" to words that end in consonant y. Please help your child practice writing their words in cursive.

*

W.O.W. Words - Our words this week are: fracture, fragment, fragile, infraction, and infringe.

English - We will begin unit 2 on nouns. The children will learn about what is a noun, common and proper nouns, and singular and plural nouns.

Reading - We will review for our A Family Apart test on Monday and Tuesday. The test will be on Wednesday. Students may use the novel during the test. During the rest of the week, we will work on functional reading (ex. recipes, train schedules, store ads, newspaper articles, etc).

Accelerated Math Menu:

Monday - We will finish our work with probability by using tree diagrams to list all possible outcomes. The students will also receive a "how to study" sheet.

Tuesday - We will review for the test that will be on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday - Chapter 3 Test, Part 1. It is a long test because the children are asked to make graphs based on data provided. I do not want the children to feel rushed, so I am allowing for two test days.

Thursday - Chapter 3 Test, Part 2. The children will be able to use their notes & textbook during the test.

Friday - TBD

Sulima's Scoop - Week of November 9

Weekly Reminders:
*Lesson 11 spelling pretest on Monday.
*Chapter 5 Social Studies Test (lessons 1-3) on Tuesday.
*No school on Wednesday - Veteran's Day.
*PTO Dine-out Fundraiser on Thursday - Click for details:
http://www.ccsd66.org/PTO/FundRaiser/Goroma.pdf
*Chapter 1 Science Test on Friday.
*Lesson 11 spelling test on Friday.
*

Pizza Party
On Friday, November 13, our class will be awarded with a pizza party for our Box Top Collection. We will be having cheese pizza and a water will be provided for each child. If your child has a big appetite, you may want to send them with chips or a snack. If your child does not eat pizza, they should bring a sack lunch or get hot lunch that day. We will be eating in the classroom. We were unable to finish Charlotte's Web during our classroom celebration, so we will finish it during our pizza party. The children will be going out for recess. Keep sending in the Box Tops!


Plan Ahead:
*Roller Skating party on Tuesday, November 17, 3:45-6:30.
*A Family Apart Test on Wednesday, November 18.
*Picture Retakes on Thursday, November 19 - Students must have original picture packet or original order envelope in hand.
*Parent Focus Group on Thursday, November 19 at Prairieview. All are welcome!
*End of first trimester on Friday, November 20.
*Southeast Map Test on Monday, November 23.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - We have finished reading the lessons in chapter 1. The students will brainstorm ways to study for the chapter 1 test on Monday. On Tuesday, we will play bingo with key words and phrases to review for the test. The chapter 1 test will be on Friday.
Topics to review for the test:
How are living things classified?
*Identify and describe structures that make up plant cells and animal cells.
*Describe the characteristics of one-celled organisms, bacteria, and protists.
*Define organism, microscopic, bacteria, and protist.
How are plants and fungi classified?
*Describe the structures of vascular and nonvascular plants.
*Describe the structure of fungi.
*Define vascular, nonvascular, and fungi.
How are animals classified?
*Describe characteristics of vertebrates.
*Describe characteristics of invertebrates.
*Define vertebrates and invertebrates.

Social Studies - The children will be taking the chapter 5 (lessons 1-3 only) test on Tuesday. This test is NOT open-book.
Topics to review for the test:
*Describe the key events that affected the Narragansett way of life once European settlers arrived.
*Define Sachem, cooperation, wigwam, reservation, powwow, and confederacy.
*Describe what goods the Europeans and Native Americans traded.
*Iroquois lived in longhouses and formed the Iroquois Confederacy.
*Identify events leading from colonization up to the founding of the United States.
*Be able to put these events in order: Colonists protest against England, Colonies are founded, The U.S. wins the American Revolution, The Declaration of Independence is signed, and The Constitution is written (these are not in the correct order).
*Identify reasons the Colonists wanted to be free from England.
*Identify the city in the Northeast where most European immigrants arrived in the 1800's.
*Explain why immigrants came to the United States.
*Define colony and revolution.
*Explain similarities and differences between the abolitionist movement and the women's rights movement.
*Define abolitionist, slave, and convention.
*Identify important women's rights reformers.
*Explain why reformers fought to win voting rights for women.

Spelling - We will be working with lesson 11 this week. The words practice adding "er" and "est" to words that end in "y". Please have your children practice their spelling words in cursive.

English - The children will take the next English pretest on Tuesday. They will receive their contracts on Thursday. I will meet with each child on Friday to approve their enrichment work.

W.O.W. Words - We will not have a set of W.O.W. words this week.

Reading - We will finish A Family Apart this week. The children will work on the GIST summarizing strategy. We will try to summarize a chapter in 20 words. We will also work on character traits. The children will take a test on A Family Apart. The test will be on Wednesday, November 18. The children will fill out a "how to study" sheet this Friday and will receive a helpful study sheet.

Accelerated Math Menu:
Monday - The children will be working on coordinate graphing.
Tuesday - We will be taking a 5-minute multiplication test today. This will be graded. The children will also learn about stem-and-leaf plots.
Wednesday - No School.
Thursday - We will work on probability.
Friday - We will continue to work on probability.