Thursday, January 14, 2010

Sulima's Scoop - Week of January 18

Weekly Reminders:
*No school on Monday - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
*District 66 Eat Out - HomeRun Inn Pizza - all day on Monday. http://www.ccsd66.org/PTO/FundRaisers/HRI.pdf
*No spelling pretest this week - lesson 17 is a review unit.
*Chapter 3 science test on Tuesday.
*Algebra checkpoint in math on Tuesday.
*Wednesday we will follow a Monday schedule - no art - we will have library instead.
*English test on Friday- adjectives.
*Lesson 17 spelling test (review form) on Friday.


Plan Ahead:
*Chapter 15, lesson 1 science quiz on Monday, January 25 (open-book).
*Mr. Lee's Science Magic on Tuesday, January 26.
*PV Bingo Night permission slips due on Tuesday, January 26 (limit 100).
*PV Bingo Night on Friday, January 29.
*Family Reading Night permission slips due on Friday, January 29.
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Homeroom Happenings:
Science - We will take our chapter 3 test on Tuesday. We will use the rest of the week to begin our electricity unit. The children will learn about static electricity, current electricity, circuits (series & parallel), conductors & insulators, and switches. The children will take an open-book quiz on this lesson on Monday, Jan. 25.
Items to review for chapter 3 test:
*key words - basic needs, adaptation, natural selection, instinct, hibernation, migration, learned behavior, fossil, petrified wood, living fossil, and extinction.
*Name the basic needs of living things.
*Explain how adaptations help living things meet their needs.
*Describe how instinctive behaviors help animals survive and meet their needs.
*Give examples of instinctive behaviors.
*Understand hibernation and migration.
*List examples of ways animals can survive in the winter.
*Describe how learned behaviors help animals survive.
*Give examples of learned behaviors.
*Describe how plants and animals have changed over time.
*Describe why fossils are important.
*Describe the causes of extinction.

Social Studies - We will begin our visit to the Midwest region in a couple weeks. We will not be doing social studies lessons this week. Instead, we will double up on science lessons.

Spelling - We will be doing a review unit this week. There will be no pretest. The children will be assigned workbook pages each night. On Friday, we will be taking the different form of spelling test. The children will have to find the words that are misspelled. Your child should review all the rules we have covered in lessons 10-16.

English - On Tuesday, we will complete our last lesson on adjectives. We will also fill out our "how to study" sheet. Our test on adjectives will be on Friday. All enrichment Projects will be due on the day of the test. We will not begin our next unit for a couple weeks. Instead we will work on written extended responses.
What to review for English Test:
*An adjective is a word that describes or gives information about a noun. Tells what kind or how many.
*Adjectives can be found after the verb "be" (is, am, are, was, were). The noun is found before the verb.
*Use "a" or "the" if the next words is singular and begins with consonant sound.
*Use "an" or "the" if the next word is singular and begins with a vowel sound.
*Use "the" if the next word is plural.
*Add -er to adjectives that compare two things.
*Add -est to adjectives that compare three or more things.
-see the rules on pg. 142.
*Use "more" to compare two things.
*Use "most" to compare three or more things.
*Never add -er and "more" or -est and "most".
*Change good to better when comparing two things.
*Change good to best when comparing three or more things.
*Change bad to worse when comparing two things.
*Change bad to worst when comparing three or more things.

Reading - The children will begin their first book club this week. On Tuesday, I will be previewing a group of books. The children will be able to write down their top choices. I will try to give each child one of their top choices. Book clubs will meet and set up a reading schedule. Most of the reading will be done at home. This reading can be counted on your child's 100 minute chart.
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Accelerated Math Menu:
Monday - No school ~Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Tuesday - Algebra Checkpoint Review ~H.W. None
Wednesday - Begin unit on Geometry. Geometric ideas (point, line, line segment, ray, plane, intersecting lines, parallel lines, & perpendicular lines) ~ H.W. Daily Review pg. 70.
Thursday - Classifying angles (angle, vertex, side, right angle, straight angle, acute angle, & obtuse angle) ~ H.W. Daily Review 71.
Friday - Working with angles (degree & protractor) ALL CHILDREN MUST HAVE A PROTRACTOR - I collected these at the beginning of the year. Some students did not have one at that time. ~ H.W. Daily Review pg. 72 (#1-8)