Sulima's Scoop - Week of January 3

Weekly Reminders:
*Classes resume on Monday, January 3.
*Spelling pretest on Monday.
*Argonne Permission Slips due on Thursday.
*Chapter 4, lesson 1 science quiz on Thursday.
*Spelling test on Friday.

Plan Ahead:
*Field trip to Argonne Labs on Tuesday, January 11.
*Straight A's recognized at Board meeting on Tuesday, January 11.
*No school on Monday, January 17 - Martin Luther King's Birthday.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - We will continue chapter 4, lesson 1 by learning about the respiratory system, circulatory system, and blood. The children will take an open-book/notes quiz on Thursday.

Social Studies - We will continue our study of the Southeast by exploring the life and customs of the Cherokee people. We will describe how the Cherokee lived before Europeans came to North America, evaluate how Cherokee culture changed after Europeans came to the Southeast, identify the Trail of Tears and describe it impact on the Cherokee, and explore the Cherokee culture today.

English - The children took a pretest on Unit 1, The Sentence before winter break. They will receive their contracts on Monday. I will meet with each child on Tuesday to discuss their enrichment choices. We will begin Unit 1 on Wednesday. This week we will cover: What is a sentence, Statements & Questions, and Commands and Exclamations.

Spelling - The children will take the spelling pretest on Monday. Please have them practice their words in cursive. The test on Friday will need to be done in cursive. The children have been doing a wonderful job with their cursive writing!

Reading - This week, we will be working on predicting outcomes. Readers can often guess ahead of time, or predict, what will happen in a story, based on information the author has given. Additionally, readers can change or adjust their predictions as they read.

Accelerated Math Menu:
Monday - Qualitative vs. Quantitative. HW: Data as information.
Tuesday - Make Line Graphs. HW: WB pg. 87.
Wednesday - Stem and Leaf Plots. HW: Stem-and-Leaf Plot sheet.
Thursday - Fill out "how to study" sheet for test on Monday, January 10. Double Bar Graphs. HW: Study for test.
Friday - Review for test on Monday. HW: Study for test.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of December 13

Weekly Reminders:
*No spelling pretest or test this week.
*Matilda test on Monday (open-book/notes).
*Holiday concert on Monday at 9:30 a.m.
*Chapter 6 social studies test on Tuesday.
*PE Bowling test on Tuesday.
*Prairieview "Creature Feature" on Tuesday at 1:45-2:15.
*Spelling assignments due on Wednesday.
*Bowling field trip on Thursday afternoon.
*Tivoli field trip on Friday afternoon.
*Winter break - December 20 - December 31.

Plan Ahead:
*Classes resume on Monday, January 3.

Holiday Service Project:
Don't forget about our Holiday Service Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. All donations are due on Monday, December 13. Thank you for opening up your hearts to help make the holidays a happy one for those who are less fortunate.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - We will continue learning about the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems. The children will take an open-book/notes quiz after we return from winter break. At that time, we will also learn about a few other systems in the human body.
Links for Human Body Survivor:
http://www.owen.k12.ky.us/trt/resources.htm
http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/body.php
http://www2.asd.wednet.edu/pioneer/barnard/sites/Science/bodsys/bodysys.htm

Social Studies - We will take our test on chapter 6 on Tuesday. After winter break, we will begin learning about the people of the southeast.
Items to study for the test:
*Key words: barrier islands, hurricane, wetlands, hurricane season, key, fall line, fossil fuel, Piedmont, Inner Coastal Plains, Outer Coastal Plains, endangered species, extinct, & pulp.
*Why are hurricanes dangerous?
*Name some crops from the Southeast. Why do these crops grow well in the Southeast.
*If you were going on a trip to the Southeast, where would you go and why? All theme parks (Disney World, Epcot Center, Universal Studios, etc.) are closed!!!!

Spelling - We will not be having a spelling pretest or spelling test this week. The children will be working with a review list of spelling words. I will be collecting one of the workbook pages on Wednesday.

English - The children have been working on a five-paragraph expository essay about their creature. These will be displayed during the Prairieview "Creature Feature." We will also take our next English pretest on Thursday. The children will get their pretests back after winter break. At that time, they will need to choose enrichment projects to work on.

Reading - The first strategy that we focus on this week in reading is making inferences. A writer doesn't always explain every fact or detail when writing a story. The writer expects that readers will fill in missing information from their own experience. Good readers do this by putting together what they already know and what they have read to make the best guess they can. When readers add information from their own experience to what is stated in a text, they are making an inference. We will also study the reading skill of comparing and contrasting. Students will practice comparing pieces of literature that are similar and different.

Accelerated Math Menu:
Monday - Graphing Sense. HW: WB pg. 84.
Tuesday - Line Plots. HW: WB pg. 85.
Wednesday - Histograms. HW: WB pg. 86.
Thursday - Making Line Graphs. HW: WB pg. 87,
Friday - No Math Today.

Sulima's Scoop - Week of December 6

Weekly Reminders:
*Creatures due on Monday.

*Spelling pretest on Monday.

*PTO Dine-out at Buffalo Wild Wings on Monday.

*Southeast map test on Tuesday.

*PE Bowling Slip due on Thursday.

*Spelling test on Thursday.

*Junior Achievement "Money Sense" program during the afternoon on Friday.

*Movie Night on Friday.

Plan Ahead:

*Last Day to bring in items for Lion's Club Holiday Basket Drive on Monday, December 13.

*Matilda reading test on Monday, December 13.

*Social Studies test on Tuesday, December 14.

*Prairieview Creature Feature (in our classroom) from 1:45 to 2:15 on Tuesday, December 14.

*Project Challenge on Tuesday, December 14.

*Open-book/notes science quiz on Thursday, December 16.

*Bowling in the afternoon on Thursday, December 16.

*Tivoli field trip in the afternoon on Friday, December 17.

*Winter break, December 20-31.

*Classes resume on January 3.

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Holiday Service Project:

The students of Project Challenge grades 3-5 are participating in a Lion's Club Holiday Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. If you wish to participate you will need to bring the donations in by December 13. Remember that some of these families live right here in Darien. So let's help these families have a happy holiday season. PLEASE DONATE!

Paper Recycling Fundraiser Comes to Prairieview:

We are happy to announce we can now raise money for our district by recycling paper! You can help us out, too! Please collect any paper you are going to throw away or recycle (office and school paper, newspaper, magazines and catalogs, and construction paper---no cardboard!) and send it in with your child to school or drop it off at the green and yellow Paper Retriever bin in the Lakeview parking lot (near the fence by the Prairieview playground). The bin is available for drop offs 24/7. The more paper we recycle, the more money we can make! Do something good for our schools AND the environment!

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Homeroom Happenings:

Science - We will begin chapter 4 on the Human Body. This week, the children will learn about the digestive system and respiratory system. Students should review their notes each evening. We will finish this lesson next week. A quiz covering chapter 4, lesson 1 will be on Thursday, December 16.

Links for Human Body Survivor:

http://www.owen.k12.ky.us/trt/resources.htm

http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/body.php

http://www2.asd.wednet.edu/pioneer/barnard/sites/Science/bodsys/bodysys.htm

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Social Studies - The children will take the Southeast Region map test on Tuesday. They need to know the location and spelling of all the states in the Southeast. The children can earn bonus points if they correctly identify the capital city of each state. We will continue learning about the land, climate, and resources of the southeast this week. Our test on this chapter is scheduled for Tuesday, December 14. We will fill out a "how to study" sheet on Friday.

English - We will use our English time this week to work on an expository essay about our Prairieview Creatures.

Spelling - Our spelling pretest will be on Monday. The children should practice their words in cursive. We will not have reading class on Friday, so our spelling test will be on Thursday. If your children is working on our weekly list, their at-home assignments will be due Thursday. Challenge spellers will need to complete 2 activities using their words by Thursday.

Reading - Our reading strategies are questioning, categorizing, and classifying. Recognizing the questions a story may raise is a good way to make sure you understand it. Classifying involves grouping like items, and categorizing involves naming the group. Grouping the items makes it easier to remember them. Students will classify and categorize the many characters in Matilda.

Accelerated Math Menu:
Monday - Probability. HW: WB pg. 80.
Tuesday - Tree Diagrams. HW: WB pg. 81.
Wednesday - Collecting and Organizing Data. HW: TBD.
Thursday - Range, Median, Mean, and Mode. HW: WB pg. 83.
Friday - Continue Range, Median, Mean, and Mode. HW: None.