Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Behind the Scenes - Week of December 5

Wow! It is already December!

Weekly Spotlight:
*Spelling pretest on Monday.
*All-School Concert on Thursday, 9:00 am.
*Matilda Vocabulary quiz on Thursday.
*Chapter 3 Science Test on Thursday.
*Spelling test on Friday.
*Bowling field trip on Friday in the afternoon.
*Movie Night on Friday, 6:30-8:45.

Coming Attractions:
*Matilda Test on Tuesday, Dec. 13 - Review 4 Types of Questions, character study, categorize and classify, and making generalizations.
*Creature Feature on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 1:30-2:00.
*Unit 5 English test on Friday, Dec. 16.
*Winter Break from Monday, December 19 - Monday, January 2.


Bowling Field Trip:
Our bowling field trip to Brunswick Zone is scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, December 9. Students may bring money to purchase snacks at the bowling alley. Brunswick Zone is offering a concession special: 2 slices of cheese pizza & a 16 oz. drink for $3.23 (including tax). Please keep in mind that we will be going bowling after lunch. For more information, please see Mrs. Cushing's BLOG.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - On Monday, the children will be introduced to the Prairieview Creature Feature project. They will need to plan and create a creature that can survive in Prairieview School. The creatures and planning sheets will be due back to school on Monday, December 12. On Monday, Dec. 12 and Tuesday, Dec. 13, the children will work on a written description of their creature in class. On Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 1:30-2:00, we invite you to come visit our classroom to meet the Prairieview Creatures. This week the children will also fill out a "how to study" sheet for the chapter 3 test. Our test will be on Thursday. Review the following concepts to prepare for the test:
*Key vocabulary - basic needs, adaptation, natural selection, instinct, hibernation, migration, learned behavior, fossil, & extinction.
*What basic needs are shared by all living things?
*How do adaptations allow living things to meet their needs? Give examples.
*How do instinctive behaviors help animals meet their needs? Give examples.
*How do learned behaviors help animals meet their needs? Give examples.
*How do living things of long ago compare with those of today? Give examples.
*What can we learn from footprints, bones, impressions, and petrified wood? How are these formed?
*What is a living fossil? Give examples.
*Describe the causes of extinction.


Social Studies - The children will be learning about the Cherokee Tribe.

English - We will continue our study of Capitalization and Punctuation. We will finish this unit during the week of December 12. Our test on this chapter will be on Friday, December 16.

Spelling - Our spelling pretest will be on Monday. The children will take the spelling test on Friday. Spelling tests are now required to e written in cursive. Please have your child practice their letter formations at home.

Reading - Our reading strategies for this week are questioning and categorizing & classifying. Recognizing the question a story may raise is a good way to make sure you understand it. Also, as people read they wonder about the things they are reading and they form questions in their mind. Good readers usually do this without thinking. The students will practice the questioning strategy this week. Classifying involves grouping like items, and categorizing involves naming the group. Grouping the items makes it easier to remember them. Students will also classify and categorize information in the stories they read this week.
Our Matilda vocabulary quiz on Thursday will cover: formidable, resented, seized, vigorous, malicious, & vital. Students should know a definition & synonym for each. They should also be able to use the word correctly in a sentence.


Mrs. Sulima's Math Class:
Monday - Bar Graphs & Double Bar Graphs.
Tuesday - Line Graphs.
Wednesday - Circle Graphs/Pie Charts.
Thursday - Review all concepts covered to this point.
Friday - Open book/notes Checkpoint Review quiz on line plots, frequency tables, median, mode, mean, range, pictographs, bar graphs, line graphs, & circle graphs.