Behind the Scenes - Week of September 26th

Weekly Spotlight:
*Spelling pretest on Monday.
*Magazine turn in on Tuesday. Our class is in 2nd place!!!
*Tracks and Worms are due on Tuesday.
*Math quiz on Tuesday over lessons 1-3.
*Magazine turn in on Thursday.
*Picture Day on Thursday.
*Spelling test on Friday.
*Early Dismissal on Friday, 11:00.
*PTO Dine-out at Cozzie Corner, Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

Coming Attractions:
*Monday, October 3 - 4th grade cheer clinic.
*Wednesday, October 5 - 4th grade cheer clinic.
*Friday, October 7 - 4th grade cheer clinic.
*Tuesday, October 11 - Teacher Institute. No school.
*Thursday, October 20 - Book Fair, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
*Thursday, October 27 - Early Dismissal.
*Friday, October 28 - Bingo Night, 7:00-8:30 (Mrs. Sulima will be there!!!)
*Friday, October 28 - Halloween parade and classroom party.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - Your child needs to make a wormy race track for Tuesday. They will choose the surface of the track, width of the track, and 2 other variables (possibly variables that we tested during our worm investigations). Directions, variable planning sheet, and grading checklist are in your child's binder. Your child's track, variable planning sheet, grading checklist, and worm are due on Tuesday. We will be having a "Worm Race" in our classroom on Tuesday. May the best worm win!!!

Social Studies - We will begin our trip around the 5 regions of the United States by visiting the Northeast. This week, we will focus on the environment of the Northeast including major landforms. Children should begin studying for our first map test on the Northeast states. They will need to know the location and spelling of all the states in the Northeast. Spelling does count and a word bank will not be included. If they know the capitals, they can earn 1/4 point bonus per capital. Students should spell the capitals as best as they can. The test will be on Thursday, October 6.

Spelling - NEW SPELLING PROCEDURE!!! Our spelling pretest will be on Monday. If your child gets 95% or higher, they will become a challenge speller. They will need to choose challenge words and do challenge activities in their spelling journal throughout the week. If your child misses 2 or more, they will continue to work with the weekly list of spelling words. Workbook pages will need to be done throughout the week. Challenge activities and workbooks pages will be due on Friday before we take the test. Challenge spellers will now take a test on their challenge words. If they get 100% on their challenge test, they will earn 2 points on their pretest score. If they do not get 100% on their challenge test, they will keep their pretest score.

English - We will continue our verb unit this week. Our focus will be on subject-verb agreement, spelling present tense verbs, spelling past tense verbs, and verbs with helping verbs. The children will also continue working on enrichment projects according to their learning contract.

Reading - Students will focus on the reading strategy to determine author's viewpoint. Author's viewpoint refers to the author's opinion, ideas of what is important or attitude. The author might give their opinion directly or you might have to infer the information by reading clues or other information that the author provides. Here is a great link to practice author’s viewpoint:
http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/o/authorsviewpointp.cfm.
**Last week we did mini-lessons on Protagonist & Antagonist. We also learned about first person, second person, and third person point of view. Ask your child to explain these concepts to you.**

Mrs. Sulima's Math:
Monday - Adding Decimals. HW: Daily Practice Sheet & WB pg. 93 (#1-15) & pg. 95 (#1-17 no rounding). Quiz tomorrow.
Tuesday - "Check your Progress" open book/notes quiz over chapter 8, lessons 1-3. Estimating Decimal Sums. HW: Daily Practice Sheet & WB pg. 94 (#1-8).
Wednesday - Subtracting Decimals. HW: Daily Practice Sheet & WB pg. 96 (#1-15) & pg. 98 (#11-20 no rounding).
Thursday - Estimating Decimal Differences. HW: Daily Practice Sheet & WB pg. 97 (#1-8) Quiz on Monday.
Friday - No math due to early dismissal. "Check your Progress" Quiz on Monday over lessons 4-6.

Behind the Scenes - Week of September 19

Weekly Spotlight:
*Bring in worms & habitat on Monday.
*Chapter 2, lesson 2 & 3 Social Studies Test on Tuesday.
*Chapter 1 Math Test on Wednesday.

Coming Attractions:
*Worm Race Tracks due on Tuesday, September 20.
*First magazine turn-in on Tuesday, September 20.
*Second magazine turn-in on Tuesday, September 27.
*Third magazine turn-in on Thursday, September 29.
*Early Dismissal on Friday, September 30, 11:00.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - Our Worm Study will begin on Monday. Please have your child bring in their worm habitat on Monday. This unit will allow the children to learn more about and go through the steps of the Scientific Method. We will ask questions, make our hypothesis, form a plan, test our hypothesis, collect data, and draw conclusions based on our results. The children will also learn about variables and the need to control variables during this study.

Social Studies - We filled out our "how to study" sheet on Thursday. The children will need to write at least 2 ways they studied and get a parent's signature. If they attach this to the back of their test, they will earn 2 bonus points. The test will be on Tuesday. It will cover chapter 2, lessons 2 and 3 only.
Items to know for test:
*Explain what the Constitution is and why it is important.
*Identify three levels of Government.
*Describe the responsibilities of each of the three branches of Government (study your Patriotic Quest).
*Explain how the Constitution can be changed.
*Identify two ways that a person can become a citizen of the U.S.
*Identify three types of services that are paid for by taxes.
*Identify at least three responsibilities of U.S. citizens.
*Explain why voting is an important responsibility in the U.S.

Here are some links to help your child prepare for the test:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/usa_game/government/index.htm
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/games/interactive.html
http://www.kids.gov/
http://www.congressforkids.net/games/threebranches/2_threebranches.htm

Spelling - We are going to take this week off of spelling. Instead, we will focus on vocabulary from our science and social studies units.

English - The students took the Noun test on Friday. They will receive their Noun tests back on Monday. We will go over the answers at this time. Also on Monday, the children will take their next pretest. They will receive their pretests & contracts on Tuesday. On Thursday, we will begin our first lesson.

Reading - This week, we will continue to focus on story structure. The children will also explore character and setting in depth. When your child is reading at home, you can practice and review story structure by asking them to identify characters, setting, and plot (which includes the problem, sequenced events, and the solution).

Mrs. Sulima's Math Class:
Monday - We will fill out our "how to study" sheet for the chapter 1 test which will be on Wednesday. Our focus for the day will be on extended responses. HW: Focus for Chapter 1 Test on Wednesday.

Tuesday - We will continue reviewing extended response. The class will also review for the chapter 1 test. HW: Study for Chapter 1 Test.

Wednesday - Chapter 1 Test. There will be an extended response on the test. Bring you signed "how to study" sheet to class today!

Thursday - We will take a pretest on chapter 8 - Adding and Subtracting Decimals. The lesson for the day will be on Decimal Sense. HW: WB 93.

Friday - Decimals and Place Value. HW: Finish WB pg. 92, if not finished in class.

Behind the Scenes - Week of September 12

Weekly Spotlight:
*Wear Red, White, & Blue on Monday.
*Spelling pretest on Monday.
*Magazine Kick-off on Monday.
*Beginner Band Sign-up on Tuesday and Wednesday, 3:00-8:00 in Band Room
*Recruitment Band Concert on Thursday, 12:45.
*Magazine Reach-out Postcards due on Friday.
*Spelling test on Friday.
*Unit 2 Nouns Test on Friday.

Coming Attractions:
Monday, September 19, 2011 - Bring worm in habitat today
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - Magazine Turn-In Day
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - Social Studies test on Chapter 2, lessons 2 & 3
Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - Magazine Turn-In Day
Thursday, September 29, 2011 - MagazineTurn-In Day & Picture Day
Friday, September 30, 2011 - Early Dismissal - 11:00 a.m.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - We will learn about the scientific method. These are the steps we will follow as scientists.

Social Studies - This week, we will finish our governmental study. On Thursday, the children will fill out a "how to study" sheet for the test which will be on Tuesday, September 21.

Spelling - Our spelling list will practice words with short and long a and e words. If your child misses 2 or less, they will be a "challenge speller". They will choose words from a pre-made list and will complete 3 challenge activities in their spelling spiral. If they miss 3 or more, they will study the regular spelling list and complete 3 pages from the reading/spelling workbook.

English - We will finish our noun unit this week. The children will fill out a "how to study" sheet on Wednesday. The test will be on Friday.

Reading - This week, our focus will be on story structure. We will use a story map to look at how a problem and its solution affect the story’s plot and characters. When your child is reading at home, you can practice and review story structure by asking them to identify characters, setting, and plot (which includes the problem, sequenced events, and the solution).


Mrs. Sulima's Math Spotlight:
Monday - Rounding Numbers & Decimals. HW: Daily Practice Sheet & WB pg. 6
Tuesday - Addition Properties/Subtraction Rules and Addition with 3 or more addends. HW: Daily Practice Sheet & WB pgs. 7 & 9.
Wednesday - Subtraction with Zeros & Larger Sums and Differences. HW: Daily Practice Sheet & WB pgs. 10 & 11.
Thursday - Estimating Sums and Differences. HW: Daily Practice sheet due tomorrow. WB pg. 8. Quiz tomorrow on lessons 6-12.
Friday - "Check your progress" quiz. Mini lesson on Roman Numerals. HW: None.