Thursday, February 21, 2013

Behind the Scenes - Week of February 25


Weekly Spotlight:
*Poetry books due on Monday.  They should be organized, bound, and critiqued when they arrive on Monday.
*Spelling Pretest on Monday.
*Early Dismissal on Tuesday, 11:00.
*Lou Malnatis District Eat out on Tuesday.
*Time For Kids Quiz on Friday.
*Spelling Test on Friday in cursive.

Coming Attractions:
*ISAT Testing on Tuesday, March 5, Wednesday, March 6, Thursday, March 7, Monday, March 11, and Tuesday, March 12.
*Early Dismissal on Tuesday, March 19.
*End of 3rd Quarter on Friday, March 22.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - The children are doing a wonderful job on the Simple Machines Slide Shows.  We will finish these up this week and prepare for our presentations next week.

Social Studies - Each student is studying a state in the Midwest.  Now that all their research should be done, we will spend this week on typing our information into paragraphs with topic sentences and detail sentences.  We will be using this research to complete a project called Just Look that will be displayed at our spring open house on Thursday, April 18.

English - We will take one more week off of English lessons.  The children have been doing a lot of writing in science, social studies, and reading to make up for these weeks without English lessons.  During the week of March 4, we will take our next unit pretest.

Spelling - The children will take a spelling pretest on Monday.  Our challenge and regular tests will be on Friday.  The children will need to write in cursive on Friday's test.

Reading - Our focus this week will be Informational Text.  We will read a piece called "A Wonderland."  Also, we will work with an article called "Ever Wonder Who Invented Pizza?"  The children will practice mind movies or envisioning, text structure, main idea, author's purpose, etc.

Mrs. Sulima's Math Spotlight:
Your child should bring their math textbook home everyday this week OR they can leave it at home until March 4.
Monday - Continue fractions.  HW:  Review pgs. 1-7 in our textbook.
Tuesday - No math due to Early Dismissal.
Wednesday - Trivia Challenge.  HW:  Review pgs. 8-13 in our textbook.
Thursday - Customary Measurement.  HW:  Review pgs. 14-17 in our textbook.
Friday - Final Trivia Challenge (ISAT sample packet).  HW:  Review pgs. 18-21 in our textbook.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Behind the Scenes - Week of February 18


Weekly Spotlight:
*No school on Monday - Presidents' Day.
*Spelling pretest on Tuesday.
*Author Night on Tuesday, 6:30 at Prairieview.
*Wednesday we will follow a Monday schedule (music instead of art).
*Spring picture day on Thursday.
*Spelling test on Friday (in cursive).
*Time For Kids Quiz on Friday.
*Chapter 8 Social Studies Test on Friday (at 1:30 - Reschedule band lessons if they are at this time.)

Coming Attractions:
*Early Dismissal on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
*Lou Malnatis District Eat-Out on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
*ISAT testing March 4th - 13th.
*Roller Skating party on Monday, March 18, 3:45-6:30.
*Early Dismissal on Tuesday, March 19.
*End of 3rd Quarter on Friday, March 22.
*Spring Break - Week of March 25.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - The children are working on a group slide show project.  They are working in teams of six since there are 6 simple machines.

Social Studies - We will be filling out a "how to study" sheet on Chapter 8 on Tuesday.  The children will take a test on this chapter on Friday.  Here are some items to review:
~Explain how the Great Lakes were formed.
~Describe how the Great Lakes are connected to the Atlantic Ocean.
~HOMES - stands for Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, & Lake Superior.~Define the words waterway, canal, lock, and barge.
~Explain why the flow of the Chicago River was changed.
~Explain the advantages and disadvantages of shipping by barge.
~Describe the landscape and climate of the Badlands 67 million years ago.
~Define erosion and describe the way it changes the land.
~Define prairie and describe the types of life that live there.
~Explain why the climate of the Badlands changed.
~Explain why the Midwest is an important agricultural region.
~Describe the practice of crop rotation.
~Explain why some farmers irrigate their crops.
~Identify the rainfall in the Midwest and explain how it affects the growth of crops.
~List 10 resources (crops or products) grown in the Midwest.
~Identify some crops grown in the Central Plains and the Great Plains.

Spelling - We will take the spelling pretest on Tuesday.  The children will have activities to complete throughout the week.  On Friday, regular and challenge spellers will take their tests in cursive.

English - We will be using our English time this week to work on ISAT preparation - Extended Response.

Reading - The children will have time each day to work on their poetry book project.  This project is due on Monday, February 25.  When your child brings their poetry project in, it should be bound and critiqued by at least 4 people.

Mrs. Sulima's Math Spotlight:
We will spend this week reviewing some fourth grade concepts (and extending on them) to prepare ourselves for ISAT tests.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Behind the Scenes - Week of February 11


Weekly Spotlight:
*English Test on Monday.  Enrichment projects due.
*Guest Teacher on Tuesday.  I will be at a Gifted Convention.
*Valentine's Day Party on Thursday, 1:30-2:20.
*Time for Kids Quiz on Friday.
*Valentine's Day Spelling Test on Friday.
*Mid-term on Friday.

Coming Attractions:
*No school on Monday, Feb. 18.
*Author Night on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
*Spring Pictures on Thursday, Feb. 21.
*Early Dismissal on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
*ISAT Testing - March 4 through 13.

Homeroom Happenings:
Science - We have finished our study of the human body.  Our next unit will be on Simple Machines.  Your child will be working in a group to complete a simple machines presentation.

Social Studies - The children will begin a state research project this week.  They will be learning about a state in the Midwest.  Children will be researching state symbols, famous people from the state, and famous places, events, landmarks, tourist attractions, etc.  We will be making a project that will be displayed at our spring open house.

Spelling - We are going to work with a Valentine's theme spelling list this week.  The children will have activities to complete for each night.  They will be tested on the words on Friday.  

English - On Monday, the children will take the unit 5 test on Capitalization and Punctuation.  Also, English enrichment projects will be due on Monday.

Reading - We will continue working in our COACH book.  Also, the children will have time each day to work on their poetry projects.  I have reserved the lab on Thursday and Friday to allow children time to start typing their poems.  Poetry books are due Monday, February 25.  A requirements sheet and grading rubric should be in your child's binder.

Mrs. Sulima's Math Spotlight:
Monday - Transformations and Symmetry.  HW:  Short-Response Problems.
Tuesday - Volume and Extended Response.  HW:  Finish Extended Response.
Wednesday - Factors, Multiples, Prime Numbers, and Prime Factorization.  HW:  TBD
Thursday - Trivia Challenge.  HW:  "The Baker" problem. (Shortened math due to Valentine's Day Party.)
Friday - Elapsed Time.  HW:  "Boats"