The Week of 12-17-07

Dear Parents,
I can’t believe it’s already December and time for our Winter Break.
~Monday, the Cadet Band and choir will be performing at 1:15 in the gym. You are invited to attend!
~Thursday, is our last Jr. Achievement session with Mr. and Ms. Paleka. The students will be performing the commercials they have created.
~Thursday is our BOWLING FIELD TRIP. Money can be brought to use for snacks and drinks.
~Friday is our Pizza lunch and Prairieview trip to the Tivoli Theater to see Polar Express.

HERE’S WHAT WE’LL BE UP TO IN OUR CLASSROOM:

Spelling = Lesson 16 and “word of the week” Test on Thursday this week!

English = Unit 3 Verbs and we will finish this unit after the winter break.

Present and Past Tense of verbs are the lessons for this week.

Reading = SCOOPer reading……the children should have 1 book read and activity completed before our holiday break unless the book being read is a thick one!!
Also, a book and activity should be completed during the holiday break.

Book Clubs = The last book club reading assignment and group meeting is Tuesday, 12-18.

The children will be receiving grades for each of the three book club discussion sheets and a participation grade.

Social Studies = Chapter 8 Lesson 1 We will be learning about events that led up to the American Revolution. We are doing an interactive role playing activity "The King's Gold" which will demonstrate how unfair taxing was at the time....NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!!

Science = Flight and Rocketry – We had a blast launching our rockets!!

After break, we will be doing a final assessment which is not a traditional test, but instead an application of the concepts learned in this unit.

Miscellaneous: We also will be doing some holiday related activities throughout the week.

Math: Chapter 5 test on Monday. Calculators will be allowed for checking long division and for doing the averaging problems.

Happy Holidays!!
Until next year….

MissTrefonas

The Week of December 10, 2007

Dear Parents,
Please remember that during the winter we have the children go out for recess as much as possible. Many children are not coming to school with boots, hats, gloves etc.
Thanks to all the families who so generously contributed to our holdiay service project. This family is going to have a special Christmas!
~Polar Express permission slips are due!
~Don't forget to turn in movie night permission slips!

HERE’S WHAT WE’LL BE UP TO IN OUR CLASSROOM:

Spelling = Lesson 15 and “word of the week”

English = Unit 3 Verbs - We are learning about linking verbs this week and doing an activity in which the children create an island and describe it with linking verb sentences.

Reading = SCOOPer reading……the children should have 1 book read and activity
completed before our holiday break unless the book being read is a thick one!!

Book Clubs = The children have selected a historical fiction book and will be participating in book club discussion groups and completing a book club discussion sheet. The first book club meeting and discussion sheet due date is on Tuesday.

The discussion sheet incorportates the following reading strategies: summarizing, questioning, predictiong, and using vocabulary skills.

Social Studies = Chapter 8 Lesson 1

Science = This week in our Flight and Rocketry unit we will learn how a plan is controllled, how helicopters fly, and how rockets are launched.

T.G.F.D. = Too Good For Drugs! Your child will be involved in a ten week program which takes place in our classroom and is instructed by Deputy K. who is a Dupage Sheriff officer.
Our first session was Friday, December 14th. Your child will be bringing home information that tells all about the program. There is weekly homework that involves family participation.

This counts as a participation grade for Science/Health!

Math = We'll be finishing chapter 5 and reviewing the chapter on Friday.

The chapter 5 test wukk be Monday, December 17th!

Let is snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!
Miss Trefonas

The Week of December 3rd!!

Dear Parents,
Lots of Reminders:
~Yearbook orders are due December 3rd.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to order this now. At the end of the year, only a limited amount are available.
~GeoSpace $ needs to be sent in!
~Bowling permission slip needs to be signed and returned.
~Report Card envelope signed and returned.
~HOLIDAY SERVICE PROJECT........WE STILL NEED DONATIONS FOR THIS LESS FORTUNATE FAMILY. CAN YOU HELP?
**We need all donations by Weds. December 5th!
****Thanks to those of you who have already donated!

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR CLASSROOM:

Spelling = Lesson 14 and “word of the week”

English = Unit 3 VERBS! We will begin by reviewing action verbs and main verbs with helping
verbs.

Reading = SCOOPer Reading…….each student should have one book completed before
the holiday break unless they are reading a “lengthy” book.
We are working on the following reading skills in our ISAT reading workbooks:
~charts, graphs, diagrams, and text features….
~relevant and irrelevant information
~similarities and differences in passages
A test on these skills will be given at the end of the week.

Social Studies = Chapter 7 Review will be Wednesday, December 5th.
Test will be an “open note” test on Thursday, December 6th.
My purpose for giving an “open note” test is for the students to understand the value and importance of note taking. Also,I hope to have the children see how the notes we are taking is representivewhat of what is on the test!!! This does not mean students shouldn’t study…..if they don’t study it might take them longer than the allotted test time to search for all the
answers on the note sheets!

Science = Paper Airplane Contest on Monday!!!!! (see handouts)
We will learn about airfoils and how propeller and jet planes fly.
Quiz over activities 1-7 = Friday.

Math = Chapter 5
Checkpoint Quiz = Tuesday, December 4th. The quiz problems are chosen directly from the textbook checkpoint which means the students can do the actual quiz ahead of time!
Many students need extra practice with multiplication facts! Learning long division this week will be a lot easier if you know your multiplication/division facts!

I hope everyone is staying warm and healthy!!
Miss Trefonas