Week of January 7, 2008

I'd like to thank all of my students and their families for the fabulous gifts I received. It was overwhelming! I wish each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful, healthy 2008.

Coming up in 2008:

Spelling: Skeletal System words – Test Friday

Reading: We will do some cross curricular work and read out of our Reading textbooks. Our first story will be And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?

Language Arts: We will focus on writing, particularly persuasive and narrative writing.

Social Studies: We will continue to read and take notes on Chapter 8, The Road to War. The students are enjoying this chapter and many have some knowledge on the subject! Ask your child about Taxation without Representation.

Science: We continue our study of the human body.

Math: (Mrs. Klacza's math students, only) We will enter the fabulous world of Geometry! Chapter 7 will be studied.

Important Notes:

• Naper Settlement field trip – Tuesday, January 8
  Students will need to DRESS WARMLY that day and bring a SACK LUNCH!


• Geo Lab in-school field trip - 1/18/08


• An important notice from the office regarding hot lunch purchases:

FORGOTTEN LUNCHES: Starting in January, 2008 students who do not have a lunch ticket or money will be able to borrow from the office providing there is not an outstanding balance due for lunch tickets. If your child forgets his/her hot lunch ticket or has used them all, he/she may bring $2.25 to school and purchase a ticket that day from the office staff. Students must have exact change to purchase a ticket; no change will be given. If a child has no lunch, no money and the parent cannot be contacted, he/she may borrow from school office, but only twice per trimester. Students will no longer be able to borrow lunch tickets from the lunchroom staff.

Have a great holiday break! Mrs. Klacza

Week of December 17, 2007

We'll soon be starting our final school week of 2007. I am amazed at how quickly those four months flew by. Thank you to all the parents who donated cookies and food to our annual cookie exchange. Wow!! As a first year teacher, I was impressed and so thrilled that I didn't have to bake them... District 66 parents are the best!

As you know, we attended The Nutcracker on Thursday at North Central College. It was quite enjoyable and put us all in the Christmas spirit! Ask you child about it...

Coming up this final week before the holiday break:

Spelling: Holiday words – Test Friday

Reading: Rather than start a new unit, we will focus on reading strategies from our ISAT workbooks. We will also be reading a TFK on Monday and taking our usual “quiz.”

Language Arts: We will conclude our study of verbs with a Unit 3 test on Thursday.

Social Studies: We will begin to read and take notes on Chapter 8, The Road to War. The students should enjoy learning about the causes of the American Revolution.

Science: We continue our study of the various body systems.

Math: (Mrs. Klacza's math students, only) Our Chapter 5 test will be Monday, 12/17. Tuesday I plan to go over those tests with the students and we will work on a few “T charts” before the holiday break.

Important Notes:
Holiday concert (band and choir) will be Monday at 1:15 here at PV. Parents are invited to attend!
Bowling field trip will be on 12/20 in the morning
Polar Express movie field trip to the Tivoli Theater will be on 12/21; PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR CHILD WILL NEED A SACK LUNCH THAT DAY!!
Holiday break will be from 12/22 – 1/6. Return to school Monday, January 7
Naper Settlement Field Trip - 1/8. Please have your child dress for the weather; much of this field trip will be outside!

Have a great week and a wonderful holiday! Mrs. Klacza

Happy Holidays everyone! It is truly December, the snow is the proof!! I want to thank all the parents of my wonderful students for the amazing contributions to our holiday service project. I was able to fill 4 large boxes full of gifts, gift cards, decorations, and food items. I wish I could see the smiles on our family's faces when they open their presents. Thank you again, so much. We started TGFD this week. "Deputy K" is our instructor and he is awesome. Ask your child about it. There will be homework assignments each week. Please remind your child; I will be reminding them here at school. Here is what's happening this coming week:

Spelling: Lesson 13 – Test Friday

Reading: We will finish assembling our Polar Express ornaments. Please make sure you look at the ornament closely when your child brings it home before the break. They had to look at many aspects of the book in order to construct them. We had fun but we learned a lot, too! Vocabulary quiz on the book will be Tuesday.

Language Arts: We continue our study of Verbs. Test on Unit 3 (Verbs) will be on December 20.

Social Studies: We will finish up Chapter 7 this week. Test will be Friday!

Science: We continue our study of the various body systems.

Math: (Mrs. Klacza's math students, only) We continue our study of Chapter 5 on Division. Our test will be Monday, 12/17.

Important Notes:

*The Nutcracker field trip will be Thursday, December 13
*Bowling trip will be on 12/20
*Polar Express movie field trip to the Tivoli Theater will be on 12/21; PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR CHILD WILL NEED A SACK LUNCH THAT DAY!!
Have a great week! Mrs. Klacza

Week of December 3, 2007

It was a pleasure meeting with each and every one of you this week. I hope I answered all your questions. Please feel free to email me or call me if you have any concerns or further questions. Can you believe we are now in December? Just a reminder, our Service Project gifts are only trickling in; please remember our family this weekend if you happen to be shopping! Here's what's happening the first week of December:

Spelling: Lesson 12 -- Test on Friday.

Reading: The Polar Express chugs on! We will be discussing the book, particularly main characters, setting, problem, and solution.

Language Arts: We continue Chapter 3 on Verbs, focusing this week on verb tense.

Social Studies: Chapter 7, Lessons 2 and 3, particularly the French and Indian War.

Science: We will start studying the living systems, including the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems.

Math: Division continues; Checkpoint Quiz on Tuesday!

Other Important Notes:

*We will no longer be using the "How to Study" sheets. The students are well aware of how to study now, so we've achieved our goal!

*Last day for Service Project gifts: December 5 (Wednesday)

*We will be starting Too Good For Drugs on Friday, 12/7

*Reading party during lunch on Tuesday, 12/4

*Nutcracker on 12/13

*Polar Express on 12/21

Have a great week! Mrs. Klacza

Week of November 26, 2007

I hope you are all enjoying your Thanksgiving holiday. It is truly a time to be thankful, eat wonderful food, and visit with family and friends. We had a very short week here in school. The students were very excited about the long weekend, as was their teacher!! And, coming up next week:

Spelling: We will get back to business with Lesson 11. Test Thursday.


Reading: We have finished our study of the fascinating country of India. We made Raita together, which is a traditional Indian dip, served on flatbread. Ask your child about it! We will complete the "L" portion of our KWL chart on India. We will do a little writing and a Time for Kids before starting our next Reading unit on The Polar Express. I know the students will love it.



English: We will begin Chapter 3 this week which is the study of Verbs.

Social Studies: We will begin Chapter 7 entitled "The Fight for a Continent." We will focus specifically on the Spanish moving North this week.


Science: We are coming to the end of our Flight & Rocketry unit. This week we will focus on rockets and plan to launch our own on Thursday. An assessment activity will begin this week covering the entire unit.


Math: We will begin Chapter 5 on Dividing this week.

Other Notes: Dig In to a Good Book reading program will begin for the second trimester this week. The students who met their goal for first trimester have received a letter regarding the Reading Celebration. It will be held on Monday, December 3. There is a new book report format for 2nd trimester.


Please don't forget, Conferences will be held this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I look forward to sitting down with all of you and discussing your wonderful children. Please try to be on time as our time together is so limited. Report cards will be going home on Tuesday.

There is no school on Friday.


Please don't forget our Adopted Family service project. Our collection boxes have arrived, waiting to be filled with gifts and other goodies!


Bon Apetit! Mrs. Klacza

Thanksgiving Week

Greetings! This will be a short and sweet blog since the upcoming week is short and sweet!! I sent home a letter today about our adopted family and the children at Lutherbrook. Please read it carefully and consider purchasing something for your child to donate to this most worthy cause. We brainstormed some ideas and I'm hopeful this will be a successful service project. I know we are all incredibly busy at the holidays, but do consider these families and children at Lutherbrook when making your holiday purchases!! The deadline is Wednesday, December 5th.

Next week we'll only be here Monday and Tuesday. We plan to assemble and complete our "Taj Mahal" projects, which is our culminating India activity in Reading. We will spend time on various Thanksgiving activities, including Thanksgiving T-charts in Math! Oh, the fun... There will be no spelling words this week. There is a Music test on Monday. Don't forget, the trimester is coming to an end. Can you believe it?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I am so thankful for District 66 and your wonderful children, my students!

Enjoy and eat hearty!! Mrs. Klacza

Weeks of November 12 and November 19, 2007

We had a great week. It was much quieter than the week of Halloween, and I felt like we accomplished a lot. Please check your child's binders for "Friday folder" papers. We had a huge desk clean-out today and some students had very important papers stuffed inside their desks! We are trying to become responsible fifth graders!!

And, coming up this week:

Spelling: We will have a holiday word list this week. There will be no contract work. Students will all complete the same homework activities.

Reading: We will be working on our final paragraph from our India books. We will be visiting the computer lab later in the week to type up our paragraphs. Final projects will be completed the following week using our three typed paragraphs. We will end our study of India by whipping up a traditional Indian snack dip.

English: We have finished Chapter 2 on Nouns. I would like to take some time to work in our ISAT practice books and master our skills in work meanings, particularly, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, idioms, and analogies.

Social Studies: We are at the very end of Chapter 6. Lesson 4 focuses on slavery in the northern colonies and in the south. Ask your child how slaves were treated in both colonies! There will be a Chapter 6 test on Wednesday, 11/14.

Science: We'll continue Flight & Rocketry, specifically jet planes. Information on our paper airplane contest has gone home. It is scheduled for November 16. This will be a graded activity.

Math: We will finish Chapter 4 on multiplication and our daily, timed "mad minutes" will also come to an end at the end of the week. Many students have already passed their 12's! We will be having a math test on Chapter 4 on Friday, 11/16.

Other Notes: Dig In to a Good Book reading program will end for the first trimester on November 19. Many students have already met their goals. Please ask your child whether they still need to complete their "book reports."

Choir Students need to wear their shirts on Monday for yearbook pictures. Band students will also be getting their pictures taken.

Friday, 11/16, is another Spirit Day. Dress in your favorite sports' team gear!!

For your information, there is a quick and easy way to get to my blog. On the first page of the District 66 website, left hand side, you will see Staff Directory. Click on that and then scroll down to my blog! Super easy!!

End of Trimester: November 20. Thanksgiving holiday 11/21 -- 11/25.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Mrs. Klacza

It's November and there is a chill in the air. Again, an exciting week was enjoyed by one and all! After the students had a nice, long 3-day weekend, Halloween was upon us!! After a lively parade through the building and outside, a lovely party was given to us by a wonderful group of parents. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed a game, a treat, juice, etc. You are all so appreciated. Not only do I appreciate all you do, but the children do, too. On Friday, we held "Ye Old Trade Fair." The students brought in and traded their hand-made items, reminiscent of colonial times. The students were kind, respectful, and had a whole lot of fun! It was a great lesson in Supply/Demand, too. Ask your child about it; I'm sure you will when you see all their "treasures."

And, coming up this week:

Spelling: We will be moving on to Lesson 10 this week. The test will be Friday.

Reading: Did you know that the white elephant is a sign of good luck in India? Your child will be more than happy to tell you about it. We created our own elephants this week and will begin to outline and write a paragraph on the next section of our India book.

English: This week we will finish Chapter 2 on Nouns. A test on Chapter 2 is planned for Friday, November 9. Look for a How to Study sheet, which will be coming home on Wednesday. They are worth 2 points if used appropriately.

Social Studies: Everyday life in the colonies will be the focus of Lesson 3. We'll talk about what a typical child in colonial times did for fun. We'll also read about Ben Franklin and some of the timeless sayings from Poor Richard's Almanack (Almanac.) It will be interesting to see how many the children have heard! Tentative date for Chapter 6 test is November 14.

Science: We'll continue Flight & Rocketry, specifically Airfoils. We have completed Activities 1-7 in our booklets and a quiz will cover that information on Wednesday, November 7. A review sheet will be completed by students on Tuesday and a study guide will also come home on Tuesday. Watch out for information on our paper airplane contest, scheduled for November 16.

Math: We continue Chapter 4 on multiplication and our daily, timed "mad minutes." A checkpoint quiz will be given on Tuesday. If your child is having difficulty with his/her multiplication facts, go to the following website for a fun way to study: http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Mathmagician/cathymath.html


Other Notes: Don't forget our Friday spirit days! Friday, November 9, will be Prairieview spirit day. Wear your spirit wear or school colors. Also, it seems like we are using a lot of wet wipes in our classroom, especially with the cold and flu season upon us. I would welcome donations of the kind in a tub that pull out, rather than the individually wrapped ones. Have a wonderful weekend! Mrs. Klacza

We had a very exciting week, and a particularly exciting Friday! A great big thank you to our PTO for giving us a wonderful pizza and ice cream party. We won the prize for "most participants" in the magazine drive. Thank you, too, to Taylor's mom who came in and served and scooped the delicious food!

And, coming up this week:

Spelling: In lieu of a spelling lesson, we will be having fun with Halloween words. There will be no spelling menu this week; instead, a few fun activities that will go along with the words.

Reading: This week we continue our study of India. The students outlined the first chapter of the book and soon will write a paragraph from those notes. We will also be decorating our Indian elephants, a symbol of good luck in India!

English: We will continue Chapter 2 on Nouns, focusing on common/proper nouns and plural nouns.

Social Studies: Cities, Towns, and Farms is the title of Lesson 2, Chapter 6. We will continue to take notes on that lesson this week. The Trade Fair will take place on November 2. Students have begun discussing their trading items and it should be fun! The students will certainly learn about supply and demand.

Science: We'll continue Flight & Rocketry, specifically The Bernoulli Principle.

Math: We will start on Chapter 4 which covers multiplication. A letter went home regarding multiplication facts and timed tests. Please discuss it with your child, sign it, and send it back. We will have a timed multiplication facts test every day. A good website to practice facts is http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Mathmagician/cathymath.html

Other Notes: There is a Teacher Institute Day on Monday, October 29, and no school for our students. Picture Retakes will be on October 30. Please send the entire packet of pictures with your child if you want retakes. Our Halloween Party will take place on Wednesday at 1:30. The Parade will kick off at 1:15. Please make sure no weapons come to school as part of your child's costume. Also, costumes should be simple since students will be changing into their costumes in designated boys only/girls only classrooms. Also, please follow our wellness rules when it comes to sending in treats. Have a wonderful weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of October 22, 2007

We had a very busy week trying to complete and perfect our 13 Colonies' Travel Brochures and I hope the students enjoyed making them as much as I am enjoying reading them! I trust you all saw my short note about changing the Social Studies test from Friday (today) to Monday (10/22). I hope the students will feel better prepared now that they have the weekend to study! And, coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 8 -- Test Friday. If your child receives the "spelling menu" as his or her challenge activity for the week, make sure they only do enough to equal 20 points.

Reading: This week we begin our study of the fascinating country of India. While reading about India, we will learn how to effectively take notes and put our notes into outline form. From the outlines, the students will develop their own paragraphs about India.

English: We will begin Chapter 2 this week which covers Nouns. Before that, however, we will do some creative writing.

Social Studies: After our Chapter 5 test on Monday, we will start Chapter 6 titled Life in the English Colonies. Lesson 1 is specifically about Working and Trading. Watch out for a letter regarding our classroom's very own Trade Fair. This letter and description should be coming home on Friday. The Trade Fair will take place on November 2.


Science: We will discuss the parts of a plane and learn about darts and sliders. Ask your child about it!

Math: We will have our review day for Chapter 3 on Tuesday and the test will be on Wednesday. My plan is to start Chapter 4 on Friday. Chapter 4 covers multiplication. A letter will be coming home toward the end of the week regarding multiplication facts and timed tests. A good website is http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Mathmagician/cathymath.html


Other Notes: We have our Magazine Drive pizza party on Friday, 10/26. Students will not need a lunch that day. The next Spirit Day will be on Friday and will be Slipper Day. There is a Teacher Institute Day on Monday, October 29 and no school for our students. Picture Retakes will be on October 30. Please send the entire packet of pictures with your child if you want retakes. I also have a very important announcement regarding Halloween treats: because of our commitment to wellness, we ask parents to resist buying candy for the children to distribute at school. Some ideas for alternative treats would be goldfish crackers, pretzels, popcorn, granola bars, stickers, etc. Have a wonderful week! Mrs. Klacza

Week of October 15, 2007

We had a short, but very busy, week. Some good news came our way... Our classroom won a pizza party for having the most participants in the magazine drive! Our classmate Jonathan also won us a "special treat" by spinning the prize wheel. Sooo, we will be enjoying pizza, pop, AND ice cream with chocolate sauce (courtesy of Jon) on Friday, 10/26. No lunches will be needed that day. What a wonderful treat from our fabulous PTO. And, coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 7 -- Test Friday. If your child receives the "spelling menu" as his or her challenge activity for the week, make sure they only do enough to equal 20 points.

Reading: On Monday, I will be collecting the final "story pyramid" project from The Kid in the Red Jacket. We will then use the rest of the week to reinforce reading skills like main idea and word meanings.

English: We will conclude Chapter 5 this week. It focused on punctuation, abbreviations, and titles. Look for a "How to Study" sheet which will be coming home on Tuesday. The Chapter 5 test will be on Thursday, 10/18.

Social Studies: This will be the week the students will work on their travel brochures for the 13 colonies. I hope you will be seeing these coming home. Please urge your child to do his or her best. They will be due on Friday, 10/19. However, students are aware that the pink "notetaking sheets" are due Monday, 10/15. Please remind your child that the rubric on the back is a very important tool! And, the brochures are a wonderful study tool. Therefore, the Chapter 5 Social Studies test will also be on 10/19. Look for "How to Study" sheet on Wednesday.

Science: I plan to start our study of kites this week. The students will be making their own kites and, if the weather cooperates, flying them outside.

Math: We continue Chapter 3 on graphing. I will be giving the math students a checkpoint quiz on Wednesday, 10/17.

Other Notes: If you haven't already sent in your money and permission slip for The Nutcracker, please do so as soon as possible. Also, Wednesday, 10/17, is a School Improvement Day. Dismissal from Prairieview will be at 11:00. The Book Fair will take place on Thursday, October 18, here in the gym. The next Spirit Day will be on Friday and will be Crazy Hat Day. Have a wonderful week! Mrs. Klacza

Week of October 8, 2007

We have had quite a full first week of October. Probably the highlight of the week was meeting Miss Amy from McDonald's Corporation. She is our Junior Achievement representative and will be joining us every Wednesday afternoon for about five weeks. We also concluded the magazine sale this week. Next week will be short and, hopefully, sweet!

Spelling: Lesson 6 -- Test Friday. If your child receives the "spelling menu" as his or her challenge activity for the week, make sure they only do enough to equal 20 points.

Reading: We have finished reading and summarizing The Kid in the Red Jacket. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Tuesday. On Wednesday we will be starting a project that will be completed both here at school and at home. Look for it and please make sure your child is giving this activity his or her best effort!

English: We have begun Chapter 5 on Capitalization and Punctuation. Quotations and Abbreviations will be studied this week. Our special activity will be "Comic Strip Quotations." The students will rewrite a comic strip using quotation marks, as if the characters were having a conversation. I will ask the students to bring in a comic strip (with about 4-5 cells) to school on Wednesday.

Social Studies: We continue studying Chapter 5 and the English colonies. We will be starting a large project toward the end of the week that will involve the early colonies. Some of this activity will need to be completed at home. Tentative test date for Chapter 5 is 10/19.

Science: Hot Air Balloons will be studied this week. Quiz on the first three activities in Flight and Rocketry will occur on Friday, 10/12.

Math: We begin Chapter 3 on graphing and the various types of graphs.

Other Notes: Monday is Columbus Day and a school holiday. We will start having "spirit days" on Fridays. Friday, October 12, will be Prairieview spirit day. Students should wear their Prairieview gear or green/gold. Also, please remind your child to KEEP READING! Some students haven't completed a book or book report yet for the Dig In! reading program. They still have lots of time, so just a friendly nudge would be appreciated. Have a wonderful, 3-day weekend!! Mrs. Klacza

Week of October 1

Welcome to October! Where has the month of September gone? My mother always said that the older we get, the faster the days fly by. The days here at Prairieview truly fly by; the children feel the same way! I hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather. I know I am. This week we had our "Kids on the Block" assembly. The students learned about paralysis from spinal cord injuries and cerebral palsy. Ask your child about it. Let me tell you about our first week of October:

Spelling: Lesson 5 -- Test Friday. If your child receives the "spelling menu" as his or her challenge activity for the week, make sure they only do enough to equal 20 points.

Reading: We continue to read and enjoy The Kid in the Red Jacket. The students have been summarizing and illustrating each chapter in their summary books (using 30-35 words.) They have also been making vocabulary cards. This week we will focus on the vocabulary words and plan to have a tentative vocabulary quiz on October 9.

English: We have begun Chapter 5 on Capitalization and Punctuation. Commas and Interjections are our topics this week. We have also begun Daily Oral Language practice with a follow-up quiz each week. This is great practice for all the writing we do in Fifth Grade!

Social Studies: We continue studying Chapter 5 and the colony of Jamestown. Also, the Dutch, French, and Puritans will be arriving in the colonies.

Science: We have begun Flight and Rocketry. We discovered that air has weight and that a balloon holding air weighs more than an uninflated balloon. This week we will study parachutes and hot air balloons.

Math: We continue Chapter 2 in our Math books. On Wednesday we will be reviewing the chapter with a test on Thursday! Students should BE PREPARED!!

Other Notes: This Wednesday our representative will be joining us for Junior Achievement. We will have a weekly lesson for five weeks on various aspects of economics and business. It should be very interesting. Please remind your child to KEEP READING! Some students haven't completed a book or book report yet for the Dig In! reading program. They still have lots of time, so just a friendly nudge would be appreciated. Don't forget the ever-popular magazine sale. Final turn-in day is Tuesday.
Mrs. Klacza
Posted by Mrs. Klacza at 12:49 PM 0 comments
Older Posts
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Week of September 24

Summer has officially ended and Autumn has begun. The colors will be changing soon and the raking begins! Here in the 5th Grade, we are working very hard. We just finished our Social Studies chapter and tests were handed back. Please make sure you monitor your child's grades! I say this because D's and F's on tests would usually require a parent's signature. Now that grades are on-line, you will no longer have to sign these tests as I will not be requiring signatures. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me or call. Here is our coming week in a nutshell:

Spelling: Lesson 4 -- Test Friday. If your child receives the "spelling menu" as his or her challenge activity for the week, make sure they only do enough to equal 20 points. I discussed this with the students and hope they understand. So many are willing to do more work than necessary! Amazing students I have!!

Reading: We continue to read and enjoy The Kid in the Red Jacket. The students have been summarizing and illustrating each chapter in their summary books (using 30-35 words.) They have also been making vocabulary cards.

English: There will be a test on Chapter 1 (The Sentence) on Tuesday. I will be sending home a How to Study Sheet on Monday to be returned on Tuesday for bonus points. Look for it! We will begin Chapter 5 next on Capitalization and Punctuation.

Social Studies: We have begun studying Chapter 5 which will discuss our earliest colonies of Roanoke and Jamestown.

Science: This week we will start our next Science unit, Flight and Rocketry. I think the children are really going to love this. But, can it beat owl pellets??

Math: We continue Chapter 2 in our Math books. There will be a checkpoint quiz on Wednesday. They will be informed of this and I urge them to STUDY! They are a great group.

Other Notes: Please remind your child to KEEP READING! Some students haven't completed a book or book report yet for the Dig In! reading program. They still have lots of time, so just a friendly nudge would be appreciated.

Kids on the Block will be coming to give us a presentation on Wednesday. Their message is tolerance and treating others with respect. On that note, we had a presentation today from our multi-needs teacher and many of your children signed up to join the buddy program. Ask your child about it!

Don't forget the ever-popular magazine sale which continues. First turn-in days are coming up this week!! This is our biggest fundraiser and we appreciate everything our district and its parents do for us.

Have a wonderful week, Mrs. Klacza

Week of September 17

Greetings! We just completed Week 3 and I had the best birthday ever! The students (as if you didn't know...) surprised me with music, dance, food, fun, and other surprises. My thanks to all the parents who went out shopping and had to listen to all the "secrets." You are all the best! Students also took the Otis Lennon School Ability Tests this week. Here is what's coming up for next week:

Spelling: Lesson 3, Test Friday.

Reading: We are starting the novel The Kid in the Red Jacket. We will be using our summarizing skills as we read. The book is about a boy who moves from his comfortable home in Arizona to a new house in New England. He has a difficult time adjusting and meets a most unlikely new "friend."

English: We will continue our study of the sentence. Tentative test date for Chapter 1 is September 25. We will also be starting D.O.L. practice and quizzes later this week.

Social Studies: Chapter 4 test is Wednesday! Look out for the "How to Study" sheet. (It is worth 2 points if it is signed.) We will then begin Chapter 5 which discusses the early American colonies.

Science: We continue our study of owl pellets. It may sound creepy, but it is fascinating. Your child should have plenty to report! There will be an open note quiz on Thursday.

Math (my math class only:) Test on Chapter 1 is scheduled for Wednesday! We'll then begin Chapter 2 which focuses on addition and subtraction of whole numbers and decimals.

Have a great weekend. Reminder: Tuesday is an early dismissal day. Prairieview will be dismissed at 11:00. Also, the Magazine Drive begins this week. The students will attend an assembly on Monday. Picture Day is Thursday, 9/20. Send back your payment envelopes as soon as possible!

Mrs. Klacza

Week of September 10

It was wonderful seeing so many of you at Curriculum Night! I hope all of your questions were answered and all your fears put to rest. Well, next week will actually be our very first full week of school. The week that just passed has been a busy one. In Reading, we learned about Main Ideas and Details in reading and writing. The most fun we had this week was reading aloud from "Scare Radio." Ask your child about it! We wrote a friendly letter in English. In Social Studies we completed Lesson 1 in Chapter 4 and learned about Columbus and his "discoveries." Science time was spent learning about observing and classifying. We completed Chapter 1 in Spelling.

Now for the coming week:

Reading: The students will work on writing a good paragraph with a main idea and interesting details. Now you can see where I was going with last week's lessons!

English: We're continuing Chapter 1 on The Sentence.

Spelling: Lesson 2; Test Friday.

Social Studies: We will continue with Chapter 4 on the early explorers. Tentative test date is 9/19.

Science: We will be learning about Owl Pellets! They are actually "pellets" that the owl regurgitates. Don't worry, they are completely sanitized, and fascinating! Your child will be coming home with stories of what they've found.

Math: Place Value -- Checkpoint Quiz on Monday; Tentative test date for Chapter 1 is 9/19.

Week of August 27

We made it through the first week of school and we're all still smiling! My students are wonderful and we're really getting to know each other. I hope you enjoy these blogs; feel free to comment after you've read them or send me a note or email.

This Week in Review: We basically got to know each other with various activities such as "Three Facts and a Fib." We found out "where our feet took us" over the summer, and created "T-shirts" stating our fifth grade goals. We wrote an acrostic poem and made treasure chests. Hopefully, you'll see all our creations at curriculum night.

In Social Studies, we had a textbook scavenger hunt. In Math, the students all left me to meet their math teachers. They are all very excited with this new adventure!

Next week, we will be getting into the nitty gritty of the curriculum. There will be homework!

I hope to see you all at Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 6, at 7:00 p.m. More information will be coming home next week.

Have a wonderful, long weekend. Don't forget, there is no school on Monday in observance of Labor Day.

Mrs. Klacza

Week of August 27

We made it through the first week of school and we're all still smiling! My students are wonderful and we're really getting to know each other. I hope you enjoy these blogs; feel free to comment after you've read them or send me a note or email.



This Week in Review: We basically got to know each other with various activities such as "Three Facts and a Fib." We found out "where our feet took us" over the summer, and created "T-shirts" stating our fifth grade goals. We wrote an acrostic poem and made treasure chests. Hopefully, you'll see all our creations at curriculum night.



In Social Studies we had a textbook scavenger hunt. In Math the students all left me to meet their math teachers. They are all very excited with this new adventure!



Next week, we will be getting into the nitty gritty of the curriculum. There will be homework!



I hope to see you all at Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 6, at 7:00. More information on that will be coming home next week.



Have a wonderful long weekend. Don't forget, there is no school on Monday.



Mrs. Klacza