Week of 12/1/08 - 12/5/08

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of family, friends, and food! We have a very busy week coming up. Conferences will be held this week with reading teachers. I look forward to sitting down and chatting with you all. Also, I want to remind you all to send your children to school with gloves and hats because we do go out at recess.

Coming up this week:

Mrs. Klacza's Reading Class:

Spelling: Lesson 12, Test Friday.

Language Arts: The students did a wonderful job on their first extended response. This week we will start our next chapter in English, Verbs. Get ready, students, for another School House Rock video!

Reading: This will be our last week for the skill of inferring. We will read another short book about "Bronco Charlie" and his story as a pony express rider. Our healthy treats party will be Tuesday to honor the students who met their reading goals (and that would be all of them!)

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:

We will start and finish Chapter 5 on decimals. This chapter only has 4 lessons, so the test is planned for Tuesday, December 9. Decimals do not end there, however, they will continue on to the next chapter!

Mrs. Klacza's Homeroom:

Social Studies: We continue Chapter 7 with Lesson 2: "French Explore the Mississippi." I am tentatively planning the test for 12/16.

Science: We will study energy pyramids this week. I will be getting a test in on this chapter some time before the holiday break. I'm not quite sure when, though. As soon as I have worked that out, I will inform the students.

Important Notes:
12/2 – report cards issued
12/1-12/3 – parent/teacher conferences
12/5 – no school
12/10 – holiday service project items due date
12/15 - holiday concert at 1:15
12/19 - trip to the Tivoli to see the Grinch!

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 11/24 - 11/28

I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but I wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Where has the time gone?? First trimester officially ends today and when we return from the holiday it will be time for report cards and conferences. Please make sure your child shows you the three notes I sent home with them today. One is regarding the cancellation of Operation Crayon and the other two are regarding our classroom service project. Stay warm!

Coming up this week:

Mrs. Klacza's Reading Class:

Spelling: There will be no spelling lesson this week.

Language Arts: We have been busy with our extended response which goes with the story A Boy Called Slow.

Reading: Every single conference letter has come back; I look forward to meeting with each and every one of you. Also some great news: every student met his or her goal for reading books this trimester and we will have our healthy treats party on December 2. Any donations of goodies (healthy, of course) would be appreciated. On Monday and Tuesday, we will finish Chief Joseph and the answers we must infer. We will also be writing a Thanksgiving story.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:

The students will be getting their math tests back and, rather than start a new chapter, we will be doing some “turkey math.”

Mrs. Klacza's Homeroom:

Social Studies: We have started Chapter 7, Lesson 1, "The Spanish Move North."

Science: We will continue our work with food chains specifically in the wetlands.

Important Notes:
11/21 – end of first trimester
11/26-11/28 – Thanksgiving holiday
12/2 – report cards issued
12/1-12/3 – parent/teacher conferences
12/5 – no school
12/10 – holiday service project items due date

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 11/17/08 - 11/21/08

Winter-like weather is certainly here. Please make sure your children are coming to school in warm clothing because if it isn't raining, they will go outside for recess. A message from the office follows:

Announcing Prairieview 2008-2009 Yearbook. Order your yearbook today!!! The cost of the yearbook is $10.00 and make payments to Lifetouch. Order deadline date is December 1, 2008. No orders will be accepted after that date. Parents just a reminder-- Prairieview yearbooks are not paid for at registration. Please place your order now. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 13th and there a few extra envelopes available; please try not to lose them. If your child loses it, you can send an envelope with the following information on it: student’s name, teacher’s name and grade level along with a check made payable to Lifetouch for $10.00. It is very important that you put the information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child’s teacher is. There will be a limited supply in June. Order Today!!!

Coming up this week:

Mrs. Klacza's Reading Class: (I'm glad to see so many conference confirmation sheets coming back. If you haven't already sent one back with your child, please do so as soon as possible. I am looking forward to seeing you all in December!)

Spelling: Thanksgiving words! The pretest will be given to see if anyone can “test out” of Friday's usual test. However, there will be no contract work this week.

Language Arts: We will revisit our old friend, the extended response. I am looking forward to teaching some strategies I learned at our writing workshop which was held here at PV on Election Day.

Reading: We will continue to infer using worksheets and a short story called Chief Joseph. It goes along very well with A Boy Called Slow.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:
We will finish Chapter 4 this week and specifically study functions, inequalities, and predicting/testing. Review will be Thursday with the Chapter 4 test on Friday.

Mrs. Klacza's Homeroom:

Social Studies: We will play Jeopardy on Monday and take the Chapter 6 test on Tuesday. Our next chapter is called “The Fight for a Continent.” We will begin that chapter on Thursday.

Science: We will specifically learn about food webs and begin to focus on the wetlands.

Important Notes:
11/19 Assembly here at school: Kids on the Block
11/26-11/28 – Thanksgiving holiday

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza!

Week of 11/10/08 - 11/14/08

After several beautiful days of fall weather, we are now beginning to experience winter. Stay warm this weekend! And, don't forget, Tuesday is Veteran's Day. I hope the students understand the significance of this day and that it is not just another day off of school! It was also exciting to experience the history that occurred this week with the election of our new president, Barack Obama.

Please remember to send in your new or gently used children's books this week for our "Book Worm Angels" project.

Coming up this week:

Mrs. Klacza's Reading Class:

Spelling: Lesson 11 – Suffix -ly. Contract work will be due on Friday and the final test will also be on Friday.

Language Arts: We will conclude our Nouns lesson with a chapter test on Wednesday. Monday will be a review day. We will then take a bit of a break from English and do some writing.

Reading: Our inferring skills are quite good, as was apparent after we read A Boy Called Slow. We will continue practicing this skill as we read some shorter passages.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:

Students will take a quiz on Lessons 1-4 from Chapter 4 on Monday. Students may use their notes and their textbooks. We will then continue the chapter and learn about writing equations, solving equations, and functions.

Mrs. Klacza's Homeroom:

Social Studies: We had such a wonderful trade fair on Thursday. Did your child tell you about it? This week we will finish Chapter 6 by reading and taking notes on Lesson 4 which is about slavery in the colonies. After reviewing Friday and next Monday, I have decided to have the Chapter 6 test on Tuesday, November 18.

The Social Studies committee is looking for two parents who have an education or history background to be involved in the adoption of new Social Studies textbooks. You would have to meet with the committee and provide input choosing our textbook for the coming years. The Social Studies committee will be meeting once every other month for the next two years. Please email mpellin@ccsd66.org or cklacza@ccsd66.org if you would be interested in joining the Social Studies committee. Thank you!

Science: We finish up plants and photosynthesis this week and begin ecosystems. Have you seen the on-line book yet??

Important Notes:
11/11 Veteran's Day – no school
11/26-11/28 – Thanksgiving holiday

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza!