Week of 4/5/10 - 4/9/10

We had a great final week before Spring Break; particularly enjoyable was the Naper Settlement field trip. Thank you to Mike's mom, Morgan's mom, and John Luca's mom for chaperoning. I hope you all have a safe and refreshing spring break. I also wish you a Happy Easter!

Don't forget, TGFD Graduation will take place on Friday, April 9, at 9:00 a.m. here in the PV gym. Families are invited and welcome to come. What a great way to show your support of this very valuable program!

Coming up the week after spring break:

Spelling: Lesson 26: review words. No pretest, Final test on Friday.

Reading: This week we will focus primarily on summarizing, and touch on the other reading strategies while finishing our study of the country of China. We will finally get to those lanterns I mentioned last week and watch The Great Panda Adventure as our culminating activity. On Wednesday, I plan to continue using our reading strategies, especially summarizing, as we start the novel Night of the Twisters.

Language Arts: We are finished with our adjectives unit and will finish our “Me front page” project before plunging into our pronouns chapter.

Social Studies: Lesson 3 will be studied this week, “Ratifying the Constitution.” Students will be making an “Important Book.” I hope they are all singing the Preamble song! The Chapter 10 test will be on 4/13.

Science: We will read and discuss lesson 3, waves on a beach. Our test will tentatively occur the following week, but my plans are not finalized yet.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:
We are totally shifting gears this week and moving on to measurement. We will specifically learn about customary and metric units of measurement. I am going to present the information in small chunks, with a short quiz given after the first 3 lessons, probably on Thursday.

Important Notes:
3/26 – Spring break starts at the end of this day!
4.9 – TGFD graduation at 9:00 a.m.
4/13 – Geospace inschool field trip provided by the DuPage Children's Museum

Have a great break! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 3/22/10 - 3/26/10

I'd like to congratulate our very own classmate, Ari, for winning the Citizens Bank essay contest telling how she would impact our country if she were the President! She was chosen by a panel of seven bank employees. There were over 170 who entered from four schools. I am so proud of her and her classmates for showing good character. Way to go Ari!!

This will be our last week of school before Spring Break! This school year has truly been flying by. Let's keep working hard to keep our kids focused; spring fever is apparent in room 208... Also, please refer to the bottom of this blog for information on the Naper Settlement field trip coming up this Tuesday.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 25: silent letters. Pretest on Monday, Final test on Friday.

Reading: As we continue our study of China, we will be focusing on using non fiction text to practice the reading strategy of clarifying. On Monday, the students will be assigned a China brochure they need to create. The brochures will be due on Friday. We will also be making Chinese lanterns.

Language Arts: We will review our chapter on Adjectives and there will be a test on Thursday.

Social Studies: Lesson 2 will be studied this week, “A Debate in Philadelphia.” The children will then be put in pairs to create a section of the preamble to the Constitution.

Science: TGFD Letter (4 paragraphs) due on Wednesday. Lesson 2 on the movement of ocean water will be studied this week.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:
Chapter 14, Lessons 3, 4, and 5 will be studied this week. This chapter focuses on adding and subtracting mixed numbers such as 2 ½ + 3 ¼. It's very important for our math students to know their basic multiplication facts! I am giving the students a quiz on these 3 lessons on Friday.

Important Notes:

3/23 – Naper Settlement field trip – Students should dress for the weather and bring a sack lunch and a drink!!!
3/26 – Spring break starts at the end of this day!

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 3/15/10 - 3/19/10

Conference week is over and I was happy to speak with many of you. Please keep in mind that if you ever have a question or concern, I am an email or phone call away! We are now in the third (and last) trimester of fifth grade. I'm emphasizing to the class that they need to stay focused and work hard. I would appreciate you doing the same at home. Spring fever is in the air and sometimes grades tend to slip at this time of year. Let's work together and end the year successfully! Don't forget to "spring ahead" this weekend!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 24: words ending with -ar. Pretest on Monday, final test on Friday.

Reading: We will continue clarifying using nonfiction text throughout this week with our focus on China. We will specifically be reading and discussing the economy, people, and culture of China. The students will also be asked to create their own panda to join our “Pandas on Parade.” Ask your child about it!

Language Arts: We continue our chapter on Adjectives. I am looking at a test date of 3/25. We will also be working on our About Me front page. The students were asked to bring in an 8x10 photo of themselves, or smaller if they don't have a large one. (A wallet sized photo is really too small.) This goes along with the front page they will create.

Social Studies: “Forming a New Government” is the name of chapter 10. This is the chapter when each fifth grader learns the Preamble to the Constitution. We will watch the School House Rock video in order to learn it. The students love this one!

Science: We continue the study of oceans, specifically, the ocean floor. There will be an open note assessment on Lesson 1 Thursday.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:
We will review Chapter 19 on Monday. I have decided to give the students a “quest” on Tuesday. (I mentioned Wednesday in an earlier blog.) We will then begin Chapter 13 on fraction operations.

Important Notes:
3/12 – Day off -- conferences
3/23 – Naper Settlement field trip
3/26 – Spring break starts at the end of this day!

Have a great, long weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 3/8/10 - 3/12/10

Conference confirmation forms have gone home and most have been returned. I look forward to meeting with many of you or speaking with you on the phone the week of March 8.

Look for the flyer that was sent home Friday. It announces a reading incentive program that Prairieview is encouraging called “Raise a Reader.” Parents sign up your child starting Monday the 8th by going to: http://www.parents.com/reading/prairieviewschooldowil
All students who sign up will get to put their first name and teacher's name up on the bulletin board in the front hallway. So join the fun and keep reading!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 23, the prefix ad-; Pretest on Monday, Final test on Friday.

Reading: The study of China begins! This week we will be focusing on clarifying by identifying the main idea and details of nonfiction text. We will specifically be focusing on the climate, geography, animals, and plants of China.

Language Arts: We begin our chapter on Adjectives. We will also be working on our About Me front pages again!

Social Studies: The chapter 9 test will be on Tuesday. Circle books for Lesson 3 are due on Monday. We won't start chapter 10 until the week of March 15.

Science: This week we will start our study of oceans, specifically, what water is like in different parts of the ocean.



Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:

We will begin Chapter 19 this week, which also focuses on geometry. We will specifically study triangles, quadrilaterals, plane figures, and solid figures. Tentative “quest” will be on March 17.

Important Notes:
Week of 3/8 – Conferences (those requested by teachers/parents)
3/9 – Report cards distributed
3/12 – Day off for conferences
3/23 – Naper Settlement field trip

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza