Week of 1/2/12 - 1/6/12

Thank you all, so very much, for the wonderful class gifts I received on Wednesday. What a wonderful surprise!! You were all so generous and I truly appreciate it.

I'd also like to thank the PTO for providing us with a fabulous appetizer spread on Wednesday for the cookie exchange and a wonderful lunch on Thursday. Thank you to all the parents who baked cookies and provided those wonderful appetizers for the cookie exchange. My family was thrilled with all the delicious treats I brought home. Finally, I wish you all a wonderful holiday season – stay safe and warm and enjoy your families; I will be enjoying mine!

This week the fifth grade "Too Good For Drugs" program will begin. Deputy Seward from the DuPage County Sheriff's Department will be coming to our class on Fridays to discuss various topics on drug prevention. A letter explaining more about the program will be sent home on Friday.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 15 – Pretest Tuesday, practice sheets due Wednesday. Homework due Thursday and test on Friday.

English: We will continue our chapter on pronouns this week, specifically using I and me properly. We will also begin learning about the 6 traits of writing.

Reading: This week we will be focusing on identifying main ideas and details and using them to summarize a text. The Golden Lion Tamarin Comes Home will be our story as we practice these important skills.

Social Studies: We will start chapter 8, probably the most exciting chapter of the entire year! Our first lesson is entitled “The Road to War.” The colonists are fed up with being under Britain's rule. They say, “No More Kings!” which just happens to be our first Schoolhouse Rock.

Science: Our quick study for lesson 3 will take place on Wednesday, after we go over our notes and review on Tuesday. Plan on a chapter 13 test on Friday.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: We will begin chapter 24 this week which focuses on the area of squares, rectangles, triangles, and parallelograms. It's not a long chapter, so a test will probably happen the beginning of the following week.

Important Dates:

December 19 -- Winter Break officially begins
January 3 – Back to school after break!
January 16 -- M.L. King Holiday -- No School
January 16 -- PTO DineOut Fundraiser -- TGIFriday's
January 25 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal

Have a wonderful holiday! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 12/12/11 - 12/16/11

Thank you to all the parents who sent in healthy snacks for our reading party. Everything was delicious! Next week is our last week of school before winter break. Hard to believe!!

On Friday, December 16th, the fifth grade is looking forward to turning our classrooms into cinemas to celebrate the start of our holiday vacation. As you know, students will be viewing a movie of their choice, and enjoying a snack of popcorn and water as well. To make our rooms a bit cozier, we are allowing students to bring in a pillow, cushion, or small blanket to sit upon while watching the movie. We ask that the items be no larger than a normal size beach blanket to ensure we have enough room for everyone to be comfortable. Thank you!

Parents, please don't forget about our big recycling bin in the LV parking lot. We earn money with our paper! A question arose from a parent regarding shredded paper and if it's ok to put it in there. Here is the response from the recycling company: "Absolutely you can put shredded paper in the bin. I would recommend that you put the shredded paper in a bag, so that it does not blow around when the driver services the bin. Paper or plastic bag is fine."

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 14 – Pretest Monday, practice sheets due Tuesday. Homework due Thursday and test on Friday.

English: We will continue our chapter on pronouns this week, specifically object pronouns.

Reading: We will begin the actual reading of our non-fiction story The Grizzly Bear Family Book. So far, we have been tackling our skills and leading up to the story. The skills explored have been identifying valid/invalid generalizations, facts vs. opinions, and inferencing. The students are experts at deciding if a generalization is valid or not!

Social Studies: Plan on finishing chapter 7 this week and having the test on Friday.

Science: Our quick study for lesson 2 will take place on Monday. We'll then read and take notes on lesson 3; however, I'm holding off on giving the test until after break. We will review, of course, beforehand.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: Monday will be our “pretest” day for perimeter/circumference. Our test will be Tuesday. We'll then do some plotting of coordinates on graphs.

Important Dates:
December 12 – Cadet Band & Choir at Lakeview 7:00
December 16 – Prairieview Cinemas

December 19 -- Winter Break officially begins
January 3 – Back to school after break

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 12/5/11 - 12/9/11

I enjoyed meeting with you all at our conferences. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me via email or telephone.

Your child will be bringing home a permission slip in order to watch the movie Marley & Me on Wednesday during our reading party. It will be a healthy treat party; many of the students volunteered to bring healthy food in...

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 13 – Pretest Monday, practice sheets due Tuesday. Homework due Thursday and test on Friday.

English: After going over all our review pages, we will have our Nouns test on Monday. We will start the chapter on pronouns later in the week.

Reading: We will revisit our reading textbook this week with the non-fiction story The Grizzly Bear Family Book. The skills explored will be identifying valid/invalid generalizations, facts vs. opinions, and inferencing.

Social Studies: Chapter 7 continues this week, specifically lesson 2 on the French and their explorations of the Mississippi River. We will get the chapter 7 test in before our holiday break, probably on 12/16.

Science: Our quick study for lesson 1 will take place on Monday. We'll then read and take notes on lesson 2 on physical properties and changes.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: We are skipping way ahead to perimeter which is chapter 23! We will specifically review polygons before we get into some formulas for perimeter, circumference, and radius. Our test on this chapter will be either 12/12 or 12/13. I'll know for sure in a few days.

Important Dates:
December 2 -- No School
December 8 -- PTO DineOut Fundraiser -- Go Roma
December 12 – Cadet Band & Choir at Lakeview 7:00
December 19 -- Winter Break Begins
January 3 – Back to school after break!

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza