Week of 10/29/12 -11/2/12

Halloween is Wednesday already!! There will be a costume parade at 1:00 around the school (weather permitting) and parties will start at 1:30. I hope you can all come and see the parade – just stand out front and you'll see us!! Students should carry in their costumes on Wednesday. They cannot wear their costumes to school. Remember, we only have a short time to change and we will be changing in the classroom (one class for boys, another for girls). Please make sure their costumes are suitable for this. Trips to the bathroom are not allowed. No weapons of any kind are allowed.

I'm looking forward to meeting with you at conferences Monday and Tuesday. See you then!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: This week, we will be working with Halloween-related words. There will be no pretest and there will be a fun homework assignment each night related to those words. The final test is on Friday.

English: The haunted house essays are due on Monday. They should be neatly written after being edited by someone at home :) The haunted houses have been made here at school that show what they are trying to sell in their essays! Hopefully, you can find your child's when you come to conferences.  We will then start our next chapter in English, NOUNS!!

Reading: We will continue predicting and practicing cause and effect. There will be a cause and effect assessment on Thursday and the students may use their notes/worksheets.

Social Studies: We will continue our communities unit this week, focusing specifically on Downers Grove. This week we are learning the history of our village.

Science: We will continue chapter 4 on ecosystems. This week we will focus on lesson 2, types of ecosystems.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: We will continue working with subtraction across zeros on Monday, do some problem solving on Tuesday, pretest on Thursday, test on chapter 4 Friday. On Wednesday, we'll have some fun with Halloween math.

Important Dates:

10/26 – End of quarter 1

10/29 & 10/30 – Homeroom conferences

10/31 – Halloween festivities

11/5 – Day off

11/6 – Teacher Institute (students are off/parents are voting!!)

11/12 – Day off; Veteran's Day

11/20 – Mrs. Klacza's class DG field trip

11/21-11/23 – Thanksgiving holiday

11/29 – Picture retakes

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 10/22/12 - 10/26/12

Our first marble party was a huge success! Thank you to Jackie's mom for providing the delicious popcorn and to Emma's and Juliana's moms for providing the refreshing water.

Just a reminder, Halloween is fast approaching. There will be a costume parade at 1:00 around the school (weather permitting) and parties will start at 1:30. I have great moms who have already been making plans! Costumes are to be brought in with your child on Wednesday. Students cannot wear their costumes to school. Remember, we only have a short time to change and we will be changing in the classroom (one class for boys, another for girls.) Please make sure their costumes are suitable for this. Trips to the bathroom for changing are not allowed. No weapons of any kind are allowed.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: This week, we will be taking a pretest on LESSON 9 on Monday. The cursive worksheet is homework on Monday. On Tuesday, depending on what group your child is in (challenge or non-challenge) the homework will either be 2 challenge activities OR ABC order and 2 workbook pages. The homework assigned on Tuesday will be due on Thursday.  The final test is on Friday. The students will only be tested on the regular spelling words; challenge words will not be tested.

English: We will be writing our persuasive haunted house paragraphs this week using sensory and Halloween words. The students will be using vivid words to describe the haunted house they wish to persuade someone to buy! They will also be making the haunted house.

Reading: We will continue predicting and we will also focus on cause and effect. There will be a short vocabulary quiz on Cliffhanger words on Wednesday. We will also be starting our reading groups this week. There will be 3 groups and 3 different novels the students will be reading and discussing. I have chosen “good fit” books for each group.

Social Studies: We will start our communities unit this week, focusing specifically on my own town, Downers Grove.

Science: We will continue chapter 4 on ecosystems. There will be a short graded review on lesson 1 on Tuesday.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: We will start chapter 4 on subtraction. Please make sure your child is practicing his/her subtraction math facts. It will come in handy during this chapter. Probably the trickiest lesson we will encounter will be subtraction across zeroes, for example, 5000 – 1399. This is a tricky concept for children. Any practice they can receive at home would be greatly appreciated. Looks like Friday and Monday will be reserved for that fun lesson!

Important Dates:

10/25 – Early Dismissal (11:00 PV)

10/26 – End of quarter 1

10/29 & 10/30 – Homeroom conferences

10/31 – Halloween festivities

11/5 – Day off

11/6 – Teacher Institute (students are off/parents are voting!!)

11/12 – Day off; Veteran's Day

11/20 – Mrs. Klacza's class DG field trip

11/21-11/23 – Thanksgiving holiday

11/29 – Picture retakes

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 10/15/12 - 10/19/12

My well-behaved students have won their first marble party!! Woot-woot!!  So, on Wednesday we will be watching Mulan, which, incidentally, fits very nicely into our reading unit! Congrats to room 105 :)

Also, Halloween is fast approaching. There will be a costume parade at 1:00 around the school (weather permitting) and parties will start at 1:30. I have great moms who have already been alerted with duties!  

Costumes are to be brought in with your child on Wednesday. Students cannot wear their costumes to school. Remember, we only have a short time to change and we will be changing in the classroom (one class for boys, another for girls). Please make sure their costumes are suitable for this. Trips to the bathroom are not allowed. No weapons of any kind are allowed.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: This week, we will be taking a pretest on LESSON 8 on Monday. The cursive worksheet is homework on Monday. On Tuesday, depending on what group your child is in (challenge or non-challenge) the homework will either be 2 challenge activities OR ABC order and 2 workbook pages. The homework assigned on Tuesday will be due on Thursday.  The final test is on Friday. The students will only be tested on the regular spelling words; challenge words will not be tested.

English: We will writing descriptively this week using sensory words and Halloween words.

Reading: This week's reading skill is predicting and we will also focus on cause and effect. Our story is Cliffhanger. We will still be inferencing now and then, also.

Social Studies: We have learned about the equator and the northern and southern hemispheres. Students should be prepared for a hemisphere quiz on Thursday.

Science: This week we will start chapter 4 on ecosystems.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: We are rolling through chapter 3 on addition. A few changes have been made. Our checkpoint quiz will be Tuesday. It's strictly on 2-digit and 3-digit addition. The chapter 3 test will be Friday, 10/19. A study guide is in your child's binder.

Important Dates:

10/25 – Early Dismissal (11:00 PV)

10/26 – End of quarter 1
10/29 & 10/30 - Conferences

10/31 – Halloween festivities

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

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

I hope you all have a wonderful 3-day weekend honoring Columbus Day. Please make sure you are checking your child's grades on-line. October 26 is the end of the first quarter.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: This week, we will be taking a pretest on LESSON 7 on Tuesday. The cursive worksheet is homework on Tuesday. On Wednesday, depending on what group your child is in (challenge or non-challenge) the homework will either be 1 challenge activities OR ABC order and 1 workbook page. The homework assigned on Wednesday will be due on Thursday.  The final test is on Friday. The students will only be tested on the regular spelling words; challenge words will not be tested. (Yes, there is less homework because of the short week.)

English: I really enjoyed the Me Bag presentations. I think presenting at the front of the class gives the students confidence. They did a great job! This week, we will focus on writing using sensory words.

Reading: We will continue to focus on inferencing this week. The story Ballad of Mulan will be read in conjunction with this reading skill. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Wednesday and a short test on the story on Thursday.

Social Studies: We will continue discussing continents and oceans. Our test will be on Wednesday. The students will have a word bank, so please do not panic and force your child to spell the words correctly. I will expect the words spelled right, but they can refer to the bank. Students will be looking at a map and figuring out where the continents and oceans go. It will look very similar to the study guide.

Science: We will take a break from science as we explore social studies this week. The graded chapter 9 tests will be going home on Monday.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: Graded tests will be going home on Monday, but the grades are already on line. We will start chapter 3 on addition this week. Students will be learning about the addition properties, missing addends, and how to estimate sums. There will be a checkpoint quiz on Monday, 10/15.

Important Dates:

10/8 – Columbus Day, no school

10/25 – Early Dismissal (11:00 PV)

10/26 – End of quarter 1

10/31 – Halloween festivities

Have a great 3-day weekend! Mrs. Klacza