Week of 1/7/13 - 1/11/13

Our good behavior “marble” party was a huge success. We got into the Christmas spirit watching The Muppet Christmas Carol. A great big thank you to Juliana's mom, Jackie's mom, and Emma's mom for bringing in all the healthy treats and drinks. You are all very appreciated!

Thank you, also, for all the terrific Christmas gifts. I am one spoiled lady with wonderful students AND parents!!

I hope you all have a joyous and healthy holiday. Enjoy your families and keep them close; I know I will. See you all in 2013!!

Coming up the week after the 2-week break:

Spelling: Pretest on Monday, Lesson 13; test on Friday. Cursive HW due Tuesday. Two challenge activities OR wb page 237 (Vol I) & write a story due Thursday.

English: We will take a break from our text book for a short time while we work on our New Year's resolutions and then write our autobiographies.

Reading: We will be reading Night of the Pufflings from our reading basals this week. We will also be exploring facts and opinions. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday.

Social Studies: We are starting chapter 3, “People Move from Place to Place” this week.

Science: We continue chapter 11, Properties of Matter. Lesson 3 “How Does Matter Change” will be read and discussed on Monday and Tuesday. There will be an open book/note graded review on Thursday. The chapter 11 test will be on Tuesday, 1/15.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: There will only be 3 days of math the week we return because MAPs testing will be going on. We'll continue chapter 20 with measurement on Monday. There will be a checkpoint quiz on Thursday. We'll then continue the chapter the following week. Thursday, 1/17, is our tentative test date for chapter 20.

Important Dates:

12/21 – Winter break starts at the end of the day

1/9 – Reading MAPs testing (Mrs. Klacza)

1/11 – Math MAPs testing (Mrs. Klacza)

1/14 - “Matter Matters” in-school field trip

1/21 – Martin Luther King Jr. bday – Day off

Have a great holiday break! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 12/17/12 - 12/21/12

There are lots of fun activities going on this week. Bowling is Monday morning and I'm requesting that all students bring a lunch from home on that day. Children typically end up eating a bunch of snacks at the bowling alley and then the food they order from our food service goes to waste because they either don't take a lunch or they throw it away.

Also, many children enjoy buying snacks at the bowling alley. This is optional and I suggest $5 as a good amount for food. I would not go any higher than $10; trust me, they will find a way to spend every last cent!!

Please make sure you also write your child's shoe size in their assignment notebook.  They will pick up shoes as they enter the bowling alley.

My students have just won another good behavior party!! Yay!!! We will watch Muppets Christmas Carol on Wednesday. If any parents would like to send in a healthy treat for the class, it would be much appreciated.

Please read on to find out more about the “happenings” revolving around room 105 this week.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Pretest on Monday, Holiday Words!! The only homework this week will be to put the words in abc order. There are no challenge words. If your child passes the pretest on Monday, they won't have to take the test on Friday.

English: Our Verbs test (unit 3 in textbook) will be on Thursday.

We will be studying adjectives when we return from break.

Reading: This week we will be studying Christmas around the world! We are exploring 7 countries and the ways they celebrate Christmas. Each group includes 3-4 students. They will each make a poster and present their information to the class on Thursday. I've given them a “heads up” on their country and told them to do a little research over the weekend and early next week. Pictures from the internet would be a great thing to look for. Can't wait to see what they produce!

Social Studies: We are taking a little break from social studies this week. I've decided to cancel the test I had originally planned. We will start up again after the holiday break with chapter 3, “People Move from Place to Place.”

Science: We continue chapter 11, Properties of Matter. Tuesday there will be a lesson 2 graded review (open book/notes.) We'll start up again with lesson 3 after the break.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: Our test on graphing, chapter 6, is Monday. Students have study guides in their binders.  Our 3rd week of multiplication will include 5's and a review of the last 2 weeks.  Timed test will be on Friday.  We will also start chapter 20 this week on customary measurement. I'm happy to report that the children earned a marble party for good behavior which they redeemed today. Ask them about it...

Important Dates:

12/17 - 3^rd graders go bowling (no hot lunches/please bring lunch from home)

12/18 – All school concert at 8:05 a.m.

12/19 – Good Behavior Party

12/21 – Trip to the Tivoli to see Polar Express (no cost to you; THANK YOU MRS. SCHULTZ!!!)

12/21 – Winter break starts at the end of the day

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 12/10/12 - 12/14/12

After reading the book The Elf on the Shelf, Jingles, our elf, has been found in some interesting situations... Can't wait to see where we find him next week!

If you haven't already sent in your signed permission slips for our Tivoli theater outing, please do so as soon as possible.

We are more than halfway through the second quarter; please make sure you check your child's grades on line! Also, children should be coming to school in warm coats, hats, and gloves as we will go out to recess if it's not raining.

I hope to see many of you at our district fundraiser this Tuesday at Barnes & Noble at the Promenade. I'll be working there at 6:15!!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Pretest on Monday, Lesson 12. Cursive HW due Tuesday. Workbook pages 222 & 223 due Thursday. Students with challenge words will be doing 2 challenge activities instead, also due Thursday. Test on Friday (none for challenge students.)

English: As we continue our chapter on verbs, we will focus on verbs in the future tense, the verb “be” and helping verbs. On Wednesday we will have a graded review on the first 6 lessons.

We are also having a D.O.L. Quiz on titles and introductory words on Monday. A study guide should be in your child's binder.

Reading: We will continue working with visualization using our story Dogzilla. However, we'll also work with cause and effect, point of view, and author's purpose as we plow through the weeks ahead.

Social Studies: We have started chapter 12, lesson 1, in our textbook which focuses on local government. There will be an open book graded review Monday on lesson 1. Looks like later in the week we should be finishing up lesson 2 which also includes a short (open book) graded review. The tentative test date for this chapter is Tuesday, 12/18.

Science: We have started chapter 11, Properties of Matter. Monday we will do our own sink or float experiment, leading up to an open book, graded review on lesson 1 on Tuesday.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: We are doing a great job studying chapter 6 on data. This involves graphing and reading graphs. We are also continuing “Multiplication Facts in Seven Weeks.” We'll start week two on Monday with the “2s.” Tentative math test for chapter 6 is Monday, 12/17.

Important Dates:

12/10 – Choir concert at LV

12/11 – District fundraiser at Barnes & Noble

12/17 - 3^rd graders go bowling (permission slip coming home on Monday

12/18 – All school concert at 8:30 a.m.

12/21 – Trip to the Tivoli to see Polar Express

12/21 – Winter break starts at the end of the day

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza