Week of 1/6/14 - 1/10/14

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 2014!!

We will come back in January to MAP testing.  Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest and eats a good healthy breakfast & snack.  Our days for testing are shown below.

Coming up next week:

Spelling: Lesson 15.   Pretest on Monday, cursive due on Tuesday.   Challenge activities OR ABC order due on Thursday.   Test Friday for all those using the regular words.   No test for “challenge” words.

English: We will do some writing this week.  We will also work on prefixes/suffixes.

Reading:  This week we start a new story from our basals, The Night of the Pufflings.

Social Studies:  We will begin Chapter 3, “People Move From Place to Place” after the winter break.  Please look out for the letter regarding Culture Day!  Our first Graded Review for lesson 1 will take place on Monday (open book/notes, of course!)

Science:   We’ll start Chapter 12 on Energy.  Our first graded review will be on 1/13.   

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  We’ll be MAP testing this week so Tues/Wed. will be non-math days.  The rest of the days we will be finishing up our chapter on multiplication/division by 2, 5, & 10.   The test will take place on Tuesday, 1/14.

Important Dates:

12/20 - Tivoli Field Trip to see The Tale of Despereaux

12/20 - Last day of school before holiday break

1/7 - Reading MAP test

1/7 - Matter Matters field trip

⅛ - Math MAP test

1/15 - Early Dismissal Day (11:00)

1/20 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Bday - No school

Have a great holiday!   Mrs. Klacza

Week of 12/16/13 - 12/20/13

Can you believe we are entering our final week before the holiday break?  This is probably my favorite week of the school year.  Our bowling field trip is Thursday morning.   You may send money with your child, but please make it a small amount.  $5.00 goes a long way!   If your child is having a snack at the bowling alley, please send a very light lunch from home that day.  Trust me, they all come back to school stuffed!!  We are also heading to the Tivoli for a wonderful movie treat Friday afternoon.  We are so thankful to Mrs. Schultz!   Stay warm this weekend, everyone!   

Coming up next week:

Spelling: Holiday Words! -- Pretest on Monday.   Test on Friday.  Cursive HW due Tuesday (They will use a sheet of notebook paper.)  Students will write a story using all the words (15) and that will be due on Thursday.   No Friday test for challenge students!

English: We will do some writing this week.

Reading:  We will celebrate Christmas Around the World.  Each child will be assigned a different country (England, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Mexico, or Italy.)   They will present their groups’ posters on Thursday.  We will learn so much!  

Social Studies:  We are once again taking a social studies break this week.  We will begin Chapter 3, “People Move From Place to Place” after the winter break.

Science:   Our test is scheduled for chapter 11 on Tuesday, 12/17.  Please make sure you send in your permission slip/money for our in school field trip happening on Tuesday, 1/7.  

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  we started our next unit on multiplication and division patterns.  There will be a quiz on Lessons 1-5 on Friday.

Important Dates:

12/17 - Early Dismissal (11:00)

12/19 - 3rd graders go bowling!

12/20 - Tivoli Field Trip to see The Tale of Despereaux

12/20 - Last day of school before holiday break

1/7 - Matter Matters field trip

Have a great weekend and stay warm! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 12/9/13 - 12/13/13

We made it through a week with Mini Man, our Elf on the Shelf.  Has your child told you about him? He has been naughty AND nice.   Can’t wait to see what shenanigans he’ll get into this week!

We have also won a good behavior “marble” party!   It will take place on Thursday; we’ll be watching The Santa Clause.   Please make sure your child has returned his/her permission slip.

Coming up next week:

Spelling: Lesson 14 -- Pretest on Monday, Test on Friday.  Cursive HW due Tuesday.  ABC order OR 2 challenge activities due on Thursday.   No Friday test for challenge students!

English: We will continue our unit on verbs with irregular verbs and contractions with the word “not.”  On Friday, 12/13, we will have our verbs test.

Reading:  Our reading activities this week will rely on Christmas and other holiday stories, such as Twas the Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Social Studies:  We are once again taking a social studies break this week.  We will begin Chapter 3, “People Move From Place to Place” after the winter break.

Science:   We will reread Lesson 3 on physical vs. chemical change on Monday and take an open book and note graded review on Thursday. A test is scheduled for chapter 11 on Tuesday, 12/17.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  The division unit test will be Tuesday, 12/10.  On Wednesday, there will be a good behavior celebration during class!   If anyone wants to send in a healthy treat to share with the class, that would be great!   There are 14 students.   On Thursday we will start on next unit on multiplication and division patterns.

Important Dates:

12/12 - Good Behavior/Marble Party

12/17 - Early Dismissal (11:00)

12/19 - 3rd graders go bowling!

12/20 - Last day of school before holiday break

Have a great weekend and stay warm! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 12/2/13 - 12/6/13

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with good food, family, and friends.  By the way, we all had a fantastic time on our Downers Grove field trip!!   I hope your child told you everything about it!! Prairieview School-Community Service Project proudly collected $550 to sponsor an Edward Hospital Animal Assisted Therapy Program!!!

Thanks to everyone who donated!!!

Coming up next week:

Spelling: Lesson 13 -- Pretest on Monday, Test on Friday.  Cursive HW due Tuesday.  ABC order OR 2 challenge activities due on Thursday.   No Friday test for challenge students!

English: We will continue our unit on verbs with verbs in the future, helping verbs, and the verb “to be.”  There will be a graded review on the first 6 lessons on Wednesday..

Reading:  This week we will read the story Dogzilla and learn about evaluating and visualizing.  A vocabulary quiz on the words we learn on Monday will take place on Thursday.  A comprehension quiz on the story will take place on Friday.

Social Studies:  We are taking a social studies break this week.

Science:   We will reread Lesson 2 (matter) on Monday and take an open book and note graded review on Tuesday.  We’ll then start reading Lesson 3 later in the week.  

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  We continue our Division unit this week.  We’ll specifically study the relationship between multiplication and division.  The unit test will be Tuesday, 12/10.

Important Dates:

11/27 - 11/29 - Days off for Thanksgiving

12/2 - Back to school!

12/17 - Early Dismissal (11:00)

12/19 - 3rd graders go bowling!

12/20 - Last day of school before holiday break

Have a great, long weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 11/25/13 - 11/29/13

We are now beginning the 2nd trimester of 3rd grade.   Please make sure you view your child’s grades on a weekly (or more) basis to see how they are doing.  The first trimester has been outstanding.  What a wonderful group of students I have!

As I write this, we haven’t left for our D.G. field trip.   The weather looks terrible, but we will certainly make the best of it and have a great adventure!   Thank you to our chaperones:  Luke’s mom, Kyle’s mom, Natalie’s dad, and Gabby’s mom.   I’ll let you know more details in my next installment!!  Oh, look!   It’s brightening up!!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: There will be no spelling this week. 

English: We will continue our unit on verbs with past time verbs this week.

Reading:  We’ll focus on reading Thanksgiving-based text.

Social Studies:  An open note test on EVERYTHING Downers Grove (history and current day) will be on Tuesday, 11/26.

Science:   We will read Lesson 2 (matter) and take notes.   Open book and note graded review will be after Thanksgiving break (12/3.)  

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  We continue our Division unit this week.  We’ll specifically study equal sharing and the relationship between division and multiplication.  

Important Dates:

11/22 - Downers Grove Field Trip (With Miss Millbrandt’s class)

11/27 - 11/29 - Days off for Thanksgiving

12/19 - 3rd graders go bowling!

12/20 - Last day of school before holiday break

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 11/18/13 - 11/22/13

We had a lovely 4-day week and looking forward to a busy one this upcoming week, as well.  Our field trip to Downers Grove is Friday.   Please make sure your child is dressed according to the weather because some of it will be outdoors.  Your child may bring spending money for the Main Street stores, but please do not send in more than $10.00.   Typically, students bring in about $5!    If you have any other questions about that day, email me.   We also end our first trimester this coming week.  Can you believe we are one-third of the way finished with third grade?   Lasthly, an important reminder from Mrs. Spakausky:

Prairieview School-Community Service Project

Animal Assisted Therapy Program-Edward Hospital

Prairieview School, in Downers Grove, (3rd, 4th and 5th Graders) is proud to have an opportunity to sponsor an Edward Hospital therapy dog.  The students are looking forward to sponsoring, Kodi.

Prairieview School will take donations until November 19th!

If you want to learn more about this Animal Assisted Therapy Program go the the following link:  httpwww.edward.org/animalassistedtherapy

Coming up this week:

Spelling: We will be taking a Lesson 12 pretest on Monday.  Cursive homework for everyone is due Tuesday and the ABC order OR 2 challenge activities are due Thursday.  The test will be Thursday due to the DG field trip on Friday.

English: We will begin our next unit in the English textbook on Verbs.   

Reading:  We have begun our novel study this week.  Some of the students will be reading Hey, New Kid!, Others will be reading Top Secret.   Students will be working in a Book Buddies packet to make predictions, summarize, work on cause & effect, and infer.

Social Studies:  We will continue to study current day Downers Grove.  There will be an open note quiz on DG history on Tuesday.   An open note test on EVERYTHING will be coming up, not sure when yet, but I’ll keep the students informed (Probably 11/25 or 11/26.).  

Science:   We’ll start studying Matter (chapter 11) this week.  Our first lesson review (open book/notes) will be on Wednesday.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  Students should be prepared for a unit test on multiplication Tuesday.  A study guide is being sent home today.  Division is next!

Important Dates:

11/20 - Teachers’ Institute (11:00 dismissal from PV)

11/22 - Downers Grove Field Trip (With Miss Millbrandt’s class) 

11/27 - 11/29 - Days off for Thanksgiving

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 11/11/13 - 11/15/13

It was wonderful meeting with you during conferences! Please remember to email me or call if you ever have any questions or concerns.

We talked a lot about Veteran’s Day this week.  The students have lots of wonderful stories to tell about the people they love who served their country!!   Have a wonderful 4-day weekend, everyone!   

Prairieview School-Community Service Project

Animal Assisted Therapy Program-Edward Hospital

Prairieview School, in Downers Grove, (3rd, 4th and 5th Graders) is proud to have an opportunity to sponsor an Edward Hospital therapy dog.  Edward Hospital is located in Naperville, Illinois and helps many people every year who have to visit the hospital.  In order to sponsor a therapy dog, we need to raise money that will go toward the program that supports the wellness of patients in the hospital.  The students are looking forward to sponsoring, Kodi.

Prairieview School will take donations until November 19th!

If you want to learn more about this Animal Assisted Therapy Program go the the following link:  httpwww.edward.org/animalassistedtherapy

Coming up this week:

Spelling: We will be taking a Lesson 11 pretest on Tuesday.  Cursive homework for everyone is due Wednesday and the ABC order OR 2 challenge activities are due Thursday.  The test will be Friday.

English: Our quiz that wraps up our current D.O.L. study will be on Tuesday, 11/12.

Reading:  We will be starting a novel study this week.  Some of the students will be reading Hey, New Kid!, Others will be reading Top Secret.   

Social Studies:  We will continue to study the history of Downers Grove.  We’ll also get into current day Downers Grove information.

Science:   Thursday, November 14 will be our test date for Chapter 9.   After Chapter 9, we’ll start studying Matter.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  We’ve been working very hard on all the different ways to multiply!   There will be a short quiz on Lessons 1-4 on Wednesday.

Important Dates:

11/8 - Day off for Conferences

11/11 - Veteran’s Day/Day off

11/22 - Downers Grove Field Trip (With Miss Millbrandt’s class)

11/27 - 11/29 - Days off for Thanksgiving

Have a great long weekend! Mrs. Klacza