Week of 10/28/13 - 11/1/13

Halloween is Thursday already!! There will be a costume parade at 1:15 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 Thursday. 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.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: We will be taking a pretest on Halloween words on Monday.  There will be different homework this week and it will all be due on Thursday.   Even if your child passes the pretest on Monday, they will still do the same homework; however, they will not have to take the Friday test.  

English:  The children have created their haunted houses.  This week, they will use their awesome writing skills to try to sell their houses in a persuasive writing assignment. I expect lots of colorful and sensory words!

Reading: We'll continue working with the story  Cliffhanger this week. Cause and Effect will be our skill.  

Social Studies:  We will continue to study the history of Downers Grove.  Ask your child who founded DG!!   

Science:   We'll continue chapter 9 on the Water Cycle, specifically focusing on Lesson 1. There will be an open book graded review on Monday.  A Lesson 2 graded review will be on Thursday.  

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  We just finished the Subtraction unit!   I’ve sent home a study guide/checklist today.   Please make sure your child studies.  There will be a pretest on Tuesday and a test on Wednesday.  

Important Dates:

10/31 – Halloween parade and party

11/4 - 11/6  -  Conferences in room 105; Homeroom only!!

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 10/21/13 - 10/25/13

We have an early dismissal day coming up on Thursday. Prairieview will be dismissed at 11:00.

The PTO is selling coupon books this year to help fund the purchase of tablets for our students.  If you wish to purchase a book, please send in $25 made payable to the Prairieview PTO.  If you do not wish to buy the book, please send it back with your student.  The deadline is October 29th.  The books have some great local coupons in them and really pay for themselves while the school gets half the money of all books sold!  The grade that sells the most books (15 books minimum) will get a movie and a treat on Tuesday, November 26th and each grade level student who sells the most books (5 book minimum) will get a $100 Target gift card!  Please contact Pam Topp (pam_topp@yahoo.com) or Maureen Gibbons (maureen.gibbons@comcast.net) if you have questions or would like more books to sell.  There are some great holiday shopping discounts available....take a look!!!!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: 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 of the regular spelling words. 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:  The children are creating haunted houses. They will then use their awesome writing skills to try to sell their houses in a persuasive writing assignment. I expect lots of colorful and sensory words!

Reading: We'll read Cliffhanger this week. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday. Words will be discussed and defined on Monday. Cause and Effect will be our skill this week.

Social Studies:  There will be an open book/open notes graded lesson review on lesson 2 on Monday. We will then start studying the history of Downers Grove.

Science: We'll start the week with students in groups each creating an ecosystem poster. Mid-week we'll start chapter 9 on the Water Cycle. 

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  We will continue Unit 3 this week on Subtraction. We'll specifically study subtracting 3 and 4 digit numbers and subtracting across zeroes. Please make sure your child is working with his or her addition and subtraction flashcards whenever there is little homework. I'm looking tentatively at Wednesday, 10/30, as the test date for this unit.

Important Dates:

10/24 – Early dismissal (11:00)

10/31 – Halloween parade and party

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 10/14/13 - 10/18/13

Our first marble party was a success. Thank you to Natalie's family for sending in the “Pirate's Booty” and Gabby's family for sending in the fruit rollups. We are already starting to refill the marble jar! The compliments keep coming!!  

An important link from the office... http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/prairieviewelementaryschool15

(for info on the Fall Book Fair & Taffy Apple Sale on Thursday  10/17.)

The PTO is selling coupon books this year to help fund the purchase of tablets for our students.  If you wish to purchase a book, please send in $25 made payable to the Prairieview PTO.  If you do not wish to buy the book, please send it back with your student.  The deadline is October 29th.  The books have some great local coupons in them and really pay for themselves while the school gets half the money of all books sold!  The grade that sells the most books (15 books minimum) will get a movie and a treat on Tuesday, November 26th and each grade level student who sells the most books (5 book minimum) will get a $100 Target gift card!  Please contact Pam Topp (pam_topp@yahoo.com) or Maureen Gibbons (maureen.gibbons@comcast.net) if you have questions or would like more books to sell.  There are some great holiday shopping discounts available....take a look!!!!

We celebrate Columbus Day on Monday. Enjoy your 3-day weekend!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: We will be taking a pretest on LESSON 8 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 2 challenge activities or ABC order of the regular spelling words. The homework assigned on Wednesday will be due on Friday (a bit of a change because of the shorter week.)  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 conclude our study of Nouns this week. The chapter 2 test is planned for Wednesday, 10/16. We will review on Tuesday. Students may use all the review pages at the end of chapter to help them study. We then begin our persuasive writing.

Reading: We will be finishing The Keeping Quilt this week. I'm planning a vocabulary quiz for Tuesday. Cause and Effect is our current reading skill, although we cover them all on a daily basis!!

Social Studies: We will continue our unit on Communities this week. There will be an open book/open notes graded lesson review on lesson 2 on Wednesday.

Science: We're taking a break from Science this week but will begin Chapter 9 on The Water Cycle the following week.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  We will start Unit 3 this week on Subtraction. We'll specifically study subtracting mentally, estimating differences, and problem solving. Students should expect an open book/open note “Check your Progress” quiz on Friday.

Important Dates:

10/14 – Columbus Day (no school)

10/17 – Book Fair

10/24 - Early Dismissal (11:00)

10/31 – Halloween parade and party

Enjoy your 3-day weekend!

Week of 10/7/13 - 10/11/13

Happy October! It doesn't seem like Fall yet, but it soon will. The students have been working hard as we settle in to our 3^rd grade routine!!

There will be a good behavior Marble Party on Tuesday! Woo Hoo!! The students have worked hard to get compliments from other teachers in the hallway AND from me within the classroom. It was a group effort and I'm very proud of them. If you'd like to send in a healthy treat for the class to share on Tuesday, we'd love it! Email me if you wish to do so. I am going to bring something as well.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: We will be taking a pretest on LESSON 7 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 of the regular spelling words. 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 continue our study of Nouns this coming week. There will be a short quiz on Wednesday on lessons 4-7 (plural nouns.) Then on to possessive nouns. The chapter 2 test is planned for Wednesday, 10/16.

Reading: We will be finishing The Balad of Mulan with a short, open book quiz on Monday. We've been inferencing all over the place this week, in fact, the students had to use their skills to guess what was inside my school bag! We will start the story The Keeping Quilt later in the week.

Social Studies: We will start our next unit on Communities this week. After we've studied our textbooks, we'll move on to our Downers Grove unit. This is always so much fun; there is so much history to be learned!

Science: Chapter 4, Ecosystems. Lesson 4 will be read and discussed. On Wednesday, we will have a “graded lesson review.” Students will be allowed to use their textbooks and any notes we take on this lesson. Remember, the textbook is on line!!! The Science test for Chapter 4 will be on Friday!!!! Students should review the chapter, the quick studies, graded lesson reviews, and any other notes they have. This will NOT be an open book test.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:  We will finish Chapter 2 on the addition properties and will have a short “check your progress” quiz on Monday on Lessons 4-7. Students may use their books and flashcards to help them with this quiz. The final Chapter 2 test will be on Thursday. We will take “pretest” on Wednesday and go over the answers together. Check your child's binder and see what it looks like. The test will have the same format.

Important Dates:

10/14 - Columbus Day (day off)

10/17 – Book Fair

10/31 - Halloween Parade & Party

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza