The Week of November 3, 2008

Dear Parents:
No School Tuesday, November 4th!
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The Social Studies committee is looking for two parents who have an education or history background to be involved in the adoption of new Social Studies textbooks. You would have to meet with the committee and provide input choosing our textbook for the coming years. The Social Studies committee will be meeting once every other month for the next two years. Please email jtrefonas@ccsd66.org if you would be interested in joining the Social Studies committee.
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MORE IMPORTANT INFORMATION.................
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The online student edition of Science textbooks, HSP Science, for Prairieview students (grades 3-5) is now available on line. To access the online book, use the website:
http://www.thinkcentral.com
Choose: Illinois
Choose :Center Cass School District 66
Choose :Prairieview
Login with your students 7digit school ID – the same ID you use to access Parent Connect.
Password for all Prairieview students is ccsd66.
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MISS TREFONAS'S HOMEROOM:

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SOCIAL STUDIES: Chapter 6 - We will be finishing the chapter this week and testing Monday, Nov. 10th!

-Colonial Games due Monday, Nov. 3rd!

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SCIENCE: Physical Changes

There are a lot of difficult vocabulary words/terms! Students should be studying with their vocab cards......

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MISS TREFONAS'S READING, SPELLING, AND ENGLISH CLASS:

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SPELLING: Lesson 11 and "word of the week"

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ENGLISH: continuing Unit 2 Nouns.......

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READING: We begin the reading strategy of making INFERENCES!!!! We will begin by reading a story entitled "A Boy Called Slow" in our reading basals.

We will be completing an activity sheet entitled "Reading Between the Lines" as we do exactly that! The students will also be doing a character inferencing sheet!

The students will learn how predicting and inferencing are similar and different!

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VOCAB CLUB: October words were due 10/31.

10 November words are due at the end of the month.

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SCOOPer Reading: The first trimester goal is due November 14th!

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MISS TREFONAS'S MATH CLASS:

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MATH: Chapter 4 Algebra Expressions & Equations

The students are taking notes of terms and examples!

There are a lot of new concepts, some of which are difficult!

The Week of October 27, 2008

Important Reminder:
Our new lunch programs has started! Lunch tickets will no longer be accepted. Any unused tickets can be returned for credit to the student's account (be sure the student's name is on the envelope marked please credit my account) until December 31, 2008. Also, in the lunchroom, students will enter their 4 digit code to access their electronic funds. The 4 digit codes are being kept with the homeroom teacher. Please refer to our website at www.ccsd66.org ( http://www.ccsd66.org/ ) for additional information regarding this new procedure.


Friday, Oct. 31st
Halloween Celebration!
Parents planning activities and attending = Mrs. Stoppleman & Mrs. Meyer
Snacks=Mrs. Hartenberger & Mrs. Gade
Beverages=Mrs. Blaum


Tuesday, November 4th - No School

MISS TREFONAS'S HOMEROOM:

SCIENCE = Unit E Matter and Energy

The 3 States of Matter - solids, liquids, gases

SOCIAL STUDIES = Monday, October 27th is our classroom TRADE FAIR!

This week we will continue to learn about life during colonial times, and learn about the one book that was read just as much as the bible by colonists.....Poor Richard's Almanac!!

Monday, Nov. 3rd - The students will have their colonial game due!

MISS TREFONAS'S READING-ENGLISH-SPELLING CLASS:

READING = We are continuing to use the genre of folktales, specifically TALL TALES, as we continue to learn about story elements and the reading strategy of visualizing. The students will be individually reading a variety of TALL TALES and filling out a story elements sheet.

We will analyze the story elements by comparing and contrasting what we find in each tale.

SCOOPer Reading = 1st Trimester book goals/activities due Friday, November 14th

VOCAB CLUB = 10 October words due this Friday!

ENGLISH = Unit 2 Nouns

Common and Proper Nouns

Singular and Plural Nouns

SPELLING = Lesson 10 and "word of the week"

MISS TREFONAS'S MATH CLASS:

Chapter 3 Test = Tuesday, October 28th!

The students were given this date a week in advance!

The Week of October 20, 2008

Important Dates:

Tuesday, Oct. 21st - Project Challenge 2:30 - 3:45

Wednesday, Oct. 22nd - Early Dismissal @ 11:00!

Friday, Oct.24th-Fieldtrip "The Legend of Pocahontas" **This is the rescheduled date!**
~Students need to bring a lunch. We might not be back in time for our hot lunch program.

Friday, Oct. 31st-Halloween Celebration!
Parents planning activities and attending = Mrs. Stoppleman & Mrs. Meyer
Snacks=Mrs. Hartenberger & Mrs. Gade
Beverages=Mrs. Blaum

MISS TREFONAS'S HOMEROOM:

TICKETS!!

Has your child told you about our classroom tickets that they can earn for positive behavior? I am asking for any parents who'd like to donate to my ticket prizes to send in "goodies" at any time. We need healthy individually wrapped snacks like cereal bars, fruit snacks, crackers, pretzels etc. Also, decorative pencils, prizes, stickers, and any other item you think would be fun for the kids to earn is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

THANKS!!!!

SCIENCE: Matter & Energy! The students made a MEMORY card game with their lesson 1 vocabulary words. This week we will learn more about each of these words.

SOCIAL STUDIES:
Jr. Achievement ! Mr. and Ms. Paleka will be here Thursday for our second session of J.A.
Chapter 6 "Life in English Colonies" Lesson 1 - Working and Trading continued.....

The students will be making a "good" for our classroom TRADE FAIR!!

The Trade Fair directions will be given on Monday.

This is a project and classroom activity that the children need to prepare for in advance!!!

Monday, October 27th = TRADE FAIR!!!

We will also be learning about Colonial Life in cities, towns, and farms this week!

MISS TREFONAS'S READING, ENGLISH, & SPELLING:

TICKETS!! Has your child told you about our classroom tickets that they can earn for positive behavior? I am asking for any parents who'd like to donate to my ticket prizes to send in "goodies" at any time. We need healthy individually wrapped snacks like cereal bars, fruit snacks, crackers, pretzels etc. Also, decorative pencils, prizes, stickers, and any other item you think would be fun for the kids to earn is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

THANKS!!!!

SPELLING: Lesson 8 Review of lessons 1-7! Test = multiple choice!

ENGLISH: Unit 5 Capitalization & Punctuation - Test = Tuesday, October 21st!

Are next unit is NOUNS.

VOCAB CLUB: 10 words are due at the end of October!

Students must be able to pronounce words correctly.

SCOOPer READING: The first trimester goal is due Friday, November 14th!
Each child has been given reminders of what their goal is and how many books and activities have been completed.

READING: We will be using the reading strategy visualizing with TALL TALES.

The students will be looking at the hyperboles, or exaggerations, that make TALL TALES a unique type of folk tale. The students will be doing independent reading of a variety of TALL TALES and their story elements!

MISS TREFONAS'S MATH CLASS:

MATH: Chapter 3 Division - Lessons 7-10. We are dividing by 2 digit numbers. Often 5th grade students have difficulty with this lesson. Please monitor how your child is understanding this chapter. There is time to ask questions and get help almost every day during homework time which is the last 10 minutes or so of class.

CHAPTER 3 TEST = TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28!

The Week of October 13th

Important Dates

Monday, Oct.13th - No School due to Columbus Day Holiday!

Thursday, Oct. 16th - Book Fair @ Prairieview 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm-See you there!

Wednesday, Oct. 22nd - Early Dismissal @ 11:00!

Friday, Oct.24th-Fieldtrip "The Legend of Pocahontas" **This is the rescheduled date!**

~Students need to bring a lunch. We might not be back in time for our hot lunch program.

MISS TREFONAS'S HOMEROOM:

SCIENCE: We will be starting Matter & Energy! The students will be making a MEMORY card game with their lesson 1 vocabulary words. Thursday,the students will be doing an activity with a Mystery Box !

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Jr. Achievement begins! Jr. Achievement is a not-for-profit organization financed by businesses. The purpose of Jr. Achievement is to educate and inspire students to value free enterprise, business, and econmics to improve the quality of their lives. Our volunteers, Ms. and Mr. Paleka, will be visiting our classroom once a week for the next 6 weeks. Ms. Paleka works for Harley Davidson Financial, and Mr. Paleka works for Tellalabs. They have been the volunteers for my classroom for the past 7 years! I'm sure your student will be sharing some of their experiences with this program during the next few weeks!

Chapter 6 "Life in English Colonies" Lesson 1 - Working and Trading

MISS TREFONAS'S READING, ENGLISH, & SPELLING:

SPELLING: Lesson 7 and word of the week!

ENGLISH: Unit 5 Capitalization & Punctuation - Quotations, Abbreviations and Titles!

We are FINISHING the unit this week and testing on Tuesday, October 21st!

VOCAB CLUB: 10 words are due at the end of October! Students must be able to pronounce words correctly.

SCOOPer READING: The first trimester goal is due Friday, November 14th!

Each child has been given reminders of what their goal is and how many books and activities have been completed.

READING: Main Idea and Details & Sequencing are the reading skills we are working on this week!

MISS TREFONAS'S MATH CLASS:

MATH: Chapter 3 Division - Lessons 3 - 6. We are doing long division with zeros in the quotient, learning about patterns in division, and estimating with 2 digit divisors.

Friday the students will be filling in a homework sheet. After we grade each day's homework, the students should fix any errors and safely keep their assignments in their binder in their math pocket.

Quiz on Friday, October17th!

The Week of October 6th

Dear Students and Parents,
Thanks for taking the time to read this week's newsletter!

TICKETS!! Has your child told you about our classroom tickets that they can earn for positive behavior? I am asking for any parents who'd like to donate to my ticket prizes to send in "goodies" at any time. We need healthy individually wrapped snacks like cereal bars, fruit snacks, crackers, pretzels etc. Also, decorative pencils, prizes, stickers, and any other item you think would be fun for the kids to earn is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
THANKS!!!!

MISS TREFONAS'S HOMEROOM:

SOCIAL STUDIES: Chapter 5 Test is Tuesday, October 7th!

How to Study Sheet filled out with a parent signature is worth 2 Bonus Points!

**It is a 5th grade policy that we do NOT send home graded social studies tests. Your child will be able to see how they did on the test and then return it. If at any time you'd like to see the actual graded test, please contact me.

SCIENCE: We are still using science time to learn about the election process.

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MISS TREFONAS'S READING-ENGLISH- SPELLING CLASS:

SPELLING: Lesson 6 and "word of the week"!

ENGLISH: Unit 5 "Capitalization & Punctuation" We are learning about all the different uses for the comma. It sure is an important punctuation mark! We will be doing a creative thinking activity based on the picture book, Eats, Shoots, and Leaves.

READING: We are finishing Trouble River. The students will be getting a grade on their summary journals this week. The students will be creating a "story pyramid" based on the book which will show their comprehension of the book. This end of the book activity will also be graded. We will also be reading some short "spooky" stories that will review the reading skills of main idea and supporting details.

SCOOPER READING: We are halfway through the trimester this week which means your child should be halfway finished with their reading goal!

VOCABULARY: The grades for your child's 10 September words have been entered in the grade book. Ten October words will be do at the end of the month or before! The child must be able to pronounce the word correctly in order to get credit for the word. Please check that the words your child has selected or appropriate.

MISS TREFONAS'S MATH CLASS:

Multiplication timed tests= Last day is Tuesday!

This week we are doing some ISAT practice from Chapters 1 & 2, and we are starting Chapter 3.

We will be working on division in Chapter 3.

There will be a quiz and homework sheet at the end of the week.