Friday, May 27, 2011

The Week of May 30, 2011

Dear Parents,

Please remind your students:

~They need to EMPTY their book bags. We cleaned out our lockers today and they have a lot of things that they brought home.
**We will be cleaning out desks this week and need room in our book bags to bring more things home!

~Bring in Board Games to play since Miss Trefonas will be packing hers up!

~Bring back any books from Miss Trefonas's classroom bookshelf! (Time to pack that up too!)

~The raffle for Japan has just begun. A letter was sent home on Wednesday, with the list of raffle items and raffle tickets. If you wish to participate, just fill in the tickets, put them in an envelope with the money, and return it to your classroom teacher. All tickets must be turned in by June 3rd. We will have the raffle at the all school assembly on June 6th. Thank you so much for your support.

Tuesday = TALENT SHOW at 1:00!!! Parents and family members are invited!

Wednesday = Bowling!!! Students may bring money to purchase snacks.
Bring lunch from home......no hot lunch on Wednesday!!

Thursday = last day of reading and math classes.

Friday = Guest speaker Ginger Zee and Robert Crown field trip

This is our last week of art and music with Ms. Smeltzer and Ms. Wyse after all these years!


HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR CLASSROOM:

Spelling = Finished! The students really got creative with their Words of the Week ABC books.
They have been graded and returned.

Reading = Continuing Anne of Green Gables..... We have one last episode to watch and one last enry in our P-M-I Journals.

We gave two more sessions of reading class on Tuesday and Thursday.

Social Studies = We are finishing lesson 3 of Chapter 11. We will be making a question and answer "quilt panel".

Mr. Coffee, our wonderful assistant in the library, will be teaching a lesson on the Star Spangled Banner to our class!

There will NOT be a final test on Chapter 11.

MATH = Monday = Chapter 17 Test
and a math textbook "Treasure Hunt"

Tuesday = Last Day of math....
An end of the year target test and some games and farewells.......







Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Week of May 23, 2011

Dear Parents,
We only have 2 Mondays left of 5th grade....Can you believe it?

REMINDERS.....
Monday 5/23 = 6:30 Parent Education Meeting presented by Robert Crown Center

Tuesday 5/24 = 10:00 am LV choir concert presented here at Prairieview...parents are invited!

Wednesday 5/25 = The Public Libraries are coming to Prairieview to present their summer reading programs.
~ Home Run Inn Pizza fundraiser from 11:30 am - 10:00 pm.

Thursday 5/26 = We visit LV - IMC for a summer book check out!
SCOOPer Reading CELEBRATION!!!

Friday 5/27 = Miss Trefonas will be absent in the morning due to a pre surgery appointment I will be back in the classroom at 11:00.
We have a special guest speaker Friday morning.....GINGER ZEE from NBC will be presenting to the 5th grade!!


HERE'S WHAT WE ARE UP TO IN THE CLASSROOM:

SPELLING: Words of the Week N-Z. ABC books and test on Friday.

READING: Book Club commercials = Tuesday!

Anne of Green Gables..... We will be watching the movie and responding in a journal after each episode. We will be using several of our reading strategies in our journal activities. Anne of Green Gables is based on the best-selling novel and is a fictional portrayal of an orphan who is adopted by an elderly brother and sister to help with the farm work. They are expecting to adopt a boy, but Anne arrives instead. This is a humorous and endearing tale of the many experiences of an adolescent.

SOCIAL STUDIES: We will be learning more about Sacagawea and Lewis and Clark.
We also be learning about the next conflict the new country had with Britian......
What war would that be? Hint: It took place in 1812.

PERSUASIVES: We have one more persuasive to write. The topic will be on students having a longer school day.

MATH:
Monday = Chapter 17 L1 Probability
Tuesday = L2 Probability experiments
Wednesday = L4 Problem Solving - Making an Organized List
Thursday = L5 Problem Solving - Tree Diagrams
Friday = Homework sheet and Chapter 17 review....

Chapter 17 test will be on Tuesday, May31st.


Thursday, May 12, 2011

The Week of May 16, 2010

Dear Parents,
We are moving into the final stretch.......
Many thanks to the parents who have sent in some special treats during these hot days!

Some reminders:
Monday, May 16th = 5th grade visits Lakeview for an orientation at 1:00!
Parent orientation @ 6:30 at Lakeview!

Tuesday, May 17th = after 11:00, Miss Trefonas will be in meetings. If you need to contact me by email, regarding a message for your child, email or call the office instead.

Wednesday, May 18th Choir/Band Concert at Lakeview.

Don’t forget to sign up for the 2 mile Walk Day on Tuesday, May 24th at Prairieview School. All proceeds from the event will go to the American Red Cross to help the victims of the earthquake in Japan. There will also be a raffle to help raise money for the cause, and any donations would be appreciated. (gift cards, sport items, games, services, small goodies). Anyone who would like to volunteer on May 24th, please e-mail Mrs. Cavoto ccavot@ccsd66.org or Mrs. Sulima Ssulima@ccsd66.org to let them know.

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE CLASSROOM:

SPELLING: Words of the Week - Letters A-M. They will be creating an ABC Picture Dictionary!
Friday = assignment due and test over words that begin with A-M.

READING: Book Club Meeting and Discussion on Monday. This is the last book club meeting for the fantasy books they are reading. As a culminating activity, the students will be working in their book groups to create a commercial to advertise their book to the rest of the class.
Also, we will continue our analogy contests!
We will be watching the movie "Secrets of N-I-M-H" which is one of the books read during this book genre study!

SCOOPer Reading : DUE FRIDAY, MAY 20th

SOCIAL STUDIES: Chapter 11 Lesson 2 continued.....We will be creating a map to show how America is changing during this period as the country continues to expand its territory.
We will be learning about the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition.

ENGLISH: Unit 6 Pronouns continued......we are finishing this unit this week and testing early next week.

PERSUASIVE WRITING: The students are writing a persuasive composition about Should Public School Students Have to Wear Uniforms?
The students have to have three arguments for their opinion with STRONG support and elaboration. I strongly encourage the students to engage in writing conversations with parents and/or older siblings at home!
We will be finishing this writing piece this week and writing one more persuasive about having a longer school day.

MATH:
Monday = Lesson 9.4 Graphs
Tuesday = Lesson 9.5 Problem Solving: Drawing Diagrams
Wednesday = HOMEWORK SHEET , Chapter 9 Review, Graphing Coordinates (review)
Thursday = Chapter 9 Test and graphing activity (booklet)
Friday = Target test and continuing the graphing activity (booklet)



Thursday, May 5, 2011

The Week of May 9, 2010

Dear Parents,

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! May you all have the special day you deserve.

Thanks to all of you who contributed to our special Teacher Appreciation breakfast and lunch.
Thanks again for the special acts of kindness to me . I enjoyed all the special goodies!

I want to also thank all of you who continually donate snacks, prizes, stickers, and other items for the students and the classroom.

THIS WEEK.......
*Thursday = A SPECIAL DAY for all 5th graders!!!! There are special activities planned, a pizza lunch, and we get to go see the dress rehearsal of the Lakeview musical, Fiddler on the Roof.

*Friday = Early Dismissal

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MISS TREFONAS'S CLASSROOM:

SPELLING: Lesson 28! This will be our last regular spelling list and test.
After this week, we will be doing a spelling project based on the WORDS of the WEEK.
The students will be tested on these words too.

READING: We are continuing a literature unit based on fantasy genre. The students have selected a book and are reading, completing activity sheets, and participating in book club discussion groups.
We will be reviewing various reading strategies including story structure and questions, character traits, and figurative language.
They will be having their second book club meeting on Tuesday. The students are creating license plates based on character traits to share with members of their book club.
I look forward to listening to their book club discussions. As I observed and listened while they had their first book club meeting this past week, I was impressed with the literary conversations that took place!
In addition to the literature book activities we will be having ANALOGY contests!

SCOOPer Reading: DUE DATE IS FRIDAY, MAY 20th

ENGLISH: Pronouns - Contractions, Double Subjects, Using We and I correctly!

PERSUASIVE WRITING: We will be discussing some interesting topics....
Should soft drinks be allowed in schools? Should public school students wear school uniforms?
The students will have to pick a side about uniforms and write a persuasive essay to support their opinion.

MATH:
Monday - Chapter 22 review
Tuesday - Chapter 22 test
Wednesday- Target test and starting Chapter 9 Lesson 2 (review) Mean, Median, Mode and Range
Thursday - some enrichment activities
Friday - no math