Week of February 22nd

Dear Parents and Students,

It seems that I did forget one of the moms who contributed to our Valentine's Day party on the 12th. Please accept both my apologies, and thanks, Mrs. Van Geertry. We would have been a parched bunch without your contribution to the festivities.

I also want to acknowledge our class's top speller! The District 66 Spelling Bee Champion, our own Karina, has once again made us proud, by coming in ninth in the County Spelling Bee, held at Lisle Junior High last week. What an accomplishment for a fifth grader! Something tells me she will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years of the Bee. Congratulations, Karina!

Just a reminder that ISAT tests will be given the week of March 1st. We will be encouraging students to get a good night's sleep, and have a healthy breakfast to be ready for the challenge. It is a good idea for kids to bring a healthy snack each day, to help to keep them focused. If you could remind them of these things at home, too, it would be much appreciated.

And now, here is what we will be doing next week.

SPELLING: We will be tackling L-23 next week. The workbook will be due on Thursday, and the test over the list words, and the Word of the Week will be given on Friday.

ENGLISH: We will continue working on the expository essay next week, however, rather than using the ISAT format of writing your completed essay during a class period, we will be doing it the old fashioned way, using outlining, formulating a rough draft, peer editing, and, finally, preparing a final copy for evaluation for Friday.

READING: We will try to fit in another Time for Kids (TFK), in addition to some reading skill work in our ISAT Coach books.

SOCIAL STUDIES: It is time to begin Chapter 9, where we will be studying the Revolutionary War, and the beginnings of our new government. Students will learn about the trials and tribulations suffered by the Continental Army, and draft a letter home as if they were traveling the road to Valley Forge along with Washington and his men.

SCIENCE: Weather Station Daily Record sheets will be due on Tuesday. Hopefully, you have been seeing your child take some time each day to gather the data on local weather conditions. On Wednesday, we will have an open note/open book quiz over L-3 of Chapter 11. Our test over the entire chapter is scheduled for Friday.

MATH: We will be practicing lots of the math skills that will be tested on the ISAT, which is coming up the week of March 1st. Students will be asked to use a T-chart to formulate extended responses for word problems, just as they will be asked to do on this important test. We will also be finishing up Chapter 18, which dealt with geometry. The test over the material in this chapter will be given on Friday.

Deputy Dave Kotovsky will return once again on Thursday morning. His presentations are part of the T.G.F. D. (Too Good for Drugs) program.