Dear Parents and Students:
First of all, I would like to tell you how happy I am to be back in a fifth grade classroom again. I began my career in District 66 teaching fifth grade, and always found this age group to be delightful. Meeting the students in Miss Trefonas's class has been a real pleasure. I am looking forward to working with the students and parents at Prairieview, along with the outstanding team of professionals here, who have gone out of their way to make my transition a smooth one.
Parents, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email me. I will get back to you as soon as I can. I hope that we can work together to make this a very positive experience for all of us.
This week we will be working on the following:
SPELLING: Lesson 20 and the word of the week - As usual, the workbook will be due on Thursday, and a test over the words will be given on Friday. On Thursday afternoon, all the classes will be attending the District Spelling Bee Championship round in the Prairieview gym. It should be an exciting event!
ENGLISH: We are continuing our study of adjectives. The class has been learning how to use adjectives to compare, and on Wednesday, we will discuss proper adjectives. Thursday will be a review of the chapter, and there will be a test over adjectives on Friday.
READING: In reading we are preparing for ISATs by reading fiction and nonfiction selections, and discussing key ideas, finding facts, relating cause and effect, summarizing, and making connections. In addition, we are formulating written responses to prompts about the selections read to demonstrate these skills.
SOCIAL STUDIES: Students have been discussing events leading up to the Revolutionary War, and looking at the differing opinions and views of the people who lived during this time of upheaval in our young country. They will be asked to put together a booklet, contrasting the views of those who were considered loyalists, and those who were considered patriots, citing the main areas of dispute in the thinking of each group. Students will be getting more specific instructions for the requirements for this project in the days ahead.
SCIENCE: Today we reviewed the notes the students had taken on Chapter 11 L-1, about our weather, and some study time was provided in class in preparation for an open book, open note quiz, which will be given on Thursday morning. On Friday, we will begin reading about the water cycle.
MATH: Students worked with changing improper fractions to mixed numbers, and mixed numbers to improper fractions today. Workbook page 12.4 was assigned for homework. Wednesday we will be comparing and ordering fractions, and 12.5 will be assigned. Thursday we will be relating fractions to decimals, and assigning page 12.7. Friday will be a day of review for a test over these concepts next week.
A note of interest: On Thursday, we will host Deputy Dave Kotovsky who will be leading a discussion on Decision Making, as part of the T.G.F.D. (Too Good for Drugs) program.
