Classroom Issue #8

Odds and Ends

*Halloween!! We will begin the day by going to Robert Crown (without costumes) and then come back for lunch. After eating, we will change into our costumes for our school wide parade and the come back into the room for our party. Our classroom party will be on Wednesday, October 31st at 1:30-2:20. We will have our whole school parade from 1:15-1:30 outside (weather permitting). Any parents who have been contacted to help at our party should arrive no earlier than 1:15. Thank you in advance to all of the parents who are planning our party!

If your child would like to dress up at school, please send their costume with them in a large bag labeled with their first and last name. There are some guidelines to follow when choosing a costume:

1. Please make sure your child can change into his/her costume easily and by themselves. We allow about 15 minutes for costume changes. It is best if the costume can go over their clothes to reduce the time to change and the chances of losing any clothes!

2. Make up can be used, but please do not send your child with it on that morning. There will be no extra adults around to help with make-up, so your child has to be able to apply it themselves. 3. Please no weapons. Save those for trick-or-treating.

4. Your child will wear their costume home. We do not change back into our clothes for dimissal due to time contraints.

THANK YOU~

*SMILE (again!) =) Photo Retakes will take place on Tuesday, October 30th. If your child needs retakes please send them with their original pictures. If your child missed the original picture day, please send your order forms on Tuesday. Thank you!

*Classroom Donations Needed:

Our classroom is in need of the following items.
*Disposable Cameras

*Film for camera
*Prizes for boys and girls for prize box (pencils, toys, etc.)

THANK YOU!

Upcoming Events:

*Mon. 10/29: No School: Teacher Institute...Enjoy the long weekend!

*Tues. 10/30: Photo Retakes

*Wed. 10/31: Happy Halloween! Robert Crown Field Trip 9-11:30

Halloween Parade: 1:15-1:30

Classroom Party: 1:30-2:20

*Thurs. 11/1: English: DOL #4 Review

*Fri. 11/2: Spelling Test

Spirit Day: Character Counts: We are CARING this month: Please wear RED =)

*Math: We have completed chapter 1 from our textbooks. The tests will be sent home next week. We will start our next unit, Make-a-Table problem solving next week. This unit focuses on a problem solving skill as we introduce the students to t-charts. T-charts require students to solve a problem and then write what they did and why. They are a skill used on the ISAT test in March. We will continue to cover this higher level skill through out the year. I will send home a "how-to" t-chart packet next week that you can use to practice with your child and help them understand this often difficult concept. Each night sample problems and t-charts will be sent home to help complete the homework. Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation!

*Science: We are continuing to learn about germs and will begin learning about harmful and helpful drugs next week. Our human body and health unit will be reviewed at Robert Crown on Wednesday. Your child will be receiving a study guide on Tuesday that will be due on Friday. The test is scheduled for Tuesday, 11/6. Look for a note coming home about Health Fest next week.

*Social Studies: We are busy learning about various US communities. We learned about El Paso and started making our own brochures highlighting the geopgraphy, history, and community life of different US cities. If your child is doing a city other than El Paso, there is some extra research that should be done at home. I sent home a tradebook on the city that your child can read and choose facts from to include in their brochures. We will work on these again in class on Tues. Depending on the students progress, they may receive another day to work on them in class or they may be sent home to be finished. Look in their assignment notebooks to find out when they are due. Please have your child refer to their rubric when creating their brochure to make sure they include all of the necessary parts. Your child may print photos from the internet of their city if you would like. Thanks!

*Spelling: This week we will take a break from the spelling book due to the shortened week and Halloween party and do a Halloween word list. The list will be sent home on Tuesday and we will do various activities throughout the week. The final test will be on Friday.

*Reading: The students did a great job on their "book commercials" today and I think they encouraged their classmates to read many different books. The posters looked great. I handed out the next project, which will be due Friday, December 14th. This project is working with a non-fiction book. The students will need to create a new book cover, listing 3 facts on the inside, and a summary of the book on the back. I will provide the paper necessary for the project. I will be approving books next week. Please look in their binder for a detailed assignment sheet. We will work in various word analysis, fluency, and comprehension skills next week.

*English: Nouns and more nouns! We are continuing to work with nouns, focusing on plural nouns and possessive nouns in the upcoming days. Our final test is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, 11/8. A study guide will be sent home before the test. Your child can expect a graded review of nouns (common/proper, nouns in a subject, plural) next week.

Have a wonderful, long weekend and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
~Miss Carlstrom

Classroom News Issue 7

Odds and Ends

The students will celebrate Halloween in our classroom during the afternoon on Wednesday, October 31st. If you would like to participate, your child can bring a costume to school to change into. It must be a costume your child can change into by themselves. The Prairieview Halloween Parade will be starting around 1:15pm.

Independent Reading Folders: Just a reminder...if your child reads from a text book at night for homework, those minutes can count towards the nightly goal of 20 minutes of reading, written down in the independent reading folder. Keep up the good work! Our next reading party will be Thursday, November 8th. Keep Reading!

Thank you to those of you who have been donating prizes to our classroom prize bin. The students have been working hard to earn goodie tickets to pick from our new prizes. They are always appreciated!

Upcoming Events:

*Mon. 10/22: Social Studies: Hemispheres Quiz

*Fri. 10/26: Reading: Monthly Book Project report due: Advertise A Book poster

Spelling: Review Week Test

Math: Chapter 1 Test

Character Counts Assembly

SPIRIT DAY: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26th: WEAR YOUR SLIPPERS TO SCHOOL!

Photo Retakes will be on October 30th. Please send in your photo packet if you want retakes. Thank you.

Math: Thank you to the Imgruet, Sarros, and Wascher family for donating supplies for our classroom store. We really appreciate your generousity! In math class, we are in the money =) We are working on counting back change. This is a great opportunity for your child to get some real world experience while shopping or looking at sale ads at home. Get out your change and let your child work with making change from $1-$5. I sent home a great website for your child to play with to work on their money skills. It is on http://www.gamequarium.com/. Click on 3-6th grade math, then try out the games Money Drills, Change Maker, and Working with Money. We will be going to the computer lab next week to play these games. The chapter 1 test will be on Friday, October 26th. A study guide will be sent home on Monday. We will have the Carlstrom Classroom store on Wed.

Science: We will continue to learn about health and nutrition. We are going to learn about excercise, germs, and helpful and harmful drugs. This will give us some good background information as we get ready to visit Robert Crown on Wednesday, Oct. 31st. If you have not yet sent in your child's permission slip, please do that on Monday. Thank you!

Social Studies: We are wrapping up our map skills unit. We will have a quiz covering hemispheres, North and South pole, Equator, and Prime Meridian on Monday. Please use the study guide to help your child prepare. Our next unit will be on different communities, starting with El Paso, Texas.

Spelling: Next week will be our review unit, where the students will review the rules and words of the previous spelling lists. There will be no pre test and no list of words to study will be sent home. The students are responsible to know the spelling rules we have learned for the past 7 weeks. We will take a sample test on Wednesday so your child can practice with this different test format. It involves them reading 4 words and choosing which word is spelled incorrectly. The test will be on Friday.

Reading: The students are enjoying reading their non-fiction stories about animals. They will continue to work on the posters with their partners on Monday. They will begin an animal story on their own on Tuesday. This story will be taken for a grade. You can look in their reading folders to see a sample of what the stories look like. We will spend the rest of the week practicing reading fluency with poetry and sharing our book posters on Friday. The next monthly book project assignment will be introduced this week as well.

English: Our spooky haunted house descriptive paragraphs are turning out great! We are learning how to use varied sentence starters to make the story interesting for others to read. Your child may have to finish their rough drafts over the weekend. I will be taking a grade on their "work in progress". We will be working on our final drafts on Monday. The students are also having an opportunity to have an individual conference with me during our writing workshop as we talk about their strengths in writing and what we are going to work to improve. Our next unit will be nouns.

Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the fall weather!!

Miss Carlstrom

ODDS AND ENDS

Opps! I had the wrong times for the Book Fair that will be held on Thursday, October 18th. The times are 6:30-8:00 pm, not 6:45-8:30 pm. Sorry for any confusion.

Also, if your child has headphones from Elizabeth Ide last year, you may send them in to be used later this year. Your child will store the headphones in their lockers until we need to use them. Thank you!

PICTURE RETAKES: are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 30th . Students must have original picture packets in hand to have a retake. If your child was absent on the first picture day, they will have to have their original order envelope with them at the time of retakes.

Classroom Issue 6

Classroom News

Thank you to all of the parents who brought in prizes for our prize box and treats for math class. We could use prizes for the prize box anytime, so if you have anything to donate, it will be greatly appreciated!

Reading Parties: The next reading party is Thursday, November 8th. Continue to read 20 minutes each night and fill in the reading log. The last day to turn in the reading log for the next party is Wednesday, November 7th. Also, at the end of the year we have a party for students who have attended each reading party for the year. I will allow one "freebie" month that your child can miss, so if they attend every party but one, they can join us for the final party at the end of May. Thanks!

Magazine Drive Winners: We are one lucky class! Nick Paskvan and Bradley Burton each won our class a special treat during the magazine drive. Nick chose doughnuts for the class that will be enjoyed on Wed. 10/17 and Bradley chose cookies that we be shared on Friday 10/26. Yum!

Field Trip: We enjoyed our "recess" at Elizabeth Ide playing on the brand new playground. Even in the chilly weather the children had a great time!

Upcoming Events:

*Mon. 10/15: English: DOL #3 Quiz (covering book titles and introductory words)

Spelling: List 7 Pretest

*Wed. 10/17: Reading: Illinois Workbook Lesson 1 Review (see practice review coming home on Mon.)

Early Dismissal: School out at 11:00 am

*Thurs. 10/18: Book Fair at school 6:45-8:30 pm

*Fri. 10/19: Spelling: Test List 7
Spirit Day: Wear A Crazy Hat!

*Math: We are busy practicing place value and logical reasoning. We will begin money next week, so please have your child bring in their coins by Thursday of next week. We will have a graded place value review on Tuesday, so you can review any worksheets on place value in your child's math folder. They will need to know the names of the different place values up to 100,000 and the different forms of writing numbers (standard: 391, expanded: 300 + 90+ 1, and word form: three hundred and ninety-one). Also, thank you to those parents who sent in candy for our store in math. This is an activity where we will practice counting change from $1. The store will provide non-edible treats as well. Each child will only be able to purchase 2 items. We are still in need of the following individually, mini wrapped treats(like you see at stores for Halloween) for our store (which will take place on Tues. 10/23):

*Twix

*Starburst

Thanks!

*Science: We started on unit on health and nutrition. We will be learning about the food pyramid on Monday. We will be making a food pyramid book in class for a grade. The students will be given class time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to work on the book. If the students do not finish the book in class, it will be sent home on Wednesday to be turned in on Thursday. Thank you!

*Social Studies: The students are working their way around the world in Social Studies! We finished learning about the continents and oceans and the students did a wonderful job of locating and naming these places on the map. We will start our unit on hemispheres next week. We will cover the 4 hemispheres, North and South pole, Equator, and Prime Meridian. A graded review of these concepts is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 22nd. A study guide will be sent home next week.

*Spelling: We will work on list 7 this week, irregular plural nouns. There will be a pretest on Monday and the final test on Friday. Keep up the good work practicing and studying the words at home. The students are doing a great job on their weekly tests.

*Reading: We have finished up The Chalkbox Kid and made our own chalk gardens. They look great! We will begin reading non-fiction short stories on animals. The students will do one as a whole group, work with partners on another story as they read, answer questions, and make a poster on the main ideas and details of the story, and finally read and answer questions on their own for a grade. This is a great way to learn new vocabulary, answer different types of questions, and locate and highlight answers within the text.

Also, we are working on various word analysis concepts in our Illinois workbook. We will be finishing up lesson 1 on Tuesday and a graded review will be given on Wednesday. All of the pages have been ripped out of the students workbook and stapled together and put in their reading folder of their binders. The review will cover prefix/suffix, vowel and letter sounds, and compound words. A review will be sent home on Monday for homework and we will go over it Tuesday in class.

*English: We are busy writing our descriptive paragraphs. The students have learned how to narrow a topic and choose just one idea to write about. We are using all we have learned about descriptive writing and applying it to our work. We are using WOW opening sentences, specific color words, sensory details, similes, and "wrap it up" ending sentences. We will continue working on descriptive writing next week.

Classroom Issue 5

UPDATE: The continent and ocean quiz is changed to FRIDAY, 10/12 rather than THURSDAY 10/11. This gives the students an extra night to prepare. Thanks!

Reminder: There will be no school on Monday, October 8th due to Columbus Day! Please enjoy the long, warm weekend!

Thank you to those parents who have signed and returned the permission slip to go to play on the new playground at Elizabeth Ide on Wed. 10/10. Please return the slip by Tuesday, if you have not already turned it in. Thanks!

Upcoming Events:

*Mon. 10/8: No School: Have fun!

*Wed. 10/10: Field Trip to Ide Playground (weather permitting) from 10-10:30

*Thurs. 10/11: Reading: The Chalkbox Kid vocabulary review

Social Studies: Continent and Ocean Quiz

*Fri. 10/12: Spelling: List 6 Test

Spirit Day: Show your School Pride: Wear your favorite Prairieview shirt or school colors.

A LOOK AT OUR WEEK!

*Math: The following news is for Miss Carlstrom's math class only. Please look at your math teacher's blog for your child's math news. Thank you!

We are continuing the second half of chapter 1. We will be working on place value and money. Look for a place value game coming home for you to try out with your child.
Also, look for a note coming home about sending in coins for your child to use during math class. The money will be returned, but this gives the students a "hands-on" approach to using money. Soon we will be working with money, practicing how to give change, write, and count money. We will be working on how to count change in our “classroom store”. We will set up a Carlstrom Classroom store to have a "real world" experience using money and counting back change. Please see the list below if you’d like to donate any supplies to our classroom store. All candy should be the individual, wrapped candy you see in the stores for Halloween. Thank you in advance for your help!

*Skittles

*Starburst

*Tootise Rolls

*Twix

*Lollipops (any kind)

*Science: We finished up our body systems unit. We had a great time learning about our amazing body systems. We are going to be starting our next unit on health on Monday.

*Social Studies: We are working with map skills. We started exploring our world’s continents and oceans. We will have a graded review over the world's continents and oceans on Thursday. A study guide will be sent home on Tuesday. Your child will need to know the location and spelling of the continents and oceans. We will still continue to practice our directions.

*Spelling: Next week will be List 6: plural consonants + y words. (i.e. flies). Due to the shortened week there will be no pretest on Monday. The final test will be on Friday. Expect spelling homework on Wednesday night.

*Reading: We have finished reading The Chalkbox Kid and the comprehension journal. Chapters 5-9 in the journal were collected for a reading grade and the conventions (complete sentences, capital letters, end marks) will be taken for an English grade. We will work on summarizing the story and characterization next week. Your child will be given a vocabulary and comprehension review of the book on Thursday. They will not need to know the dictionary definition of the vocabulary word, but rather the context definition (or how it is used in the book). A list of the words and there "book" meaning will be sent home on Tuesday.

*English: We are continuing to work on descriptive writing. We are learning about similes, color words, and sensory words. Ask your child about their new crayon color and mystery object. We will be writing our paragraphs next week.