June 1-5

Odds and Ends

*Bowling: We will be bowling for gym on Monday, June 1st from 9-11 am. Please do not plan on buying hot lunch that day. Principal Schultz would prefer students to bring a sack lunch since they often have snacks at the bowling alley and are not very hungry when they return. This way we won't waste the hot lunch.

*Matter Presentation: We will have High Tech, High Touch back to school for another hands-on presentation about matter in the afternoon on Monday, June 1st.

*Chicago: The field trip is all planned...now let's just hope for a nice, sunny day! We will be visiting Chicago on Tuesday, June 2nd. Please send a disposable, sack lunch. You can send $5 for a treat on the pier (ice cream, etc) if you would like. I will send home a note on Monday about dressing for the day on the boat and other details about the trip. This will be a great day in 3rd grade! All chaperons...please meet us at school at 9:00 am. Parents who are meeting us in the city, please plan to meet us at 10:15 at Navy Pier. We will be meeting at the Shoreline ticket window across from McDonald's on the pier. Thanks!

* End of the Year Picnic: We will celebrate the end of the school year with a picnic and field day planned by the PTO on Thursday, June 4th. A hotdog, drink, and chips with be served, along with a frozen treat. If your child would prefer a different lunch, please send in a sack lunch that day. Thanks!

YEARBOOKS: will be handed out to students on June 5th. Any students who did not purchase a yearbook may do so on a first-come-first-serve basis on June 5th; they will go on sale after morning announcements. The cost will be $10.00 and children wishing to purchase should have exact amount. Checks can be made out to Prairieview. There is a limited supply. Prairieview yearbook orders were not paid for at registration. A flyer was sent out on November 13, 2008 and orders were due by Monday, December 1, 2008.

*Summer Birthdays: Any child who celebrates a summer birthday can celebrate with our class next week as we honor all summer birthdays. You may choose any day next week to send in a healthy or non-edible treat if you would like. Thanks!

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Mon. 6/1: Bowling 9-11

Matter Presentation

*Tues. 6/2: Chicago Field Trip

*Thurs. 6/4: End of the Year Picnic and Field Day

*Fri. 6/5: Last day of 3rd grade.... Summer Begins...Report cards sent home.

Dismissal at 9:30

10 Day Countdown:

Mon 6/1: Clash Day (mis-matched clothing)

Tues. 6/2: Crazy Sock Day

Wed. 6/3: Stuffed Animal Day

Thurs. 6/4: Vacation Outfit Day

Fri. 6/5: Choose your favorite spirit day!

A LOOK AT OUR LAST WEEK

*Reading, English, and Spelling: It was a pleasure to teach each and everyone of you this year. We had a great time reading, writing, and learning together!

Keep reading and writing over the summer!

*Science: We will work on some fun experiments about electricity and magnets this week!

*Social Studies: We will continue to learn and discuss Chicago as we get ready for our field trip.

*Math: Thank you to each student for working so hard this year in math. You all learned so much and I am so proud of you all! Keep practicing your math facts over the summer!

I can't believe the time has gone so fast! Just yesterday it seemed like we were all beginning this journey through 3rd grade together! I am looking forward to making some fun memories this last week with your child! Enjoy the weekend!

Mrs. Olsen

May 25-29

Odds and Ends

*Matter Presentation: We will have a special in school assembly all about matter. This will be in the afternoon on Monday, June 1st. The cost is $6.50 per child. Please send in your money (if you have not yet already) for this fun opportunity!

*Chicago Field Trip: We are all set and ready to go! We will leave on Tuesday, June 2 in the morning and return by 2:00 pm. Your child should bring a disposable sack lunch that day and $5 for ice cream or a special treat on the pier. Just as a reminder, the following parents will be joining us on the bus and boat: Jake's mom, Molly's dad, Clayton's mom, and Makaila's mom. Jacob's mom and Kayla's mom will meet us in the city for the boat ride. It will be an awesome day!

*Bowling: We will be bowling for gym class on Monday, June 1st in the morning. We will be coming back to school for lunch. Mrs. Schultz is requesting that students bring a sack lunch to school on the days that they are going bowling. There is no cost unless you want to send your child with a few dollars for one snack at the snack bar. All permission slips have been returned...wow! Thanks!

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Mon. 5/25: No School: Enjoy your Memorial Day!

*Tues. 5/26: Slipper Day

*Wed. 5/27: Crazy Hair Day

*Thurs. 5/28: Sports Day

Social Studies: Chicago History Quiz

Reading; Mystery Vocabulary Quiz

*Fri. 5/29: Munchies and Movie: We will watch a movie in class. Please send in a treat for your child to enjoy...no nuts please!

Reading: Fluency Poem Reading

*Mon. 6/1: Clash Day

Bowling AM

PM: Matter presentation

*Tues. 6/2: Chicago Field Trip!!

Crazy Sock Day

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK

*Reading: We are continuing to work in literature circles as we work as "reading detectives" on our mystery case file. We are practicing applying all of our reading strategies as we solve mysteries. We will have a quiz on mystery vocab. words on Thurs. 5/28. Our last day of reading will be Fri. 5/29.

*English: We are busy working on our final narrative, which we will turn into a picture story book. We are also learning about pronouns.

*Spelling: We are done with spelling for 3rd grade. Way to go! We were lucky to have Principal Schultz give us our last spelling test. What fun!

*Science: Students are learning about heat, sound, and light in chapter 14. Be sure to review the vocabulary on their vocab. flashcard ring in their binder.

*Social Studies: We have learned a lot about the Chicago fire and rebuilding of Chicago after the fire. We will have a history quiz on Thurs. 5/28. A study guide was sent home this week.

*Math: We will spend our last days together learning about probability and data. We will continue to practice mixed division each day, so practice those facts each night. Our last day of math will be Fri. 5/29.

Spring is here! Enjoy the weather and long weekend! Here is a picture of my twin nephews that I will be visiting this weekend!

~The Proud Aunt, Mrs. Olsen =)

May 18- May 22

Odds and Ends

*Scholastic Book Order: Last one of the year! Orders due on Wed. 5/20. You can also order online!

*High Tech- High Touch: A note will be sent home next week about an in-school assembly about matter. This is the same company that did "Goo, Glob, and Guts" with the students earlier in the year. They will be coming on Monday, June 1. The cost is $6.50 per child. Please send in the money by Fri. 5/22. Thank you!

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Mon. 5/18: 2nd Grade Pen Pals visit from Ide

*Mon-Fri: Math: Mixed Divisions Timed Tests: Begin counting towards grade on Friday 5/22.

*Fri. 5/22: Spelling: List 27 Test

*Mon. 5/25: No School: Memorial Day

*Mon. 6/1: Bowling with Gym class AM

*Tues. 6/2: Chicago Field Trip

*Thurs. 6/4: Field Day and Picnic

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK

*Reading: We will begin mystery literature circles as we put together all of the strategies we have learned this year to the test! Each day your child will have assigned reading to do in their mystery book as well as a literature "job" assignment sheet. If they do not finish it in class, it will be sent home as homework. Each child is responsible to keep up with the reading and be ready to share their job sheet each day so they can share in the learning and discussion with their book group. Thanks for helping your child "keep on track". =)

*English: We will work on our last narrative writing project.

*Spelling: We will be on list 27 next week. There will be a pretest on Monday. The packet and test will be on Friday.

*Science: We finished the chapter on matter. We will begin chapter 14: Heat, Light, and Sound. We will not have time to complete this chapter with a final test, so we will have a small, open book reviews. This will be our last chapter for the year!

*Social Studies: We are continuing to learn about Chicago's interesting history. We will take a Chicago history quiz on Thurs. 5/28. This will be our last social studies unit in 3rd grade.

*Math: The students are busy learning about decimals (ch. 19). This is a difficult concept for the students. Please continue to review ones , tenths, and hundredths place with your child. We will have our ch. 19 test on Tues. 5/19. This will be our last chapter test in math. We will finish up the year with a review of probability and data and multiplication and division. We will also be working on mixed division timed tests. We will take one each day next week. If your child passes before Friday, they are done! If they do not pass before Friday, they will retake each day of the following week (graded the same way as current retakes of timed tests). Thanks for your help studying these facts!

Thank you for reading my blog~ Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Olsen

May 11-15

Odds and Ends

*THANK YOU! Thank you to all of the parents and children for making Teacher Appreciation Week a special week to remember. I enjoyed all of the luncheons, treats, and kind words. Thank you for making being a teacher so incredible!

*Scholastic Book Order: The last order of the year was sent home last week. Please submit book orders by Wed. 5/20. Thanks!

*Chicago Field Trip: Hopefully you have sent in the permission slip and money into the classroom. If not, please send it in by Monday, 5/11. We need to have our final count and payment in to reserve our seats on the boat! I have contacted my 4 chaperons for the trip who will be riding the bus. Thank you to the following parents:

Molly's dad

Clayton's mom

Makaila's mom

Jake's mom

Please make sure you have also sent in $6 for your spot on the boat!

The following parents will be meeting us in the city:

Kayla's mom

Jacob's mom

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Tues. 5/12: Character Counts Assembly

*Wed. 5/13: English: Adjectives Unit 4 Test

*Thurs. 5/14: Science: Matter Ch. 11 Test

*Fri. 5/15: Math: 10's division

Spelling: List 26 review Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK

*Reading: We will continue to work on poetry. We will also begin literature circles and guided reading.

*English: We will work on finishing up adjectives. The test will be Wed. 5/13. We will also continue to write personal narratives.

*Spelling: This is a review week (List 26). There will not be a list to study from this week. We will be reviewing all of the spelling rules from list 19-25. Workbook pages will be assigned Monday and due on Friday.

*Science: We are finishing up our study of matter (ch 11). Your child received a study guide this week and the test will be on Thurs. 5/14. We will play review games during the week to get ready for this test. Our next unit is Heat, Sound, and Light (ch 14).

*Social Studies: We are busy learning about the history of Chicago. We will focus on the Great Chicago Fire and the rebuilding of our wonderful city!

*Math: We are onto our next chapter....19:Decimals! This will be a great link to fractions. The chapters are short, so our ch. 19 test is already scheduled for Tues. 5/19. More information will follow. We will also be working on 10's division and review our all of our division facts. Keep practicing them at home!

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

Mrs. Olsen

May 4-8

Odds and Ends

*Food Drive: Congratulations to the 3rd graders for collecting the most food in our food drive! We all showed wonderful character as we reached out to help those in need in our community.

*Shoe Collection: We will still be collecting old gym shoes until May 8th.

*Summer School: Check out the summer school brochure on the district website (http://www.ccsd66.org/) to see if your child is interested in any fun summer classes! I will be teaching a class titled "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" which will be all about fun ways to help protect Mother Nature! I will also teach a class called "Center Cass on Stage" about acting and getting things ready behind the scenes. We will have an end of summer school play!

*Field Trip: The Chicago boat tour field trip will be on Tuesday, June 2nd. We will only be able to take 4 parent chaperons per classroom with us on this trip. Each chaperon will be required to pay an additional $6 charge. You will need to be able to meet us at Prairieview at 9am on June 2nd. You'll ride the buses down with us, and you will be responsible for a group of 4-5 students (including your own.) The buses will return to Prairieview at approximately 2pm. If you are interested in this job, please email me. Space is limited, so the first 4 parents to email me will be awarded the job. As was the case last year, chaperons often cancel. If you are not one of the first 4 to email me, you will be put on a waiting list in the order in which you have emailed me. Please keep in mind that space is very limited. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Wed. 4/6: Math: Chapter 18 Fractions Test

*Fri. 4/8: Spelling Test List 25

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK

*Reading: We will continue to work on reading and writing poetry. We will also be working in small guided reading groups to work on fluency and inferences.

*English: We will continue to work on narrative writing and adjectives. The unit 4 adjective test is scheduled for Wed. 4/13.

*Spelling: We will be on list 25. There will be a packet due on Friday and test on Friday.

*Science: We will continue to work on ch 11: matter. We will focus on chemical and physical changes. The test is scheduled for Thurs. 4/14. A study guide will be sent home next week.

*Social Studies: We are finished with our Egypt unit and moving onto Sweet Home, Chicago! We will begin our Chicago unit next week, beginning with early settlers of the area.

*Math: We are working hard on fractions! We will review this week. The test is scheduled for Wed. 4/6. Look for a practice test coming home on Monday! Our next chapter will be ch 19: Decimals. We will work on 9's division next week.

Enjoy the weekend! Go Cubbies!
Mrs. Olsen

April 27- May 1

Odds and Ends

*Food Drive: 3rd is in first place! Keep sending in your cans and boxed foods. Drive ends April 27th!

*Gym Shoe Collection: Please send in any old gym shoes. We will donate them if they are in good condition or they will be turned into athletic material. Gym shoe drive ends May 8th.

*Box Tops: All box tops due by May 1st!

Upcoming Events

*Tues. 4/28: Character Counts Assembly: Imagination Station

Social Studies: Egypt Test

*Fri. 5/1: Spelling: Test list 24

Math: 8's division test

A Look At Next Week

*Reading: We will work on reading, analyzing, and writing poetry. Poetry book project is due Friday, 5/8. Your child should have their 3 poems chosen (2 were chosen in class). We will be focusing on fluency and expression while reading in this unit as well. A poem was sent home on Friday for you student to practice reading or singing each night. We will read this in small groups on Friday. This will be a weekly activity.

*English: We will focus on narrative writing and adjectives. We will also begin our pen pal letters to 2nd graders at Elizabeth Ide.

*Spelling: We are on list 24. Packets and test will be on Friday. Keep up the good work!

*Science: We are working on matter. We will be starting lesson 2.

Lesson 1 concepts covered so far:

matter: what is it?

mass

volume

density

buoyancy

*Social Studies: We will finish with Egypt this week, with the test on Tues. A study guide was sent home earlier this week and we have spent several days playing review games. We are Egypt Experts!

*Math: We are working on fractions. We will continue with equivalent fractions, compare and ordering fractions and adding and subtracting fractions. We will also work on 8's division next week.

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the WARM weather

~Mrs. Olsen

April 20-24

Odds and Ends

*Open House: It was so great to see so many of your at our Spring Open House. The student's were very proud to show off their hard work! Thank you for visiting!

*Old Gym Shoe Drive: We will be collecting old, worn gym shoes for the Nike Go Place's Program and as part of our Character Counts program. The shoes that are in good condition will be re-used. The other shoes are recycled and made into running track material and other athletic equipment. We will be collecting shoes April 20-May 4th.

*Food Drive: We are still collecting non-perishable food for the Woodridge Food Pantry. We will be collecting food through the 27th.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Fri. 4/17: Movie Night at PV 6:30-8:45: Bedtime Stories (Fast Pass tickets were sent home today with students who signed up to attend.)

*Tues. 4/21:

Math: Test ch 16 and 22

Roller Skating Party: 4:00-6:45

*Fri. 4/24: Math: 7's division

Spelling: Test List 23

Early Dismissal

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will be finishing up our biography unit. Your child will be presenting their scrapbook on Wed. 4/22 or Thurs. 4/23. Ask them what day they chose to present. They should dress up like their character and/or bring props to represent their character. I will hand back the graded biography scrapbooks on Monday. Our next unit will be Poetry. The monthly book project will be explained on Monday. It is a poetry unit. It will be due on Fri. 5/8.

*English: We are working on narrative writing and adjectives.

*Spelling: We will be on list 23. There will be a pretest on Monday and test on Friday. The packet will be due on Friday. Please make sure your child does all of their spelling work in cursive. Thanks!

*Science: We will be working on ch 11: Matter.

*Social Studies: We are finishing up our unit on Egypt. The final test will be scheduled for Tues. 4/28. A study guide will be sent home early next week. Our next unit will be

"sweet home" Chicago!

*Math: We have been working on ch 16 (3-D figures, face, edge, corners) and ch 22 (area, perimeter and volume). We will have a combined test on these chapters on Tues. 4/21. The next unit will be ch 18: fractions. We will also work on 7's division next week.

Thank you for checking out our blog this week. Enjoy the WARM weather this weekend!

~Mrs. Olsen

April 13-17

Odds and Ends

*Food Drive: Thank you to those who have sent in non-perishable food for our school food drive. We will be collecting food for the next several weeks, so please continue to send it in! 3rd grade hopes to collect the most food in the school!

*Open House: The Prairieview Open House will be on Thursday, Apruil 16th 6:30-8:00. Stop by to see your child's classroom and visit the rest of the school for this special event!

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Fri. 4/10: No School: Happy Easter!

*Thurs. 4/16: Open House

*Fri. 4/17: Spelling Test List 22

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK

Mrs. Olsen's Lanuage Arts:

*Reading: I was very impressed with all of the board games the students created! The students could sell them in stores! We had a great time playing them and they will be on display at open house. We hope to play them again soon in class. We will work on our biography unit. Please make sure your child has completed their chosen biography book by Wed. 4/15. We will work on a "scrapbook" in class and they will eventually do a presentation where they dress up like their person! More info coming soon!

*English: We will work on narrative writing and adjectives.

*Spelling: We will work on List 22 this week, words ending in y. There will be a pretest on Monday and a graded test on Friday.

Mrs. Olsen's Science and Social Studies:

*Science: We will begin a new unit on states of matter.

*Social Studies: We are working hard on our Egypt unit. This will be the focus of our open house. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Thurs. 4/16 on the Egypt words (your student received the list and definitions this week).

Math:

*Math: We are working on more geometry skills. We will focus on the following:

3-D shapes

perimeter

area

volume

These is covered in chapter 16 and 22. We will take a combined test on both of these chapters...date TBA. We will also work on 6's division next week. Remember to study fact families and connect division facts to already known multiplication facts!

Happy Easter! Enjoy the long weekend with family and friends!

~Mrs. Olsen

Week of April 6-10

Happy Spring Break!

We will be on break from Monday, March 30th to Friday, April 4th.

Have a great time relaxing and enjoying Spring!

*Food Drive: Prairieview will be having a food drive April 6th -27th. All food will be donated to the Woodridge Food Pantry. In today's economic situation, food pantries are short on donations and food to give to the growing number in need. Please send in any non-perishable foods in with your child. 3rd grade is trying to get the most donations, so please join us in our efforts. Thank you!

*Family Book Club Night: Are you looking for a good book to read? Is your child looking for a way to stay busy over Spring Break? Join us for Family Book Club Night on Wednesday, April 29th @ 6:30 p.m. Simply go to the Center Cass 66 District website, click on "Prairieview", and read more about this great school event! You can then print a registration form and send it in. Please note that registration has been extended.
If you have any questions, contact Lynda Slinger lslinger@ccsd66.org or Jennifer Cerney jcerney@ccsd66.org. Hope to see you there!

*Scholastic Book Club: Orders were sent home this week. Please review and submit your orders in class or online by Fri. April 24th.

*Recycling Club: We collected a lot of plastic and cans this week as part of our "GO GREEN" project. Principal Schultz was very impressed and suggested we take a photo and write an article to submit to the local newspaper. We will be working on this "assignment" and let you know what happens! Hopefully you will be seeing us in the news!

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Mon. 3/30-Fri. 4/4: Spring Break

*Mon. 4/6: Classes Resume

*Tues. 4/7: No School: Teacher Institute

*Thurs. 4/9: Math: Chapter 15 Test

5's division test

*Fri. 4/10: No School: Good Friday

A LOOK AHEAD

Mrs. Olsen's Language Arts:

*Reading: The students Ramona skits turned out wonderfully! I taped the skits and will try to put the video onto a DVD. When I am successful, I will have several copies of the DVD to send home and share. Our next unit will be on biographies. Don't forget, your child's book project (make a board game) is due on Wed. 4/8.

*English: We will be working on adjectives and narrative writing.

*Spelling: We will not have spelling the week we return from break due to the shortened week. We will focus on work work in centers instead.

Mrs. Olsen's Science and Social Studies:

*Science: We finished our unit on Space just in time for break. We will take a short break from science while we focus on Egypt. Next unit: Living Things.

*Social Studies: We will continue to work on Ancient Egypt. We will focus on the life and discovery of King Tut.

Mrs. Olsen's Math Class:

*Math: We began ch. 15 which focuses on congruent, similar, and symmetrical shapes, as well as slides, flips, and turns. This is a quick chapter and review for the students, so we will go through it quickly. We will take a test on the material on Thurs. 4/9. We will also work on 5's division after break. Please study division facts 5-9 over break.

March 23-27

Odds and Ends

*Tivoli: We will be going to see Nanny McPhee on Friday, 3/27 in the afternoon. We will eat lunch at school before we leave. This will be a fun day for all!

*Recycling! The students in my homeroom developed and began their school wide plastic and aluminum recycling program yesterday. We will do this every Tuesday. We were able to collect recyclables from all of the classrooms and fill a big bag and save it from the landfill! Way to GO GREEN!

*Our classroom is in need of disposable cameras! Please send them into school with your child. Thank you!!

UPCOMING EVENTS

* Tues. 3/24: Math: Chapter 14 Test

*Thurs. 3/26: Science: Chapter 10 Space Test

*Fri. 3/27: Spelling List 21 Test

Nanny McPhee Tivoli

*Mon. 3/30- Fri. 4/3: Spring Vacation! Enjoy!

A LOOK AHEAD AT NEXT WEEK

Mrs. Olsen's Language Arts Class:

*Reading: We will be working on writing scripts and presenting our own skits for Ramona Quimby Age 8 readers' theatre. We will begin our next unit, biographies. Don't forget....reading board games are due Wed. 4/8!

*English: We will finish up unit 3 on verbs. We will take the test on Thurs. 3/26. We will begin adjectives and narrative writing when we return from break.

*Spelling: We will work on list 21. There will be a pretest on Monday and a final test on Friday. The packet will be due on Friday.

Mrs. Olsen's Science and Social Studies:

*Science: We are finishing up our space unit (chapter 10). A study guide was sent home this week. The test will be on Thurs. 3/26. You can read and view our science textbook online at www.thinkcentral.com. Our next unit will be living things and ecosystems.

*See below for a link to check out the cool planet comparison website we used in class. What fun!

*Social Studies: We will continue to study Ancient Egypt.

Mrs. Olsen's Math Class:

*Math: We will finish up chapter 14 and take the test on Tuesday 3/24. We will also work on 4's division next week. We will begin chapter 15: congruent and similar shapes and symmetry.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Olsen