February 2-6

UPCOMING EVENTS

* Thurs. 2/5: Science: Chapter 9 Test

*Fri. 2/6: Math: 9's Multiplication Timed Test

Spelling: List 17 Review Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK

Mrs. Olsen's Language Arts Class:

*Reading: We finished the novel Stone Fox. We will finish up this novel study next week. Our next focus will be on making inferences.

*English: We are working on expository writing and focusing on good "hooks" (opening sentences) and use of transition words. We have been working in the computer lab to publish some of our writing. We will continue to work on expository writing next week.

*Spelling: Next week will be List 17, which is a review week. We will be looking back at our spelling rules from lessons 10-16. There will not be a pretest. The students will be assigned workbook pages on Monday and the pages will be due Friday. The test will also be on Friday.

Mrs. Olsen's Science and Social Studies:

*Science: We are finishing up chapter 9 on the water cycle and weather. A study guide was sent home this week. The test will be on Thurs. 2/5. Next unit...space!

*Social Studies: We will begin ch. 9 on money and the economy this week.

Mrs. Olsen's Math:

*Math: We are busy working with customary measurement (ch 20) . We will continue working on this next week. Ch 20 test will be soon...possibly next week. More information will be sent home with your child, so please check their assignment notebook. We will work on 9's multiplication next week...ask your child to show you the finger trick we learned

to help us remember the 9's!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs.Olsen

January 26-30

Odds and Ends

*Thank you PTO for providing the students with end of IOWA testing snacks. The students enjoyed the yummy treat for their hard work all week!

*Congratulations to Cece and Declan, who were our top 2 spellers in our classroom spelling bee! They will compete with the other top 2 spellers from each 3rd grade classroom the week of Feb. 2nd. More details coming soon!

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Mon. 1/26: Reading: Stone Fox ch 1-4 vocab. quiz

* Fri. 1/30: Math: 8's multiplication test

Spelling: List 16 test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK

Mrs. Olsen's Language Arts Class:

*Reading: We will continue to read Stone Fox as we practice summarizing. There will be a vocabulary quiz on ch 1-4 on Monday.

*English: We are beginning expository writing. We will learn what is needed for each paragraph next week.

*Spelling: We are on list 16. There will be a pretest on Monday and the final test on Friday.

Mrs. Olsen's Science and Social Studies:

*Science: We are currently working on chapter 9. We are studying the water cycle and weather. The test is scheduled for Thurs. 2/5. A study guide will be sent home next week.

*Social Studies: Coming soon...ch 9 on the economy!

Mrs. Olsen's Math Class:

*Math: We finished up our time unit. Next we will focus on customary measurement (chapter 20). We will also work on t-charts. We are on 8's multiplication! We are almost done with multiplication!

Week of January 19-23

Odds and Ends

*There is no school on Monday, 1/19 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Ask your child to tell you about what a inspiration he was to the world.

*Tues. 1/20: Red, White, and Blue Day: In honor of Barack Obama's Inauguration, we are having a patriotic spirit day. We will also spend the day learning about this historic and important event.

*Scholastic Book Order: January's order is due Friday, 1/23 (online or paper order form). Thanks for ordering this month and helping our classroom earn FREE books!

*Go Green! We have been discussing the earth, water, and global warming as it relates to glaciers, the water cycle, and weather in science. This has opened up a lot of discussion and great questions from the students. We decided to try some simple things to make a difference in our world! We are going to try to all bring in waste free lunches ( or reduce our waste as much as possible!). Some students said they already do this! =) We are also going to try to reduce our use of paper and recycle plastic water bottles. They are full of great energy saving ideas! they might want to try some out at home!

Upcoming Events

*Mon. 1/19: No School

*Tues. 1/20: Inauguration Spirit Day: Wear Red, White, and Blue

*Thurs. 1/22: Math: Chapter 5 Test: Time

*Fri. 1/23: Spelling: List 15 Test

Math: 7's multiplication test

Mrs. Olsen's Homeroom Final Spelling Bee

A Look At Next Week:

Mrs. Olsen's Language Arts Class:

*Reading: We will begin a novel called Stone Fox. We will focus on summarizing and writing extended responses to the novel. We will also review self questioning and monitoring as we read.

*English: We will finish up friendly letter writing. We have also been reviewing unit 5 on grammar and punctuation. We will take a open book review on this material on Wed. 1/21.

*Spelling: This week we will focus on List 15. There will not be a pretest due to a shortened week. A packet will go home Tuesday. The test and packet will be on Friday.

Mrs. Olsen's Science and Social Studies Class:

*Science: We began chapter 9 in the textbook: The Water Cycle. We will work on lesson 1 (types of water) and 2 (the water cycle) this week.

*Social Studies: We will take a short break from social studies as we focus on science.

Mrs. Olsen's Math Class:

*Math: We will finish up chapter 5 on time this week. The chapter 5 time test will be on Thursday, 1/22. It will cover telling time, am/pm, elapsed time, using a calendar, sequenced events, and simple time conversions. We will also work on 7's multiplication. The 7's multiplication test will be on Friday, 1/23. The next unit will be customary measurement.

Stay warm and have a super weekend!

Mrs.Olsen

Week of January 12-16

Welcome Back and Happy 2009!

Thank you all for the very thoughtful and generous holiday gifts! It was such a special treat to have Mrs. David and Mrs. Scheiblein come deliver the surprise! I will enjoy using my gift cards!

I am so lucky to have such a great class! Thank you!

*IOWA Testing: We will begin IOWA Basic Skills Test on Monday, 1/12 through Thurs. 1/15. We will be testing in the morning for reading and language arts Mon. -Wed. (with our homeroom students) and in the afternoon Mon. and Thurs. for math with our math students. Please be sure to eat a healthy breakfast, have #2 pencils ready, a calculator (we can use it for one of the math tests), and a good nights rest to be prepared. Don't forget to remind your child to relax and try their best!

*Scholastic Book Order: A January book order was sent home this week. If you are interested, please send a check and the order in OR order online by Friday, 1/23. Thanks!

*Six Flags Read to Succeed Program: Don't forget to be logging in the time you spend reading onto your Six Flags Great America reading log sheet. You can get a ticket to Six Flags for reading a total of 6 hours. This is due by 2/20/09.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 1/12-Thurs. 1/15: IOWA Basic Skills Tests

*Tues. 1/13: Science is Fun: In School Assembly

*Wed. 1/14: Social Studies: Ch. 3 Test

*Fri. 1/16: Math: 6's multiplication timed test

*Mon. 1/19: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: No School

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

Mrs. Olsen's Language Arts Class:

*Reading: We will not be meeting as a class Mon. -Wed. due to IOWA testing. We will continue with summarizing and sequencing when we meet at the end of the week. We will also discuss different types of genre and point of view.

*English: Be on the look out for a special delivery in the mail! =) We have been working on writing friendly letters. We are now writing to a friend, family member, or a celebrity. It will be fun to see who we get responses from! We will also work to review Unit 5 (grammar and punctuation) and begin Expository writing.

*Spelling: There will not be a spelling list due to IOWA testing.

Mrs. Olsen's Science and Social Studies Class:

*Science: We will begin our next unit on water, the water cycle, and weather the week of 1/20. We will have an in school assembly on Tues. 1/13 called Science is Fun! This will be a great way to review the scientific method and how to conduct an experiment.

*Social Studies: Culture Day was a blast! We had a great time sampling food from around the world, seeing objects from other countries, and learning more about each other. Everyone was very well prepared and worked hard to make their presentation fantastic! Thank you for the hard work and effort!

We are almost done with ch. 3 on immigration and culture. A study guide was sent home for the ch. 3 test on Wed. 1/13. We will review next week as well. Please try the following to help your child prepare:

*Reread ch. 3 and answer any questions in the textbook after the lessons

*Look over Lesson 1-4 in-class notes and review worksheets

*Look over any completed ch 3 workbook pages

*Use the study guide to see what your child knows and what they need to polish up on!

Thanks!

Mrs. Olsen's Math Class:

*Math: We are working on time in ch. 5. So far your child has covered: telling time to the exact minute, am and pm, and we are currently working on elapsed time. Elapsed time is a hard concept...please find times with your child that they can practice this skill! For example, if they have practice at 4:15 and it lasts 45 minutes, what time will practice end? We will also work on 6's multiplication next week.

Thanks for checking in this week. Enjoy the snow!

Mrs. Olsen