Week of 12/4

Odds and Ends: 

*Happy Thanksgiving All! I want to wish each of you a Thanksgiving holiday full of delicious food, loving family and friends, and relaxation! I am thankful for each one of you!

Prairieview School-Community Service Project

proudly collected

$550

to sponsor an Edward Hospital Animal Assisted Therapy Program!!!

Thanks to everyone who donated!!!

Thank you to Mr. Arnold for visiting our room and teaching us all about his many roles and responsibilities as our superintendent! The students loved talking with him and asking him so many questions!

Winter Wear Drive:  Remember we are still collecting coats, gloves, scarves, mittens, and snow pants for our Winter Wear drive. The items will be given to students in need. Give the gift of warmth this holiday season!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Wed-Fri: No School: Happy Thanksgiving!

*Mon. 12/2: Reading: November Reading Calendars Due

* Wed. 12/4: Social Studies: Ch. 12 and Downers Grove Test

* Fri. 12/6: Spelling: List 13 Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue to work with our book buddies. We are going to do work on  character trait inferences and comparisons between characters in our different books. We will also look at author's purpose and point of view.

* English: We will begin to work on Verbs: ch. 3.

*Spelling: We will work on list 13.

*Social Studies: We will be wrapping up our unit on Downers Grove and local governments. A study guide was sent home this week. The test will be Wed. 12/4. Our next unit is immigration and culture.

*Science: We will begin our next unit: matter.

*Math: The students are busy learning about division concepts. We are learning about equal groups, dividend, divisor, quotients, and repeated subtraction. We will also begin to learn the 2's facts in both multiplication and division.

 Enjoy your time off together! Happy Turkey Day!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 11/25

Odds and Ends:

* Thanksgiving Break: We will have school Mon. -Tues. next week and then have Wed. - Fri. off as we celebrate Thanksgiving.



*Donations Needed: We are in need of prizes for our prize box as well as extra snacks (pretzels, juice boxes, gold fish crackers, etc) for snack. Thank you for considering donating some items to our classroom!

*Winter Coat Drive: We are collecting gently used coats and new winter accessories to be given to students in need. Please look through your closets for coats that you no longer wear or have outgrown and help another child or adult stay warm this winter season!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 11/25: Roller Skating Party after school

*Tues. 11/26: English : Ch 2 Nouns test

*No School Wed-Fri.

* Mon. 12/2: Reading: November Reading Calendars due

*Wed. 12/4: Social Studies: Ch. 12 and Downers Grove test

*Fri. 12/6: Spelling: List 13 test

A LOOK AHEAD:

*Reading: The students are working hard as they work on a variety of reading strategies using their good fit book buddy books. We also began Time for Kids.

*English: We are wrapping up our unit on Nouns. A study packet was given to the students. Please use this to study for the test on Tues. 11/26. Students have been working hard on writing their raindrop stories. We used google docs to write our stories. Please have your child log on this weekend at home and help them correct their stories. They have off to a fabulous start and just need an extra set of eyes to adjust their sentences and stories a bit. Enjoy reading all about the adventures their raindrops go on! Thanks!

*Spelling: We will not have spelling next week. We will resume with list 13 following break.

*Social Studies: We invited Mr. Arnold to visit our room on Mon. to discuss his role as a community leader as we learn about local government and community leaders. We will finish up our ch. 12 and modern day Downers Grove unit. Look for a study guide coming home soon. The test is scheduled for Wed. 12/4.

*Science: We will begin our next unit on matter soon!

*Math: Students are exploring concepts in division as we learn about partitions, dividends, divisors, and quotients. We are learning how multiplication and division are related and how to make equal groups.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 11/18

Odds and Ends:

*Thank you to Mrs. Singh, Mrs. Townsend, Mrs. Hiatt, Mrs. Cimbalista, and Mrs. Allington for chaperoning our Downers Grove Field Trip. We lucked out with a sunny day and had a great trip. The students learned so much and loved seeing the history lessons come alive.

Prairieview School-Community Service Project

Animal Assisted Therapy Program-Edward Hospital

Prairieview School, in Downers Grove, (3^rd, 4^th and 5^th Graders) is proud to have an opportunity to sponsor an Edward Hospital therapy dog.  The students are looking forward to sponsoring, Kodi.

Prairieview School will take donations until November 19^th!

If you want to learn more about this Animal Assisted Therapy Program go the the following link:  httpwww.edward.org/animalassistedtherapy

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 11/18: Turkey in Disguise Due

*Tues. 11/19: Assisted Animal Therapy Money Due
Math: Ch. 4 Test

*Wed. 11/20: Early Dismissal
Science: Chapter 9 Test

*Fri. 11/22: Spelling: List 12 Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will continue our guided reading groups. We will work on cause and effect and inferences. Also, students have 4 new dinner plate words. We will take a short graded review over the words on Tues. They are boost, barrier, recommend, and gratitude. They have a challenge to use the words as much as they can over the weekend!

*English: We will continue to study nouns.  Students are also working on writing a story about weather and the water cycle from the point of view of a raindrop.

* Spelling: We are on list 12 this week.

*Science: We will be wrapping up our study of the water cycle and weather. Our test will be on Wed. 11/20. We will continue to research weather using non fiction books and websites.  We will write expository papers on our chosen weather related topic.

*Social Studies: We will continue to study local government and modern day Downers Grove. A test  will be announced soon.

*Math: The students are wrapping up their studies on the concepts of multiplication. A study check list was sent home. The test is scheduled for Tues. 11/19. We will begin to learn about the concepts of division in ch. 5.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Olsen

Activities to work on Multiplication!

Here are some great websites to practice repeated addition, arrays, and equal grouping for multiplication!

1. Work with arrays and the commutative property of multiplication (where order of the factors doesn't matter or change the product!)

http://www.snappymaths.com/multiplication/earlymult/interactive/arrays/arraysframe.htm

2.  Work on equal groups in multiplication:

http://www.softschools.com/counting/games/multiplication.jsp

3.  Want a challenge? Try these multiplication word problems!

http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/math/multiplication_word_problems/quiz1059.html

4. A Thanksgiving Themed Multiplication Quiz:

http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/math/multiplication_word_problems/quiz1059.html

5. Making Arrays...note...this is "backwards" from what we practice in class, but a great way to see the commutative property in action!

http://www.haelmedia.com/OnlineActivities_txh/mc_txh3_002.html

Have fun practicing!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 11/12

Odds and Ends: 

*Conferences: It was great to meet with all of the parents during conferences this week. It is always wonderful to touch base about your child's progress. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to call or email at any time!

*Scholastic Book Order: A November book order has been sent home this week. All orders are due by Fri. 11/15. Please consider placing your order online to help us (and you!) earn free books! Thanks!

* Field Trip: Our Downers Grove field trip is set for Thurs. 11/14. I will be contacting chaperons soon. Please watch the weather forecast for Thurs. because we get off and on the bus and walk around outside, so students need to dress for the weather! I am looking forward to fun and educational day together!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Fri. 11/8: No School

*Mon. 11/11: No School: Veteran's Day

*Wed. 11/13: Reading: Cliffhanger Vocab Quiz

*Thurs. 11/14: Downers Grove Field trip
No math

*Fri. 11/15: Spelling: List 11 Test
English: DOL #5 quiz: quotations
Scholastic Book Order Due
Word of the Day week 3 graded review (dinner plate words)

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue to practice cause and effect and character inference as we discuss Cliffhanger. The students will have a vocab. quiz on the 6 vocabulary words in their binder for Cliffhanger on Wed. 11/13. We will also be working on non fiction text and novel studies in guided reading.

*English: We are working on nouns in a subject and plural nouns. We will begin our study of possessive nouns.  We will also practice quotations all week as we prepare for our DOL #5 quiz on Fri. 11/15 covering how to use quotations correctly.

*Spelling: We will work on list 11 this week. There will be only 2 homework assignments due to the shortened week due Thurs. The test will be Fri.

*Science: We will continue to learn about weather and clouds in ch. 9. Your child is writing a story from the point of view of a water droplet as it travels through the water cycle, types of water, clouds, and weather. What fun! A study guide was sent home this week. The ch. 9 test is scheduled for 11/20.

*Social Studies:  We are working on local government as we learn about modern day Downers Grove. We will be using ch. 12 from our textbooks as we learn about the roles and responsibilities of a local government.

*Math: The students are doing a great job learning the foundation of multiplication concepts! We have been busy learning about multiplication as equal groups, arrays, and repeated addition. We will continue to practice these skills and apply them to problem solving this week.

Enjoy your LONG weekends together!
Mrs.Olsen

Week of 11/4

Odds and Ends: 

*Thank you to the wonderful room parents who helped organize and celebrate a great Halloween party with the students. Thank you for Mrs. Lafin, Mrs. Bende, Mrs. Townsend, Mrs. Singh, Mrs. Orozco, Mrs. Stanley,  Mrs. Jaikovski, and all of the other parents who helped plan the party and send in items. It was a great success!

* Please take a look at the earlier posts on our blog: I posted lots of pictures of what we have been doing in class. I plan on posting some videos and more pictures soon!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Mon. 11/4: PM Parent Teacher Conferences
Bears Spirit Day!

*Tues. 11/5: PM Parent Teacher Conferences

*Wed. 11/6: PM Parent Teacher Conferences

*Thurs. 11/7: Friday specials schedule
Spelling: List 10 Test
Reading: Word A Day Week 2 review

*Fri. 11/8: No School

*Mon. 11/11: No School: Veteran's Day

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will focus on cause and effect and non fiction text. We will also work in book groups as we continue to practice making inferences.

We have also been working to build our academic vocabulary with "Weekly Wise Words". Your child has been taking home a "place mat" with our dinner plate words on them. Each day of the week, your child will be introduced to a new word. We discuss the meaning, how to use it in a sentence, its part of speech, and do some activities with the word. The students' daily goal is to use the word in school and at home as much as they can...calling them dinner plate words remind them to discuss the words around the dinner table! We did a practice test this week. Next week they will take a short graded review over the words on Thurs.

*English: We will focus on nouns and DOL #5: quotations. Look for your child's pretest in their English folder.

*Spelling: This week we will work on list 10. There will only be 2 homework assignments for the short week. The test will be on Thurs.

*Social Studies: We will begin our modern day portion of our Downers Grove unit. We will also learn about local governments in ch.12. A permission slip will be sent home on Mon. for our upcoming field trip to visit some of the historic places in Downers Grove. We will go on Thurs. 11/14. Please send back the permission slip and money by Thurs. 11/7.

*Science: We will continue to talk about the water cycle as well as weather. We will be doing close readings of weather text and learning about non fiction text features using a variety of leveled weather related books.

*Math: We are busy answering the question, "What is Multiplication?" We have been learning about making equal groups of objects, arrays, repeated addition, and the commutative property of multiplication. We will continue to practice the concept of multiplication next week. Look for your child's ch. 3 subtraction test coming home next week...I had to delay sending it home until all tests were completed. Thank you for your patience!

Have a great weekend!!!!

Mrs. Olsen