Week of 4/27

Odds and Ends: 

*Open House: We welcome you to come visit Prairieview School and check out our classrooms and book fair on Thurs. 4/30 from 6:30-8:00. Hope to see you there!

**The online book fair opens 4/25. Visit this link for more information:

http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=prairieviewelementaryschool15

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Tues. 4/28: MAPS testing Reading

*Thurs. 4/30: MAPS testing Math
Open House

*Fri. 5/1: Reading: April Reading Calendar Due

* Week of 5/4: End of Year PARCC Assessments: Mon-Wed.

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue to work on folktales, focusing on fables and myths.

*English: We will begin friendly letter writing.

*Spelling: We will work on list 21 this week.

*Science: We are busy learning about our solar system in ch. 10.

*Social Studies: We will focus on the rebuilding of the city after the fire and the places that make Chicago a great city.

*Math: We began ch. 12 on time. This is a short chapter, so we will be taking the test on Mon. May 4th. We will also work on 9's division facts, with students needing to pass the test by Fri. 5/1.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 4/20

Odds and Ends: 

*Open House: Come to visit your child's classroom, attend our Book Fair, and get a sneak peek at 4th grade classrooms at this year's open house, Thurs. 4/30 from 6:30-8:00.

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

* Wed. 4/22: Math: Ch 11 Graded Review

*Fri. 4/24: Spelling: List 20 test
Math: 10's division fast facts

*Week of 4/27:  MAPs testing
* Thurs. 4/30: Open House
*Week of 5/4: End Of Year PARCC Assessments

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will study fables this week.

*English: We will begin a friendly letter writing unit soon!

*Spelling: We will work on list 20 this week (there is no list 19). Homework is due Thurs. and the test will be on Fri.

*Social Studies: We will continue our unit on Chicago, focusing on the Great Chicago Fire and the rebuilding of the city.

*Science: We will continue our study of space as we learn about seasons and the moon.

*Math: Ch. 11 on polygons (2 dimensional shapes) was very short...we will be taking a graded review on Wed. 4/22. Ch. 12 will focus on time. We will work on 10's division facts this week.

Enjoy the weekend together!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 4/8

Odds and Ends: 

Spring Break: I hope you enjoy your Spring Break and that the weather turns and looks more like spring than winter! We will see you back on Wed. April 8th.

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Spring Vacation: School starts back Wed. 4/8

*Fri. 4/10: Math: Ch. 10 test.
5's division fast fact test

A LOOK AT OUR UPCOMING WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue to study folktales and point of view.

*English: We will edit and finalize our autobiographies.

*Spelling: We will not have a spelling list this week. We will work on building vocab. through word work.

*Science: We will begin our Space unit.

*Social Studies. We will continue our study of Chicago.

*Math: We will be wrapping up our unit on fractions (ch. 10). The chapter 10 test will be on Fri. 4/10. We will also work on 5's division fast facts.

Enjoy your break!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 3/23

Odds and Ends: 

We are celebrating Spring with a spirit week. Your child can participate in the following Spirit Days:

Mon: Cubs Vs. Sox: Wear the colors or shirt to support your favorite team

Tues. Shades Day: Wear Sunglasses

Wed: Think Spring: Wear spring colors!

Thurs: Hat Day: Wear your hat!

Fri: Comfy Clothes Day: Wear your most comfortable clothes!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

* Tues. 3/24: Science: Ch. 14 Test

*Fri. 3/27: Analogies Test
Spring Break Begins! See you Wed. 4/8!

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue our study of folktales as we read The Beedle and the Bard and Mulan.

*English: We will continue to work on our final copies of our autobiographies.

*Spelling: We will work on analogies, adding part/whole analogies to our study. A test of antonym/synonym and part/whole analogies will be on Fri. 3/27

*Social Studies: We are busy learning about the history of Chicago and the region going as far back as the Ice Age!

*Science: We will be finishing up ch 14 with the test on Tues. 3/24. Our next unit is Space!

*Math: We are working on ch.10 which takes us deeper into fractions. We will also begin our division fast facts starting with 2's division (pass by Fri. 3/27) and then 5's division during the week after break (pass by 4/10).

Enjoy the first official weekend of Spring!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 3/16

Odds and Ends: 

*Spring is here! We will be having more outdoor recess now. Please send your child with the coat you would like him/her to wear outside. They will need to bring their jacket outside and if they get too warm, they can tie it around their waist. It's often not as warm as the weather man says when we are outside at 11:20!

*Scholastic Book Order: Feb/March book orders due March 20th...please turn in your orders online or send in a check. Thanks!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Tues. 3/17: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

*Wed. 3/18: Math: Chapter 9 Fractions Test

* Thurs. 3/19: Early Dismissal

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will begin our ELA Unit 3: Folktales, Fables, and Myths, oh my! We will focus on these genres of text.

*English: We will continue to work on our autobiography writing.

*Spelling: We will continue to work on synonym/antonym analogies.

*Social Studies: We will begin our study of Chicago!

*Science: We will be wrapping up our study of ch. 14 with lesson 4: Sound. A study guide was sent home. The test is scheduled for Tues. 3/24.

*Math: We will continue to work on ch. 9: Fractions.  A practice test will be sent home Tuesday and the chapter 9 test will be Wed. 3/18. Our next unit will dig deeper into fractions.  We will also spend another week practicing mixed multiplication facts. The last week before spring break we will work on 2's division facts.

Enjoy the warm weather and sunshine this weekend!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 3/9

*Odds and Ends: 

Thank you to the following families for bringing in snacks or drinks for PARCC testing: Edie, Yates, Salvino, Pangallo, and Gasman! If you still went to send in NUT free snacks or 100% juice boxes next week, the students would really appreciate it!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Mon. 3/9: PARCC Testing: ELA I

* Wed. 3/11: PARCC Testing: ELA II

*Fri. 3/13: PARCC Testing: ELA III

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will focus on reading paired text and comparing how different viewpoints and authors can write about the same topic. We will also finish up on ELA Unit 2 on culture.

*English: We will focus on autobiographies next week.

*Spelling: We will not have a list this week. We will work on analogies.

*Social Studies: We will begin our Chicago unit.

*Science: We will continue to work on ch. 14 as we work with color and sound.

*Math: We are working on fractions in ch. 9. The focus for our fast fact for this week is mixed multiplication facts. Students will work on passing 30 multiplication facts. Then we will begin division fast facts!

Have a great weekend...enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather! Don't forget to SPRING ahead and change your clocks!

Mrs. Olsen

week of 3/2

Odds and Ends: 

*PARCC Testing begins Mon. 3/2. If you would like to send in a healthy snack , drink, or mints to share with the class as "brain food", please feel free to do so.  Please nothing with nuts and 100% juice only. Here are some ideas from the past: clementines, goldfish crackers, pretzels, 100% fruit snacks/roll ups, peppermints, granola bars (nut free), grapes, apple slices, carrot sticks. Thank you!

PARCC Testing schedule: Our testing block in the computer lab is from 11:45-1:25

Mon. 3/2: Math I
Wed. 3/4: Math II
Mon. 3/9: ELA I
Wed. 3/11: ELA II
Fri. 3/13: ELA III

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Mon. 3/2: PARCC testing
Reading: Small Memory Item due
February Reading Calendar Due

*Tues. 3/3: Math: Ch. 8 Test

*Wed. 3/4: PARCC testing

*Thurs. 3/5: Science: Insulators Due
Spelling: List 17 homework due

*Fri. 3/6: End of 2nd Trimester
Spelling: List 17 test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue to talk about compare and contrast and culture. Students will be sharing their small item and what it means to them and why is it important. We will also work on different reading passages as we find the evidence to prove our answers and thinking.  We will be celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss on Monday!

*English: We will continue our study of adverbs and adjectives. We will also begin talking about our autobiography writing.

*Spelling: We will work on list 17 this week. Homework will be due on Thurs. and the final test will be on Friday. We are going to try to start writing our homework and tests in cursive to get added practice.

*Social Studies: We will begin our unit on Chicago in the upcoming weeks. We begin with the history of the region.

*Science: We are working on ch. 14 and learning about heat, light, and sound.

*Math: We will be finishing up our ch. 8 study of division with a test on Tues. 3/3. A practice test/study guide went home today (Fri) for your child to prepare for the test. We will begin ch. 9 on Thurs. We will also focus on 11's multiplication facts this week.

Have a great weekend saying goodbye to February and hello to March! Spring is just around the corner...hopefully!!!!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 2/9

Odds and Ends: 

*Valentine's Party: Our party will be Thurs. 2/12 from 1:30-2:20. It is optional to pass out Valentine's, but if your child wants to, please have one for every student in the class. We currently have 21 students.

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Mon.2/9: District Spelling Bee

* Wed. 2/11: Early Dismissal: 11: 00
Science: Ch.11 Test

* Thurs. 2/12: Valentine's Party: 1:30-2:20
Math: 6's fast fact

*Fri. 2/13: No School

*Mon. 2/16: No School

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue our theme of culture as we look at traditions from around the world around losing a tooth. We will focus on the skill of compare and contrast.

*English: We will work on adjectives and figurative language.

*Spelling: Due to the short week, we will not have spelling. We will work on vocabulary building and word work.

* Science: We are wrapping up our unit on matter. We had a great day with Matter Matters as we learned and experienced matter hands on! Due to the snow day, our test is moved back to Wed. 2/11.

*Social Studies: We will continue to work on ch 3: immigration.

*Math: We finished ch. 7 as we were introduced to division concepts. We will begin ch. 8 next week, as we continue to learn about division. We will focus on 6's facts for our timed tests. Students will have to pass 6's by Thurs. 2/12.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Olsen

Matter matters

Students loved their hands on experience today during Matter Matters! 

Week of 2/2

Odds and Ends: 

*New Student: We welcomed a new student, Gayathri, to our room last week. We are so thrilled to have her with us!

*January Pride Award: This month we honored Evi Zervas with the Empathy award. Evi goes above and beyond to help her classmates and teachers. Great job, Evi!




*Valentine's Day: Our classroom Valentine's Day party will be Thurs. 2/12 at 1:30-2:20 (since we have no school Fri. 2/13). If your child would like to distribute Valentine cards/treats to his/her classmate, here are our class guidelines:
1. It is optional, but if you want to distribute, you must have enough for all students in class. We have 21 students (10 boys and 11 girls)

2. It is much easier to pass out if the individual student names are not on the cards.

3. No nuts, please!


Spring conferences are coming up the week of February 9.  These are by teacher request only.   I have 16 conferences already scheduled.   If you feel that you would really like to sit down with me and chat, please email me.  Please know that I am always available via email or phone.  Have a great weekend! 

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Tues. 2/3: Matter Matters Presentation

*Thurs. 2/5: Math: Ch. 7 Test

* Fri. 2/6: Spelling Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue our look at culture and traditions. We will work on the skills of theme and main idea/details, as well as compare and contrast. The students are doing a fabulous job during our Daily 5 rotations!

*English: We will continue to work with figurative language and adjectives.

*Spelling: We will have another week of spelling with a pretest Monday, homework due Thurs, and the final test on Friday.

*Science: We will continue to work on ch. 11: Matter. Our matter presentation is Tues. 2/3. We are looking forward to doing fun experiments with a real scientist! The end of the unit test is tentatively schedule for Tues. 2/10.  A study guide was sent home with your child.

*Social Studies: Culture Day presentations were amazing and we learned so much about each other! Thank you for spending so much time and effort in making the project a success! We will continue our study of ch. 3 as we look at immigration and the Ellis Island experience.  Our test is tentatively scheduled for Fri. 2/20. A study guide will be sent home.

*Math: We began our ch. 7 unit on Division concepts. We will focus on the skills of division as equal sharing and repeated subtraction. We will focus on the relationship between division and multiplication. The test will be on Thurs. 2/5. A practice test will be sent home Wed.

Our focus  for fast facts this week is 4's multiplication. Students must pass their 4's x  facts by Fri. 2-6. Thank you for keeping up the good work studying facts at home!

Thanks for checking in the blog this week!
Mrs. Olsen