Week of 4/11/16 - 4/15/16

Happy Spring.. with snow?? We've had some crazy weather this past week. Hopefully it will feel more like springtime soon.

PARCC TESTING: We will be conducting PARCC Testing during the next two weeks. 
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is the state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students enrolled in a public school district. PARCC assesses the New Illinois Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core and will be administered to students in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
Homeroom classes are taking the ELA portion this week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Math classes are taking the MATH portion next week Tuesday through Friday.
Students will need their fully-charged Chromebooks, chargers, and earbuds/headphones to take the tests. It is very important that students bring these everyday. 
Also, it is important that your child gets a good night's sleep, eats a good breakfast, and brings a healthy snack in order to perform at his/her best for the PARCC Test.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  The Homework Menu (6 activities) and Test are due/will be on Friday, 4/15.

Reading & Language Arts:  We're reading The One and Only Ivan together. We are discovering the characters, setting, plot, and solution through close-read and comprehension strategies.

Keep Reading for 20 minutes daily! April Reading Logs have gone home and will be due on or before Tuesday, 5/3.

Social Science:  We're finishing the second section of Chicago history covering The World's Fairs. Students will receive a study guide to prepare them for the Chicago Test #2. It is a good idea for each student to complete their study guide because they can use it as a reference while taking their test. The Chicago Test #2 is scheduled for Monday, 4/18.

We will also get back into science very soon and start discovering The Solar System.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   

We're continuing Unit 7 "Extending Multiplication & Fractions". Unit 7 provides a review of material covered earlier in the year, as well as opportunities to extend skills and concepts into work with larger numbers and bigger ideas. The next multiplication facts will be x11's and x12's with the tests on Friday, 4/15.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Weeks of 4/11 and 4/18 - PARCC Testing
4/13 - Early Dismissal (PV @ 11:35am)
4/28 - PV Spring Open House & Book Fair
5/13 - Early Dismissal (PV @ 11:35am)
5/30 - No School (Memorial Day holiday)
6/3 - Last Day of School (1/2 day of school)

Have a wonderful weekend!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 4/4/16 - 4/8/16

Happy Spring Break! Enjoy your time with your families and have a fun & safe Spring Break. : )

COMING UP:

Spelling:  New spelling lists will be coming home. The Homework Menu (6 activities) and Test are due/will be on Friday 4/15/16.

Reading & Language Arts:  We're reading The One and Only Ivan together. We are discovering the characters, setting, plot, and solution through close-read and comprehension strategies.

Keep Reading for 20 minutes daily! March Reading Logs are due Tuesday, 4/5/16.

Social Science:  We're learning about the next section of Chicago history covering Building Waterways, The Industrial Boom, The Great Chicago Fire, and The World's Fairs.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   

We'll be starting Unit 7 "Extending Multiplication & Fractions". Unit 7 provides a review of material covered earlier in the year, as well as opportunities to extend skills and concepts into work with larger numbers and bigger ideas. The next multiplication fact will be x7's with its test on Friday 4/8/16.

IMPORTANT DATES:

3/28 - No School (Spring Break begins)
4/4 - Classes Resume
4/13 - Early Dismissal (PV @ 11:35am)
4/28 - PV Spring Open House & Book Fair

Have a Happy Easter and a wonderful Spring Break!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 3/21/16 - 3/24/16

Spring Officially Begins on Sunday! Our school is kicking off Spring Break with "Think Spring Spirit Week":

Monday 3/21 Spring Training Day - Cubs vs. Sox - support your favorite team and wear something Cubs or Sox.

Tuesday 3/22 Hat & Shades Day - wear your sunglasses and hat to school.

Wednesday 3/23 Think Spring Day - wear spring colors (yellow, pink, light blue, green, etc.)

Thursday 3/24 Comfy Clothes Day - wear your most comfortable clothes to school - including pajama pants if you wish.

Friday 3/25 - No School

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Jack took IVAN home this past week and spent some time with him. He will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  The Homework Menu (6 activities) and Test are due/will be on Thursday 3/24/16 (right before our Spring Break).

Reading & Language Arts:  Our final reading unit is "Stand Up for What You Believe In". We're reading The One and Only Ivan together. We are discovering the characters, setting, plot, and solution through close-read and comprehension strategies.
During Daily Independent Stations, students are working on...
Read to Self: reading a fictional book (matching their Fountas & Pinnell reading level) and completing a book report template (I hope to have these finished by 4/11/16 in class)
Word Work: sorting spelling words, working with verbs and pronouns
Work on Writing: writing and revising their Leprechaun Trap explanatory writing piece, writing to Dubai Pen Pals
Listening to Reading: listening to audio books on Tumblebooks.com

Keep Reading for 20 minutes daily! March Reading Logs are due Tuesday, 4/5/16.

Social Science:  We've finished the first section of an Chicago and its Early History. There will be a quiz covering this first section on Monday, 3/21/16. A study guide was sent home this week. If students complete the study guide, they may use it for their quiz.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   

We're finishing Unit 6 "Geometry". Students brought home the Unit 6 Study Guide Practice Sheet (which closely resembles the Unit 6 Test). We will send home the Answer Key this week to check their work. The Unit 6 Test will be Thursday, 3/24/16. We're taking a break from multiplication facts until after Spring Break. The next fact will be x7's.

IMPORTANT DATES:

3/25 - No School (Non-Attendance Day)
3/28 - No School (Spring Break begins)
4/4 - Classes Resume

Have a great week!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 3/14/16 - 3/18/16

Spring Ahead this weekend! Don't forget to to your clocks forward 1 hour before you sleep Saturday night. Daylight Savings Time begins. : )

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Natalie took IVAN home this past week and spent some time with him. She will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class.

Interested in Volunteering at our school?

Physical Education class: Mrs. Cushing, the PE teacher, is looking for some help with her Indoor Tennis Unit in April. Parents can just come in for their child's 25 min. PE class or come for the grade level time. Students need help getting the fundamentals down. Students would benefit from having extra people to help toss balls to them so they can practice their skills. Please let her know if you are available at all to help out. Please email Mrs. Cushing at tcushing@ccsd66.org Thank you!

Parent Volunteer: Is there a parent who would be interested in helping sort and classify our classroom story books? A few weeks ago, all 3rd Graders were assessed to find their Fountas and Pinnell (F&P) reading level. We need to update our classroom story books with "level" stickers to show each book's F&P level. If you would like to help for one morning or one afternoon each week, we would greatly appreciate it! I'll show you how to look up the book F&P level online and mark each book. Email me at hlopez@ccsd66.org if you are interested.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  New spelling lists will be sent home this week. The new homework menu (6 activities) and Test are due/will be on Thursday 3/24/16 (right before our Spring Break).

Reading & Language Arts:  Our final reading unit is "Stand Up for What You Believe In". We've begun reading The One and Only Ivan together. It is the true story of a silverback gorilla (told from his point-of-view) who lived most of his life in captivity. I encourage parents to read it as well. We will work to discover the characters, setting, plot, and solution through close-read and comprehension strategies.

Your child's Leprechaun Trap and planning sheet (rough draft) is due Wednesday. 3/16/16. From this project, each student will learn to write an Informational/Explanatory writing piece in class explaining the materials they used to build the trap, the steps they followed to build it, and finally, how the trap works. They might even trap a Leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day (3/17/16). : )


During Daily Independent Stations, students are working on...
Read to Self: reading a fictional book (matching their Fountas & Pinnell reading level) and completing a book report template (I hope to have these finished by 4/11/16)
Word Work: sorting spelling words, working with verbs and pronouns
Work on Writing: writing and revising their Leprechaun Trap explanatory writing piece, writing to Dubai Pen Pals
Listening to Reading: listening to audio books on Tumblebooks.com

Social Science:  The open-book quiz on Chapter 3, Lesson 4 (New Life in America) is on Monday, 3/14/16. The students can re-read textbook pages 90-97 and practice the Kahoot! on Google Classroom to study for this quiz.

We are continuing our Chicago Unit. We're finishing the first section of an Overview of Chicagoland and its Early History. There will be a quiz covering this first section on Monday, 3/21/16. A study guide will be sent home this week. If students complete the study guide, they may use it for their quiz.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   

We're continuing Unit 6 "Geometry" with quadrilaterals and perimeter. A checkpoint quiz will be on Wed. 3/16/16 covering polygons, quadrilaterals, and parallelograms.

Our x6 multiplication test will be Friday, 3/18/16. The students will have the x6 practice worksheet for homework this week. Practicing with x6 flashcards is a fantastic idea, too! Your child can make their own!

IMPORTANT DATES:

3/15 - No School (Election Day)
3/25 - No School (Non-Attendance Day)
3/28 - No School (Spring Break begins)
4/4 - Classes Resume

Have a great week!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 3/7/16 - 3/11/16

3rd Trimester begins this week! I believe the district will notify you in the middle of this week when 2nd Trimester grades have been finalized.

Spring Pictures have gone home: Orders with payment and/or unwanted pictures are due back by this Friday 3/11/16.

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Sam took IVAN home this past week and spent some time with him. He will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class.

Interested in Volunteering at our school?

Physical Education class: Mrs. Cushing, the PE teacher, is looking for some help with her Indoor Tennis Unit in April. Parents can just come in for their child's 25 min. PE class or come for the grade level time. Students need help getting the fundamentals down. Students would benefit from having extra people to help toss balls to them so they can practice their skills. Please let her know if you are available at all to help out. Please email Mrs. Cushing at tcushing@ccsd66.org Thank you!

Parent Volunteer: Is there a parent who would be interested in helping sort and classify our classroom story books? A few weeks ago, all 3rd Graders were assessed to find their Fountas and Pinnell (F&P) reading level. We need to update our classroom story books with "level" stickers to show each book's F&P level. If you would like to help for one morning or one afternoon each week, we would greatly appreciate it! I'll show you how to look up the book F&P level online and mark each book. Email me at hlopez@ccsd66.org if you are interested.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  Test #11 and the homework menu (6 activities) are due/will be on Friday 3/11/16.

Reading & Language Arts:  We’re finishing our Culture and Traditions Unit. Students are presenting their country this week for Culture Day. We can wait to hear what each student learned about his/her ancestry.





Our final reading unit is "Stand Up for What You Believe In". We will be reading together, The One and Only Ivan. It is the true story of a silverback gorilla (told from his point-of-view) who lived most of his life in captivity. I encourage parents to read it as well.

Social Science:  We are continuing our Chicago Unit. We'll focus on the early history of Chicago.

We are reading in our Social Studies textbook about how immigrants start a new life in America. There will be an open-book quiz on Chapter 3, Lesson 4 towards the end of the week.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   

We're continuing Unit 6 "Geometry" with tangrams, polygons, and geoboards.

Our x9 multiplication test will be Friday, 3/11/16. The students will have the x9 practice worksheet for homework this week. Practicing with x9 flashcards is a fantastic idea, too! Your child can make their own!

IMPORTANT DATES:

3/15 - No School (Election Day)
3/25 - No School (Non-Attendance Day)
3/28 - No School (Spring Break begins)
4/4 - Classes Resume

Have a great week!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 2/29/16 - 3/4/16

March begins next week! Hopefully, we'll continue to see some spring-like weather. It is also the end of our 2nd Trimester. Be sure to check your child's grades at the end of the week through ParentConnect.

Prairieview is celebrating "Kindness Week" this week. Students will be performing random acts of kindness! : )

Parent Volunteer Still Needed: Is there a parent who would be interested in helping sort and classify our classroom story books? A few weeks ago, all 3rd Graders were assessed to find their Fountas and Pinnell (F&P) reading level. We need to update our classroom story books with "level" stickers to show each book's F&P level. If you would like to help for one morning or one afternoon each week, we would greatly appreciate it! I'll show you how to look up the book F&P level online and mark each book. Email me if you are interested.

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Ella took IVAN home this past week and spent some time with him. She will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class. IVAN is from the book The One and Only Ivan. It is the true story of a silverback gorilla (told from his point-of-view) who lived most of his life in captivity. We will be reading this book during the 3rd trimester of school.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  New Spelling Lists will be sent home on Monday. Test #11 and the homework menu (6 activities) are due/will be on Friday 3/11/16.

Reading & Language Arts:  We’re continuing our Culture and Traditions Unit. Students will be researching and, later, presenting a Culture Day Project. A letter explaining the details will be sent home on Monday. The students will take part in an independent study project that incorporates not only textual learning, but also their technological and presentation skills. Each student will be asked to select a country to which they have family ancestry or a personal connection. Please help your child with this. They should select their "country to research" by Wednesday 3/2/16. Thank you for your help! 

In our Daily 5 Stations, students are finishing their Mystery genre books (please keep them at school during the week), practicing spelling word work, identifying verbs, and writing an argumentative/persuasive piece.

Keep reading 20 minutes! February Reading Logs are due Tuesday, March 1st.

Social Science:  We are continuing our Chicago Unit. We'll focus on the early history of Chicago.

Connecting to our Culture and Traditions Unit, we are reading about how America is a nation of immigrants. There will be an open-book quiz on Chapter 3, Lesson 3 towards the end of the week.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   

We're beginning Unit 6 "Geometry". In this unit, your child will describe and classify 2-dimensional shapes (especially quadrilaterals), calculate area and perimeter, and represent fractions as parts of a whole shape.

Our x8 multiplication test will be Thursday, 3/3/16. The students will have the x8 practice worksheet for homework this week. Practicing with x8 flashcards is a fantastic idea, too! Your child can make their own!

IMPORTANT DATES:

3/4 - No School (Teacher Institute Day)
3/15 - No School (Election Day)
3/25 - No School (Non-Attendance Day)
3/28 - No School (Spring Break begins)
4/4 - Classes Resume

Have a great weekend!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 2/22/16 - 2/26/16

Parent Volunteer Needed: Is there a parent who would be interested in helping sort and classify our classroom library of books? A few weeks ago, all 3rd Graders were assessed to find their Fountas and Pinnell (F&P) reading level. We need to update our classroom library with "level" stickers to show each book's F&P level. If you would like to help for one morning or one afternoon each week, we would greatly appreciate it! I'll show you how to look up the book F&P level online and mark each book. Email me if you are interested.

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Daniela took IVAN home this past week and spent some time with him. She will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class. IVAN is from the book The One and Only Ivan. It is the true story of a silverback gorilla (told from his point-of-view) who lived most of his life in captivity. We will be reading this book during the 3rd trimester of school.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  Spelling Test #10 and the homework menu (6 activities) are due/will be on Friday 2/26/16.

Reading & Language Arts:  We’re continuing our Culture and Traditions Unit. We've read What If You Had Animal Teeth? and The Matchbox Diary. In our Daily 5 Stations, students are reading their Mystery genre books (please keep them at school during the week), practicing spelling word work, identifying verbs, and writing an argumentative/persuasive piece.

Keep reading 20 minutes! February Reading Logs are due March 1st.

Social Science:  We are studying our Chicago Unit. We'll focus on Chicago neighborhoods and famous landmarks.
In addition, we'll be talking about culture and immigration which ties into the neighborhoods.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   
Thank you to those parents who came in for a math conference with Mrs. Forsman and myself. We enjoyed getting to know you!

We're working on Unit 5 "Multiplication, Division, and Area". Our Unit 5 Test will be on Thursday, 2/25/16. The Study Guide Practice Test (with answers) was sent home so that our students can practice. Ask your child to see it. 

Our x4 multiplication test will be Friday, 2/26/16. The students will have the x4 practice worksheet for homework this week. Practicing with x4 flashcards is a fantastic idea, too! Your child can make their own!


IMPORTANT DATES:

3/4 - No School (Teacher Institute Day)
3/15 - No School (Election Day)
3/25 - No School (Non-Attendance Day)
3/28 - No School (Spring Break begins)
4/4 - Classes Resume

Have a great weekend!
- Mrs. Lopez