Week of January 3-7

Important Dates

Winter Fluency benchmark Tues. 1/4

Spelling L. 12 test Friday 1/7

Classroom Chatter

I hope everyone has a wonderful HOLIDAY and a HEALTHY and HAPPY New Year!!!

Classes resume Monday, January 3rd. Tuesday, January 4th will be our winter fluency benchmark. We will not have reading on Tuesday.

Spelling - We are on list 12: words with the vowel sounds plus r. A pretest will be on Monday. Homework will be given Monday and due Friday. The final test will be on Friday.

Reading - We will start working on the strategy of monitoring and clarifying as we read using the story "Nights of the Pufflings". We will then extend our strategy use while working on a novel study. All the while, we will also be distinguishing fact and opinion. As always, we will continue to utilize strategies from previous weeks.

English

We will learn about adverbs this week.

Science

We will begin a new unit, States of Matter. This is chapter 11 in our textbook. This science unit will have our usual notes and graded assignments. We will be having our first science test now that we're in trimester 2. This is weeks away. As time draws near, we will be reviewing in class and a study guide will come home a week prior to the test to help with studying.

Social Studies

We will begin the 2nd part of our culture unit. Chapter 3 lesson 3 teaches us about immigration and being a citizen.

Math

We will be taking a mad minute in x9's this week. We also will begin chapter 7 on statistics and probability. We will be doubling up on some lessons, so your child may have 2 workbook pages to complete for homework. We will also be learning how to write an extended response using a t-chart in the next couple of weeks.

Week of December 13-17

Important Dates:
*Holiday Service Project items due Monday 12/13

*PE test on Bowling Tuesday 12/14

*BOX TOP turn in by Thursday 12/16

*All school field trip to Tivoli Friday 12/17

Classroom Chatter

Don't forget about our Holiday Service Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. All donations are due on Monday, December 13. Thank you for opening up your hearts to help make the holidays a happy one for those who are less fortunate.

A permission slip went home Thursday for our school field trip to Tivoli movie theater. We are going to the Tivoli in lieu of a classroom party. Please sign and return the permission slip. Send in $3 and the slip in an envelope marked with the following information: Your child's name, Mrs. Csorba, 3rd grade, Tivoli

We would like to wish Miss Boyer the best of luck! Her last day with us was Thursday. We enjoyed having her in our classroom and learned so much! Wewill miss her very much!

Spelling

L. 11's words are words with vowel sound in clown and lawn. The pretest will be Monday. The test and homework will be due on Friday.

English

We will work on our holiday stories and share them in class. I hope to send them home by the end of this week to share with the family!

Reading

We will continue working on visualization and evaluating text. We will be reading some short stories to help with these strategies.

Science

We will finish up our space games. One lucky student from each group will get to take the game home!

Social Studies

We will continue with chapter 3 culture. This week we will talk about customs and ethnic neighborhoods in lesson 2.

Math

We will finish up ch 6 time and measurement. The test will be Wednesday. We will take a x8 mad minute.

Week of December 6-10

Important Dates:

*Miss Boyer's last day :( 12/9

*Spelling Test Friday 12/10



Classroom Chatter

http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com to make an snowflake online!!!


It was great meeting with all the parents this week for conferences. Thank you for your time!



We would like to wish Miss Boyer the best of luck as her student teaching ends this week. We loved having her in our classroom. We are going to miss her very, very much!

*Reading: We will begin a new strategy focus as we learn about evaluating text and visualizing as we read. We will use the story Dogzilla as well as other novels and text as we apply these skills. We will also work on strategies from previous weeks.

*Spelling: We are on list 10: words with the vowel sound in "join". A pretest will be on Monday. Homework will be given Monday and due Friday. The final test will be on Friday.

*English

We are going to take a break from adjectives. We will resume learning about adjectives when we return from winter break. We will spend the next two weeks creating, revising, and sharing our holiday stories.

*Science

We will finish up our space unit with some fun activities. Students will be creating space games using what they learned from the unit.

*Social Studies

Chapter 3 teaches us about why people move to new communities!

*Math

We will spend this week studying about temperature and time. We will take a x 7 mad minute.

Week of November 29-December 3

Important Dates:

* Mon. 11/29-Wed. 12/1: Conferences after school

* Thurs. 12/2: Spelling: List 9 Test

*Fri. 12/3: No School

Classroom Chatter:

* Fall conferences will be held the week of 11/29-12/1. Please be on time for your conference...they are only 15 minutes long and it is very easy to get off schedule! Thank you in advance for your cooperation! I am looking forward to meeting with parents and discussing your child's progress thus far in 3rd grade!

*Paper recycling: Don't forget to take advantage our our Paper Retriever recycling bin in Lakeview's parking lot. This is a great way to recycle and help our schools earn money. Thank you!

*Reading: We will be focusing on author's point of view and purpose next week as we read The Keeping Quilt. If you have a quilt at home you can send it in with your child.

*Spelling: We will work on list 9: long i sound. A pretest will be given Monday. Homework will be sent home Monday as well. The final test and homework is on Thurs.

* English: We will begin our unit on adjectives.

*Science: We will continue with our study of planets.

*Social Studies: We will begin a new chapter on culture and immigration (ch. 3).

*Math: This week we will focus on measurement with the Metric System. We will be taking a mad minute in x6.

Week of November 22-26

Important Dates:

11/23 English Test

11/24-11/26 No School Thanksgiving break

11/29-12/3 P/T conferences

12/3 No school Friday

Classroom Chatter

*I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy your time with your family!

*The students of Project Challenge grades 3-5 are participating in a Lion's Club Holiday Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. If you wish to participate you will need to bring the donations in by December 13. Remember that some of these families live right here in Darien. So let's help these families have a happy holiday season.

*Paper Recycling Fundraiser Comes to Prairieview: We are happy to announce we can now raise money for our district by recycling paper! You can help us out, too! Please collect any paper you are going to throw away or recycle (office and school paper, newspaper, magazines and catalogs, and construction paper---no cardboard!) and send it in with your child to school or drop it off at the green and yellow Paper Retriever bin in the Lakeview parking lot (near the fence by the Prairieview playground). The bin is available for drop offs 24/7. The more paper we recycle, the more money we can make! Do something good for our schools AND the environment! Thank you!

Spelling

No spelling this week. We will pick up with Lesson 9 next week.

English

We will finish up our verb unit with a test on Tuesday.

Reading

We will be doing some reading activities with a Thanksgiving theme. These activities review the different skills and strategies we've been working on this year.

Science

We will learn about the planets.

Social Studies

We will begin chapter 3 on culture next week.

Math

We will take a check your progress on lessons 1-5 in chapter 6 on Tuesday. Next week we will start x6 mad minutes.

Week of November 15-19

Important Dates:

*Report cards Tuesday 11/16

*Thanksgiving break 11/24-11/26

*Parent/Teacher conferences 11/29-12/1

*No school Friday 12/3

Classroom Chatter

We had a great field trip to Downers Grove on Friday, 11/12. Thanks Mrs. Nicholson for coming on our trip. Here is a picture of us at Prince Pond.

On Friday, your child came home with a Parent/Teacher Conference Notification form. Please review the date and time. Fill out the bottom portion and return to me. You can either confirm our conference or reschedule. Most of you signed up for the date and time at Curriculum Night at the beginning of the year. If you did not sign up, I just assigned at date and time. Please get this form back to me asap so if there are any conflicts, I can reschedule appointments asap! Thanks in advance! I'm looking forward to meeting with you all very soon!

Spelling: We will continue to focus on synonyms and antonyms analogies this week. There will be a graded review on Friday.

Reading: We will continue to focus on our reading strategies as we apply them to our reading. We will focus on making inferences, summarizing, predicting, using background knowledge, and applying our knowledge about synonyms and antonyms. We also will focus on character traits, problem/resolution, and setting as we finish up our novel study.

English

We will continue with our verb unit. We will finish up this unit before Thanksgiving break with a test on 11/23. A study guide will come home this week. It'll be in their English folder come Tuesday.

Science

We will still be working with the moon. We also will begin studying about the planets.

Social Studies

We are going to read in chapter 12 about communities and relate what we read to the community of Downers Grove.

Math

We will take a mad minute in x5's. We will continue with chapter 6 working with measurement. We will be looking at capacity. We plan to have a "check your progress" on Tuesday 11/23

Week of November 8-12

Important Dates:

*Roller skating Monday 11/8

*PE test Wednesday 11/10

*Veterans' Day Thursday 11/11

*DG field trip Friday 11/12

*Book Orders due Friday 11/12

*Picture Retakes Tueday 11/23

Classroom Chatter

Students attending the roller skating party on Monday, 11/8, will need to report to school at 3:45 pm to check in and have their hands stamped before boarding buses. Students should bring in their fast pass with them at check in, which will go home with them on Monday. Please remember not to park in the bus lanes when dropping and picking up your child. Thanks.

A study guide came home today for the PE test. It is on Wednesday.

Don't forget no school Thursday for Veterans' Day.

Book orders came home today. The deadline to order books will be Friday, 11/12. I encourage everyone to try online ordering. It is safe, fast, and easy! Plus, it gets the classroom FREE BOOKS! Thanks in advance!

Friday we will be takin our field trip to Downers Grove. If you are a chaperone, information will come home Monday with your child as to what time to arrive and your field trip group and a schedule of the day. Please dress for the weather. We will be outside for half of the field trip. Don't forget you can send your child with $5-$8 for spending money at the shops in DG after lunch. Parents, if you are not chaperoning and would like to meet us for lunch, we will be at Giordano's at 12:15 or shortly after.

GUESS WHAT? Our class collected the most BOX TOPS labels for third grade! That means we won a pizza lunch party! Way to go!!! Our lunch pizza party will be Tuesday 11/23. Congrats and good job well done!!!! Now, keep those Box Tops and Tyson labels coming in. There's a second contest in the spring!!!

Tuesday, 11/23 will be picture retake day. Any student that did not have their picture taken prior to this date may do so. They will be required to have a picture envelope with money to have a picture taken. Any student that wants a picture retaken will have to return the original packet for a retake.

Spelling:
We will continue our study of analogies. This week and next, we will focus on synonym and antonym analogies. Therefore, we will not have a spelling test this week nor next week. We will have a graded assessment on analogies the following week.

English

We will continue with verbs. This week we will study the verb be and helping verbs.

Reading

We will continue with our novel study while focusing on character traits, problem/resolution, and setting as well as predicting, summarizing, and making inferences as we read!

Science

We will be learning about the moon.

Social Studies

We will continue with our study of present day Downers Grove. Our Downers Grove field trip is Friday!!

Math

We will take a break from mad minutes this week. Please continue to study facts. The week of 11/15 we will start x5. This week, we will begin chapter 6 on time and measurement.

November 1-5

Important Dates:

*Teacher Institute Tuesday 11/2

*Analogies test Friday 11/5

Classroom Chatter:

Don't forget Tuesday is no school for Teachers' Institute.

We had a SPOOKTACULAR time at our Halloween Party. Thank to Mrs. Berg and Mrs. Drazenovic for our party! It was ghoulish!

Happy Halloween! Hope your day is ghoulish! Click HERE to carve your own pumpkin!

Spelling: This week the students will focus on solving part/whole analogies. We will work on this skill every day. A packet will be given to the students on Monday. We will work on the packet in class and some pages will be homework. This packet can be studied and reviewed for Friday's graded review on part/whole analogies.

English

We will continue with verbs this week.

Reading

We will be focusing on the following skills and strategies as we begin a novel study this week: identifying character traits, setting, and problem/solution, summarizing, predicting, and making inferences.

Science

We will study the phases of the moon this week.

Social Studies

We will begin learning about present day Downers Grove.

Math

We will be taking a mad minute in x4. We will begin chapter 6 on measurement and time.

Week of October 25-29

Important Dates:
*MAPS testing Monday 10/25
*Downers Grove Quiz Wednesday 10/27
*Halloween parade and parties Friday 10/29

Classroom Chatter
Students have been doing a great job with the MAPS tests. Our last test will be Monday.

Don't forget the Downers Grove permission slip is due Friday 10/29. If your child wants pizza, send in $7 to cover the cost of lunch. They are welcome to bring a sack lunch that day too.

Our Halloween parade will begin at 1:00 on Friday, 10/29. Classroom parties will begin at 1:30. Students not to wear costumes to school. They will change into them in the afternoon. Please send costume in a bag with their name on it. Thank you! Any questions, send me an email!


Spelling
This week we will work on Halloween words. There will be a homework packet given to the students on Monday. The homework is due Friday. There will not be a pretest nor a spelling test this week.

Reading
We will be focusing on predicting, making inferences, and cause and effect as we continue with Cliff Hanger and other stories. The students will be applying the above comprehension strategies as they read.

English
We will finish up our Haunted House descriptive writing papers. We will begin Unit 3 verbs this week.

Science
We will begin Space.

Social Studies
We will be finishing up the history of Downers Grove. We are building our background knowledge of this great community to prepare us for our upcoming field trip to DG on 11/12!
We will be taking a quiz on the history of Downers Grove Wednesday 10/27. A study guide went home on Thursday in the HOMEWORK pocket of the binder. It is a blue half sheet of paper. Have you seen it? Use it a a guide as your child studies.

Math
We will be taking a mad minute in x3's this week. Students will be working on subtraction with regrouping and across zeros. There will be a Check Your Progress for lessons 6-9 on Thursday for a grade. The following week will be the chapter test. Date TBA!

Week of October 18-22

Important Dates:
*Early Dismissal Wednesday 10/20
*Spelling Test Friday 10/22
*Happy Bus Driver Day Friday 10/22

Classroom Chatter:
Please note there was a typo in the permission slip for Downers Grove on the portion that is returned to me. It says at the bottom of the slip we are going Tuesday, 11/9. Please note that date is incorrect. My class is going FRIDAY, 11/12. I also only have 2 parents who are joining us as chaperones. If you're interested in being a chaperone, please send me an email at jcsorba@ccsd66.org

We will be having MAPS testing on Tuesday of this week and Monday of next week. A letter regarding this test came home with your child explaining this test. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Don't forget we have 11 am dismissal on Wednesday, 10/20!


Spelling:
We will work on list 8 this week. The rule for this week is three letter clusters and unexpected consonant patterns. The pretest will be Monday. The test will be Friday. Homework will come home Monday and due on Friday.

Reading
We will continue to work on cause and effect, as well as making predictions and inferences as we read, Cliff Hanger.

English
This week we will do some descriptive writing with haunted houses!

Science
This week we will continue with chapter 9, the water cycle. We will finish the chapter with a cloud activity and water cycle activity. We will not be having a chapter test.

Social Studies
We will finish up the history of Downers Grove. A study guide will come home this week to help prepare for a quiz. The quiz is scheduled for Wednesday 10/27.

Math
This week we will take a mad minute on x2's. This week we will adding large numbers, adding 3 addends, and a graded assignment (Check Your Progress) on Friday for lessons 1-5.

Week of October 11-15

Important Dates:

*No school Monday 10/11 Columbus Day

*English Test Thursday 10/14

*Spelling Test Friday 10/15





Classroom Chatter

Don't forget there is no school Monday for Columbus Day! Enjoy the long weekend!




Spelling

We are on list 7 this week: the long o sound. We will take a pretest on Tuesday. The homework will go home on Tuesday and will be due Friday. The test will be Friday.



Reading

We will learn about cause and effect. We will begin reading the story, Cliff Hanger.



English

We will finish up Unit 2 Nouns. The study guide went home last Thursday. The Unit 2 test on Nouns is scheduled for Thursday 10/14.



Science

We will continue with Chapter 9. Students will be learning about



Social Studies

We will continue to learn about the history of Downers Grove.



Math

We will begin chapter 3 this week with Addition and Subtraction. We also will be taking a mad minute on x0 and x1's. Students must complete 16 problems in 90 seconds.

Week of October 4-8

Important Dates:
Book orders due Friday 10/8
Spelling Test Friday 10/8

Classroom Chatter

October Scholastic book orders went home on Friday. The deadline to order will be Friday 10/8. I encourage anyone who is interested in purchasing books to try ordering online. It is very simple and safe! I attached the directions to the book orders. Thanks!


Spelling:
We are on list 6 this week: more long vowel words. We will take a pretest on Monday. Homework will be sent home on Monday and due Friday. The test will be Friday.

English:
We will continue with Unit 2, Nouns. This week,we will learn about plural nouns, plural possessive nouns, and special plural nouns. Student will also be sharing their Me Bag essays. Their essays will then be placed into their writing portfolios. You will see these portfolios at conferences. They are not going to be graded.

Reading:
We will continue to work on the comprehension strategy of making inferences this week.

Science
We finished chapter 4 on Ecosystems. There will not be a chapter test. We began Chapter 9 this week. Chapter 9 teaches us about weather.

Social Studies
This week we will begin learning all about the history of Downers Grove.

Math
This week we will finish up chapter 2 with a check your progress on Wednesday. On Thursday, we will play a review game. Friday will be chapter 2's test. Students in the "Challenge Group" that received -1 or -2 can take the test to improve their grade. The better of the two grades will be recorded. A multiplication packet went home this week. Start studying multiplication facts! The week of 10/11, we will begin multiplication mad minutes. Students will only have 16 problems to answer in 90 seconds. The first test will be on x0 and x1. The following week, we'll start x2 and continue a new fact each week. Students have 3 chances to earn 5 points for each fact. Every day after that, a point is lost.

Week of Sept. 27 - Oct. 1

Important Dates:
*Picture day Thursday 9/30
*Spelling test Friday 10/1
*Progress Reports 10/1

Classroom Chatter
We had a great day celebrating Johnny Appleseed's birthday on Thursday. Check out our class picture of us wearing our apple glasses! The recipe we used to make our homemade applesauce came home on Thursday too.

The third graders are invited to sign up for a free intramural program. During this program, students would stay after school and play games in the gym. Permission slips are available this week and due back to Mrs. Cushing by Friday. The program will start some time in October. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Cushing at tcushing@ccsd66.org Thank you!

Spelling
We will work on list 5: more long and short vowels. We will have a pretest on Monday. The students will be given their homework on Monday. The test will be on Friday and homework due on Friday.

Reading
We will begin working on making inferences this week. We will be using the story, Mulan.

English
This week we will begin Unit 2, Nouns. This week, we will learn about nouns, common and proper nouns, nouns in the subject, and singular and plural nouns.

Science
This week we will finish Chapter 4, lesson 4: How Do Ecosystems change?

Social Studies
We will begin our next unit of study on Downers Grove. We will spend the next few weeks learning about this history of Downers Grove. Students will be provided with a learning log and packet. This must stay in their social studies folders.

Math
We will begin chapter 2 this week. Chapter 2 teaches us about addition and subtraction concepts. The class took a pretest last week. Some students received an "A" by getting -0, -1, or -2 on the pretest. They will be in the "challenge" group this chapter. They can choose to take the end of the chapter test to improve their grade. The challenge group will hear the day's lesson and then work on enrichment activities in class or for homework. The rest of the class that received 3 or more wrong will be in the book group. The will also hear the day's lesson and work on the workbook pages like normal. The whole class will listen to the lessons each day since there is information in the chapter that they need to know, but were not tested on. For example, the chapter has vocabulary terms and strategies that they are required to know.

We will begin multiplication mad minutes in a few weeks after chapter two. I will be sending home a packet of math facts for students to begin studying. On our 3rd grade school supplies list, flash cards were suggested to be purchased for home study. Those can be used as well.

Week of September 20-24

Important Dates:
*Hemisphere Quiz Wed. 9/22
*PE soccer test Wed. 9/22
*Spelling test Thurs. 9/23
*No school Fri. 9/24 Teachers' Institute
*Johnny Appleseed's Birthday Saturday 9/26

Classroom Chatter:

*The PTO would like you to know about this great rebate program through Ultra Foods! Ultra Foods is inviting you to take part in the Ultra's Smart Shopper Program, and educational rebate program that generates CASH BACK to your school for educational needs. It's EASY! Shop your local Ultra Foods store from SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 through DECEMBER 31, 2010. Save your receipts and have your child turn them in to their teacher. At the end of this program, your school will submit a grand total of receipts collected and Ultra will remit a check for %5 of that total back to your school! WOW!!!!!!

*The PE study guide for the soccer test went home on Thursday. Have you seen it yet? If not, please ask your child about it. The PE soccer test will be on Wednesday. Please help your child review for this test.

*Johnny Appleseed's birthday falls on a Sunday this year. We will be celebrating his birthday on Thursday, 9/23. Information about our celebration will come home this week. One of the things we will be doing on Thursday is making homemade applesauce! Please send your child in with an apple that has been cored, cut, and peeled!

*No school Friday for Teachers' Institute. Enjoy your day off!

Spelling
This week we will be working with words that have a vowel-consonant-e pattern. Homework will be send home on Monday and due on Thursday. The test will be on Thursday.

English
We will begin our first writing unit. Students will have homework Monday night. They will be making a "ME BAG" to bring to school. Information about this assignment will come home Monday. They will be using their Me Bags to help write a 5 paragraph paper in class.

Reading
We will continue to focus on summarizing and sequencing this week. We will work on applying this strategy to different texts.

Science
We will learn about lesson 3 in science. This lesson teaches us how animals survive in ecosystems.

Social Studies
We will finish our map skills unit with a Hemisphere Quiz on Wednesday. A study guide is in the social studies folder. Review the study guide and papers on hemispheres in your social studies folder. Also a Map Essentials book went home on Friday to help with studying!

Math :: Mrs. Csorba's math class
We will play a review game on Monday. Tuesday is the Chapter 1 test. A study guide went home in the math folders last week. Have you seen it? We will take a mad minute timed test on subtraction on Monday. 40 problems in 2 minutes. Thursday we will begin Chapter 2: Addition and Subtraction Concepts.

Week of September 13-17

Important Dates:
*Magazine Kick-off Assembly Monday 9/13

*Continents & Oceans Quiz Tuesday 9/14

*Spelling Test Friday 9/17

*First Magazine Turn-in Friday 9/17

*English Test Friday 9/17

Classroom Chatter

*CALLING ALL BOX TOPS & TYSON A+ LABELS! We are collecting Box Tops and Tyson labels in hopes to win a pizza lunch party and extra recess. Please send in these items if you have them! The deadline is October 15th! (Mrs. Csorba's class has one the last 2 years in a row!)

Spelling

L. 3 focuses on more short vowels. The pretest is scheduled for Monday, 9/13. If a student gets a 90% or higher (two or less wrong) they will be in the challenge group and will not be required to take the final test. Students with three or more wrong on the pretest will take the final test Friday, 9/17.

Reading

This is an exciting week! Third grade will start switching for reading! We will be reading The Lost and Found by Mark Teague as we focus on the summarizing strategy and our sequencing skills.

English

We will finish up Unit 1-What is a Sentence by reviewing subjects and predicates. We will also learn what run-on sentences are. The test is scheduled for Friday 9/17. A study guide went home Friday 9/10. It is in the English folder. Have you seen it? The english text book came home this weekend to begin studying. Please send the textbook back to school Monday. Your child is welcome to take it home daily to study.

Science

We will being Chapter 4, lesson 2 this week. Lesson 2 teaches about what types of ecosystems.

Social Studies

We will finish Continents and Oceans on Tuesday with a quiz. We the will begin the last part of our map skills unit with hemispheres.

Math

We will take our first addition Mad Minute on Tuesday. Students will need to complete 40 addition problems in 2 minutes. We also will finish chapter with comparing money and problem solving. I plan to do another "Check Your Progress" at the end of the week for a grade. We will play a review game at the end of the week. I plan on testing on Chapter 1 the following week.
Friday, we played a great game on the computer to help practice counting back change. Check it out! FUN BRAIN CHANGE MAKER

September 6-10

Important Dates:
No school Monday 9/6 Labor Day
Spelling Test Friday 9/10

Classroom Chatter

Curriculum Night: Thank you to everyone who came to 3rd Grade Curriculum Night this week. It was so great to see so many of you. If you ever have any questions or comments, please feel free to email or call me. I am looking forward to a wonderful year together with you and your child!

Late Slips:
Third grade will begin using late slips for homework that is not complete or handed in at the time it is due. Each student will receive 3 "breaks" for Trimester 1. Upon the fourth time they have not completed homework, one point will be taken away from their homework bank in the appropriate subject. You will notice that each subject has a "homework bank" comprised of 5 points. Late slips will be sent home with students for a parent signature which is due back the very next school day with the completed homework assignment. Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Spelling: This week is Lesson 2. This lesson will focus on words with short vowels. We will pretest on Tuesday and assign the homework for the week. The homework will be due Friday. We will take one of the assignments for a grade. The test will be Friday.

English: We will continue with Unit 1 and learn about subjects and predicates.

Reading: This week we will continue introducing the reading strategies that we will be utilizing throughout the rest of the year using picture books. The strategies are predicting, inferencing, visualizing, monitoring/clarifying, phonics/decoding, summarizing (fiction and non-fiction), questioning, connecting, and evaluating.


Science: This week we will begin our first unit in science. We will begin chapter 4 living things.

Social Studies: We will continue with our map skills unit and learn about continents and oceans.

Math-For Mrs. Csorba's math class
On Friday, students came home with a "Check Your Progress" graded assignment. They were allowed to use their textbook and notes we took in our math journals. Plan on 2 of these each chapter. The first one is 1/2 way through the chapter and the 2nd one is a day or two before the chapter test. This week, we will continue with the 2nd half of the place value chapter. We will look are comparing and ordering numbers and working with money. Students should review their addition facts for a mad minute. We will take a practice mad minute this week and take an addition mad minute the following week. 40 problems in 2 minutes.

Week of August 30 - September 3

Important Dates:

3rd Grade Curriculum Night 8/31

Spelling Test Friday 9/3

Classroom Chatter

It has been a pleasure getting to know your child this week! Our busy week was filled with getting to know each other and our great school! We have a great class! I know we will have a wonderful year together!!!

My Blog: Each week, I will email you the link to check my blog. I will update what we are learning and upcoming important dates and events. You should also check your child's math teacher's blog. Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments about the blog. This a great way to keep open communication between school and home.

Curriculum Night: Third Grade curriculum night will be on Tuesday, August 31st at 6:30 pm. Please meet in the multipurpose/lunch room. This will be an informative night to learn more about third grade. Hope to see you there!

Introducing Miss Boyer: Miss Boyer, my student teacher, has joined our classroom from Eastern Illinois University where she is an Elementary Education major. She will be in our classroom until December. We are so happy to have her in our class!



Reading: This week we will start introducing the reading strategies that we will be utilizing throughout the rest of the year using picture books. The strategies are predicting, inferencing, visualizing, monitoring/clarifying, phonics/decoding, summarizing (fiction and non-fiction), questioning, connecting, and evaluating.

English: We will begin with Unit 1, which covers the four types of sentences. We will do daily work with various punctuation lessons as we work on our D.O.L. (Daily Oral Language).

Spelling: This week in spelling we will start with Lesson 1. These are "Back to School" words. We will pretest on Monday and pass out a homework packet due Friday. We will be taking one of the homework sheets for a grade. On Friday we will have our first test worth 20 points.

Social Studies: We will begin our maps unit. We will start with directions (north, east, south, west, NE, NW, SE, SW) and the compass rose.

Math-for Mrs. Csorba's math class only
This week we will begin chapter 1 Place Value. Students should review their addition and subtraction basic facts. We will have our first mad minute on addition facts the following week.

Welcome to Third Grade!

On Monday, August 23rd, please join us the District Open House. During the hours of 9-11 a.m. you can come visit our classroom, pick your desk, find your locker, drop off your supplies, and meet your teacher!

I look forward to meeting you!!!!

Week of May 31-June 2

Important Dates
School Picnic 6/1
Last day of school 6/2

Classroom Chatter

PICNIC: Our 3rd grade picnic will be on Tuesday, June 1st from 8:30am-10am. A hot dog lunch will be provided at 11:05am. If your child does not want to eat a hog dog, please send them with an alternate cold lunch. There will not be cafeteria hot lunch service.

DONATIONS

YEARBOOKS: Yearbooks will be handed out to students on June 2nd. Any students who did not purchase a yearbook may do so on a first-come-first-serve basis on June 2nd; 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 note was sent out on November 12, 2009 and orders were due by Tuesday, December 9, 2009.

DONATIONS: We are working with several organizations who help provide less fortunate school children with school supplies. I will take any used school supplies you wish to donate. Please send these in before the last day of school.

LAST DAY: Our last day of school will be on Wednesday, June 2nd. Report cards will be issued, and the students will be dismissed at 9:30am.

Thank you to all the parents and students for a great year! I wish you all a fantastic summer. Don't forget to visit next year!

Week of May 24-28

Important Dates:
*Bowling Tuesday 5/22
*Magic Show Thursday 5/27
*2nd grade pen pals Thursday 5/27
*Boat Trip Friday 5/28

Classroom Chatter
This week will be filled with wrapping things up for the year! We have two field trips this week. Tuesday we are bowling from 9-11. Please send a sack lunch this day. That way, if your child is too full from bowling, a hot lunch won't go to waste. Please limit the amount of money that is sent that day for your child to buy a treat. Thanks!

Friday is our boat trip. Dress for the weather. Remember, it is cooler by the lake. Dress in layers. Right now, 10 day forecast is calling for a high of 76 and a 30% chance of storms. Yikes!
Hopefully this will change!!!

Spelling
No spelling this week. We are done for the year!

English
We will be typing our autobiographies in the computer lab this week.

Reading
We will be watching the biography of Harry Houdini. We will spend time getting ready for Thursday's magic show! Don't forget to send me an email to reserve a seat! Show begins at 9am!


Social Studies
We will spend the week learning about present day Chicago and end our unit Friday with our boat trip at Navy Pier!

Science
We will spend this week finishing up science chapter 14. No chapter test.


Math
Our last day of math will be Tuesday 5/25. We will spend Monday and Tuesday working on multiplication of greater numbers and long division. A note will come home by the end of the year letting your child know of their math placement for next year!

Week of May 17-21

Important Dates:
*Spelling Test Friday 5/21
*Chicago Quiz Friday 5/21


Classroom Chatter
The year is winding down. Our units are coming to an end. Please note some changes in plans.



Spelling
L. 32's words are possessive form of nouns. Test will be Friday. Pretest on Monday. The list is in the spelling folder.


English
Students will be writing their autobiographies this week.


Reading
Instead of the mystery unit, we will begin a magic unit in reading. We will be reading about The Great Houdini. Students will be putting on a magic show next week. The date will be Thursday May 27th! Mark your calendar. Parents are welcome. Time: 9am? Maybe?? I'll send home more info as the date gets closer!


Science
We are continuing in our Heat, Light, and Sound unit in chapter 14. We will not be having a chapter test. The students will be having 4 chapter reviews for a grade. Each are worth 10 points. This is our final science unit.



Social Studies

We will finish up Chicago. There will not be a unit test. We will be having a quiz on Friday on the history of Chicago. Students can take a Chicago book home to study. We will be doing a crosswork puzzle this week that can be used as a study guide. Also, review info in the journal that is in the social studies folder.



Math

We will finish up our decimal unit. The test is scheduled for Friday 5/21. We will be taking division mix mad minutes this week. Our last week of mad mintues. Please have your child continue to practice their multiplication and division over the summer!!!!!

Week of May 10-14

Important Dates:

*Bubble Wonder Assembly Tuesday 5/11

*Spelling test Friday 5/14

*Early Dismissal Friday 5/14



Classroom Chatter

It is great to be back at school and working with your children. Everyone greeted me with smiles and hugs. I can't believe how much they've grown! Looking forward to spending the next couple of weeks wrapping things up for the summer. We have a lot of fun things to look forward to!


We will have a special assembly called Bubble Wonder on Tuesday. Ask your child about it!



Don't forget Friday is early dismissal. Students are dismissed at 11am.



This week Prairieview is collecting gym shoes in any shape and all other shoes that still have "some life in them" for Character Counts. We want to help cut down on the amount going into landfills. The shoes will be either donated to places that help people or will be sent to Nike's recycyling center. Here they recycyle gym shoes into a variety of objects including floor mats. Please tie the shoes together or put them in a plastic grocery bag so that they do not become separated. Thank you for your support. At Prarieview school...Character Counts!!!



Spelling

L. 31's words are on contractions. There will be a pretest Monday and the test is on Friday.



English

We will be working on writing persuasive papers this week.



Reading

We will begin a new mystery unit!



Science

I spoke too soon. 4th grade extensively covers electricity and magnets so we will move on to Ch. 14. Chapter 14 covers Heat, Light, and Sound. This will be our final unit.

Social Studies
We will continue studying the history of Chicago. This week we will learn about the great Chicago fire!



Math

We will be taking a mad minute in division 12's this week. Next week, will be our final week of mad minutes with division MIXED! Continue to practice all division facts!

We began chapter 10 decimals last week. We will continue this week with the unit. This will be our last chapter we will test on. The test isn't for a few weeks. After we test on chapter 10, we will spend the rest of the year working on higher level multiplication and long division. I want to introduce this to the students. We won't test on it though.

WEEK OF APRIL 3-7

CLASSROOM CHATTER:
WE WILL CONCLUDE OUR JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT ON FRIDAY. IT WAS REALLY FUN AND INFORMATIVE. THANK YOU TO OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEER!
I WANT TO THANK ALL OF THE STUDENTS AND THE PARENTS!
WHAT A JOY IT HAS BEEN TO WORK WITH SUCH A WONDERFUL GROUP OF STUDENTS! I ENJOYED GETTING TO KNOW EACH AND EVERYONE, AS WELL AS MANY PARENTS. OUR FUTURE IS IN GREAT HANDS WITH SUCH A CONSCIENTIOUS, CURIOUS AND TALENTED YOUNG GROUP. HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!!


SPELLING:
L. 30 PREFIX -ER PRETEST IS ON MONDAY


ENGLISH:
WE COMPLETED UNIT 6 AND WILL BE WORKING ON PROPER SENTENCE STRUCTURE. WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THIS IN OUR PERSUASIVE WRITING.


READING:
WE WILL BEGIN MULAN THIS WEEK. THE STUDENTS WILL WORK ON THE CONCEPTS OF INFER AND SUMMARIZE.


SOCIAL STUDIES:
CHICAGO IS OUR NEXT UNIT. THE CLASS IS VERY EXCITED! WE WILL BEGIN WITH THE EARLY YEARS.


SCIENCE:
OUR CHAPTER 12 TEST ON ENERGY IS MONDAY. PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS TO REVIEW THEIR NOTES. CHAPTER 13 ON ELECTRICITY WILL FOLLOW.


MATH:
CHAPTER 9 FRACTION TEST IS ON MONDAY. PRACTICE, PRACTICE , PRACTICE!
THE STUDENTS SHOULD REVIEW THEIR R-9 WORKSHEETS. DECIMALS CHAPTER 10 WILL BEGIN THIS WEEK.

WEEK OF APRIL 26- APRIL 30

CLASSROOM CHATTER:
THE CLASS WILL BE WRITING PEN PAL LETTERS TO A SECOND GRADE CLASS THIS WEEK. THEY WILL ENJOY TELLING THE NEW CLASS OF STUDENTS WHAT FUN PRAIRIEVIEW IS. THIS WILL ALSO REINFORCE THEIR LETTER WRITING SKILLS.


SPELLING:
L.29 PREFIX-UN PRETEST IS ON MONDAY


ENGLISH:
WE WILL BE ENDING OUR UNIT 6 ON PRONOUNS THIS WEEK. WE WILL REVIEW HOMOPHONES AND THEN HAVE OUR CHAPTER TEST ON TUESDAY.


READING:
WE ARE CONTINUING OUR MONITOR AND QUESTION CONCEPTS. THE STUDENTS ARE COMPLETING THEIR POETRY BOOKS THIS WEEK. THEY ARE VERY CREATIVE AND HAVE BEEN DOING A WONDERFUL JOB. THEY ARE A CLASS OF POETS!


SOCIAL STUDIES:
WE WILL BE COMPLETING OUR EGYPT UNIT THIS WEEK. A VOCABULARY QUIZ IS ON MONDAY. OUR UNIT TEST WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY OF THIS WEEK. THEY HAVE STUDY GUIDES FOR BOTH. WE WILL END OUR UNIT BY WATCHING THE PRINCE OF EGYPT.


SCIENCE:
WE ARE CONTINUING OUR UNIT ON ENERGY.


MATH:
THIS WEEK WE WILL LEARN HOW TO SUBTRACT FRACTIONS AND MIXED NUMBERS, ADD AND SUBTRACT FRACTIONS WITH UNLIKE DENOMINATORS AND PRACTICE FRACTION PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS. THE STUDENTS NEED TO PRACTICE THESE SKILLS TO REINFORCE WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED.

WEEK OF APRIL 19 - 23

IMPORTANT DATES: THURSDAY, APRIL 22 EARLY DISMISSAL (EARTH DAY)

CLASSROOM CHATTER:
Wow! what a great week. Thursday we had our Egypt Unwrapped in school field trip.
The students learned many interesting facts and wrapped a mummy! Our Open House was the same night and it was lots of fun. It was wonderful to see the students so excited to show off their school. Mrs. Csorba came and brought her adorable son. I really enjoyed meeting everyone's family. I can see why the students are so awesome!



SPELLING:
L. 28 Silent Letters --- Pretest is on Monday.


ENGLISH:
Unit 6 continued. We will learn about contractions and the difference between there, their, and they're. We will have an open book review on Thursday.


READING:
We are working on the concepts of QUESTION AND MONITOR. We are also continuing our Poetry unit. We will share examples of different poems. We will also be writing Shape Poems, Sensory Poems and a Haiku.


SOCIAL STUDIES:
We are continuing our Egypt unit. We will be reviewing vocabulary. A unit study guide will be coming home this week. Both will be helpful for the unit test.


SCIENCE:
In chapter 12 this week we will talk about ways to use and measure energy.


MATH:
Chapter 7 Fractions. We will work on <, >, and = fractions, add and subtract fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers. CHECKPOINT WILL BE ON TUESDAY 4-20.

WEEK OF APRIL 12-16

IMPORTANT DATES:

Egypt Unwrapped in school field trip - April 15

Prairieview School OPEN HOUSE - April 15

CLASSROOM CHATTER:

Happy Spring! Hope everyone had a wonderful spring break. The students came back so excited to see each other! Our Junior Achievement Representative started on Friday. She will be here every Friday for the next five weeks. We are looking forward to her visits. We are all excited for the OPEN HOUSE on Thursday. The students are looking forward to sharing their school!

SPELLING:

This week we will have spelling words from our Egypt unit. Spelling test is on Friday.

ENGLISH:

We are continuing our Pronoun Unit.

READING:

Monitor and Question are the skills we are working on. We are also finishing our Biography Unit. The students have done a great job with their presentations. Many have dressed up like their person. We have heard many interesting life stories. This week we will begin our POETRY unit. This is also the theme for our April book report. Information went home last Thursday.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

We are continuing our unit on Egypt. This week we will write a short paper about King Tut, write an extended response, and act out Chapters 4 and 5 in our King Tut book.

SCIENCE:

We will begin Lesson 2 of our Energy unit. Last week we learned about KINETIC and POTENTIAL energy.

MATH:

We our continuing our unit on FRACTIONS. This week we will learn about equivalent fractions, fractions in the simplest forms, compare and order fractions, and greater than or equal to. The students have a yellow sheet that is titled NOTES ON FRACTIONS. This has examples of everything we will learn this week.

WEEK OF APRIL 5-9

IMPORTANT DATES:
Spring Break starts after school on Friday, March 26
Classes Resume on Monday, April 5


CLASSROOM CHATTER:
We had a wonderful presentation on Egypt this week. Megan's aunt, who had just traveled to Egypt, shared her experience with us. She brought in pictures, artifacts and books. She even wore a traditional garment from Egypt. What a treat it was! I want to wish everyone a FUN
spring break. Enjoy your time together!


SPELLING:
L. 26 - No pretest because it is a review unit. Reviewing units 19-25.
Test is on Friday.


ENGLISH:
We are finishing Unit 5 . We will have a test on Tuesday, April 6.
A study guide went home on Friday before Spring Break.
Next, we will begin Unit 6 on Pronouns.


READING:
We are working on monitor and question concepts this week. We will also be finishing our Biography's this week. The students will do a presentation in class. (Remember to dress like the person!) STUDENT POETRY CONTEST!!!! Information sheet was sent home friday!!!! What a great opportunity to show your talent!!!


SOCIAL STUDIES:
We finished our EYE ON EGYPT books and our learning about KING TUT this week.
10 extra credit points will be given to those who venture to the Egypt exhibit. Just bring in your ticket and tell me all about your day!


SCIENCE:
We will begin our unit on ENERGY Chapter 12 on Monday.


MATH:
We are finishing Chapter 9 this week. We will have a checkpoint on Monday after Spring Break.
We will have our Chapter test on Wednesday April 7. I have handed out review sheets for the class. They should review their study guides and their R-worksheets for the test. We will then begin Chapter 9 - FRACTIONS

WEEK OF MARCH 22 - MARCH 26


IMPORTANT DATES:

SPRING PICTURES ARE DUE BACK TO SCHOOL BEFORE/ON MARCH 25!

SPRING BREAK BEGINS AFTER SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, MARCH 26!


CLASSROOM CHATTER:
Our CHARACTER COUNTS ASSEMBLY on Wednesday was great! The class enjoyed all the performances. Ask your child what he liked best. We concluded our busy week with lunch and a movie in the classroom on Friday. They have been working hard and deserved a special lunch.
I want to wish everyone a fun and relaxing spring break!

SPELLING: L.25 -igh words. Pretest on Monday.


READING: We will focus on visualizing and predicting this week. We are reinforcing these skills in our Biography Unit. The students are working on a BIOGRAPHY SCRAPBOOK in class. Please remind them to bring their Biography with them on Monday.


ENGLISH: We are continuing our Unit 5 in English. This week we will work on introductory words, commas in stories and quotation marks.


SCIENCE: We will be completing our unit on the WATER CYCLE this week. A study guide will be sent home on Monday. Our Chapter test will be on Wednesday.


SOCIAL STUDIES: We are continuing our Egypt Unit. We will begin our King Tut series this week.

MATH: In Chapter 7 we will be focusing on metric ruler, kilograms, grams, liters milliliters, and degrees celsius.There will be a checkpoint on this the week we get back from Spring Break.

WEEK OF MARCH 15-19

IMPORTANT DATES:

March 16 * SKATE PARTY

March 17 * CHARACTER COUNTS ASSEMBLY

CLASSROOM CHATTER:

Wow! did we have a wonderful surprise on Friday! Mrs. Csorba and her beautiful son Jack came in for a visit. They spent the afternoon with us and stayed to enjoy our Party.They both are doing great and the class was so surprised and glad to see them. The class earned a marble party on Friday for their good character and we had such a great time. A big thanks to the parents' who sent in snacks both for the party and for ISAT's.

SPELLING: We are on Lesson 24 -ear words. There is a pretest on Monday.

READING: We will focus on visualizing and predicting this week. We will use biographies to reinforce these skills.

ENGLISH: We will begin Unit 5. We will work on correcting sentences, capitalization's and abbreviations.

SCIENCE: We are continuing our unit on the WATER CYCLE.

SOCIAL STUDIES: We are continuing our unit on EGYPT. We will learn about Cleopatra and Hieroglyphics this week.

MATH: We are on Chapter 7. This week we will cover cup, pint and gallon measurements as well as temperature. We will have a checkpoint review on Wednesday of this week. So encourage your students to start to review the different measurements.

Week of March 8 to March 12


IMPORTANT DATES :

Conferences : Week of March 8

Report Cards: March 9

No School Friday March 12


CLASSROOM CHATTER:

Monday to Wednesday of this week we will be completing the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests (ISAT). Thursday is the make-up day for any missed sections of the test. Spring conferences are this week with your childs' homeroom and/or math teacher. Our new book report for March is Fiction and Fantasy. The students seem to easily find a book they are interested in reading!!! There mobiles for the Jan/ Feb reports were so creative. They are in the classroom . Take a peek when you come for your conference. Please remember for birthdays and special treats they are to be healthy snacks (crackers, pretzels, fruits and veggies are great!) also a great idea is to pass out pencils or stickers for a birthday.



SPELLING: No pretest due to the shortened week. L.23 -er -est words.


READING: We are focusing on the strategy of visualizing and predicting.
We are also working on Extended Responses.


ENGLISH: We are focusing on Expository Writing


SOCIAL STUDIES: We are continuing our EYE ON EGYPT unit. We are learning about mummies and what a sarcophagus is. The students are really enjoying this unit!


SCIENCE: We will be finishing Lesson 2 on WATER CYCLE.


MATH: No Mad Minute this week. Next week our mad minute will be dividing by 5.
We are continuing our time and measurement unit. The geometry projects are wonderful!! What a creative group. They are really enjoying the presentations. No two are alike so it is very interesting.

Week of March 1-5


IMPORTANT DATES:

* No School Monday March 1 Pulaski Day

* ISAT Testing March 2 - March 5




CLASSROOM CHATTER:

We have had a busy week and the students did an amazing job!
We are really excited about the new units that we are beginning!
Ask them to tell you all about them. ISATS start on Tuesday and they will be taking them in the morning. Make sure they are well rested and have a good breakfast.



SPELLING: No spelling unit this week.



ENGLISH: We will be reviewing our EXPOSITORY WRITING. Working on correct punctuation and form. They have really begun to master this!



READING: WE WILL BE TAKING ISATS DURING THIS TIME.



SOCIAL STUDIES: Our unit on EGYPT has begun. They are very curious and have wonderful prior knowledge on many facts. We learned where it is located and what bodies of water surround it. They are looking forward to learning more!!!



SCIENCE: WATER CYCLE. We will learn this week about condensation , precipitation and evaporation.



MATH: GEOMETRY PROJECT is due March 2. Have fun with it! I am really looking forward to seeing all your wonderful work! We began our new unit on TIME AND MEASUREMENT. We will work on problem solving, time of all ages and measuring with your hands, feet and forearm.

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 22-29


IMPORTANT DATES:
Spring Picture Day 2/25
Book Reports Due 2/26
Movie Night 2/26

CLASSROOM CHATTER:
Spring Picture Day : Thursday 2/25. Look before you buy. Send no money now. See your portraits first. Simply return any unused portrait sheet with your payment.*PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU DO NOT WANT AN INDIVIDUAL PORTRAIT TAKEN. Additional fliers will be sent home on Tuesday, February 23. Kids on The Block came and taught us about the hearing impaired. We learned many words in sign language. The students really enjoyed this! ISATS are coming soon so please have your student practice healthy habits: getting lots of rest, eating healthy, washing hands and getting exercise!


SPELLING: L22 words ending Y. We will have a pretest on Monday.


ENGLISH: We will continue to work on EXPOSITORY WRITING this week. The students worked together in groups to write about the differences between Prairieview and Elizabeth Ide. They will be presenting their paper to the class. Next week we will work individually on how they could help a new student at Prairieview?

READING: We will continue working on EXTENDED RESPONSES. We have some short stories that we will read and then write and extended response.


SCIENCE: We are finishing Chapter 10 with our unit test on Tuesday 2-23. A study guide was sent home on Friday. We will begin our unit on the water cycle next week.


SOCIAL STUDIES: We are finishing our unit on Making Choices and have our unit test on Wednesday. We will then begin our unit on Egypt. The students will learn many fascinating things and will really enjoy this unit.

MATH: We are having our Chapter test on Geometry on Monday, February 22. It is a big chapter with many different things to know. The students have a review sheet with all the terms on it . Please have them review it over the weekend. Our Geometry Project information and Rubric was sent home on February 17. The project is due Tuesday, March 2. The students should have lots of fun being creative. I have shown them many examples and they can always see me if they have any questions...HAVE FUN WITH IT! We will begin our unit on Measurement this week.

Week of February 15 -19, 2010



IMPORTANT DATES:

Monday Feb. 15 NO SCHOOL Presidents' Day

Wednesday Feb. 17 Kids on the Block



CLASSROOM CHATTER:

Thank You! to everyone who helped out with the valentines' party. It is such a treat for the students to have such a special time with their friends.
ATTENTION Pringle potato chip eaters!!! We are in need of PRINGLE canisters for our Science project on Space. We need one for each student. They can come to school full or empty! Please have them at school by Tuesday, February 16.



SPELLING:

Lesson 21 nouns formed with -er.
No pretest due to the shortened week. Spelling test is on Friday.


ENGLISH:

We have been working on EXTENDED RESPONSES. How to turn a question around, look for clues in our reading and support it. We will continue working on EXPOSITORY WRITING next week. I am sending home a sheet with ideas on how to support good writing habits at home.


READING:

We have read "The Desert Giant, The World of The Saguaro Cactus" and "Happy Birthday Basketball". We have written Extended Responses for both. They are doing a great job!!!


SCIENCE:

We are finishing our unit on the Solar System. We will learn more about inner and outer planets, sun facts and the constellations. Ask your child what "My very educated mother just served us nachos " means.


SOCIAL STUDIES:

We will be finishing up Chapter 9 this week . We will be talking about: supply and demand and profit.


MATH:

We are continuing our Geometry Unit. We will be learning about volume and space figures.
We will have a "Geometry Project" that will be lots of fun for the students. Information will come home this week. The students should be reviewing their Geometry Notes for vocabulary. OUR CHAPTER TEST will be coming soon.

Important Dates:

*Spelling Pretest on Monday 2-8

*Valentine Day Party on Friday 2-12 at 1:30





Classroom Chatter:



I sent home a list of all the students in our class for Valentines Day.

Remember, your child does not have to bring in a valentine, but if they do please bring one

for everyone in the class. The class went to our district Spelling Bee on Thursday and Emmanuelle did great!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Remember if you need to reach me my email is: Mrs. McHale mmchale@ccsd66.org







Spelling:



This week our words will be Lesson 20, spelling words with -er.

The pretest is on Monday and the spelling test is on Friday .





English:



We will continue working on EXPOSITORY WRITING.

We will also work on EXTENDED RESPONSE.

We will talk about the difference and

get lots of practice using both styles.





Reading:



We finished our unit on Stone Fox.

We are writing an extended response to complete our unit. The students also enjoyed seeing
the movie Stone Fox. They all noticed the differences between what the book said and how the movie portrayed it. ( they have a great eye for detail!)

We also finished a FLIP BOOK which they will enjoy sharing with you.





Science:



We will begin our lesson on the Solar System.

What is the Solar system? What is an inner planet and an outer planet?

These are some of the questions we will answer this week.





Social Studies:



We are continuing Chapter 9, which is all about making good choices with our money.

We will also talk about community businesses.




Math:


We are continuing our Geometry unit.

This week we will introduce Perimeter and Space figures.

Important Dates

*Vocab quiz Monday 2/1

* No school Tuesday 2/2

Teachers Institute Day

*District 66 Spelling Bee Thursday 2/4

Classroom Chatter

Mrs Csorba and her adorable son are doing GREAT!

The class is so excited for her and we can't wait for the day

they come for a visit.

It has been a great week getting to know all of the students.

They are a wonderful group! If you need to contact me ,

my email is Mrs. McHale mmchale@ccsd66.org

Spelling

L. 19 is the unit we are working on next week. We will not have a pretest on Monday because of the shortened school week. We will be working on -or words. Test is on Friday.

English

We are continuing Expository Writing (Expository Writing defines,

describes, explains and gives information). This week we will be focused on finishing our rough draft .

Reading

Vocabulary Quiz on Chapters 5-7 in Stone Fox is on Monday.

This week we will be finishing the book with chapters 8-10.

Vocabulary list for these chapters will come home Monday.

We will also be watching the movie Stone Fox.

Science

We are learning how the earth and moon interact and we will be finding out "What is our Solar system". Cosmic Capers came on Wednesday ..we learned a lot and fun was had by all!

Social Studies

We are working on chapter 9 and learning skills on budgeting and managing our money.

Math

We will continue our unit on Geometry. We learned about Radius, diameter and circumference along with congruent and symmetry. This week we will learn about shapes in motion and problem solving using logical reasoning.

Week of January 25-29

Important Dates

*Vocab Quiz Monday 1/25

*Cosmic Capers Wednesday 1/27

*Spelling Test Friday 1/29

Classroom Chatter

If you haven't heard from your child by now, today (Friday) 1/22 will be my last day. I was sad to announce this to the class Thursday. I will be in touch via email with updates and pictures once Baby Csorba is delivered. Thank you for all your well wishes and support. We are very excited to start this new chapter in our lives!

Congrats to Emmanuelle! She was the runner up in today's 3rd grade spelling bee. She will participate in the District's spelling bee 2/4/10!

Spelling

L. 17 is a review unit of Lessons 10-16. There isn't a pretest this week. The test will be on Friday. A practice test will come home Monday.

English

We will continue with expository writing. Last week, we learned what expository writing and the parts of an expository composition. We then focused on writing HOOKS...which is the attention getting sentence. This week we will focus writing the introductory paragraph.

Reading

We will take the quiz on Chapters 1-4 vocabulary. This week we will be reading chapters 5-7. The vocabulary list will come home Monday for the words in these chapters. The quiz will be next Monday.

Science

We are still in chapter 10 lesson 1. This week we will discuss seasons. Scientists from High Touch High Tech are coming on Wednesday for our Cosmic Capers in-school field trip experience. It'll be "out of this world!"

Social Studies

We will begin chapter 9 on economy.

Math

We will be taking a mad minute in x12. We will continue with our geometry unit. This week we will learn about circles (circumference, radius, and diameter), congruent and similar figures, symmetry and slides, flips, and turns.