Week of 1/31/11 - 2/4/11

Highlights for the week of 1/31/11 - 2/4/11 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom

English - Prediction Paragraph / Verbs

We will begin our week by writing a paragraph that makes a prediction about what the groundhog will do on February 2nd. Students will write about what their prediction is, why they made that prediction, how they will feel if their prediction comes true, and why they will feel that way. Midweek we will switch gears and begin the verbs unit. Students will take a pretest to determine if they will do challenge work in this unit. On Friday, we will begin our new chapter with a look at, "What is a Verb?".

Social Studies - The Midwest

There will be a QUIZ on the map of the midwest on Thursday, 2/3. Students should use the map that they created in class to prepare for the quiz. We will also take a look at how the waterways in the midwest are used for shipping and transportation.

Science - The Human Body

We will finish our study of how the body thinks and moves. Students will take a QUIZ on chapter 4, lesson 2 on Tuesday, 2/1. They will be allowed to use their notes for the quiz. We will also be starting a "partners project" in which they will create a lifesize replica of the human body.

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling - Review Lesson

This week's lesson is a review of the Theme 4 words, so the list contains 30 words. The final test will consist of 20 words selected from the list. The final test will be on Friday, 2/4, and the cursive page and workbook pages will also be collected that day.

Reading - Summarizing

The reading strategy that we will be studying next week is summarizing. When reading passages, it is not necessary to recall every word. Instead, we will practice using main ideas and supporting evidence to summarize a passage. While reading, a good reader finds the main ideas, whether they are stated or implied. Then, the reader must find supporting evidence to support the main idea. This support may be in the form of details, examples, explanations or descriptions. In addition to practicing our summarization, students will be taking a QUIZ on chapters 3-4 of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing on Monday, 1/31.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

Our focus in chapter 8 is on interpreting and graphing data. This week we will study circle graphs, the coordinate grid and line graphs. Students will be taking a QUIZ on lessons 1-3 of the chapter on Tuesday, 2/1. The quiz will cover bar graphs and circle graphs.

Don't Forget...

February 14 - Valentine's Day Celebration

February 21 - President's Day - No School

February 25 - End of the Trimester

Our classroom celebration for Valentine's Day is scheduled for Monday, 2/14. Students may bring in cards to share with all of their classmates. We have 25 students in our class. I will be sending home a class list to help with names. Administration has asked that students do NOT bring in any edible treats to share. That includes any valentine card that has candy attached to it. Any student that brings in cards with candy will be asked to remove the candy before distributing the cards. Look for a letter from Mrs. Schultz to come home soon.

Last week, students attended an assembly that focused on the issue of bullying. Click on the link below for the story that ran in our local paper about the presentation.

http://triblocal.com/downers-grove/community/stories/2011/01/dan-kirk-%e2%80%93-juggler-comes-to-prairieview-elementary-for-pbis-assembly/

Mrs. Karen Bell