Week of 2/27/12-3/2/12

Highlights for the Week of 2/27/12 in Mrs. Bell & Miss Johnston's Classroom

Spelling - Words with a Prefix or Suffix
This week's spelling lesson will focus on words that have prefixes and suffixes. The cursive/workbook pages OR challenge work will be collected on Friday, 3/2. The final test for the lesson will also be that day.

Reading
This week, we will finish the poetry project by studying and writing the following types of poetry: Haiku, Cinquain, Five Senses, Color, Concrete & Who, What, When & Where. We will also take a look at hyperbole and onomatopoeia. In addition to poetry, we will be revisiting the predict/infer strategy as well as cause & effect. Thinking about story events and personal knowledge helps readers predict likely events. With cause and effect, students will focus on why story events happen, and what happens as a result.

English- Adjectives
The TEST for chapter 4 of English (Adjectives) is scheduled for Wednesday, 2/29. Challenge work will also be collected that day. At the end of the week, students will take the pretest for our next unit of study, Verbs.

Social Studies
We will be taking a break from Social Studies this week in order to spend additional time preparing for the Science portion of the ISAT test. The next region that we will study in our journey across the U.S. will be the West.

Science - Electricity

Series and parallel circuits are two topics that we will investigate this week. Students will also learn about switches and conductors and insulators. Students had a lot of fun with the static electricity lab. Be sure to check out the pictures of some of them working at the end of the blog !

Mrs. Bell & Miss Johnston's Math Class - Customary & Metric Measurements
The chapter 22 TEST is scheduled for Tuesday, 2/28. We will spend the rest of the week preparing for the ISAT tests that will take place the week of 3/5.

Don't Forget...

February 28th - Early Dismissal - Students dismissed at 11:00

Science can be a "hair-raising" experience!










Which way will the balloon move?




Mrs. Karen Bell & Miss Kristin Johnston

Week of 2/20/12 - 2/24/12

Highlights for the Week of 2/20/12 in Mrs. Bell & Miss Johnston's Classroom

Spelling - Words with "-ed" & "-ing" Endings
This week's spelling lesson will focus on words that end with the suffixed "-ed" & "-ing". The cursive/workbook pages OR challenge work will be collected on Friday, 2/24. The final test for the lesson will also be that day.

Reading - I Can Understand the Elements of Poetry & Use Figurative Language
In reading this week our target genre will be poetry. The students will understand the elements of poetry, and they will work with figurative language such as similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia & hyperbole. Students will begin working on the poetry project, that will include writing many poems in many different formats. The project will be completed little by little. A limited amount of time will be given to work on the project at school, so students should expect to spend time writing at home as well. Look for the packet that accompanies this project to come home on Tuesday.

English- Adjectives
This week in English, we will continue our study of adjectives. Students will learn about how to use the adjectives "a","an" & "the", making comparisons with adjectives, and how to use the adjectives "good" & "bad". Students will also have the opportunity to share their monster paragraphs. :)


Social Studies - The Southwest
The Southwest BROCHURE PROJECT will be collected on Tuesday, 2/21.We will be "wrapping up" our visit to the southwest by completing the Southwest portion of their U.S. maps. They will also complete a cross-curricular activity by writing an extended response to a text piece about the Saguaro Cactus. We will finish the week with a Southwestern Fiesta that includes a taste of the products of the region.

Science - Electricity

Current and static electricity will be the topics this week. Students will participate in a lab during which they will discover the properties of static electricity. They will also work in a small group to create a poster that illustrates 4 different ways to light a bulb.

Mrs. Bell & Miss Johnston's Math Class -
Customary & Metric Measurements
We will begin the week with a look at measuring capacity using customary units. Then, we will move on to the measurement of length, volume & capacity using the metric system.

~In addition to our daily lessons, we will also be incorporating ISAT Practice.

Don't Forget...

February 20th - President's Day - No School
February 28th - Early Dismissal

Mrs. Karen Bell & Miss Kristin Johnston

Week of 2/13/12-2/17/12

Highlights for the Week of 2/13/12 in Mrs. Bell & Miss Johnston's Classroom

Spelling - Compound Words
This week's spelling lesson will focus on Compound Words. The cursive/workbook pages OR challenge work will be collected on Friday, 2/17. The final test for the lesson will also be that day.

Reading - I Can Understand the Elements of Poetry & Use Figurative Language
In reading this week our target genre will be poetry. The students will understand the different elements of poetry. This will include figurative language such as simile, metaphor, personification, and idioms. Along with poetry, the students will also be extensively working on writing extended responses that connect with their reading passages. The students will complete their "Reading Response Webs" this week and also have a final TEST over Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing on Wednesday, 2/15.

English- Adjectives
This week in English, we will be focusing on our next unit, adjectives. The students will learn how to identify different types of adjectives and how to write with adjectives. The students will be introduced to a new project, "Monster" Writing. The students will write a descriptive paragraph about a monster they create. This assignment will be due on Friday, 2/17. A project sheet and rubric will be provided.


Social Studies - The Southwest
The TEST on chapter 10 will be on Wednesday, 2/15. The students will also be introduced to a writing project about the Southwest region. Students will create a brochure including descriptions of the geography, climate, wildlife, and economy of the area. This assignment will be due on Tuesday, 2/21. A project sheet and rubric will be provided.

Science - Electricity

We will be starting our new unit this week on Electricity! The students will be receiving a note-taking packet to help them with this unit. Students will be doing a hands-on lab where they can investigate how to light a light bulb using a bulb, a wire, and a battery.

Mrs. Bell & Miss Johnston's Math Class -
Motion Geometry/Customary & Metric Measurements
The TEST on chapters 20 & 21 will be on Wednesday, 2/15. A review guide will be provided and completed in class to help students know what to focus on in order to prepare for the test. We will also be starting chapter 22, Customary & Metric Units. A note-taking packet will be provided to help students learn and practice their skills of the chapter.

~In addition to our daily lessons, we will also be incorporating ISAT Practice.

~Check out Factmonster.com, a perfect website where students can play "Basketball Geometry" to learn about different types of transformations!

Don't Forget...

Our Valentine's Day celebration will be on Tuesday, 2/14 at 1:30. If your child chooses to bring cards to share, please be sure that he/she has a card for every student in our classroom. Any edible treats that accompany cards will be sent home to be eaten. Please avoid any treats that contain dairy.

February 20th - President's Day - No School
February 28th - Early Dismissal

We hope you enjoy the following pictures of students working on their human body projects...

Mrs. Karen Bell & Miss Kristin Johnston

Week of 2/6/12-2/10/12

Highlights for the Week of 2/6/12 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Spelling - More VCCV Words
This week's spelling lesson contains words with the VCCV (Vowel-Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) pattern. The cursive/workbook pages OR challenge work will be collected on Friday, 2/10. The final test for the lesson will also be that day.

Reading - I Can Understand the Elements of Poetry & Use Figurative Language
We will finish our novel study of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and take a look at poetry. We will focus on some of the elements of poetry, including rhyme, sensory words, figurative language, and wordplay. We will be working on poetry and figurative language for the next few weeks. We will also be working on completing the "Reading Response Web", which is the final project for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

English- Expository Writing / Adjectives

The final copy of the hero essay will be collected on Monday, 2/6. The next unit in English will be adjectives. Students will be taking the pretest for this chapter on 2/10.

Social Studies - Climates in the Southwest / Oil & Technology
The QUIZ on the Southwest map is scheduled for Monday, 2/6. We will also finish our study of the climate of the Southwest region & take a look at how oil & technology impact the economy of the area.

Science - The Human Body
The TEST on chapter 4 will be on Wednesday, 2/8. A study guide was sent home to help students know what to focus on while preparing for the test. We will finish the week with a Time for Kids magazine that looks at the demise of the nautilus shell in the ocean.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class - Motion Geometry

Turns & symmetry, transformation, geometric patterns & solid figures will be the topics in math this week. Students will take a QUIZ on lessons 1-3 of chapter 20 on Wednesday, 2/8.

Don't Forget...

February 20th - President's Day - No School
February 28th - Early Dismissal

Mrs. Karen Bell