Week of 1/5/09 - 1/9/09

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF 1/5/09 - 1/9/09 IN MRS. BELL'S CLASSROOM

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling - Lesson 15 - Words that end in "ery"
The final test for this lesson will be on Friday, 1/9. "Words to Know" are knew-might & the vocabulary word is exemplary. Menu work is also due on 1/9.

Reading - Self Questioning

We will be spending time doing ISAT preparation by looking at word selection, author's point of view, and figurative language such as metaphors, personification & alliteration.

"Bite into a Good Book" Independent Reading Program

I hope that students will spend at least 20 minutes every day during break reading a book. The deadline for reaching the second trimester goal is 2/27/09.

Language Arts - Expository Writing

We will be taking a break from the grammar & parts of speech to begin our unit on expository writing. This week we will study the components of a good paragraph, and practice writing them!

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

Perimeter, area & volume are our new topics in math. This week we will cover perimeter, estimating and finding exact area, simpler parts and circles. Students will study vocabulary and formulas to assist them in this unit.

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom Class

Social Studies

The French & Indian War is the next lesson that we will cover in Chapter 7. We will also have a TFK that looks at the "Coolest Inventions of 2008".

Science - Earth's Oceans

Lesson 3 of Chapter 12 focuses on how waves, currents and tides. We will be making our own waves in an activity early in the week, and reading and taking notes. The open book ASSESSMENT for this lesson is tentatively scheduled fro Friday, 1/9.

FYI...

Iowa Testing is scheduled for the week of 1/12/09. We hope that students will be well rested during the testing period.

It's hard for me to believe that the holiday break is upon us already! We have had a tremendous start to our year, and I am looking forward to a fabulous finish in 2009!

Happy Holidays to You & Yours!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 12/15/08 - 12/19/08

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF 12/15/08-12/19/08 IN MRS. BELL'S CLASSROOM

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

***Due to the bowling field trip & the all school movie field trip, we will not meet for reading on Tuesday and Friday of this week. ***

Spelling - Holiday Words

This week's list will consist of 15 holiday words, some of which are proper nouns. We will pretest on Monday, and the final test will be on Thursday, 12/18. The "Words to Know" this week are instead-it's, and the vocabulary word of the week is emulate. Daily work is due on Thursday, 12/18.

Reading - Self-Questioning

We will continue our small group study of the stories, "Hurricane Opal" & "White Dragon". This week, students will prepare for ISAT testing by responding to prompts based upon these stories.

"Bite into a Good Book" - Independent Reading Program

Holiday break is the perfect time to grab a good book & catch up on your reading! I'm hoping that we will have 100% participation in our next fabulous reading party!

Language Arts - Adjectives

We will finish adjectives this week with a look at proper adjectives and reviewing. The TEST on this unit will be on Thursday, 12/18.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

The chapter 7 TEST is scheduled for Monday, 12/15. We will wrap up the week by taking a look at tangrams by sharing the book, Grandfather Tang's Story. After break we will begin chapter 10, "Perimeter, Area & Volume".

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom

Social Studies

Lessons 1 & 2 of Chapter 7 are scheduled for this week. Students will study the colonization of North America by the Spanish, and the exploration of the Mississippi by the French.

Science - Earth's Oceans

The Ocean Floor Projects are due on Monday, 12/15. We will have an OPEN BOOK ASSESSMENT for chapter 12, lesson 1 on Wednesday, 12/17.

FYI...

THANK YOU to all the families who sent in gifts for our holiday service project. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated by the recipients of the gifts!

The fifth grade bowling field trip is Tuesday morning, from 9-11. Students may bring reasonable spending money for snacks.


On Friday, all of PV will be going to the Tivoli to see, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". What a marvelous way to start our holiday break!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 12/8/08 - 12/12/08

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF 12/8/08 - 12/12/08 IN MRS. BELL'S CLASSROOM

Mrs. Bell’s Reading Class

Spelling - Lesson 14- "More Prefixes & Roots"

The final test for this lesson will be on Friday, 12/12. "Words to Know" are here-I'm, and the vocabulary word of the week is elude. Menu work will be collected on 12/12.

Reading - Self Questioning

The new skill that we will begin this week is self questioning. Students will become familiar with text structure and how to use it to better understand what they are reading. We will also continue our preparation for the ISAT extended response by writing a paragraph using the organizer from the story of the Three Little Pigs.

"Bite into a Good Book" - Independent reading program

The reading celebration for students that met their first trimester goal will be held during lunch/recess on 12/8. I hope that we will have 100% participation for second trimester.

Language Arts - Adjectives

Our new unit in Language arts is adjectives. This week's focus will include identifying adjectives,

articles and demonstratives, comparing with adjectives, and using the words "good" and "bad". Ask your student to sing our new Schoolhouse Rock song, "Unpack Your Adjectives".


Mrs. Bell’s Math Class

We wil be "wrapping up" geometry with a look at symmetry and tessellations. Students will be creating their own tessellation project. The Chapter 7 TEST is tentatively scheduled for the week of 12/15.

Mrs. Bell’s Homeroom Class

Social Studies

The chapter 6 TEST is seheduled for Wednesday, 12/10. We will be reviewing in class on Monday & Tuesday. At the end of the week we will begin chapter 7, lesson 1, "The Spanish Move North".

Science- Earth's Oceans

The study of the ocean's floor will be our topic this week. Students will be creating a visual depiction of the ocean floor after studying its many attibutes.

FYI…

The permission slip & fee for the holiday movie, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" are due on or before 12/12.

THANK YOU to the families who have sent items in for our Holiday Service Project. The deadline for making donations is Wednesday, 12/10.

Enjoy a relaxing weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 12/1/08 - 12/5/08

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF 12/01/08 - 12/05/08 IN MRS. BELL'S CLASSROOM

Mrs Bell's Reading Class

Spelling - Lesson 13 - Negative Prefixes

The final test for this week's lesson will be on Thursday, 12/4. "Words to Know" are happened - heard, and the vocabulary word for the week is eloquent. Menu work will be due on 12/5.

Reading - Making Inferences

Our focus in reading this week will be preparing for the extended response writing for the ISAT tests. First, we will practice identifying and writing the key idea when responding to a writing prompt. Then, students will learn about and practice how to find evidence to support their key idea and how to interpret and extend that evidence. The interpretation of the evidence is an extension of the reading skill that we have been studying, which is inferring or drawing conclusions. We will use the story of the Three Little Pigs to practice these skills together.

"Bite into a Good Book" Independent Reading Program

We have set goals for the second trimester. Students must ALWAYS have a silent reading book with them at school.

English - Nouns

We will be finishing the unit on nouns at the beginning of the week with a look at using exact nouns, and a review of all that we have studied. The TEST on the nouns unit will be on Thursday, December 4th.

Conferences

I look forward to meeting with parents of my reading students this week!

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

We will study geometric patterns, congruency and transformations this week. The second QUIZ for chapter 7 will be on Tuesday, 12/3.

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom Class

Social Studies

We will be studying lesson 4 of chapter 6 this week. We will be taking notes and reviewing the lesson. The chapter 6 TEST is tentatively scheduled for the week of 12/8. Students will also be working on a TFK that focuses on bullying. There will be a QUIZ on the TFK on 12/2. Science - Earth's Oceans

On Monday, we will investigate how salinity affects the temperature of water. We will also be taking a look at the properties of the ocean.

FYI...

Permission slips and the fee for the holiday movie, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" are due on or before Friday, 12/12.

No school on Friday, December 5th.

Have a relaxing weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 11/24/08 - 11/28/08

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF 11/24/08 - 11/28/08 IN MRS. BELL'S CLASSROOM

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling

Due to the short week, there will be no spelling lesson this week.

Reading - Inferring

The week will begin with an assessment that measures the student's skills at making inferences. We will also spend some time reviewing literary genres.

"Bite into a Good Book" - Independent Reading Program

The second trimester begins this week. Students have set new reading goals & are ready to go!

English - Nouns

Possessive nouns will be our focus this week. We will also take a trip to the computer lab to practice our proofreading skills using the software, "Education City".

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

There will not be any new lessons this week. On Monday, our class time will be shortened by an assembly, so we will spend our time together reviewing homework. On Tuesday we will head to the computer lab to use the "Education City" software to have fun with math skills that we have learned this year.

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom Class

Social Studies

We will take a break from our textbook to spend time with a TFK that focuses on the results of the 2008 presidential election. Students will have homework for the TFK on Monday, and a quiz on the information in the publication on Tuesday.

Science - Earth's Oceans

Due to the shortened week, we will not be starting the new chapter in science. We look forward to starting the lesson 1 of our new unit, "What Are the Oceans Like?", after the holiday break.

FYI...

Wishing you & yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 11/17/08 - 11/21/08

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF 11/17/08-11/21/08 IN MRS. BELL'S CLASSROOM

MRS. BELL'S READING CLASS

Spelling - Lesson 12 - The ending "ous"

The final test for this lesson will be Friday, 11/21. Words to Know this week are girl-guess, and the vocabulary word is elicit. Contract work is due on 11/21.

Reading - Making Inferences

We will continue our work on developing the skill of making inferences, or drawing conclusions. The week will begin with some small group work involving reading a short story and completing comprehension activities focusing on inferencing. We will end the week with a look at idioms, analogies, homonyms and synonyms.

"Bite into a Good Book" - Independent Reading Program

We will be signing a new contract for second trimester. Please discuss your child's goal with him/her and return the signed contract to school. Don't forget part of reaching the goal is doing one book presentation.

English - Nouns

Patterns of plural nouns, singular possessive nouns and plural possessive nouns are our focus this week.

MRS. BELL'S MATH CLASS

The first midchapter QUIZ for chapter 7 is scheduled for Monday, 11/17. We will continue our study of geometry with a look at triangles, quadrilaterals and polygons.

MRS. BELL'S HOMEROOM CLASS

Social Studies

Students will be completing a review for chapter 6, lesson 2 on Monday. We will begin lesson 3 on Tuesday and take notes using a Circle Book format. We will also spend some time studying colonial jobs.

Science - Weather & the Water Cycle

The chapter 11 TEST is scheduled for Tuesday, 11/18.

FROM THE PRAIRIEVIEW OFFICE:

Announcing Prairieview 2008-2009 Yearbook. Order your yearbook today!!! The cost of the yearbook is $10.00 and make payments to Lifetouch. Order deadline date is December 1, 2008. No orders will be accepted after that date. Parents just a reminder-- Prairieview yearbooks are not paid for at registration. Please place your order now. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 13th and there a few extra envelopes available; please try not to lose them. If your child loses it, you can send an envelope with the following information on it: student’s name, teacher’s name and grade level along with a check made payable to Lifetouch for $10.00. It is very important that you put the information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child’s teacher is. There will be a limited supply in June. Order Today!!!

Go Bears...Go Spartans...Go Air Force!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 11/10/08 - 11/14/08

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF 11/10/08 - 11/14/08 IN MRS. BELL'S CLASSROOM

MRS. BELL'S READING CLASS

Spelling - Lesson 11 - "The Suffix -ly"

The final test for this lesson will be on Friday, 11/14. "Words to Know" are field-getting, and the vocabulary word for the week is docile. Contract word must be turned in by 11/14.

Reading - Inferencing

We will continue working on the reading strategy of inferencing. Students will practice drawing conclusions given text and/or photographs. Then we will reverse the process by having the student write situations for which a partner will have to draw conclusions.

"Bite Into a Good Book" Independent Reading Program.

The DEADLINE for reaching this trimester's goal is this Friday, 11/14. Students must write a book summary for each book read during the trimester, and present one book talk.

English - Nouns

Writing with nouns and singular and plural nouns are our topics this week.

MRS. BELL'S MATH CLASS

We will continue our study of geometery with a look at angle relationships and how to classify lines. The first QUIZ for chapter is scheduled for the week of 11/17.

MRS. BELL'S HOMEROOM CLASS

Social Studies:

The date of the TRADE FAIR is Friday, 11/14. This week we will be focusing on

Lesson 2 of Chapter 6. Students will be taking notes for the information in this lesson.

Science:

We will be finishing Chapter 11 and having the open book assessment for lesson 3 on Thursday. The Chapter 11 TEST is scheduled for the week of 11/17.

FYI...

No school on Tuesday, 11/11 due to Veteran's Day.

Happy Weekend...Go Bears...Go Air Force!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 11/3/08 - 11/7/08

Highlights for the Week of 11/3/08 - 11/7/08 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling - Lesson 10 - Final "y" words and suffixes

The final test on this lesson will be on Friday, 11/7. "Words to Know" are everybody-family, and the vocabulary word of the week is diligent. Contract work will be due on Friday, 11/7.

Reading - Inferring

We will be starting a new reading strategy this week: Inferring. Students will be working on drawing conclusions from their reading. We will begin the week by reading together the story "Art of the Needle & Loom" from our textbook, and drawing conclusions about what is written in the text. Students will be typing their Tall Tale Story Pyramid project in the computer lab on Wednesday. The final project is due on Friday, 11/7.

"Bite into a Good Book" - Deadline 11/14

Students MUST ALWAYS have a silent reading book

with them at school!

English - Nouns

Our new unit for English is nouns. This week we will begin looking at what a noun is, and the difference between common and proper nouns.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

The chapter TEST for decimals is Monday, 11/3. Our next unit of study is plane geometry. Since there is a lot of vocabulary in this chapter, students will be taking more notes than in prior chapters. We will begin with a look at points, lines, planes & angles.

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom Class

Social Studies - Life in the New England Colonies

We will start our week with a recap of what we have learned about elections, and a look at Tuesday's results. The study of colonial life is the topic for Chapter 6, our next unit in Social Studies. Look for information about our class' TRADE FAIR to come home with your child on Thursday, 11/6. The fair will take place on Wednesday, 11/12.

Science - Measuring Weather Conditions

Our class will be setting up a weather station on Monday that we will monitor all week. Students will be studying the different tools that scientist use to study and to measure weather. We will also look at how to read a weather map.

FYI...

There is NO SCHOOL on Tuesday, November 4th due to teacher's institute.

Picture Retakes are scheduled for November 6th.

The Social Studies committee is looking for two parents who have an education or history background to be involved in the adoption of new Social Studies textbooks. You would have to meet with the committee and provide input choosing our textbook for the coming years. The Social Studies committee will be meeting once every other month for the next two years. Please email mpellin@ccsd66.org if you would be interested in joining the Social Studies committee.

THANK YOU to all of the parents who helped organize our Halloween celebration! The games were great & the treats delicious. We had a "spook-tacular" time!

Happy weekend...Go Bears...Go Mustangs...Go Air Force!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 10/27/08 - 10/31/08

Highlights for the week of 10/27/08 - 10/31/08 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling - Vocabulary Words

Our spelling list this week will consist of the vocabulary words that we have studied since the first week of school plus the words debacle, election and president. There wil be no pretest and no contract work for this week. Students will be given assignments to help them study the spelling and definitions of the words. The final test will be on Friday, 10/31.

Reading - Visualization

We have had a "ton of fun" studying the elements of tall tales and visualizing the exaggerations in the stories. This week we will study the tale of "Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind". Students will independently read the story of "Pecos Bill" and complete an assessment on Thursday. On Friday, our final project, a Story Pyramid will be assigned.

English - Capitalization & Punctuation

We will review the unit at the beginning of the week. The TEST for this unit is scheduled for Wednesday, 10/29.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

We are nearing the end of Chapter 3, Decimal Operations. There will be a second QUIZ for the chapter on Monday, 10/27. The final lessons will cover interpreting quotients and solving decimal equations. The TEST is TENTATIVELY scheduled for Monday, 11/3.

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom Class

Social Studies - Elections

We will be spending time in the computer lab this week to research the candidates' stance on a variety of issues. Once students have become informed, they will create a campaign poster for the candidate who they support in the election. They will have the option of using clipart printed at home to enhance their posters. We will work on them on Thursday in class, and they will be due on Friday, 10/31. We will also be reading TFK this week.

Science - What Factors Affect the Water Cycle?

We have completed our note taking and investigation for lesson 2 of chapter 11. On Wednesday, students will have an open book ASSESSMENT that covers the information in this lesson.

FYI...

Our Halloween celebration will be on Friday, 10/31. The annual Prairieview Halloween parade will begin at 1:15, and parties will start at 1:30. Students may dress up for the party, and are reminded that costumes must be school appropriate, and that no items resembling weapons are allowed. They will be given time to change in the classrooms prior to the parade.

HAVE A SPOOK-TACULAR HOLIDAY!

Mrs. Karen Bell