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