Week of 2/8/10 - 2/12/10

Highlights for the Week of 2/8/10 - 2/12/10 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Spelling - Lesson 19 - VAC Words

This week's list consists of VAC words - words that have a single Vowel before a single Consonant in an Accented final syllable. These words have special rules when suffixes are added. The final test for this lesson will be on Friday, 2/12. "Words to Know" are then-they're. Workbook pages and Master 19A will are due on 2/11 & manu work will be collected on 2/12.

Reading - Connections / ISAT Preparation

We will be finishing this unit of ISAT preparation with a look at analogies. Students will complete a unit review test on Wednesday. The test will cover the concepts of using context clues to determine meanings of unknown words, prefixes and suffixes, homophones and analogies. We will continue to practice writing extended responses to text passages.

"Bite into a Good Book" - Independent Reading Program
The deadline for reaching reading goals is 2/26. Students must write "Getting to the Core of the Book" for EVERY book that they have read for their goal. They also must give one book talk for the trimester. Book talks are scheduled for every Friday. Ask you child if he/she has given a book talk yet!

English - Expository Writing

We have completed our first expository piece & will begin on a second essay. We will continue to use the same organizers and terminology when writing until the process becomes second nature. The prompt will ask what your child would do if he/she was president. I look forward to reading their ideas!

Social Studies - The Colonists Rebel

The Stamp Act, the Townshend Act & the Sons of Liberty...ask your child about the series of events leading up to the Revolutionary War & about the cause/effect relationships that we studied! Now we will move on to focus on the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.

Science - Weather & the Water Cycle

Lesson 2 of chapter 11 will involve studying the water cycle and how it is related to weather. Students will investigate condensation in a hands on activity this week, and we will also learn about the different types of clouds.

Math - Mrs. Bell's Math Class

We will begin the week with a look at the addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators and multiplying fractions by whole numbers. The chapter 4 TEST is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, 2/11.

FYI...

Our classroom celebration for Valentine's day will be the afternoon of Friday, 2/12. Thank you to all of the parents who have worked so hard to make it a special day for our classroom!

Don't forget...no school on Monday, 2/15 for President's Day!

Enjoy your Super Bowl weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell