Week of 9/6/2010-9/10/2010

Highlights for the Week of 9/6/2010 - 9/10/2010 in Mrs. Bell's 4th Grade Classroom!

Spelling - Commonly Misspelled Words #2
The pretest for this lesson will be given on Tuesday, 9/6. Students that score 90% or better on the pretest will choose a challenge list of spelling words for the week. All students will complete contract work and the print/cursive sheet that will be collected on Friday, 9/10. The final test for this lesson will also be on 9/10.

Reading

This week in reading the students will learn to use skimming and scanning skills to locate answeres. During science, social studies, and reading, the students will be given tasks where they have to locate answers in the text. They will practice highlighting key words in questions or clues, and then skim the headlines, subtitles, captions, and passages to help them find the answers to those questions.

English - The Sentence

Students will study the other two types of sentences, commands and exclamations. They will review the four types of sentences by creating a "Snapshot Sentence" project in class. Please send a 4x6 photo of your child, or a similarly sized magazine photo on or before 9/10. The photos will glued and cut for the project, so no heirlooms, please !

Social Studies - We the People

Finishing the "Patriot Quest" for lesson 2 will be our first task this week. Then we will move on to using the skimming and scanning skills that we have learned in reading to analyze the lesson review and answer comprehension questions in class.

Science - Safety in the Lab

Our focus this week will be on reviewing safety rules in the science lab. Students will review and discuss the rules and participate in a white board game activity to reinforce their knowledge.

Math - Mrs. Bell's Math Class

Ordering whole numbers and problem solving using logic will be our focus this week. We will have a QUIZ on lessons 1-5 of chapter 1 on 9/8.

FYI...

Meet Yoshi...
Has your child told you about our class pet? He is a bearded dragon named Yoshi. Yoshi is about 3 years old and 15 inches long. His diet consists of greens, vegetables, fruit & crickets. The students have enjoyed getting to know him. If you'd like more information about bearded dragons, please see the following website: http://www.beardeddragon.org/.

Ask your child about our wonderful classroom assistant, Miss Melissa Millbrandt. Miss Millbrandt is a graduate of Loyola University, and she holds a teaching certificate in Elementary Education. She student taught in 3rd grade at PV, taught in the district preschool, and is an alumni of district 66! She works with students in Mrs. Bell's class, and in Mrs. Forsman's math class. We are so lucky to have her!

HELP NEEDED...I am looking for 1-2 parent volunteers who can give 1-2 hours per week to make copies for our classroom. The scheduled copy time is Thursday from 9:00 to 10:00. If I have multiple volunteers, the time commitment will be less, perhaps every other week, or once a month. Please email me at kbell@ccsd66.org if you would like to help out! THANKS !!!

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 8/30/10-9/3/10

Highlights for the Week of 8/30/10 - 9/3/10 in Mrs. Bell's 4th Grade Classroom!

Spelling - Commonly Misspelled Words
Spelling procedures will be introduced to students on Monday. Watch for the "All About Spelling" sheet to come home. Our first spelling list will contain 20 commonly misspelled words. Student will take a pretest on Monday, and receive the list of words. Students will also be given a contract from which they will choose three homework activities to complete for the list of words. Homework will be due on Friday, 9/3. There will also be a final test for the lesson on 9/3.

Reading - The Pumpkin Runner

This week in reading the students will review and practice their reading strategies as they read the story The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold. The reading strategies that we will focus on are: preview/infer, phonics/decoding, question, monitor/clarify, summarize, and evaluate.

English - The Sentence

Our first unit in English focuses on sentences. This week we will look at different types of sentences, specifically, the statement and the question. We will also take a look at how to write a friendly letter, and write one of our own!

Social Studies - We the People

Students became familiar with the Social Studies text by participating in an information scavenger hunt. We will be moving on to Chapter 2, which focuses on the structure and functions of the government of the United States.

Science

An introduction to scientific tools is on our schedule this week. Students will have a chance to use a variety of tools in the classroom, and to learn the purpose of each of the tools.

Math - Mrs. Bell's Math Class

Students in my class will be taking an "Inventory" test on Monday. The test will cover many of the concepts that we will be studying this year. The test will not entered in the gradebook, but will serve to give me an idea of where your child's strengths and weaknesses in math are. The first concept that we will study in math this year is place value. We will begin with a look at place value through the 100s and the millions. Comparing and ordering whole numbers will be the final topic of the week.

FYI...

Mark your calendar for 4th grade curriculum night on Tuesday, September 7th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. I look forward to seeing you there!

All 4th and 5th grade students have the opportunity to sign up for Intramural games. This is a "free" after school program that allows your child to stay active. Permission slips will be sent out next week. Please return them to Mrs. Cushing by Friday, September 3rd.

Mrs. Karen Bell