Week of 4/4/11 - 4/8/11

Highlights for the Week of 4/4/11 - 4/8/11 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom!

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom Class

English - Expository Writing

We will be taking a break from studying parts of speech to study expository writing. We will begin by reviewing the traits of expository writing, and taking a look at how to write a "hook" and supporting details. We will apply these concepts by writing an essay together that responds to the prompt, "What type of animal makes the best house pet?".

Science - Invention Convention / Electricity & Magnetism

Students should continue to work on their inventions at home. Don't forget that the inventions are due on 4/12. Students will be presenting their inventions to the class on 4/13 & 4/14, and displaying their creations at the PV Open House. Our focus in school this week will be to look at the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Students will be taking a QUIZ on chapter 15, lesson 2 on Friday, 4/8.

Social Studies

We will begin our study of the Southwest region the week of 4/11.

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling - Theme 5 Review

This week's lesson is a review of previous lessons. The spelling list consists of 30 words. The final test for the week will be on Friday, 4/11, and will contain 20 words from the larger list. Cursive pages and workbook pages will be collected on Friday, 4/8.

Reading

This week in reading the students will read two more selections with unexpected heroes. We will discuss their character traits, and compare them with people we know that may possess the same traits. We will also review cause/effect and fact/opinion this week.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

Customary and Metric measurement is our new unit of study in math. We will focus on measuring fractional parts, converting customary units, and customary weight and capacity this week. Look for a quiz on these lessons to be scheduled the week of 4/11.

Don't Forget...

March 28 - Spring Break begins

April 4 - Classes resume

April 5 - No School - Teachers' Institute

April 14 - PV Open House / Book Fair, 6:30-8:00

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 3/21/11 - 3/25/11

Highlights for the Week of 3/21/11 - 3/25/11 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom!

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom

English - Verbs

Our study of verbs will conclude on Monday with a review of the unit. The TEST on verbs is scheduled for Tuesday, 3/22.

Social Studies - Southwest Region

We will be leaving the Midwest and moving on to the Southwest region after spring break.

Science - Electricity

Creating series & parallel circuits, using switches with electricity, and conductors and insulators will be our topics this week. Students will take the QUIZ on chapter 15, lesson 1 on Thursday, 3/24.

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling - VCV Pattern

Words this week will follow the VCV (Verb-Consonant-Verb) pattern. We will focus on how to divide these types of words into syllables. The final test for the lesson is scheduled for Friday, 3/25. The spelling packet will also be collected that day.

Reading

Next week in reading, students wil be focusing on the skills of identifying fact and opinion, and evaluating. A fact is a statement that can be proven to be true. An opinion tells what a person thinks, believes or feels. Good readers should be able to identify when an author is using a fact or an opinion in a story. Evaluating text involves considering how well the author expresses and supports ideas. Students will be practicing these skills while reading the third story in our "heroes" theme, Lou Gehrig, The Luckiest Man.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class - Motion Geometry & Solid Figures

The TEST for chapters 20 & 21 is scheduled for Friday, 3/25. Earlier in the week, students will study how to draw and make patterns for solid figures, and different views of solid figures.

Don't forget...

March 28 - Spring Break begins

April 4 - Classes resume after spring break

April 5 - No School - Teachers' Institute

April 14 - PV Open House

April 21 - Early Dismissal

April 22 - No School

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 3/14/11 - 3/18/11

Highlights for the Week of 3/14/11 - 3/18/11 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom

English - Verbs

Students will finish the verb tense project at the beginning of the week. Then, we will move on to studying the special verb "be" & contractions that use the word not.

Social Studies - The Ojibwa

This week we will take a look at how the Ojibwa and other Native Americans from the Midwest keep their culture and traditions alive in modern times. Later in the week, we will "wrap up" our study of the Midwest by sampling some of the resources of the region, including corn, dairy products, berries and Ojibwa rice.

Science - Electricity

What does it take to make a light bulb glow? That is the question that students will answer this week. After investigating this question, students will work in small groups to create a poster that illustrates different ways to light a bulb. At the end of the week, our focus will be on parallel and series circuits.

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling- Changing the final "y" to "i"

The final test for this lesson will be on Friday, 3/18. The cursive page & workbook pages will also be collected on that day.

Reading

Next week, students will read about Gloria Estefan, a famous singer whose acts of kindness have made her a hero to many people. Our strategy will be making judgments. Making judgments involves deciding whether or not a character's actions are appropriate for a situation. Readers can ask themselves, "Do I agree with this? is this right or fair?"

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

Motion Geometry will be our new topic this week, as we move through chapter 20. We will begin by looking at congruent and similar figures, turns and symmetry, and transformations. Students will be taking a QUIZ on the first three lessons of chapter 20 on Thursday, 3/17. Chapters 20 & 21 are short, so I will be combining those two chapters into one test.

Don't Forget...

March 19 - District Fundraiser - "Spring Fling"

March 28-April 1 - Spring Break / No School

April 5 - Teacher's Institute / No School

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 3/7/2011 - 3/11/2011

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

Mrs. Bell's Homeroom

English - Unit 3 - Verbs

Students will have a graded review in class on Thursday, 3/10, that will cover lessons 1-8 in the unit. Topics on the review will include action verbs, main & helping verbs, use of and spelling ov present, past & future tense, subject/verb agreement, and irregular verbs. On Friday we will begin a small project reviewing verb tenses that requires writing three paragraphs about the same topic using past, present and future tense. The project's title is, "Tomorrow, Today will be Yesterday".

Social Studies - The Ojibwa
We will begin our study of the Ojibwa Native Americans who reside in the Midwest region of the U.S. Students will learn how they came to live in the Midwest, and how their lives changed when the Europeans settled in North America. They will also create their own traditional "talking stick" that is modeled after a tool used by the Ojibwas.

Science - ISAT Testing / Electricity

Students will be taking the science portion of the ISAT test on Wednesday, 3/9. We will finally begin studying electricity on Friday :)

Mrs. Bell's Reading Class

Spelling - Words with a Prefix or a Suffix

The final test for this lesson is scheduled for Friday, 3/11. The cursive page and workbook pages will also be collected that day.

Reading

Next week we will be using the predict/infer strategy, as well as cause and 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. We will be reading a story about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to practice these skills. Students will also write the last two poems for their poetry project.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

We are returning to the textbook to finish chapter 19. On Tuesday, we will review the problem solving strategy of comparing strategies. There will be no math on Wednesday, due to the science ISAT tests. We will review for the test on Thursday, and take the TEST on Friday, 3/11.

FYI...

March 4th - No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences

March 7th - No School - Casimir Pulaski Day

March 28th - Spring Break Begins

Enjoy the long weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell