Week of 1/28/13 - 2/1/13

Highlights for the Week of 1/28/13

in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Spelling - Review Lesson
This week's spelling list will contain 30 words from the 4th theme in our reading text. Words will be chosen from lessons 15-17. Students must score 100% on the pretest to earn challenge work for the week. The final test will be on Friday, 2/1, and will cover 20 words from the list. Homework will also be collected on Friday.


Reading - I Can Understand  Elements of Poetry & Use Figurative Language
We will finish our novel study of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and take a look at poetry. We will focus on some of the elements of poetry, including rhyme, sensory words, figurative language, and wordplay. We will also begin working on completing the "Reading Response Web", which is the final project for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

English- Verbs

Students will take the chapter pretest on Monday to earn the opportunity to do challenge work. The first two lessons of the new chapter will focus on action verbs, and main and helping verbs.

Social Studies - Bountiful Midwest Farms
The third lesson of chapter 8 takes a look at the agriculture of the Midwest region.  Ask your child why  farmers grow different crops in the Great Plains than the Central Plains.  Look for the test on chapter 8 to be scheduled for the week of 2/4.

Science - How does Your Body Get Nutrients & Oxygen?
Students will take an open note/book QUIZ on lesson 1 of chapter 4 on Tuesday, 1/29. The next body systems that we will study are the skeletal and muscular systems.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

The chapter 7 TEST is scheduled for Monday, 1/28. Our next chapter will cover graphing and the coordinate grid.

Don't Forget...

February 30th - Early Dismissal - Students dismissed at 11:00

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 1/21/13 - 1/25/13

Highlights for the Week of 1/21/13

in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Spelling - Words with the "VCCV" Pattern
Words this week will have the "VCCV" or Vowel/Consonant/Consonant/Vowel pattern. The final test for this lesson will be on Friday, 1/25. Workbook pages & the cursive page OR challenge work will also be collected that day.

Reading 
This week we are going to take a break from our novel, and begin practicing how to write an extended response,  which is a skill that will be assessed on the ISAT tests in March. We will study the formula for how to write a response by working with picture books.  At the end of the week, we will write a response to a prompt about Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

English- Adjectives

We will finish the chapter on Adjectives this week with a look at how to compare with the words "good" and "bad". We will also review for the TEST which is scheduled for Friday, 1/25.




Social Studies - The Midwest

This week we will look at lesson 2 of chapter 8. This lesson covers the terrain & climate of the South Dakota Badlands.

Science - The Human Body / How Does Your Body Get Oxygen & Nutrients?

The respiratory & circulatory systems will be our focus this week.  Students will create a model of the respiratory system that will show how the diaphragm pushes air in and out of the lungs.  Ask your child to demonstrate for you!  We will also take a journey through our circulatory system as blood cells.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

We will begin the week with a look at mean, median & mode.  Students will take a QUIZ on lessons 1-3 of chapter 7 on Thursday, 1/24.

Don't Forget...

January 21 - No School - Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday






Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 1/14/13 - 1/18/13

Highlights for the Week of 1/14/13 

in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Spelling - Words with the final /j /& /s/ Sound
The final test for this lesson will be on Friday,1/18. Workbook pages & the cursive page OR challenge work will also be collected that day.

Reading- I Can Draw Conclusions

The comprehension skill that we will be focusing on this week is drawing conclusions. Good readers use details in a story to draw conclusions about characters and events. They will learn that it is possible to draw more than one conclusion from the same details. We will continue reading the novel, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, as we work on this skill. There also is a comprehension/skill check QUIZ on chapter 3 & 4 of the novel scheduled for Friday, 1/18.

English- Adjectives
Using "a, an, and the", making comparisons, and comparing with more and most are the topics for English this week. Students will be completing a lesson review in class on Wednesday to "show what they know".

Social Studies - The Midwest

The Midwest map QUIZ is scheduled for Tuesday, 1/15. We will move on to a look at the Badlands of South Dakota.  

This week's Time for Kids focuses on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We will take some time out from our study of the Midwest to look at the impact that he had on our country, and how his legacy continues. The comprehension QUIZ for the TFK is scheduled for Thursday, 1/17.

Science - The Human Body / How Does Your Body Get Oxygen and Nutrients?

We will complete our study of the digestive system with an organs QUIZ ON Wednesday. The next system we will focus on is the respiratory system.  

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

The chapter 6 TEST is scheduled for Wednesday, 1/16. We will spend Monday and Tuesday preparing for the test.  On Thursday we will begin chapter 7 which focuses on how to collect and organize data.  Some of the topics in this chapter include graphs, charts, and mean, median and mode. 

Don't Forget...

January 21 -- M. L. King Birthday -- No School

It's that time again...the district spelling bee is here ! A "practice" spelling bee in our classroom is scheduled for Friday, 1/18. All students will participate.  Please stress to your child that this event is supposed to be for fun, and what is most important is that we show good sportsmanship and support for all of our classmates.  The second, and "official" classroom spelling bee will be the week of 1/21.

Mrs. Karen Bell