WEEK OF NOVEMBER 30

Prairieview School Service Project
Please make sure you review the service project information that went home with your child, and think about how your family might participate in this year's efforts. Don't forget that all donations need to be at school by Tuesday, December 8th! Thank you in advance for your generosity.


Subject Update:

• Spelling - Lesson 13 focuses on the prefixes dis, un, in, and mis.
• English - Students will start the next unit on nouns. A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. The first few lessons have students identifying nouns in sentences, distinguishing between common and proper nouns, and applying rules to spell plural nouns correctly.
• Reading - We will introduce the reading strategy of self-questioning. Good readers think of questions before, during, and after reading. These questions could be "thin" or "thick." Thin questions are ones that can be answered by information right there in the text. Thick questions require thinking beyond the words of the text. We will be practicing these two types of questions together as we read about hurricanes and tornadoes. November Book Project - The Biography Shape Book project (along with the biography that was read) is due Monday, November 30!!
• Science - The students will be learning about plant and animal populations, competition, and adaptations.
• Social Studies - We will read about daily life in colonial times. We will learn how education, religion, free time, and certain foods were important to people in the colonies.
• Mrs. Strong's Math Class - Students will begin Chapter 6 about addition and subtraction of decimals.

Mark Your Calendar:

Nov. 30 - Dec. 3 Parent/Teacher Conferences

Dec. 1 - Yearbook Orders Due!

Dec. 1 - Report Cards

Dec. 4 - No School

Dec. 8 - Prairieview School Service Project - Donations Due!

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 16 and 23

Junior Achievement Program - Thank You to Mr. Laviste
Our Junior Achievement program has come to its end. We learned a lot about natural, capital, and human resources, starting and running a business, and the concept of supply and demand. Thank you, Mr. Laviste, for volunteering your time to bring us this valuable learning experience!

Yearbooks,... Get Your Yearbooks Now!
Please notice the yearbook order form sent home with your child. Now’s the time to place your orders. (Prairieview yearbook orders were not paid at registration!) Yearbooks are $10.00 and the deadline for orders is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Please make checks payable to Lifetouch, and please make sure your student’s name, teacher’s name, and grade level are marked on the order form.


Subject Update:

• Spelling - Lesson 12 focuses on the suffix -ous.
• English - We will continue to learn about the use of quotation marks to show a speaker's exact words. Students will practice using capital letters, quotation marks, and other punctuation correctly when writing quotations. We will review the whole unit on capitalization and punctuation later in the week. The Unit 5 Test is scheduled for Tuesday, November 24!
• Reading - We will continue to work on the skill of making inferences. Next week, the students will focus on making inferences about characters. They will use the details given in a text to help them "infer" certain traits that describe the characters well. November Book Project - Students should be taking notes while reading their chosen biographies. The notes can then be used to write rough drafts for each page of the shape booklet. Don't forget, this project is due Monday, November 30!!
• Science - The students will be introduced to some of the important concepts from Chapter 6 - predator/prey relationship, competition, and structural and behavioral adaptations - while watching a wonderful video about barn owls. Then students will have the chance to perform both a virtual and hands-on owl pellet dissection. As you can see, we have some exciting activities ahead of us!
• Social Studies - The students should be thinking about the skills they possess, and how those skills could be put to use to make homemade items for our classroom trade fair. By participating in our trade fair, students will gain a deeper understanding of supply and demand, as well as develop a better understanding of the bartering and trading that went on during colonial times. Please refer to the hand-outs for participation expectations!
• Mrs. Strong's Math Class - The students will learn how to compare and order decimals next week. They will also "draw conclusions" by thinking about the details given in word problems. The Chapter 5 Test is scheduled for Thursday, November 19!

Mark Your Calendar:

Nov. 19 - Picture Retakes

Nov. 20 - End of 1st Trimester

Nov. 25 - 27 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)

Nov. 30 - Dec. 4 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

Dec. 1 - Report Cards

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 9

Robert Crown Field Trip Notes
Your child received an informational booklet from the Robert Crown Center. This booklet reviews information learned during the Michael or Linda program, depending on which program your child attended. It may serve as a valuable tool for parents, as the students may have questions following their field trip experience.


Subject Update:

• Spelling - Lesson 11 focuses on words formed by adding the suffix -ly to adjectives ending with -al. When you add the suffix -ly to the adjectives, they become adverbs.
• English - The students will review the many uses of commas. Then we will learn how to use quotation marks correctly. Writing quotations correctly can be difficult for students because it requires the correct use of commas, capital letters, and end marks, too. We will spend several days on quotation marks to focus on the three places a quotation may appear in a sentence: at the beginning, the end, or in the middle.
• Reading - We will introduce another important reading skill - making inferences. We will model this skill using a short story, "Art of the Needle and Loom." Then the students will practice making inferences while reading a story about the boyhood of Sitting Bull, a leader of the Lakota Souix people. November Book Project - All of the students' book choices have been approved. The next step for students is to read the biography and make notes on the designated worksheet. Students should be reading a little each night in order to finish the biography and project by the end of the month!
• Science - The Chapter 5 Test is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10! We will play a review game on Monday to help students prepare. The next chapter will continue our study of ecosystems as we learn how ecosystems change over time, both naturally and as a result of human activities.
• Social Studies - The students will learn about life in the colonies. The 13 colonies produced a wide variety of goods and developed valuable trade routes. Please look for information next week about a classroom trade fair!!
• Mrs. Strong's Math Class - We will begin Chapter 5 about decimals. The students will learn about the place values of decimals (through the thousandths place). They will also learn how to read and write decimals correctly, identify equivalent decimals, and compare and order decimals.

Mark Your Calendar:

Nov. 10 - Junior Achievement (5th session)

Nov. 11 - No School (Veteran's Day)

Nov. 12 - Character Counts Assembly

Nov. 19 - Picture Retakes

Nov. 20 - End of 1st Trimester