April 30, 2010

READING
We will working on a theme review this week. We will read two stories about Families. One story is called A Curve in the River which is a realistic fiction. It is about a little boy who sends a message in a bottle. The second story called Slippery Siblings which is a non-fiction story. We will compare and contrast the stories. We will review contractions, word families, and homophones.

MATH
In math we are working on fractions. We will be learning about equal parts, how to write fractions, fractions equal to 1 whole and fractions of a group. We will have our chapter test at the end of next week.

Handwriting
We will be learning to write the cursive capital letters N, M, K, H, U and Y. Please review the lowercase letters with your child.

Science
We will be starting a new unit on nutrition. We will be learning about the food groups, the food pyramid and what are healthy foods to eat.

Open House
I enjoyed seeing everyone at the Open House! Thank you to everyone who for the gift certificates for the book fair. I was able to purchase books for our classroom to enjoy. I appreciate your thoughtfulness! The children have been working very hard and it shows in their beautiful work. I’m very proud of them and you should be too.

Matthew – April 30

ANNOUNCEMENTS
May 7 – Movie Night
May 14 – Early Dismissal
May 25 – Field Trip to Chicago Botanical Gardens
May 27 – Visit to Prairie View School
May 31 – Memorial Day – No School
May 28 – School Picnic

April 23, 2010

Reading
Next week we will be reading a story called Thundercake. It is a realistic story about a girl who is afraid of thunderstorms. When her grandmother decided to make a cake, they must go outside to get the ingredients. By the time the storm finally arrives, the girl realizes that she is braver than she thought.
In phonics we will be focusing on words that end in -ed and -ing, and the silent consonants b and k (n).
Vocabulary words are bolt, horizon, lightning, rumbled, thunder, weather.
Comprehension strategy is sequence of events.
In grammar we will be working on the verbs is/are and was/were.

MATH
In math we started a chapter on weight, mass, capacity and temperature. We are learning what objects are measured in ounces, pounds, grams and kilograms. We learned about quarts, pints, cups and gallons. Next week we will be learning about liters, temperature and using the correct tools for measurement. We will be having our chapter test at the end of next week.

Handwriting
Next week we will be starting to learn the Uppercase letters. Please continue to review the letters with your child.

Science
Our larvae are now forming a chrysalis. They will will remain in this stage for approximately 7 to 10 days. They are now inside a butterfly pavilion. You can view them at Open House.

Open House
Our spring open house will be on April 29th from 6:30-8:00. All family members are welcome to attend and see all of our beautiful
work on display.

Box Tops Collections
We are still collecting box tops for education. We are only in a slight lead over the other classes. Check if any products at home have the box tops to add to our collection. Thanks!

Adopt-A-Rainforest
The response to the Adopt-A-Rainforest coin donation was tremendous! While collecting the coins over a week period, WE RAISED $293.58!! The students, parents, and teachers at Elizabeth Ide really contributed to raising the awareness about the importance of rainforests. Our donation will be used for a conservation project in either Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, or Nicaragua. I have asked the Rainforest Alliance to allocate our donation to the neediest project.

Field Trip
On May 26th we will be taking a field trip to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. The cost is $5.00 and we will need a sack lunch that day. Our permission slip will be coming home next week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
April 29 – Open House and Book Fair
April 30 – Unique Assembly
May 7 – Author Assembly
May 14 – Early Dismissal
May 26 – Field Trip
May 28 – School Picnic

April 16, 2010

READING
We will be taking the OLSAT tests this week. This is not a test that your child can study for, they just have to try to do their best.
We will be working on learning more information on the rain forest and butterflies. The rain forest animal posters that have come in are great! The children have been working hard on their animal reports.

MATH
In math we will be finishing our chapter on measurement. Our chapter test will be next week. Our next chapter will be on length, perimeter and area.

Handwriting
We will be learning to write the cursive letters v and w. Next we will be learning the capital letters. Please review the lowercase letters with your child.

Science
Our larvae have grown a lot! We are watching them to see the next stage of development. Soon they will develop into the pupa stage (chrysalis).

Open House
Our spring open house will be on April 29th from 6:30-8:00. All family members are welcome to attend and see all of our beautiful
work on display.

We will be celebrating summer birthdays before the end of our school year. Write me a note and we can pick a date to celebrate your child’s summer birthday.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
April 20-21 – OLSAT Testing
April 22 – Earth Day
April 22 – Early Dismissal
April 29 – Open House and Book Fair
May 14 – Early Dismissal
May 28 – School Picnic

April 9, 2010

READING
Thank you to the parents who sent in the Animal report sheets. We will be using those to write an expository report in school. We will be writing our reports on our chosen animal. These will be on display at Open House.

MATH
In math began a new chapter on measurement. We will be learning how measure objects in inches, feet, yards, centimeters and meters.

Handwriting
We will be learning to write the cursive capital letters m, y and x. Please review the lowercase letters with your child.

Science
We are learning about the life cycle of the butterfly. We are waiting for the arrival of the caterpillars (larva). We will be observing them by using magnifying glasses. We will be working in a journal to record what we are learning and the stages of development from egg to butterflies.

Open House
Our spring open house will be on April 29th from 6:30-8:00. All family members are welcome to attend and see all of our beautiful work on display.

Character Counts
The pillar for April is Citizenship. Are you a good citizen? “I am a good citizen because I throw away my garbage in the garbage can.” “ I follow the classroom rules.” “I follow the rules when I ride the bus.” We will be wearing purple on Fridays.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
April 21 – Animal Posters Due
April 19-20 – OLSAT Testing
April 22 – Early Dismissal
April 29 – Open House and Book Fair
May 14 – Early Dismissal
May 28 – School Picnic