For the Week of June 2nd

Talent Show

Students have been selected for the talent show and there are quite a number of them. For that reason we want to limit each student's performance to about a minute. If your child is performing in a group, it may run a little longer. Please help your child practice this week. We want them to feel successful. The talent show is this Thursday, June 5th at 1:00.

Make Summer Plans

Students who continue to read during the summer months will continue to make progress in their reading abilities. One way to encourage summer reading is to use a web site that is made specifically to help students with their reading. Prairieview has purchased a number of licenses to web sites to help students in their reading. If you would like to have access to one or more of these sites for your child to use over the summer, please contact me and I will set it up for you.

For the Week of May 19th

Talent Show

Try-outs for the talent show will be the week of May 19th. I am still taking applications so if your child wants to try-out there is still time to sign-up. I am hoping to have all of the try-outs finished next week so encourage your child to schedule a time. The try-out sheets are posted by my classroom door.



Make Summer Plans

Students who continue to read during the summer months will continue to make progress in their reading abilities. One way to encourage summer reading is to use a web site that is made specifically to help students with their reading. Prairieview has purchased a number of licenses to web sites to help students in their reading. If you would like to have access to one or more of these sites for your child to use over the summer, please contact me and I will set it up for you.

For the Week of May 12th

Chess Club

Chess Club has ended for this school year. We had a great group of students who participated. Parents - if you don't know how to play, let your son or daughter teach you. Quality family time - that's what its all about.

Talent Show

Talent Show sign-up sheets went home with 4th and 5th graders on Friday, May 9th. Please send those back to school by Wednesday, May 14th. We are looking forward to another interesting talent show this year.

Make Summer Plans

Students who continue to read during the summer months will continue to make progress in their reading abilities. One way to encourage summer reading is to use a web site that is made specifically to help students with their reading. Prairieview has purchased a number of licenses to web sites to help students in their reading. If you would like to have access to one or more of these sites for your child to use over the summer, please contact me and I will set it up for you.

For the Week of May 5th

Chess Club

Thursday's club is over for the school year. Wednesday's club will meet for the last time this week, since we had to reschedule earlier in the year. I have enjoyed working with the chess club. It is a great group of students. It has been fun watching them grow in their chess abilities.

MAP testing and Aimsweb Benchmarking

The MAP tests are computer based tests over math and reading. We also do 3 Aimsweb tests. There are 2 math tests, one on computation and one on concepts and application. We also do a timed reading test that helps us to know how fast your child is able to read. All of these tests are important because we use the data to help decide if you child needs any kind of extra support - therefore, it is very important that your child do the best that they can. A good nights sleep, and a healthy breakfast are two factors which can really make a difference in a student's test taking abilities. I think it is very important, especially this week, to make sure that your child gets plenty of time to sleep.

For the Week of April 28th

Chess Clubs

Both clubs are meeting this week. We will continue to work on end games - ways to checkmate our opponent.

Make Summer Plans

Students who continue to read during the summer months will continue to make progress in their reading abilities. One way to encourage summer reading is to use a web site that is made specifically to help students with their reading. Prairieview has purchased a number of licenses to web sites to help students in their reading. If you would like to have access to one or more of these sites for your child to use over the summer, please contact me and I will set it up for you.

For the Week of April 14th

No School

There will be no school Thursday afternoon, April 17th and no school Friday, April 18th.

Chess Club

There is no chess club this week. Last week in chess club we learned how to check-mate using 2 bishops and a king.

Make Summer Plans

Students who continue to read during the summer months will continue to make progress in their reading abilities. One way to encourage summer reading is to use a web site that is made specifically to help students with their reading. Prairieview has purchased a number of licenses to web sites to help students in their reading. If you would like to have access to one or more of these sites for your child to use over the summer, please contact me and I will set it up for you.

For the Week of April 7th

Chess Club

Both chess clubs are meeting this week. We have been working on checkmating with different pieces. During the last chess club we saw an example of how to checkmate with a bishop, a knight and the king.

Phonics

Helping students figure out syllables in words is a good way to teach them to read longer words. Scooping the syllables underneath the word is a quick, easy way to help students visualize the syllables. This also helps the student's spelling as students learn to listen for the syllables in words and spell the word syllable by syllable.

For the Week of March 24th

Chess Club

Both clubs will be held this week. If you would like to help in Wednesday's club - please let me know. I would enjoy having you.

Listening

Many of us take listening for granted. But listening carefully to someone and understanding what they are saying is an important life skill. One fun way to help improve listening, and memory skills is to play "Johnny has an apple in his pocket." To play, the first person says something that Johnny has in his pocket that starts with the letter A. Then the next person must name the A item and also add a B item. Each person continues to add another item in alphabetical order. The sillier the items that he has in his pocket, the better. See if those playing can get through the whole alphabet without making a mistake.

Spring Break

I hope everyone has an extra enjoyable Spring break. This year has flown by. It is hard to believe that we are on the home stretch. Thanks again for allowing me the privilege of teaching your children.

For the Week of March 17th

Chess Club

Both clubs will be held this week. If you would like to help in Wednesday's club - please let me know. I would enjoy having you.

No School

There will be no school Monday, March 17th due to parent/teacher conferences. There will be no school Tuesday, March 18th due to teacher inservice.

Listening

Many of us take listening for granted. But listening carefully to someone and understanding what they are saying is an important life skill. One fun way to help improve listening, and memory skills is to play "Johnny has an apple in his pocket." To play, the first person says something that Johnny has in his pocket that starts with the letter A. Then the next person must name the A item and also add a B item. Each person continues to add another item in alphabetical order. The sillier the items that he has in his pocket, the better. See if those playing can get through the whole alphabet without making a mistake.

For the Week of March 10th

Chess Club

There are no chess clubs this week due to parent/teacher conferences.

ISAT Tests

Students are finishing ISAT testing this week. A good nights sleep and a healthy breakfast will help your child do their best.

Listening

Many of us take listening for granted. But listening carefully to someone and understanding what they are saying is an important life skill. One fun way to help improve listening, and memory skills is to play "Johnny has an apple in his pocket." To play, the first person says something that Johnny has in his pocket that starts with the letter A. Then the next person must name the A item and also add a B item. Each person continues to add another item in alphabetical order. The sillier the items that he has in his pocket, the better. See if those playing can get through the whole alphabet without making a mistake.

For the Week of March 3rd

Chess Club

Both clubs will be meeting this week. We have been looking at opening moves and how important it is to get your pieces to the center of the board as early as possible.

ISAT testing

ISAT testing is happening this week. It is very important that students get a good nights sleep and have a healthy breakfast in order to do their best on the tests.

Soar-to-Success

Soar-to-Success is one of the reading interventions we use at Prairieview school. This intervention emphasizes four reading strategies while reading fiction and non-fiction texts. The strategies are summarizing, predicting, questioning and clarifying. Students should summarize what they have read often enough that they can tell you what they have read after they put the book down. As they read, they should make predictions about what might happen next or what they might read about next. This helps them to be active readers. They want to continue reading to discover if their predictions are correct. As they read, they should also be asking questions about what they are reading. Wondering questions are good questions to ask. I wonder why this character did that? I wonder why this animal does that? Questioning readers are active readers. They are engaging with the text while they read. The last strategy is clarifying. Clarifying can be at the word level - I don't know what this word is, how do I figure it out? It can be at the vocabulary level - I don't know what this word means? Or it can be at the concept level. I don't know what the author is saying here. We work on ways to clarify on all three levels. In small groups we work on using these strategies to improve our reading comprehension.

For the Week of February 24th

Chess Club

Both clubs meet this week. We have been discussing opening moves and how important it is to get control of the center of the board as early as possible. I am still in need of parent volunteers for Wednesday's club if anyone is interested in helping out.

No School Friday, February 28th

February 28th is teacher institute day. There will be no school.

Questioning

Questioning is a very important skill to learn to use when reading. Students who learn to ask questions as they read become active readers, engaged with the text, and they retain more of what they read. Some important questions to ask ourselves while reading are: What is the author trying to say? How is he/she making his/her point? Am I learning anything I don't know as I read this? Am I changing my thinking in any way? Do I agree or disagree with what the author is saying? When you are reading with your child you might ask them what questions they have as they are reading.

For the Week of February 17th

Chess Clubs

Both clubs will meet this week. I still need parent helpers for Wednesday's club. No experience is necessary. If you could help out for one week or more, please email me. I will be glad to have you.

President's Day

There is not school Monday, February 17th.

Questioning

Questioning is a very important skill to learn to use when reading. Students who learn to ask questions as they read become active readers, engaged with the text, and they retain more of what they read. Some important questions to ask ourselves while reading are: What is the author trying to say? How is he/she making his/her point? Am I learning anything I don't know as I read this? Am I changing my thinking in any way? Do I agree or disagree with what the author is saying? When you are reading with your child you might ask them what questions they have as they are reading.

For the Week of February 10th

Chess Clubs

Both chess clubs are meeting this week. I have had some parents volunteer for Thursday but still need some for Wednesday - so if you would like to help out that would be great. You do not need to know how to play chess to help out.

For the Week of January 27th

Chess Club

New chess clubs are being formed and information will be sent home this week.

For the Week of January 20th

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - There will be no school Monday, January 20th in order to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.

Chess Club - Sign-up notices went home with students Friday, January 17th. Please return the sign-up sheets to me by Friday, January 24th.

For the Week of January 13th

Chess Club

Watch for fliers coming home this week about joining the winter chess club. Even if your child has never played chess, he/she is welcome to join!

MAP Testing

MAP testing is still happening this week. Please make sure your child has a good nights rest and a healthy breakfast so that they can do their best on the test.

Early Dismissal

Wednesday, January 15th is early dismissal. Students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m.