Reading is Fun

For the Week of January 30th

2012-01-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

Make Sure You Have the Correct Calendar

Some people have a copy of the old calendar which has incorrect information on it. Make sure you have the correct calendar by looking on the district website. On the left there is a section labeled calendars - click on the correct year.

Chess Club

Chess Club forms went home last week. Please return them by Wednesday, February 1st if your child would like to join. Hopefully, we can begin by the following week.

For the Week of January 23rd

2012-01-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

School Improvement Day

Wednesday, January 25th, is school improvement day. Students will be dismissed from school at 11:00 AM.

Half Way Point

We are at the half way point in the school year. This week we will be analyzing the MAP and Aimsweb test data and deciding how to best help each student make gains during the second half of the year.

Chess Club

Watch for chess club sign-up forms to come home this week. All interested students, even those who have never played before are encouraged to join!

For the Week of January 16th

2012-01-13T12:40:00.001-08:00

Martin Luther King Day

There will be no school Monday, January 16th, in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

MAP Testing

We are almost finished with the MAP testing. I have been studying the reading scores and am delighted with how well your children have done. They have been encouraged to slow down and do their best work and it seems like that is what they did.

Ozzie's Reading Club

Ozzie's Reading Club begins this Sunday. If you haven't seen the handout yet, look in your child's backpack or notebook. This can be a great way to encourage your reluctant reader to read! The requirement to receive a free ticket to the Kane County Cougar's game is to read for 1 hour a week for 8 weeks.

Parent Traffic Alert

Please read the following letter from Dr. Tiede.

Dear Parents:
We desperately need your help and cooperation to bring order to the
automobile traffic on the Lakeview Campus. This past school year we have
had several dangerous incidents such as cars driving in the bus lanes, cars
driving on the sidewalks, and parents dropping off children away from
designated drop-off zones where children have to cross traffic. To protect our
students, we need your cooperation and adherence to the established traffic
plan which is attached to this letter.
When it is not possible for your child to ride the school bus please observe the
following traffic rules while operating your automobile on the Lakeview
Campus:
• Never drive in the BUS LANE.
• Prairieview student drop off is clearly marked in the east parking lot.
DO NOT drop your child off in the front traffic circle where they must
cross the bus lane.
• Parking in the front traffic circle is restricted to BACC student drop-off
and school visitors.
• Lakeview student drop off is at the rear of the school. PLEASE pull all
the way up to the end of the sidewalk so that the other automobiles are
not forced to block the bus lane.
• PLEASE drive slowly and carefully through the parking lot area as
many students who walk to school cross through the parking lot.
• The traffic pattern after student drop off is to proceed west until the
fence and then south until the second row of cars where you may turn
east to exit.
• NEVER turn left upon entering the Lakeview parking lot. Please
follow the pattern above.
• Remember when exiting the Lakeview Campus that the stoplight will
activate more quickly if your front tire is 2 feet in front of the marked
stop line.
Thanks you for your cooperation. Let's have a Safe and Smooth traffic year.
Sincerely,
Jay Tiede, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
I

For the Week of January 9th

2012-01-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

Market Day

It is Prairieview's turn to help out at Market Day. If you want to volunteer - please be at Lakeview Saturday, January 7th, at 8:00 AM

Kane County Cougars Reading Incentive Program

Watch for fliers coming home about the Kane County Cougar's reading incentive program called Ozzie's Reading Club. Students must read one hour a week broken up in any way that fits your family's schedule for 8 weeks in order to get a free ticket to a Kane County Cougar' game and some other special prizes. It will be fun to have a lot of Prairieview families celebrating at the ball field together. If you are able, encourage your child to participate!

For the Week of January 2nd

2011-12-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope that you have a year filled with blessings and good will.

Sleep Reminder

I know how vacations can change our sleeping schedules. It seems like we stay up later and later and get up later and later. If this has happened to your family, I encourage you to get your children back on an earlier bedtime as quickly as possible. It is very hard for a tired child to concentrate and listen attentively in school.

Chess Club

Watch for a flyer coming home about chess clubs. We had a wonderful first round and are planning to mix up the players and add some new ones - so if your son or daughter is interested we would encourage them to join.

For the Week of December 12th

2011-12-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Many of you have asked if we are going to have another chess club. The answer is yes. After we come back from break, I will be sending out another sign-up sheet. This gives us a chance to mix up the clubs so that the students can meet new friends and opponents. It gives students who have heard about chess club a chance to join. So watch for the flyer coming home. I can always use parent volunteers, also, so if that would be of interest to you, please let me know.

Chess Club #2 meets on Wednesday and Chess Club #3 meets on Thursday.

Outside Paper Recycling Bin

A question was raised about putting shredded paper in the outside paper recycling bin. The answer is - absolutely you can put shredded paper in the bin. I would recommend that you put the shredded paper in a bag, so that it does not blow around when the driver services the bin. Paper or plastic bag is fine.

Lexia

Prairiview has 5 licenses for students to use the online phonics and sight word program called Lexia. It has been a great help to boost students' phonics skills. Lexia can also be used on home computers. Many students have taken advantage of this. The program also offers a section on Latin and Greek stems. I would encourage parents of high grade level readers to email me. I can set it up so your student does not have to do the whole program but can skip directly to this section. Knowing these stems can help your student with a multitude of vocabulary words - and it is free!

For the Week of December 5th

2011-12-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Club #1 will meet Wednesday for its last club of the season and Club #4 will meet Thursday for its last club of the season. The time has flown by and the clubbers have learned a lot about chess.

Bowling

Friday is bowling day. The fifth graders will be going in the morning and the fourth graders will be going in the afternoon.

Books and Movies

Books are usually better than movies because our imaginations can paint more vivid pictures than cameras can and because books usually include more details than time will permit in movies. For these reasons, I think it is fun to read the book version with my children first and then watch the movie together. This opens up some interesting conversations about which parts they liked better in the book and which in the movie. What parts were left out of the movie that they wished had been included? What parts did they add to movie which weren't in the book? Were the scenes set-up how you imagined them? So when you have the chance, enjoy the movie more by enjoying the book first!

For the Week of November 28th

2011-12-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Club #2 meets Wednesday, November 30th. Club #3 meets Thursday, December 1st.

Conference Week

Conferences will be held all week after school. Because of this there will be no school on Friday.

For the Week of November 21st

2011-11-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Holiday

I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful Thanksgiving break with no school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I hope you have time to slow down your lives a little and enjoy each other's company. Read a good book together, spend some time laughing and listen to each other. Since it is Thanksgiving, I hope to spend some time thinking of those things that I am especially grateful for - and at the top of my list is family. Friends, both here at school and outside school, are also at the top. I hope you, too, have time to pause to think about what you are thankful for.

For the Week of November 14th

2011-11-11T03:10:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Club #1 meets on Wednesday, November 16th and Club #4 meets on Thursday, November 17th.

Presents with a Purpose

Since the holidays are approaching and many of you exchange presents during this time I thought I might put in a recommendation. Apples-to-Apples, Jr. is a great gift idea for your student. It is fun for the whole family and it provides vocabulary enrichment at the same time. Make sure that when you play the game, you make it a rule that the person who is "it" must state reasons for choosing or not choosing each particular card. This is the part that helps the student to make connections and broaden his/her vocabulary.

Paper Recycling

Did you know that you can help our district earn money by recycling paper here at school? You can bring in any paper (no cardboard please) to the green and yellow bin marked Paper Retriever located in Lakeview's parking lot to be recycled. The more paper we collect, the more money we can earn. The provider of the bin uses the paper to make newsprint, which is then sold to other companies. That is how we are paid to recycle paper.

Thank you for your help (and for helping the environment at the same time!)

For the Week of November 7th

2011-11-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

This week Chess Club #2 meets on Wednesday, November 9th and Chess Club #3 meets on Thursday, November 10th.

Veteran's Day

There will be no school on Friday, November 11th, in honor of our veterans. The students made cards to send to veterans. We should remember that we enjoy our freedoms because of many who gave their lives. Thank you to all of our veterans!

Positive Encouragement

As parents we spend a lot of our day trying to correct our children's actions and words. As humans, however, we thrive on praise. A good goal is to try to say at least four encouraging statements to every one disciplinary statement. "I like the way you spoke politely to our neighbor." "You did a great job helping with the dog." As an experiment, try tallying your words to your children. Count how many negative statements you make compared to how many positive. Then try to deliberately increase the positive statements you make and see if it helps your child. Encouraging words make for happy children!

For the Week of October 31st

2011-10-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Chess Clubs

Chess Club #1 meets this Wednesday, November 2nd
Chess Club #4 meets this Thursday, November 3rd

Reading to Your Children

It is fun, relaxing, and helpful for students at Prairieview to be read to by their parents and others. Research has shown that reading aloud to children enriches their vocabularies and helps them to understand concepts which would be too difficult for them on their own. Being read to also increases students' background knowledge. This helps them make connections to what they are learning in school. So why not make some hot chocolate and sit around sipping it while listening to some interesting reading. Some suggestions for good reading which reinforce school curriculum from the International Reading Association for grades 3-5 are:

Anne Frank and the Children of the Holocaust by Carol Ann Lee

Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon

Hearts of Iron by Kathleen Benner Duble

Just for Elephants by Carol Berkley

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford

A Pair of Polar Bears: Twin Cubs Find a Home at the San Diego Zoo by Joanne Ryder

Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World by Jane Breskin Zalben

Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Willy Characters by Patricia C. McKissack

Tour America: A Journey Through Poems and Art by Diane Siebert

Water Street by Patricia Reilly Giff

For the Week of October 24th

2011-10-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

I keep reminding the students that chess is not a game that you win because your opponent has forgotten to move out of check - chess is a game you win by putting your opponent's king in check and he has no way to get out of check.

Club #4 meets on Tuesday - If someone would like to volunteer to help me that day I would appreciate it. This is the biggest club.

Club #2 meets on Wednesday

Early Dismissal

Thursday is an early dismissal day.

Halloween Party and Parade

The Halloween parade begins at 1:00 p.m. and the party starts at 1:30.

For the Week of October 17th

2011-10-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

Prairieview Weekly Reminders

The office sends out Prairieview Weekly Reminders and with the reminders are attachments to various activities. Parents, please check the attachments for activities or permission slips, such as Movie Night, Roller Skating and other events that will be taking place at school for students to sign up.

Chess Club

Chess Club is going very well. Each club has made their own club rules and has agreed to follow them. This week Club #1 meets on Wednesday and Club #3 meets on Thursday.

Following Directions

Following directions is an important skill that we teach at school. It is also a fun skill to work on at home. You could cook something together, or make a simple craft by following the directions in a book or magazine. Another idea is to look at a detailed map of your area and together write down the directions of how to get somewhere. Have your student read you the directions while you drive. If you make the destination an enjoyable place - your child will doubly appreciate the lesson.

School Pictures

Our picture packets should arrive on Tuesday, October 18th

Our retake day is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 3rd

For the Week of October 10th

2011-10-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

Chess Club has gotten off to a good start with two of the four clubs meeting last week. This week Club #2 meets on Wednesday and Club #4 meets on Thursday. Parents, if you want your student to walk home please send me a note. Also, when picking up your child, please pull around into the Prairieview parking lot by the 3rd grade door. Thank you.

Columbus Day and Teacher's Institute Day

Monday and Tuesday, October 10th and 11th there will be no school.

Lexia

Many you who have taken advantage of the Lexia computer program that Prairieview has purchased. These extra two days off of school would be a good time to take advantage of that program. For those who do not have it, but would like to know about it, please send me an email and I will get the information to you. In your email please include your child's name and their homeroom teacher. Thank you.

For the Week of October 3rd

2011-09-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Chess Club Begins

We had an overwhelming response for joining Chess Club. For that reason we had to divide the group into four clubs. To make it easy for students to tell which club they are in, I numbered the clubs 1-4.Please make sure your child memorizes which club they are in and remind them the morning of the club that they have chess club that day.

Club #1 meets this Wednesday, October 5th from 2:25-3:25.

Club #3 meets this Thursday, October 6th from 2:25-3:25.

The following are the dates for all of the clubs.

Club #1 - Wednesday Oct. 5, 19; Nov. 2, 16; Dec. 7

Club #2 - Wednesday Oct. 12, 26; Nov. 9, 30; Dec 14

Club #3 - Thursday Oct. 6, 20; Nov. 10; Dec. 1, 15

Club #4 - Thursday Oct. 13; Tuesday Oct. 25; Thursday Nov. 3, 17; Dec. 8

For the Week of September 26th

2011-09-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

Sheets are due in to sign-up for Chess Club by this Tuesday, September 27th. Groups will be formed. We will have one group of beginners and another group of those who already know how to play. Groups will alternate weeks. The first club will meet October 6th. I will be sending home the details by the end of the week.

SIP Day - Early Dismissal

School will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 30th.

Helping your Student at Home

Parents have been asking me for ways to help their children at home. If you want to help your child to read better at home I have two resources for you. The first is a computer program called Lexia that Prairiview has purchased. If you email me, I will send an information sheet about how to download this program onto your home computer. Another thing I have is a list of sight words your child should learn. These words do not follow the phonics rules so need to be memorized. You could have your child read you the words. Any words that they miss could be put on note cards. Then they could be drilled for a couple of minutes each night until all words are learned. You can also write the sight word in a 3-4 word phrase and have your child read the phrases to you. For example, tongue is a sight word. So the phrase could be "bit his tongue."

For the Week of September 19th

2011-09-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Informational Books

Illinois is in the process of adopting new standards. These standards will have a strong emphasis on reading informational texts. The teachers at Prairieview are already discussing how to incorporate more informational texts into the curriculum. I suggest that when purchasing or getting books out of the library for your children, if they usually select fiction, decide to occasionally select a nonfiction book. Like all free reading, these books should be about something that interests your child. You might even show them how to find just the information they are really interested in and read only that part of the book. When we read to gather information, we usually only read until we find the answers to the questions we have. Unlike novels, informational texts do not need to be read cover-to-cover.

For the Week of September 12th

2011-09-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

MAP Testing

Our two weeks of MAP testing went very smoothly. We are now in the process of reviewing the results and analyzing how best to help students make gains for this school year.

9/11

On Monday we are planning on remembering what happened on 9/11 by wearing red, white and blue. The classroom teachers have various activities planned to inspire us to move forward as a country and remember those who parished.

For the Week of September 5th

2011-09-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

Read Alouds

Reading aloud to your children is very important for their vocabulary development. Writers commonly use words that are not part of people's everyday vocabulary. It is crucial to learn these words and a good way to learn them is by listening to well-written literature read aloud. Besides being important for vocabulary development, it is also fun and can be a bonding time for the family. Listening also helps children's creativity. Children have to use visualization in order to see the story happening in their minds. This is a much more active process compared to sitting in front of the television and having the images flashed on the screen. If you do not feel that you are a strong enough reader to read aloud to your children, I suggest that you get books on CD out of the library and listen as a family. Everyone's vocabularies will improve and you will have fun at the same time!

MAP Testing this Week

MAP Testing is this week. Please make sure that your student has a good night's sleep and a nutritious breakfast so that they will do their best on the tests. We will be looking closely at these scores to see how we can help your student to grow in their reading and math understanding and knowledge

For the Week of August 29th

2011-08-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

MAP Testing this Week

MAP Testing is this week and next. Please make sure that your student has a good night's sleep and a nutritious breakfast so that they will do their best on the tests. We will be looking closely at these scores to see how we can help your student to grow in their reading and math understanding and knowledge.

PBIS

I was excited to see how smoothly the introduction of our expectations for all areas of our building went this year. The students seem to understand and are following those expectations. It really helps the education process when everyone in the building is respectful, responsible and acts safely.

For the Week of June 6th

2011-06-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

This is the last blog post for this school year. I wish everyone a very safe and family-filled summer. I want to encourage everyone to spend some time reading each day this summer. It will help your child tremendously in school. It can also be a fun family time - sitting around the family room together with a cold drink and a good book. It can provide some quiet minutes in the midst of hectic schedules. Thank you for the privilege of teaching your children.

For the Week of May 30th

2011-05-27T12:32:00.001-07:00

Memorial Day

I hope everyone has an enjoyable, memorable Memorial Day on Monday. Family is precious so take this opportunity to spend some wonderful time together.

Whole School Talent Show

The whole school talent show will start at 1:00 pm Tuesday, May 31st. There will be thirteen numbers being performed. They will include dancing, singing, acting, gymnastics and musical instrument playing.

4th Grade Talent Show

The 4th grade talent show will be Thursday, June 2nd starting at 12:20. This will be in the 4th grade open area.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will finish 3rd grade reading with a story from the basal titled Raising Dragons.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

The test over Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing will be Tuesday, May 31st. Please have your child review the characters and plot. It would be helpful to review the episodic plotline that is in their notebooks.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will be finishing our novel The Wish Giver. We will discover how each character's problem is resolved.

For the Week of May 23rd

2011-05-20T13:00:00.001-07:00

Chess Club

Chess Club has ended for this school year. It was fun watching your children progress as we went from learning the moves of the pieces to strategies to make their games better.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

Mrs. Csorba's Reading Class of Magnificent Magicians invite you to our Magic Show on Tuesday from 8:30-9:30am. Don't forget to email me by Monday to reserve your seat! jcsorba@ccsd66.org! We will be working on reader's theater this week and finishing up our Magic Unit by practicing all our strategies!

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Next week, in addition to reviewing all reading strategies, students will be focusing on identifying the elements of fantasy and realism. Students will learn that fantasy involves events that could not happen in real life, and that realism involves events that could happen or that have happened in the past.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

The week we will continue to read The Wish Giver. We will be working on vocabulary and reviewing the story using a story map.

For the Week of May 16th

2011-05-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

Monday is the final meeting for Chess Club for this school year. It is the Knights turn to meet.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

This week we will continue on our magic unit. Please read Mrs. Csorba's blog for the details about this unit.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Next week we will focus on the reading target skill of comparing and contrasting. Comparing means showing similarities. Contrasting means showing differences. By comparing and contrasting one thing with another, readers can remember more of the
information.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue the novel, The Wish Giver. The story is about three children whom each have a wish card. On Monday we will complete a story map of Polly Kemp's story and what happened when her wish came true. Later we will read about Rowena's wish and the trouble her wish caused.

For the Week of May 9th

2011-05-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

The Rooks meet this week. This will be the last meeting of the Rooks. I have enjoyed working with your children and seeing the growth in their chess playing abilities.

Benchmarking

On Monday, Prairieview will be doing aimsweb spring benchmarking of every student in the school. It is exciting to easily see the progress the students have made since the fall benchmark took place.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will finish up fairy tales with some reader's theater. Students will be performing their fractured fairy tale on Tuesday. Wednesday, we will begin a unit on magic! We will continue reviewing all our skills and strategies we learned throughout this year!

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Our focus in reading next week is on the reading strategy of monitor/clarify. Students should monitor how well they understand a story. If they don't understand something, they can reread or read ahead for help.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue to read The Wish Giver. We will be doing work with the dictionary and recognizing and understanding colloguialisms.

For the Week of May 2nd

2011-04-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

The Knights meet this week.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue to work on Fairy Tales. We will be comparing two Cinderella tales and noticing their similarities and differences. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Wednesday.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Our reading strategy for next week is making inferences. Readers must make inferences, or "read between the lines," when an author doesn't tell the reader
everything. Readers can do this by applying what they already know to story clues given by the author.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will be finishing up with some character maps for the book Jacob's Rescue. We will also have the final vocabulary. We will then begin the book The Wish Giver.

For the Week of April 25th

2011-04-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

The Rooks meet this week.

Important Notice! Chess Club will not meet on Monday, April 25th but instead will meet on Tuesday, April 26th.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We are beginning a unit on fairy tales. We will be reviewing our reading strategies while reading fairy tales from our basal.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Our reading target for the week is to identify topic, main idea, and supporting details. Topic is what the whole text is about. The main ideas are important points about each topic. Each paragraph can have its own main idea. Supporting details are facts and examples that support each main idea.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we will continue a historical fiction novel, Jacob's Rescue. We will focus on the reading skill of cause and effect and also determining the author's viewpoint. There will be a vocabulary quiz for chapter 9-16 on Tuesday, April 26th. The students have a study guide to help prepare them for the quiz.

For the Week of April 18th

2011-04-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

Open House

It was so good to see so many of you at Open House. The students were proud to have the chance to show off all of their hard work.

Chess Club

This is the week for the Knights to meet.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

This week we will be continueing to work on our poetry units. We will be having a poetry cafe on Wednesday.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

This week we will be reading a story about Salmon and will be looking at words that have multiple meanings.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue to work on reading Jacob's Rescue. One of the strategies that we will focus on is making generalizations.

For the Week of April 11th

2011-04-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Open House

Open House is this Thursday. I look forward to seeing you.

Chess Club

During spring break I cleaned out my basement. I found a bunch of chess pieces! So now there are a few more chess sets that are bigger and easier for small fingers to use without knocking the whole board out of wack. Yea!

This week it is the Rooks turn to meet.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will spend the next two weeks on a poetry unit. There will be a quiz on the vocab words for poetry on Friday.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

We will have guided reading groups this week. We will also be writing Pourquoi tales.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we will continue an historical fiction novel, Jacob's Rescue. This story takes place during the Holocaust. Vocabulary is being introduced for each chapter. The students should be reviewing their study sheets. A vocabulary quiz will be given on Thursday. It will cover vocabulary words from chapters 1-8.

For the Week of April 4th

2011-03-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Spring Break

I hope everyone has a fun, relaxing break and comes back refreshed and ready to finish the school year well.

Chess Club

This is the week for the Knights to meet.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba
This week we will be reading a story out of our basal readers call The Mysterious Giant of Barletta. We will be working on following directions, sequencing and making connections.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth
This week we will be working in our guided reading groups, reading a story and working on cause and effect.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin
This week we will begin the novel Jacob's Rescue. We will be reviewing the reading skills of cause and effect, identifying author's purpose, and drawing conclusions.

For the Week of March 21st

2011-03-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

The Rooks meet this week for chess club.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

The class will be presenting their biographies on Monday. They should practice reading them outloud over the weekend. If they want, they may bring props to make their biographies more interesting. We will continue with sequencing of events, and making connections as we read Ramona Quimby, Age 8 in our basal readers.

4th Grade Readinig with Mrs. Beseth

This week we will continue to work on our book posters for Doing Time Online. We will also be working on making judgments as we break into guided reading groups and as we work on reading a story about Lou Gehrig in our basal readers.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we complete our study of China. We have gathered the information for our China brochures and are in the process of completing the final project. Much of class time will be spent working on the brochures however, some will be homework. The brochures will be due on Friday. Please ask your child how they are doing on this project.

For the Week of March 14th

2011-03-11T06:14:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

The Knights will meet this week. Those going to the Roller Skating Party do not need to be picked up. They can wait on the benches in the entrance until 3:45.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

This week we will be working on reading biographies and making a scrapbook of the person we are reading about. We will be working on the sequence of events in the person's life.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

This week we will work on making judgments as we read a story in our basals and then split into groups to read a leveled reader. We will also be working on our posters for the book Doing Time Online.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we continue our study of China. We are focusing on identifying main idea and supporting details using research materials. The students have been using non-fiction China books from our Prairieview library, the Internet, and other sources. The students are using clarifying and monitoring skills as they dig into the information! We will be completing an outline for our travel brochures this week.

For the Week of March 7th

2011-03-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

ISAT Tests

The students have worked hard on their ISAT tests last week. Most only have one more test to take this week. Remember to give your child plenty of sleep and a nutritious breakfast before the test.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

While reading some short biographies in our basal, we will be focusing on sequencing events. Students will also be selecting their own biography this week to read at home. They will be locating 6 important events to make a biography scrapbook in class. More info about this will come home next week!

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

The poetry books are due on Tuesday, March 8th. Additionally, 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.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we begin the study of the fascinating country of China. We will focus on identifying main idea and supporting details using research materials. As we read our non-fiction China materials, we will be using our clarification and monitoring skills.

For the Week of February 28th

2011-02-25T15:10:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

This is the week for the Rooks to meet.

ISAT Week!

Your student will be taking their ISAT tests this week. It is very important that they are well rested for the test. They also need a good breakfast to keep their brain functioning at its peak. Since there are tests in the afternoon also, please send a healthy lunch and snack.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

On Monday we will be working on writing and extended response to a question. The rest of the week we will be taking the ISAT tests.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Due to ISAT testing, we will only have one day of reading. Your child should continue to work on his/her poetry unit. The completed poems are due on Tuesday, March 8th.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

On Monday we will continue to focus on figurative language. The remainder of the week the students will be taking the ISAT tests.

For the Week of February 28th

2011-02-20T12:30:00.000-08:00

Sleep - Its importance Can Be Forgotten

As some of you know, I have a granddaughter who is in kindergarten. Last weekend I was speaking to my daughter and she was telling me how Abigail, my granddaughter, was fighting about not wanting to go to school and then when she got home, she was taking about an hour to do her homework when it should have taken about 10 minutes. I suggested that maybe Abigail needed to go to bed earlier. Maybe she wasn't getting enough sleep. I was very pleased about three days later when I received an email from my daughter thanking me for the suggestion. She started that night to put Abigail to bed an hour earlier and the very next morning there was no fighting and the homework got done easily. Young children do not always know why they are feeling the way they do. Feeling tired is very hard on children and it keeps them from doing their best school work. Even good parents do not always realize that their child is not getting enough sleep. I encourage you to make sure your child is receiving the sleep they need to do their best in school. This is especially important the week of March 6th when they will be taking the ISAT tests.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue working on extended response. Your child learned a song and a small "dance" to remember the steps to writing an extended response. Ask them about it! Maybe they'll "dance" and "sing" it for you!

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

In reading next week, our target genre is still poetry. The students will understand the elements of poetry, and they will work with figurative language such as simile, metaphor, personification,and idioms. A poetry project will be assigned,and the students will be working on this in class and at home over the next couple of weeks. Along with poetry, the students will also be working on writing extended responses which will connect with their reading passages.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we will be learning about figurative language which will include:
onomatopoeia, alliteration, idioms, similes, metaphors, and personification.
The students will be creating original images where they interpret figurative language literally.

For the Week of February 14th

2011-02-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Last week the Rooks met and we reviewed how the chess pieces move and how you win the game. The students are always surprized that you cannot win the game when your opponent accidentally moves his king in harm's way. This week the Knights will meet. Please remember to be at the 3rd grade door no later than 3:30 to pick up your student.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

Please read Mrs. Csorba's blog for updates on what we are doing in reading this week.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Please read Mrs. Beseth's blog for updates on what we are doing in reading this week.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

Please read Mrs. Bucklin's blog for updates on what we are doing in reading this week.

For the Week of February 7th

2011-02-04T13:56:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Chess Club has gotten off to a good start. Those who are just learning have had one exposure to how each piece moves. We will be reviewing this week and practicing by playing a few games. This week is the "Rooks" turn to meet.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue working on identifying main idea and details this week. We will also work on writing some extended responses to text we read.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Next week we will begin our study of Poetry. We will focus on some of the elements of poetry including rhyme, sensory words, figurative language, and wordplay. The children will also begin a poetry project. In this project, the children will be learning about and writing nine different kinds of poems. Time will be given in class, but students will also need to work on this project at home. We will be working on Poetry and Figurative Language for the next few weeks.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We are practicing writing an extended response using a nonfiction genre. This will help us succeed when taking the ISAT tests! We will also be identifying cause and effect relationships using the story of Katie's Trunk. A vocabulary quiz will be given on Friday.

For the Week of January 31st

2011-01-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

The Knights will meet this week. Please remember to pick up your students in the Prairieview parking lot no later than 3:30.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

Please access Mrs. Csorba's blog this week for this information.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Please access Mrs. Beseth's blog this week for this information.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

In reading this week we will work on the skill of "cause and effect." We will also continue to learn how to write an extended response using evidence from the text and interpretation of that evidence.

For the Week of January 24th

2011-01-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Chess Club begins again this Monday. The "Rooks" will meet this week. Please remember to be in the Prairieview parking lot by 3:30. I could still use some parent helpers if you would like a fun way to be involved.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue to work on our novels as we practice the strategy of making connections.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

The reading skill that we will work on this week is the identification of characters, setting, and plot. Students will fill out story structure maps as they read fiction to help them organize their thoughts and identify the main characters, setting, and plot.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue to understand the author's viewpoint and to distinguish between fact and opinion using instructional level materials.

For the Week of January 17th

2011-01-14T13:03:00.001-08:00

Character Building Chess Club

If you want to join Prairieview's Character Building Chess Club, then make sure to bring in your form by Tuesday, January 18th. I will be setting up the clubs and have the information for you by the end of the week.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

As we begin/continue our novel studies this week we will be targeting the reading strategy of questioning. As always, we will also continue to review and refine our work with the other strategies that we have already introduced, but will highlight questioning this week.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

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. Students may use graphic organizers to gather details from a story to draw conclusions. They will learn that it is possible to draw more than one conclusion from the same details.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we will be determining the author's viewpoint as we read And Then What Happened Paul Revere? in our literature books. We will also be focusing on the differences between a fact and an opinion.

For the Week of January 10th

2011-01-07T13:12:00.001-08:00

Chess Club

There will be no Chess Club this week. I will be sending home new forms to sign up for Chess Club. Be watching for these to come home soon.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue to work on the reading strategies of monitoring and clarifying what we read as well as distinguishing facts and opinions while starting a novel study. Our new novel will be Stone Fox. We will also be reviewing various other reading strategies to comprehend our reading materials.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

This week the children will work on identifying the problem and solution of a story as they are reading. Most stories involve a problem for the characters to solve. The solution to the problem may come after others have been tried.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will be learning more about the structure of a story through story mapping! Our class will read the story Elena, from our anthology. We will also be having a vocabulary quiz on words from this selection on Monday, January 10th.

For the Week of January 3rd

2010-12-17T12:27:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and comes back refreshed and safe.

Chess Club

There will be no Chess Club this week. I will be sending home new forms to sign up for Chess Club for the 2nd semester. Be watching for these to come home soon.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will be working on fact and opinion as we read a story about Puffins. This is a non-fiction piece that is in their basal.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Next we will be working on predicting outcomes. Readers can often guess ahead of
time, or predict, what will happen in a story, based on information the author has given. Additionally, readers can change or adjust their predictions as they read.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will be working on story mapping as we read the story Elena, an excerpt from a book by that title which is in the 5th grade basal.

For the Week of December 13th

2010-12-10T11:11:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Chess Club will meet as usual this week.

A Great Gift Idea

I was reading the Ask Amy column in the Chicago Tribune last night and I thought she had a wonderful idea. She suggested that children wake up on a special holiday to a wrapped book at the foot of their beds. What better way to encourage reading than to make a book the special gift a child receives first thing in the morning. It might even give you a few more minutes of sleep if your child begins reading the book before they rousing the rest of the family.

3rd Grade Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue to learn about evaluating text and visualizing as we read. We will continue to use the story Dogzilla as well as other novels and text as we apply these skills. We will also work on strategies from previous weeks.

4th Grade Reading with Mrs. Beseth

The first strategy that we focus on this week in reading is making inferences. A writer doesn't always explain every fact or detail about when writing a story. The writer expects that readers will fill in missing information from their own experience. Good readers do this by putting together what they already know and what they have read to make the best guess they can. When readers add information from their own experience to what is stated in a text, they are making an inference. We will also study the reading skill of comparing and contrasting. Students will practice comparing pieces of literature that are similar and different.

5th Grade Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we will continue to practice summarizing and predicting with skill pages and fiction reading material. The students will also complete an extended response question from the story A Boy Called Slow. The students will need to use the IEIEIE format in answering the question.

For the Week of December 6th

2010-12-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Chess club is up and running again this week. This will be the final two weeks until we decide what to do after the holidays. If any of you have good ideas, I would appreciate hearing from you. I enjoy chess club and the students seem to be having a good time. It is difficult for me to find the time I need for planning with the other teachers when I am unavailable two days a week. I would like to find a suitable alternative.

Holiday Drive

The students of Project Challenge grades 3-5 are participating in a Lion's Club Holiday Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. If you wish to participate you will need to bring the donations in by December 13. Remember that some of these families live right here in Darien. So let's help these families have a happy holiday season.
PLEASE DONATE!

3rd Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will begin a new strategy focus as we learn about evaluating text and visualizing as we read. We will use the story Dogzilla as well as other novels and text as we apply these skills. We will also work on strategies from previous weeks.

4th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Next week our story is "A Very Important Day" by Maggie Rugg Herold. Many different families prepare for one very important day; becoming a United States citizen. Our reading strategies are questioning, categorizing and classifying. Recognizing the question that a story may raise is a good way to make sure you understand it. Classifying involves grouping like items and categorizing involves naming the group. Grouping the items makes it easier to remember them. Students will classify and categorize the many characters and countries named in the story to help understand the story better.

5th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

This week, all fifth graders will review the skill of drawing conclusions. They will also be introduced to the skill of Author's Purpose. Students will learn how to read a text and decide if it was written to persuade, inform, or entertain. They will use the acronym PIE to help them remember these three important terms.

For the Week of November 29th

2010-11-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Please remember that there is no Chess Club this week due to conferences. Chess Club will resume December 6th and 8th.

Holiday Drive

The students of Project Challenge grades 3-5 are participating in a Lion's Club Holiday Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. If you wish to participate you will need to bring the donations in by December 13. Remember that some of these families live right here in Darien. So let's help these families have a happy holiday season.
PLEASE DONATE!

3rd Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Csorba

This week we will begin working on the author's viewpoint. We will do this while we read a story from our reading book called "The Keeping Quilt." We will also be working on vocabulary from the story.

4th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Beseth

We will be reviewing the skills that we have gone over since the beginning of the year. The students will also work on summarizing and making generalizations. In writing summaries, the students will learn to pick out the main points or events of a story or passage and concisely put them in their own words. In making generalizations the students will learn that generalizations are broad statements that are true most of the time, and are based on fact or good reasons, and may include words like always or most.

5th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will be working on a final project for our novel The Kid in the Red Jacket. We will also be responding to the text by answering some extended response questions.

For the Week of November 22nd

2010-11-17T05:36:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

Reminder: Chess Club is taking a two week break. There will be no Chess Club next Monday nor the following Monday or Wednesday. We will begin again on Dec. 6th and 8th. A game of chess might be something fun for you to do with your child over the holidays.

Holiday Drive

The students of Project Challenge grades 3-5 are participating in a Lion's Club Holiday Drive. We are looking for donations such as new toys, new games, toiletries, and food for the needy families in the Darien area. If you wish to participate you will need to bring the donations in by December 13. Remember that some of these families live right here in Darien. So let's help these families have a happy holiday season.
PLEASE DONATE!

Paper Recycling

Paper Recycling Fundraiser Comes to Prairieview: We are happy to announce we can now raise money for our district by recycling paper! You can help us out, too! Please collect any paper you are going to throw away or recycle (office and school paper, newspaper, magazines and catalogs, and construction paper---no cardboard!) and send it in with your child to school or drop it off at the green and yellow Paper Retriever bin in the Lakeview parking lot (near the fence by the Prairieview playground). The bin is available for drop offs 24/7. The more paper we recycle, the more money we can make! Do something good for our schools AND the environment! Thank you!

3rd Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will be doing some reading activities with a Thanksgiving theme. These activities review the different skills and strategies we've been working on this year.

4th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Beseth

Over the next couple of weeks we will be reviewing the skills that we have gone over since the beginning of the year. The students will also work on summarizing and making generalizations. In writing summaries, the students will learn to pick out the main points or events of a story or passage and concisely put them in their own words. In making generalizations the students will learn that generalizations are broad statements that are true most of the time, and are based on fact or good reasons, and may include words like always or most.

5th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue to review summarizing, drawing conclusions, inferencing, identifying author generalizations, visualizing, and word work with vocabulary words using our realistic fiction novels until December 2nd. Next week, we will review main ideas and details using our skills workbook. Our work with extended response will continue as well.

For the Week of November 15th

2010-11-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

Chess Club

We studied attacks and defenses last week. I was pleased as different students showed the class how they would defend a piece. We have a wide variety of ability levels but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

3rd Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue to read The Chalk Box Kid. We will be doing vocabulary work and focusing on character traits, problem/resolution, and setting as well as predicting, summarizing, and making inferences as we read!

4th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Beseth

We will continue reading the novel Charlotte's Web. We will be working on the skills of predicting, inferring, and sequencing events. We will also be reading a leveled reader to strengthen these skills.

5th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue writing extended responses this week, using questions from our realistic fiction novels. Furthermore, we will continue to review all the skills we have studied so far this school year, specifically, summarizing, drawing conclusions, inferencing, identifying author generalizations, and visualizing. We are also continuing our word work with vocabulary words.
New vocabulary words for the The Kid in the Red Jacket will be reviewed on Tuesday. Friday's vocabulary quiz will be sent home on Monday. Please ask your child about this.

For the Week of November 8th

2010-11-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Picture Retakes

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 will be picture retake day. Any student that did not have their picture taken prior to this date may do so. They will be required to have a picture envelope with money to have a picture taken. Any student wishing to have a picture retaken will have to return the original picture packet for a retake.

Chess Club

Chess Club will meet both Monday and Wednesday.

3rd Grade Reading Skills Class with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue with our novel study while focusing on character traits, problem/resolution, and setting as well as predicting, summarizing, and making inferences as we read!

4th Grade Reading Skills Class with Mrs. Beseth

We will begin reading the novel Charlotte's Web. We will be working on the skills of predicting, inferring, and sequencing events.

5th Grade Reading Skills Class with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue to review all the skills we have studied so far this school year, specifically, summarizing, drawing conclusions, inferencing, identifying author generalizations, and visualizing while reading a realistic fiction novel, The Kid in the Red Jacket. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday, Nov. 12th. Students should be reviewing the definitions which were given to them on Friday.

For the Week of November 1st

2010-10-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

Chess Club is going very well. The students seem to be enjoying the game and I can see growth in their thinking. For the next two weeks I will be taking a class after school. This means that I need to leave right after you pick up your students at 3:25. Please try to be in the Prairieview parking lot right at 3:25 so that I may leave promptly. Thank you so much!

3rd Grade Skills Reading Group with Mrs. Csorba

We will be focusing on the following skills and strategies as we read The Chalk Box Kid this week: identifying character traits, setting, and problem/solution, summarizing, predicting, and making inferences.

4th Grade Skills Reading Group with Mrs. Beseth

Mysteries will be the focus in reading for all fourth grade students next week. We will begin by learning vocabulary words that are typically associated with mysteries, such as “suspect”, “evidence” and “suspense”. Students may practice the definitions of the vocabulary words by completing a crossword puzzle at the following website: http://www.eduplace. com/kids/hmr06/gr4/activities/pdf/gr4_th1_xword.pdf. All students will read & study “The Case of the Purloined Pachyderm”. While reading this mystery and other mystery stories, students will be studying the format of a mystery and using the reading strategies of monitoring and clarifying.

5th Grade Skills Reading Group with Mrs. Bucklin

This week, we will review all the skills we have studied so far this school year, specifically, summarizing, drawing conclusions, inferencing, identifying author generalizations, and visualizing while reading The Kid in the Red Jacket, a realistic fiction novel.

For the Week of October 25th

2010-10-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

Chess Club

Be sure to come to chess club this week. I am going to show you a very short chess game and you will get a chance to try it out!

3rd Grade Skills Reading Group with Mrs. Csorba

We will be focusing on predicting, making inferences, and cause and effect as we continue to work with Cliffhanger and other stories. The students will be applying the above comprehension strategies as they read. We will also be writing an extended response to the story Cliffhanger.

4th Grade Skills Reading Group with Mrs. Beseth

This week we will be working on the skills of monitoring and clarifying. We will be learning some vocabulary used in mysteries and will also learn some idioms used in mysteries. We will be reading several mystery stories and seeing if we can monitor and clarify our thinking to come up with the solutions to the mysteries.

5th Grade Skills Reading Group with Mrs. Bucklin

We are working on making generalizations. We will also be working on vocabulary, making analogies. On Friday, we will make generalizations after reading two fun Halloween stories.

For the Week of October 18th

2010-10-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

MAPS Testing

We will be MAPS testing all week. Please make sure that your child is well-rested and has eaten a good breakfast.

Chess Club

There will be no chess club on Wednesday, because of the half day. Monday's chess club will meet as usual.

3rd Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue to work on cause and effect, as well as making predictions and inferences as we read Cliffhanger.

4th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Beseth

We will be reading The Parcel Post Kid. We will also work on breaking words into syllables, putting words in alphabetical order and finding the author's purpose.

5th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will be reading My Side of the Mountain and working on making inferences and drawing conclusions. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday.

For the Week of October 11

2010-10-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

MAPS Testing

There is a new testing system being employed by the district this year. MAP testing stands for Measures of Academic Progress. These tests will be taken beginning next week, in the areas of Reading, Language, and Math. Students will take a series of multiple choice tests in each area on the computer. The program computes a score, which is then placed along a continuum to show each student's individual progress. It will even be able to show what particular areas each student excels at, and what areas they may need some additional support with. We are hopeful that this new system will help make our instruction for our students even better!

Chess Club

Since we do not have school on Monday, there will only be chess club for Wednesday's group this week. But don't worry - the next week we will only have Monday's club because we have a half day on Wednesday, the 20th.

3rd Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Csorba

This week we will begin the skill of identifying cause and effect. We will be using the anthology story of "Cliffhanger." We will also be doing vocabulary work with "Cliffhanger." We will practice our phonics skills using Patricia Cunningham's Making Words.

4th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Beseth

The skills that we will be working on this week are questioning and noting details.

5th Grade Skills Reading with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue to work on topic, main idea and details. We will do this by reading a nonfiction book called Saving Sea Turtles.

For the Week of October 4

2010-10-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

Character Building Chess Club We had two good first sessions of chess club last week. It will be interesting to see if the students still remember what they learned last week. We will continue to work on learning all of the rules and hopefully get a game in also this week. Remember Mondays are for students whose last names begin with A-G and S-Z. Wednesday's club is made up of students whose last names begin wtih H-R.

3rd Grade Reading Skills Group with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue to work on the comprehension strategy of making inferences this week.

4th Grade Reading Skills Group with Mrs. Beseth

Next week our story is “Finding the Titanic” by Robert D. Ballard. The reading strategy that we'll focus on is text organization. Many non-fiction author's organize their selections in time order. They also use features such as headings, pictures, captions, and charts to help the reader better understand the information.

5th Grade Reading Skills Group with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we will focus on main idea and details. We will also be introducing story vocabulary on Monday and will be having a quiz on that vocabulary on Friday. The nonfiction piece we will be reading this week is "The Golden Lion Tamarin Comes Home."

For the Week of September 27

2010-09-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

Chess Club Begins!

Monday from 2:25-3:25 all students whose last names begin with A-G and S-Z.
Wednesday from 2:25-3:25 all students whose last names begin with H-R.

Please remember to pick up your child at the 3rd grade door in the Prairieview parking lot at 3:25.

3rd Grade Reading Skills with Mrs. Csorba

We will begin working on making inferences this week. We will be using the story, Mulan.

4th Grade Reading Skills with Mrs. Beseth
The fourth graders will be reading Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say. They will focus on the reading strategy to determine author's viewpoint. Author's viewpoint refers to the author's opinion, ideas of what is important or attitude. The author might give their opinion directly or you might have to infer the
information by reading clues or other information that the author provides.
Here is a great link to practice author’s viewpoint: http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/o/authorsviewpointp.cfm. The vocabulary for the week is: bewildered, surrounded, reminded, longed, homeland, and marveled. Your child can practice these words at: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/tnc/ewordgame/index.html?grade=4&
theme= 1&selection=2. We will also workon the skill of putting words in alphabetical
order.

5th Grade Reading Skills with Mrs. Bucklin

This week we will focus on the skills of generalizing and fact vs. opinion. We'll visit Alaska with our read aloud called Wild Alaska and enjoy another story from our textbook entitled Grizzly Bear Family Book. Author generalizations will be identified by the students as they read the various selections this week.

For the Week of September 20

2010-09-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Important Date

Remember that there is no school on Friday, Sept 24th because of teacher inservice.

3rd Grade Skills Class with Mrs. Csorba

We will continue to focus on summarizing and sequencing this week. We will work on applying this strategy to different texts.

4th Grade Skills Class with Mrs. Beseth

This week, we will finish reading Akiak by Robert Blake. We will continue to focus on story structure. The children will also explore character and setting in depth. When your child is reading at home, you can practice and review story structure by asking them to identify characters, setting, and plot (which includes the problem, sequenced events, and the solution).

5th Grade Skills Class with Mrs. Bucklin

We will continue learning the elements of a tall tale. The students will read the tale of Old Stormalong and complete an organizer to go with the story. Also, they will be planning and writing their own tall tale. Check assignment notebooks for possible homework in this.

For the Week of September 13th

2010-09-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

I am excited about the start of skill based reading groups. I have been working closely with the classroom teachers to make sure that every student is placed in the group which will benefit him/her the most. I will continue to work with the classroom teachers, team teaching and helping to make sure student's needs are met in the area of reading. This year I will be team teaching with Mrs. Csorba in 3rd grade, Mrs. Beseth in 4th grade, and Mrs. Bucklin in 5th grade.

Our skill based reading groups will begin on Monday. Students will find out Monday morning who their skill based reading teacher is.

For the Week of September 6th

2010-09-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

Many times parents ask what they can do to help their child to read better. One thing that could help at the beginning of the year is to make sure that your child knows the first 220 Dolch sight words. Have your child read each word to you. If they can't read it in 3 seconds, make a flash card for it. Make some games with the flash cards so that your child will learn the words. You can write phrases that include the word and have your child read those. For example you might make phrases such as "after dinner," and "all around the house." These are the most used words in writing so your child will see these words over and over again. If they know them instantly, it will help their reading.

about
after
again
all
always
am
an
and
any
are
around
as
ask
at
ate
away
be
because
been
before
best
better
big
black
blue
both
bring
brown
but
buy
by
call
came
can
carry
clean
cold
come
could
cut
did
do
does
done
don't
down
draw
drink
eat
eight
every
every
fall
far
fast
find
first
five
fly
for
found
four
from
full
funny
gave
get
give
go
goes
going
good
got
green
grow
had
has
have
he
help
her
here
him
his
hold
hot
how
hurt
I
if
in
into
is
it
its
jump
just
keep
kind
know
laugh
let
light
like
little
live
long
look
made
make
many
may
me
much
must
my
myself
never
new
no
not
now
of
off
old
on

once
one
only
open
or
our
out
over
own
pick
play
please
pretty
pull
put
ran
read
red
ride
right
round
run
said
saw
say
see
seven
shall
she
show
sing
sit
six
sleep
small
so
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For the Week of August 30th

2010-08-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Back to school. What an exciting time for both students and teachers. New supplies, new teachers, new students, and a fresh start are all reasons to look forward to a new school year. With the start of a new school year comes the start of new routines. The summer routines have to be put aside and school year routines take their places. I have to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. I also have to make time to read. Because school days are such busy days, it is easy to overlook something that is very important to your child's success in school - reading. Every child needs some quiet time each day to enjoy a good book. Every child also should have some time with a parent listening to a well-written book. As I readjust my routines for the fall, I encourage you to readjust yours and make sure that reading is made or continues as an important part of your family's daily schedule.

For the Week of May 31st

2010-05-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Yearbooks

Yearbooks will be handed out to students on June 2nd. Any students who did not purchase a yearbook may do so on a first-come-first-serve basis on June 2nd; they will go on sale after morning announcements. The cost will be $10.00 and children wishing to purchase should have exact amount. Checks can be made out to Prairieview. There is a limited supply. Prairieview yearbook orders were not paid for at registration. A flyer was sent out on November 12, 2009 and orders were due by Tuesday, December 9, 2009.

Summer

I hope you have a wonderful summer. Enjoy your family and the warm weather. I am looking forward to being with my children and grandchildren. I am also looking forward to the fresh start we always get with a new school year.

For the Week of May 24th

2010-05-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Recyled Shoes

Thank you to everyone who contributed shoes to be recycled. We kept five huge garbage bags of shoes out of the landfills by recycling. Three of those bags were donated to Nike where the soles will be made into rubber matting and other items. Two bags were donated to resale shops which help those in need. At Prairieview School - Character Counts!

Book Review by Jackie Warkentien

This might be a book to put on your Summer Reading Plan form for good reading this summer.

Scat by Carl Hiaasen - Jackie gave this book 4 out of 5 stars

Friends Nick Waters and Marta Gonzalez attend prestigious Truman School. Among their classmates is Smoke Scrod, Jr. who has been accused of arson twice. Yet he is continually bailed out by his wealthy grandmother. Truman School's biology teacher, Mrs. Bunny Starch, is tough, yet qualified.

When both Mrs. Starch and Smoke go missing, it is up to Nick and Marta to solve the mystery. Environmental issues, criminal activity, and worries about Nick's dad overseas in Iraq all meld into a story about an endangered panther and its kitten. All involved step up to the plate and their admirable qualities arise when the environment and its fauna are being threatened unnecessarily by humans and their greed.

Scat is much like Hiaasen's other environmentally responsible books, as it introduces us to the peril, we as humans, create for our globe and all its inhabitants. We begin to see that we cannot accept every action for face value...sometimes there are reasons for, and reasons against seemingly simple scenarios. Much of what we do, does have consquences and we must weigh the benefits against the damages inflicted upon our planet.

For the Week of May 17th

2010-05-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

Plan for Summer Reading

Mrs. Walsh-Rock, one of Prairieview's wonderful librarians, is promoting summer reading by encouraging families to make a plan. Look for the announcement coming home at the beginning of the week. Ask your children to look at the library display and make plans to participate. Remember, when you make a plan, it is more likely to happen.

Taking a Road Trip?

Books on CD are a wonderful way to make the long drive seem shorter. Listening to books helps to broaden our vocabularies. It can also be a launching point for some interesting discussions. So visit your local library or bookstore and plan some fun for that long trip!

For the Week of May 10th

2010-05-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

Shoes Wanted

All this week Prairieview is collecting gym shoes in any shape and all other shoes that still have some life in them. We want to help cut down on the amount going into landfills. The shoes will be either donated to places that help people or will be sent to Nike's recycling center where they recycle gym shoes into a variety of objects including floor mats. Please tie the shoes together or put them in plastic grocery bags so that they do not become separated. Thank you for your support. At Prairieview School – Character Counts!

The Human Brain

I was just marveling on the human brain. I was thinking about how a child is born not knowing how to talk and by the time they are 11 or 12, they can read most any word you put in front of them. They figure out the meaning of words and learn how to say them. They learn how to make them into sentences. Their vocabulary grows. Then they have to learn how to take the sounds of the words apart to hear all of the different sounds. They learn the sounds that the letters make. They learn the rules for when letters say each sound. They memorize sight words. The learn punctuation rules. They learn to read. They learn to comprehend what they read and they learn to write. As we approach the end of another school year, it is wonderful to be able to look back over the year and see how far each of your children have come. Children's accomplishments are teachers' and parents' rewards.

For the Week of May 3rd

2010-04-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

How to Improve Reading Rate

I was just reading an article in the Reading Teacher journal which reminded me of what I have learned over the years. For those students who struggle with slow, labored reading, reading many books at their comfort level is a key to helping them read faster. If you think about it this way - when adults try to master something they usually take it slowly, in small learnable units. For example, when learning to dance, you start with a few basic steps and progress slowly as those steps are mastered. You don't start out with the hardest dances until you master the easier ones. The same holds true with cooking. You don't start with a 12 course meal. You start with making simple dishes and slowly work towards increasing complexity. Children need a lot of reading of texts which are a great deal of fun to them and which come easily to them. A child begins to dislike reading if they are continually forced to read books which are too difficult for them. So for independent reading, choose books that are easy for your child to read. When partner reading with you, books can be a little more challenging because you can tell your child the unknown words.

For the Week of April 26th

2010-04-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Lexia

I would be interested to hear from those who have started to use Lexia at home. How is it going? Does your student enjoy doing Lexia? Please email me with anything you would like to share. If you want to talk in person, please email me and I will phone you.

For those who have not signed up for Lexia but would like to, email me and I will get the information to your child.

Make Reading Fun

Nothing motivates children and adults alike more than fun. Since our goal is to make life-long readers out of our children, I would encourage you, as parents, to take the time to make reading a fun activity. Figure out the types of books your child really enjoys. Make plans to do fun activities centered around those books. When my children were younger, we would read books as a family that we knew were coming out as movies. Then we would go see the movie so that we could compare and contrast it with the book. Many little girls enjoy having a tea party. Invite over a friend or have a teddy bear join the party and then have your child or you read a good book while the others are enjoying their "tea." Get creative and have fun with reading.

For the Week of April 19th

2010-04-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

Earth Day

Prairieview is celebrating Earth Day on Friday the 23rd. Everyone should wear their Earth Day t-shirts or green. For those who are packing their lunches, pack trashless ones. If you are able, walk or ride your bike to school that day.

Retelling

One of the best ways to find out if your child is understanding what he/she is reading is to ask them to tell you what they just read. Retelling helps students to clarify their thinking and remember what they read. It also helps them to internalize the new vocabulary that they are learning. For reluctant readers, it encourages them to actually read if they know that they are going to be asked to retell what they read. I encourage you to take a few extra minutes to listen to your child. He/she will benefit greatly from the extra attention.

For the Week of April 12th

2010-04-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Vocabulary - Lessen the Gap

I just finished attending Core Reading Academy. The instructor in this academy spent five days discussing what a robust reading curriculum should include. One whole day was spent on vocabulary instruction. Our instructor pointed out that children come to school having a wide range of vocabulary abilities. There are huge gaps between various students. As the students grow older, many times the gap continues to widen. She told us that there are four parts to an effective vocabulary program. Students need instruction in specific words to enhance the comprehension of texts containing those words. They need instruction in independent word-learning strategies and they need word consciousness and word-play activities to motivate and enhance their learning. They also need a lot of independent reading to expand their word knowledge. Students needs to know many, many more words than teachers have the time to teach in the classroom. One of the ways students learn the words they need to know is by doing a lot of outside reading. This reading can be on their own or they can be read to. I want to encourage parents to continue to read to their children for as long as they can. The vocabulary benefits that children receive are enormous. If, for some reason, you can't spend time reading to your children, consider getting them books on CD's to listen to. By listening to books that are written at a higher level than they can read easily, their vocabularies increase and that helps them to be able to read those words with understanding in the future. The more time your children spend reading and listening to books read to them, the greater their vocabularies will be.

For the Week of April 5th

2010-03-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Raise a Reader

Please remember to continue logging in your minutes for Raise a Reader. If you haven't signed up yet, it is not to late. Go to parents.com/reading/prairieviewschooldowil.

Summer Reading Plans

I know many people have already begun making their summer plans. I want to encourage parents to make time in their daily schedules for reading. If your child loves to read, you don't need to think about this. It happens naturally. But if you have a child who would rather be doing something else, then it is very important that you figure out a way to get them to spend some time each day reading. Some parents take the time to sit down and read each day with their child. That is wonderful. Others, however, have the intention of reading but it just doesn't happen. I would like to suggest that you "hire" a little older student to come and read with your child. For example, a jr. high student would be perfect for the job if you have a 3rd grade child. Explain to the Jr. Higher exactly what you want them to do. Set up a time and place for the reading to happen. Let your child pick out books of interest. I think if you put reading on your schedule, you will find that it is much more likely to happen.

For the Week of March 22nd

2010-03-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Raise a Reader

If you have not had a chance to sign up for Raise a Reader yet, please join us. Go to www.parents.com/reading/prairieviewschooldowil. We have been posting the number of students and the minutes read on the bulletin board by the front hallway. We are also collecting first names of students and their teachers to post on the board. If you have signed-up your child and their name is not on the board - please send me an email with their name and their teacher's name and I will be sure it gets put up. Let's keep our students reading!

Character Counts Talent Show

We have some very talented students in this school and it was fun to get the opportunity to hear and see some of them at the Character Counts talent show. The students did a beautiful job. It was a lesson to all of us that working hard to be good at something helps to make us into productive members of society. I heard a lot of students already talking about wanting to be in it next year.

Lexia Reading Program

I have gotten quite a few parents who have told me that they are interested in using the Lexia reading program at home. I have been working on getting names entered into the data base and getting passwords for each one. If your child is being targeted for special reading help, you will automatically get a letter sent home explaining how to download the program if you want to use it. Any parent who would like to have their child use the program and is not getting special reading help, just email me and I will enter their name in the data base and send home a letter. It is a good program for students who are good readers because it teaches word roots, affixes and their meanings at the higher levels.

For the Week of March 15th

2010-03-12T15:10:00.000-08:00

Raise a Reader

We have had a wonderful start to the Raise a Reader program. I have received positive comments from parents, students and teachers. If you haven't had a chance to sign up your child please take the opportunity to do so. We could just be the winners of the $5000 library grant. www.parents.com/reading/prairieviewschooldowil

Lexia Reading Program

Prairieview has purchased some licenses to use the Lexia computer based reading program to help children who are striving to read. Lexia helps students with sight words, letter sounds and vowel combinations and comprehension. If you would like information on how to download this onto your home computer so that your child can work on reading at home, please email me at my school email address.

For the Week of March 8th

2010-03-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

New Reading Incentive Program at Prairieview

Look for the flyer that was sent home Friday. It announces a reading incentive program that Prairieview is encouraging called “Raise a Reader.” Parents sign up your child starting Monday the 8th by going to:

http://www.parents.com/reading/prairieviewschooldowil

All students who sign up will get to put their first name and teacher's name up on the bulletin board in the front hallway. So join the fun and keep reading!

Character Counts

During March Prairieview teacher and staff emphasize the Character Counts pillar of fairness. Although life isn't fair, we can learn to treat others with fairness. Please take the time to discuss this topic with your child and don't forget to return the Character Counts slip so that your child can earn a Prairieview Paw.

Expository Text

Reading teachers across the country are discussing the importance of learning to read expository text well. Almost 50% of the ISAT in grade 4 is made up of expository articles. By high school about 70% of the test will be expository. I just finished taking a class on one method for helping students to learn to read expository text effectively. The reading material should be at the student's independent reading level. The student should have opportunity to discuss the content with someone. So, the next time you visit a library or bookstore, have your child pick out a non-fiction book that they can read by themselves without too many problems. Then ask your student what they found most interesting about the book or what they learned that they didn't know before. It can be fun to read about topics of interest!

For the Week of March 1st

2010-02-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

ISATs and the Importance of Sleep

I am on the email list of Half Full: Science for Raising Healthy Kids written by Christine Carter, PhD. She offers practical advise. I found this piece especially pertinent since we want our students to do their best on the ISAT tests. This is copied with her permission.

Half Full: Is Sleep the Most Important Happiness Habit?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is Sleep the Most Important Happiness Habit?

Posted: 27 Jan 2010 05:02 PM PST

If I posted a video of my daughter when she is sleep-deprived and trying to finish her homework or clean her room—or do anything, really, that she doesn’t want to do—I would lose all credibility as a parenting expert. This is because there is a good chance you would all witness her shockingly bad behavior, from bratty-voice screaming to head-on-the-desk, teary, fist pounding protests.

We humans don’t really function all that well when we are seriously tired, and that is especially true for little humans whose brains are not yet fully developed. As Arianna Huffington writes in this post, sleep might just be the key to our happiness and peak performance.

Nothing could be more true for children.

Kids need a lot of sleep to be happy. Unfortunately, studies show that kids are getting significantly less sleep per night than they did in previous generations. This is of no small consequence.

Sleep deprivation—or just getting slightly less sleep than they need—affects kids’ functioning and well-being in a huge range of ways. Not getting enough sleep can make kids:

Less smart. In one study, researchers restricted the sleep of some students and extended the sleep of others for about 40 minutes over just three days. Kids who got less sleep showed worse performance in areas like learning, memory, and reaction times. How much worse? The difference between the two groups was “larger than or similar to the highly significant age differences between the fourth- and sixth-grade students” in the study. Losing two hours of sleep over three days set kids back two years.
Inattentive. Sleepiness makes it hard for kids to pay attention, whether to their school work or to their parents. The effects of not getting enough sleep is much more evident in younger children, who tend to be quite distractible when tired.
Fat. Sleep affects dozens of physiological and hormonal processes throughout our bodies, like how we store fat and burn calories. Kids who are “short sleepers” are more likely not just to be fat, but to actually be obese.
Less creative. Sleep helps kids with verbal flexibility so that their speech is more articulate and creative. Decreased sleep can make them less fluent, and it can impair their thinking in ways that make them less imaginative and less able to problem solve.
Moody and ill-behaved. I think this is obvious to every parent of every child who has ever missed a nap, but loads of good research backs this up: not getting enough sleep can make five year olds act like three year olds—miserable three year olds, to boot. Substance use, including using caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco, is greater in teens who sleep less, indicating that they are trying to cope with how they feel when tired.
Bad behavior often comes from the fact that sleepiness makes it hard for kids to control their impulses. Given my interest in Raising Happiness , I think this is the most important consequence that not getting my kids into bed on time can have. Why be awake if we are likely to be crabby and unhappy until we get more sleep?

In future posts, I’ll dig a little deeper into the sleep research in order to give parents some good guidelines about sleep and their children’s happiness. I’ll address questions such as: How much sleep do kids need at different ages? Does messing up weekend sleep matter—can we let our kids stay up late once or twice a week without suffering the consequences? Can students make up for lost sleep on the weekends? What does research show we can do to help our kids fall asleep faster and to sleep better?

Helping our kids get more sleep can have tremendous positive effects. Because of this, I have recently moved my kids’ bedtime to a shockingly-early 7:30 pm (they are 7 and 9 years old, and they catch the bus at 7:50 in the morning). This means that I am trading quality bonding time with my children for sleep. But, given the profound effects sleep has on their health and happiness, I don’t think I have a choice: ensuring that my kids get enough sleep is my responsibility as a parent.

© 2009 Christine Carter, Ph.D.

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References:
Cappuccio, FP, Taggart, FM, Kandala, NB, Currie A, Peile E, Stranges S, & Miller, MA. (2008). Meta-analysis of short sleep duration and obesity in children and adults. Sleep, 31(5), 619-626.

Carskadon, MA, Acebo, C, & Jenni, OG. (2004). Regulation of adolescent sleep: Implications for behavior. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1021, 276-291.

Curcio, G, Ferrara, M, & De Gennaro, L. (2006). Sleep loss, learning capacity and academic performance. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 10, 323–337.

Dahl, RE. (1996). The impact of inadequate sleep on children’s daytime cognitive function. Seminars in Pediatric Neurology, 3(1), 44-50.

Fallone, G, Acebo, C, Arnedt, JT, Seifer, R, & Carskadron, MA. (2001). Effects of acute sleep restriction on behavior, sustained attention, and response inhibition in children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 93, 213-229.

Fredricksen, K, Rhodes, J, Reddy, R, & Way, N. (2004). Sleepless in Chicago: Tracking the effects of adolescent sleep loss during the middle school years. Child Development, 75(1), 84-95.

Iglowstein, I, Jenni, OG, Molinari, L, & Largo, RH. (2003). Sleep duration from infancy to adolescence: Reference values and generational trends. Pediatrics, 111, 302-307.

Sadeh, A, Gruber, R, & Raviv, A. (2003). The effects of sleep restriction and extension on school-age children: What a difference an hour makes. Child Development, 74(2), 444-455.

Smaldone, A, Honig, JC, & Byrne, MW. (2007). Sleepless in America: Inadequate sleep and relationships to health and well-being of our nation’s children. Pediatrics, 119, S29-S37.

Stein, MA, Mendelsohn, J, Obermeyer, WH, Amromin, J, & Benca, R. (2001). Sleep and behavior problems in school-aged children. Pediatrics, 107(4), 1-9.

For the Week of February 22nd

2010-02-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

Character Counts Talent Show

If your student is working on an instrumental or voice piece, a dance or a dramatic reading and has it ready to perform please consider signing them up for the talent show. Although we cannot take everyone, we will use those who sign up to draw from when selecting who should perform. Please remember to fill in all of the lines on the form. I have already had to ask a couple of students to go back and complete their forms. If you want another form, look on the Prairieview website. It is posted.

Earth Day T-Shirts

Prairieview wants to create an awareness of the importance of using our resources responsibly and taking good care of the world in which we live. We are selling t-shirts to help heighten awareness. Check out the Prairieview website for details.

Spring All-School Reading Incentive Program

Prairieview is joining together with Parents magazine and the International Reading Association to promote reading. Details will be coming home with your child soon. Please watch for the flyer and join the fun!

For the Week of February 15th

2010-02-12T15:10:00.000-08:00

Family Book Night

I want to thank all of you who took the time out of your busy schedules to join us for family book night. We had a lot of fun and got acquainted with some books we might want to read as families. The comments were insightful - The thing I enjoyed most about Family Book Night was "reading with Mom and Dad." The thing I enjoyed most about Family Book Night was "spending time with my daughter - we love reading." The thing I enjoyed most about Family Book Night was "spending time with our family. The selection of books was great!" Under possible improvements the number one improvement relayed was that they wanted more time to read.

The best part of the evening to me was seeing the interaction between grandparents, parents and children enjoying books together.

I also want to give a big thank you to Mrs. Beseth, Mrs. Klacza, Mrs. Bouton and Mrs. Walsh-Rock who worked with me as a team to make Family Book Night happen. It was Mrs. Walsh-Rock's creativity that made the passport stations fun.

For the Week of February 8th

2010-02-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

Encourage Your Child to Read Along

I have been trying to encourage my students to read along when another person is reading out loud. Some students do this naturally and always follow along. Others, however, only read when it is their turn to read out loud. This means that they are getting 1/5 or 1/6th of the practice that a student is getting who reads along silently with the reader. I would appreciate any words of encouragement you could give your child in this regard.

Character Counts - Trustworthiness

During February we are working on the Character Counts pillar of trustworthiness. Being trustworthy is so important to good character. Employers are always seeking employees that they can trust to do a good job. Committees of all kinds want members they can trust to complete the tasks for which they have volunteered. When you see something on the news about a person who has been trustworthy or not so trustworthy, take a moment for a discussion with your child about that person.

Family Book Night

We are looking forward to seeing all of you who registered for Family Book Night this coming Thursday, February 11th from 6:30-8:00. We have a fun evening planned.

For the Week of February 1st

2010-01-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

Help for Haiti

Prairieview students, parents and staff are demonstrating the Character Counts' pillar of caring as they have generously given money for relief in Haiti. We have reached our goal of $2000 but the response has been so overwhelming that we are extending the giving through Wednesday, February 3rd. The students wore hats to school last Friday as a fun way to say that we are working together to help the people of Haiti.

Valentine Parties

We have had a lot of spills and stains due to drinks at the Valentine Parties. Therefore, only water will be served at the parties.

Increasing Reading Speed

A number of parents have asked me for suggestions for increasing their child's fluency, or rate at which they read. Reading rate is important for a number of reasons. When words are read effortlessly, your brain can focus more on comprehending what you are reading. That is one reason that fluency rates are so closely correlated to comprehension. Taking less time to read something is also important as the amount of material to be covered becomes greater and greater over the years. So what can you do at home? Rereading one page of a book over 3 times - trying to improve your speed each time - is one method to try. Get a timer and time how long it takes to read the page. Another method is called echo reading. Sit with your child and both of you read at the same time. The parent reads a little louder and just a little faster than the child normally reads. The child should try to keep up with the parent.

For the Week of January 25th

2010-01-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

Family Book Night

Prairieview is having a family book night, Thursday, February 11th from 6:30-8:00 P.M. You will be traveling throughout the school from book station-to-book station having fun with all different types of books. After following the directions for each station, your family will stamp their passport. At the end of the evening, we hope that everyone goes home with an idea for a new book they would like to read. The evening will also include light refreshments and a raffle. Many families have already signed up. If you would like to join us, see the Prairieview website for information and forms. The deadline for signing up is Friday, January 29th.

Word Game to Play while Waiting

An easy and fun word game to play with your child while waiting in an office is to place a word on a piece of paper. Then take turns changing that word by changing one of its letters or adding on an extra letter or taking away a letter. Try to start with a word that you know will change into a lot of words easily. For example: come, came, lame, lime, slime, slim, slam, slum etc. Have fun!

For the Week of January 18th

2010-01-15T15:10:00.000-08:00

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
No School on Monday, January 18th

RTI Intervention Groups
New small groups will begin Tuesday, January 19th. Letters will be coming home to those who are entering or exiting small groups and to those that will receive interventions in their classrooms.

The Earthquake in Haiti
I am saddened by the news of the terrible earthquake in Haiti. Project Challenge and Character Counts at Prairieview are teaming up to figure out how Prairieview can help in the relief effort. Information on what the students decide will be given out soon. Watch for it!

For the Week of January 11th

2010-01-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

Benchmarking

Prairieview worked as a team to get all of the students, except the few who were out, benchmarked this week. Mrs. Schultz and the teachers will be analyzing the results and making specific recommendations for every student.

Iowa Testing

Iowa testing is happening this week. These tests are important because we analyze the results to drive further instruction. Please make sure your student gets plenty of rest and a good breakfast this week. It will help him/her to do their best!

Respecting Others

Our Character Counts pillar for January is respect. At Prairieview we want everyone to show respect to each other by speaking politely and leaving other's possessions alone. A letter will be coming home outlining some specific ways you can work on respect as a family.

For the Week of January 4th

2009-12-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

Benchmark Week

Our winter benchmarking is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, January 7th and 8th. I have noticed that two good habits that will help your child score their best on the benchmarking are getting a good nights rest and practicing reading each day. When students do not get the sleep they need during the night, they move slower and feel lethargic so they read at a slower pace. Many students at the grade school level do not know when they should go to bed to get the amount of sleep they need. They must be told when to go to bed. Likewise, some students must be told to practice their reading. They are too young to understand the long term effects of reading or not reading. Especially since we have 16 days off of school before benchmarking, it is especially important to have your child read outloud to you. Keeping words fresh in your child's mind will help them to do their best reading.

For the Week of December 14th

2009-12-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

Sight Words

For the past two weeks I have listed sight words that are important for every student to memorize. Here is the continuation of those lists. List 12: been, they, obey, guarantee, does, goes, shoe, tongue, List 13: because, laugh, aunt, moisten, restaurant, could, would, should, your, hour, blood, door, flood, fountain, mountain, loose, doubt, List 14: already, break, great, ocean, steak, sergeant, build, built, sew, garage, massage, List 15: anxious, fashion, foreign, soldier, review, height, view, their, taught, daughter, caught, choir, special.

Wishes for a Wonderful Holiday

I want to wish every Prairieview family a warm, delightful holiday. My hope is that all students will come back refreshed, ready and enthusiastic to learn.

For the Week of December 7th

2009-12-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

Sight Words

Last week I wrote about students memorizing sight words. I included lists of sight words to practice. Some of you may have found that your student already knows all of the sight words I included so I am including more lists in this weeks blog.

List 6: many, busy, pretty, beauty, any, only, chocolate, List 7: above, among, animal, pasta, isle, trouble, triple, double, people, List 8: imagine, change, once, medicine, recipe, engine, strange, angel, List 9: garage, library, necessary, orange, parent, sugar, toward, honor, source, List 10: answer, brother, every, father, mother, other, very, America, another, bury, cover, hero, purpose, List 11: again, against, always, said, says, today, straight, Wednesday

Conferences

I enjoyed conferences last week. It is great to be a part of the cooperative effort with parents to help their student thrive in the classroom. It was fun to hear anecdotes about the students and to get a more varied picture of them.

For the Week of November 30th

2009-11-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

Fluency with Sight Words

There are rules to learning to read the English language and many words that follow those rules. There are words, however, that do not follow the rules. These words are known as sight words. They may follow some of the rules but not all of the rules. Sight words must be memorized. If you have a child who is striving to learn to read, memorizing and drilling the sight words will help. First, ask the child to read all of the words on the list. Make a note of those that your child does not read quickly and easily. Then write them on notecards. Have your child practice reading the words. To make it fun, you could time how long it takes to read the whole stack. Practice reading them faster and faster. Write the words in sentences and make sure that your student can read the words in context. Play a memory game with the words by making two copies of the words. Lay all of the words face down and take turns turning two words over. If they match, that player gets to keep them. At each turn, the player has to read the words they turn over. The player with the most cards at the end of the game, wins.

List 1: son, put, what, to, the, push, won, both, a, List 2: full, shall, pull, plus, add, yes, was, is this, of, his, has, List 3:from, want, chalk, comb, half, talk, walk, month, else, length, palm, pint, List 4: cost, lost, wind, friend, front, strength, List 5: often, listen, fasten, soften, almost, island, control, buffet, exhibit, List 6: are, come, done, gone, one, some, sure, there, were, where, clothes, eye, glove, lose, love, move, prove, shove, taste, waste, whole, owe, whose, List 7: machine, minute, police, promise, something, approve, improve, someone, List 8: pie, tie, bye, two, to, the, do, a buy, who, oh, die, lie, List 9: acre, into, mothing, become, also, honest, woman, remove, women

If your child can read all of these it is quite an accomplishment. I will add more sight words next week.

For the Week of November 23rd

2009-11-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone enjoys a restful, thankful time with family and friends over the Thanksgiving holiday.

It is important to engage students in meaningful writing. This means writing for specific purposes such as shopping lists and writing emails or letters. One type of meaningful writing that can have significance for the whole family is to spend some time writing about the things we are thankful for. I have discovered a number of ways that different families do this.

One family cuts out a construction paper tree with branches and tapes it to a wall. Then as Thanksgiving draws near, members of the family write items they are thankful for on colorful construction paper leaves and attach them to the tree. When Thanksgiving arrives, they read all of the reasons their family is thankful.

Someone else suggested giving a smooth stone to each person and have them write with marker what they are thankful for. Each member takes turns reading their "thankfulness stone" to the family.

Each person could write what they are thankful for on a piece of paper and put it in a basket. The basket is then passed around the table and members take one piece of paper out and read it to the family.

Some of the things related to being a teacher that I am thankful for are: 1)being in a position to make a positive impact on the lives of children, 2)working with teachers, staff and administration that are dedicated to and love their jobs, 3)partnering with supportive parents and, 4)having this beautiful facility to work in. I am truly blessed and thankful.

For the Week of November 16th

2009-11-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe, but our winter holiday break is just around the corner. With that in mind, I would like to encourage District 66 parents to consider giving the gift of reading. When you give the gift of a book or magazine, you are saying that you think reading is an enjoyable, worthwhile activity. If you think carefully about your child, their likes and interests, you will be able to pick out the perfect book or magazine. Be sure to tell them why you chose that particular piece of literature as they open it. Also, spend some time helping your student "get into" the reading. Read the first chapter with them or look at the pictures in the magazine and discuss the interesting articles they can read. If everyone in the family receives something new to read, it can be cozy and fun to make something warm to drink and all sit around enjoying your new books together.

For the Week of November 9th

2009-11-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Day - Wednesday - No School

This past Thursday evening I attended a Veteran's Day service at Wheaton College given by the ROTC. The service reminded all of us how much we owe our freedoms to those who fight to preserve them for us. I would like to thank all of you who are veterans or who are currently in the military. Thank you for your service to our country. Thank you for protecting us. Thank you for laying your lives on the line so that we can continue to enjoy all the benefits of being citizens of the United States of America.

Another Intervention for RTI - Wilson

This week I would like to describe another intervention that we use at Prairieview for RTI. It is called Wilson. It is a system of teaching reading created by Barbara Wilson. Methodically, the students learn the six syllables types. They learn how to break longer words into syllables in order to decode them quickly and easily. There are specific methods to help students learn sight words; words that do not exactly follow the decoding rules. There is vocabulary instruction. Students are taught to read in phrases, instead of word-by-word. They are taught to make pictures in their mind of what they are reading and then put the pictures together in the correct order to make a movie. This helps their comprehension. Wilson is a research based intervention that works on all five components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

Helping your Child with Fluency

One method you can use to help your child with fluency is called "echo reading." Read one sentence very fluently while your child listens. Ask your child to try to read the sentence the same way you read it. Then do the same thing on the next sentence. After you practice that for several days, ask your child to read a sentence silently to himself and figure out how to read the sentence so that it sounds best. Then have him read it outloud to you. Have him work on reading phrase-by-phrase instead of word-by-word.

For the Week of November 2

2009-10-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Over the past number of weeks I have been highlighting some of the interventions we use at Prairieview in our RTI program. This week I am going to describe Fundations which is a phonics, sight word, vocabulary and spelling program. Fundations uses letter cards to help the teacher build words on the board. It uses magnetic tile boards for the students to build words on their desks. Small dry erase boards are used for student practice. Each student also has a student notebook and a composition book to help keep track of the rules he/she has learned. Fundations is a very systematic approach to learning the English spelling and reading rules. It shows students how suffixes change words and explains how and when the base words changes as suffixes are added. It teaches the different kinds of syllables and how to break longer words into syllables. Fundations is a research based method that we find helpful for many students.

For the Week of October 26th

2009-10-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

This past week I went to a conference orchestrated by SCIRA, Suburban Council of the International Reading Association. P. David Pearson, a literacy specialist, author and researcher from Berkeley, California was the speaker. It was a wonderful experience. This man radiates the joy of literacy and teaching literacy. Dr. Pearson gave me a lot to contemplate about teaching reading. One idea he presented was that reading should not be an end in itself but should be presented to students as a tool to use to understand their world. Reading is a tool to learn about science, social studies, math and literature. He is working with scientists and teachers to write and publish curriculum that combines science and literacy. The students spend their time doing hands-on science quests, writing about what they have seen, talking about it and reading about it. Doing it. Writing it. Talking it. Reading it. Succinctly put, those are the approaches that help children learn. One idea I would like to pass on to parents is that many students, boys especially, dislike novels but love reading science. If you are a parent who has trouble getting your child to read, try going to the library or bookstore and looking at the science section instead of the novel section. See if a science book will capture your child's attention.

For the Week of October 19th

2009-10-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

Last week I wrote about the computer program called Read Naturally that we use in both small pull-out groups and as individuals in the classroom. (see last week's blog) This week I am going to describe Reader's Theater. Reader's Theater is a fun way that we work on fluency with the students. It is used in the regular classroom as well as in small pull-out groups for RTI. Reader's Theater scripts are just like scripts for a play. Each student has the role of one character in the play. The difference between a play and Reader's Theater, however, is that the students don't do any acting. They only use their voices to make their characters come alive. They practice their parts until they can read them fluently and then they work on expression and sometimes even accents or funny voices depending on their characters. Reader's Theater is a researched based method for helping students with their fluency. Of course, vocabulary is a byproduct, because they learn new words as they are reading the Reader's Theater scripts.

You can try this at home if you have several people willing to participate. Find a book that has a lot of talking between characters. Assign a character or two to each child and someone to be the narrator. If your child is a reluctant reader it might be better to have the parent start out as the narrator because the narrator parts are usually longer. The character reads only those parts that are in quotation marks. The narrator reads the rest. This breaks up the text in a different way than paragraph-by-paragraph or page-by-page. Children enjoy adding expression to their voices. Reader's Theater can also be done with poetry by splitting up the poem for different readers.

For the Week of October 12th

2009-10-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Did you ever wonder what your child does when they work on the computer program Read Naturally? Read Naturally is a research based program that we use both in small pull-out groups and in the classrooms to work on reading skills. Students begin by choosing a story. Each story is introduced with vocabulary words. Then the student uses those words, the picture, the title and their background knowledge to write a prediction about what they think the story will be about. Next the student does a cold read of the story and is timed. This tells the student how fast they read the story without any practice. Then they listen to the story up to three times as a model for fluent reading and to help them learn the words that they don't know. After listening, the student practices reading the story themselves. Each student has been given an individualized goal for how fast he needs to be able to orally read the story. When he is able to read the story at that rate and he knows all the words, he moves on to the comprehension quiz. The quiz includes both multiple choice and short answer questions. After that the student must write a short summary of the story. When all of these steps are accomplished, the student is ready to pass. The teacher comes to listen to the student read the story aloud. The teacher counts the errors, listens for fluency and times the student. The teacher also looks over the written work and makes comments and suggestions for improvement. If the student passes, he then picks a new story to read. The three big areas of reading most worked on in 3rd-5th grades are fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. All three of these areas are addressed with Read Naturally.

For the Week of October 5th

2009-10-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

Paraphrasing - A Great Reading Strategy

One strategy that you might try with your struggling reader is to help him/her paraphrase what he/she has read. Paraphrasing is saying the same thing that the author said, but in your own words. To help your child do this, you should do it several times yourself first. Read a paragraph together with your child. After reading, put the book aside and tell about what you read in your own words. If you can't remember something, or realize that you didn't understand something, look back and reread. Talk about your thinking with your child. After doing this several times, let your child try it on the next paragraph. Tell your student that it is important to make sure they understand what they have read so far before they read more. At first paraphrase paragraph by paragraph. After paragraphs are mastered, sections can be read before paraphrasing.

For the week of September 28th

2009-09-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Response to Intervention small groups began this past Monday. There were some minor problems, but overall, students moved smoothly to new areas, and have been working hard to make progress in their reading. I have spoken to or had email correspondence with a number of parents, and am pleased with the positive feedback, helpful suggestions, and questions about how parents can help their children at home. Many weeks on my blog I write about different things you can do with your student - things which are enjoyable and beneficial at the same time. Look back over my past blog posts to get some ideas. I will be sharing more ideas as the weeks go on.

The most important thing you can do if your child struggles some with reading is to spend time sitting with them and reading. It is sometimes difficult for a child to force themselves to do something that is hard but it is more fun, and it is easier if a parent is doing it with them.

For the Week of September 21st

2009-09-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

Students who have not made the target scores in aimsweb will begin getting extra instruction this week. Parents can help their children at home by sitting beside them as they read aloud. Give the child 3-5 seconds to determine unknown words. If they cannot get the word - give it to them, have them repeat what you said and go on with their reading. This can be done with any text or book as long as they can read the majority of it without you helping them. 4-5 words per page should be the maximum that you have to feed them. Echo reading can also help them to begin to learn to read with expression. You read a sentence and then they try to read the sentence with the same phrasing and expression that you did. It is amazing how just 20-30 minutes a night of this practice will help your child to become a more fluent reader.

For the Week of September 14th

2009-09-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

This past week a team of 11 benchmarked, for reading, every student in the school. Now the teachers and administrators will be studying the results to see who should be placed in small groups for extra help in reading. Each student who is below the target score will be discussed and placed in the group where he/she will receive the support that they need. Those parents with students who need extra support will be notified this week. Small group time will begin the week of September 21st.

I am eagerly looking forward to working with this year's students. They are a great group of children.

A Fun Game - Match the Homophones

2009-09-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Its fun to play games with your child that also improves their reading. This is a great game to play with your 3rd grader. Make a batch of cards with the following words printed on them. Try to include some that your child knows and some that he doesn't know. Pick a reasonable number of matches for each game. Turn all of the cards face down and take turns turning over two cards and reading them. The person reading them must tell what each words means or use the word in a sentence. Mom or Dad can help if needed. If they are homophones (two words that sound alike but mean different things) then the person turning them over gets to keep them and take a second turn. The winner is the person with the most matches at the end of the game.

Cards to make: right, write, know, no, which, witch, son, sun, some, sum, banned, band, guest, guessed, missed, mist, plain, plane, mail, male, mind, mined, find, fined, weather, whether, father, farther, hi, high, by, buy, oh, owe, flour, flower, thrown, throne, nose, knows, write, right, night, knight, new, knew, seen, scene, sent, cent, piece, peace, sell, cell, its, it's, pale, pail, sale, sail, brake, break, lead, led, worn, warn, bury, berry, herd, heard, meat, meet

Help Me Find a Book!

2009-08-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Walking into a library or a bookstore can be a daunting task when asked to find a book that your child will actually sit down and read. Knowing your child's Lexile score can help. That score is on their ISAT test results but those scores haven't come out yet for this year. One site that might help you is http://fab.lexile.com. On this site you can enter the grade your child is in and how they feel about the reading they have in that grade. You are then asked about your child's interests. Almost magically, books appear that will be approximately on your child's reading level and on topics your child is interested in. Print off the list and take it with you to the library or bookstore. It takes some of the guesswork out of it.

Welcome Back!

2009-08-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

After having a wonderful summer, I am excited to be back in the classroom. It is fun planning for a new school year. I am looking forward to seeing all of the smiling faces walking in on Monday morning. If you have any questions about your child's reading, please feel free to contact me. Here is to a great year!

For the Week of June 1st

2009-05-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Make Reading A Priority

Research demonstrates that students who spend more time reading, read better. Some students enjoy reading and read as much as they can. Others prefer doing anything more than reading. For those parents, I would encourage the following: 1)Set a certain time and place for reading. Do not tell your child to go read, instead read together. If you do not have time to do this - hire someone to do it with you student. It can even be a mature high school student. 2)Go with your child to pick out books at their reading level. They should be able to read a page in the middle of the book and have no more than 5 errors on the page. 3)Set up a reward system. Do not make your child wait until the end of the summer to receive his/her reward. Make smaller rewards weekly with a larger reward if he/she completes the summer schedule.

Being able to read well is so important for children's future academic achievements that we must all work to make reading a priority just like we do for practicing an instrument or playing a sport. Making sure your child reads may be a struggle, but it is a struggle worth undertaking.

Thank You!

I want to thank all of the parents for the privilege of teaching your children. It is a rewarding and fulfilling job and I am very thankful to be employed by such a wonderful school district. Have a safe and fun summer. I am looking forward to the fall with another new beginning.

For the Week of May 25th

2009-05-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Structure Brings Security

I had the privilege of attending a two day conference this past week at Northern Illinois University organized by Illinois ASPIRE. Besides learning about many helpful studies in the area of reading, I also learned about setting behavior goals for students. One of the speakers, Randy Sprick, Ph.D., spoke of how important school structure is for the success of our students. He used an example of school lunch lines. If school lunch lines are run inefficiently so that students have to wait a long time to get their lunches, then students begin to think about how they are going to get down to the lunch lines before everyone else. The problem is that they start to think about this while they are in still in the class that meets before lunch and so their attention is taken away from the lesson on which they should be concentrating. I was thinking about how I feel better when my life is properly structured. I like to have a plan for what meals I am going to prepare and have the food on hand to make those meals. I like to know that my clothes are ironed and ready to wear. I like to know that I have enough time to do what I need to do and also get enough sleep at night so that I feel rested and energetic the next day. Children, also, thrive with structure. If there is a natural flow and rhythm to their lives, they feel more comfortable and secure. This structure varies from family to family, but it should include eating times, homework times, reading times, helping times, relaxing times and bed times. The gifts of well-structured homes and schools can be a positive influence on the behavior of our children, both in school and out of school.

For the Week of May 18th

2009-05-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

Helping Your Child with Vocabulary Acquisition

A mature reader is able to use context clues as a strategy to help understand unknown vocabulary words. You can encourage your student to see and recognize clues that will help them to understand the nuances of words better. There are four main types of clues that authors use.

The first is to give the reader the definition or a synonym of the word. An example is: A hydrophyte is a plant which grows well in very wet places. When you come across this type of word, simply ask your child, "What does the sentence say a hydrophyte is?" You can point out that if they see words such as "refers to, is defined as, is or means," then the definition is sure to follow. Sometimes the vocabulary word or its definition is in italics. Sometimes the definition is set off by commas, dashes or parentheses.

The second type of clue authors use is to give us examples or illustrations to make the word's meaning clearer. An example is: The boy was very responsible. He always tidied up his room before he left for school. He did his homework neatly and on time and he remembered to feed and groom his dog. By studying the examples of the responsible boy, the reader can begin to understand what responsible means.

The third type of clue authors use is contrast. This is when the word's opposite appears in the sentence. An example is: Tommy is very rambunctious but his brother is quiet and orderly. Some word clues that help signal a contrast are "however, on the other hand, in contrast, but, yet, different and unlike."

The fourth type of clue authors use is inference. To use this type of clue effectively, you must apply your background knowledge to information in the text. An example is: My teenage daughter was being flippant when I asked her why she was late coming home last night. She said that she had gotten run over by a train and it was none of my business anyway. Using your background knowledge of how teenagers can behave, along with the words that the teenager said, and you can begin to understand the meaning of flippant. Make sure to look at the sentences around the vocabulary word to get as many context clues as possible.