News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room March 11-15

Dates to Remember:
March 11-12 - ISAT Science testing 10:00 a.m.
Tues. March 19 Early Dismissal - 11:00 a.m.
 March 25-April 1- Spring Break
April 8 Conference Week- Conference sign ups will be with math classes.  Look for the Google Doc sign up e-mail to come out soon.

The class has earned a class party for their hard work and good behavior during the month of February.  On Friday of this week they will be allowed to wear their pajamas to school. During lunch, we will have pizza and  watch the movie, It Takes Two with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. The children should only need to bring a drink or buy milk that day.  If they do not like pizza, they may buy lunch or bring a lunch to school.

If any parent would be able to pick up the pizzas at Dominick's on 63rd street at about 10:50. ( They will need to be back at school by 11:35) please let me know.   Thank you.

The Prairieview PBIS team is extending a wonderful opportunity to begin the new year with a community service project.  We will be holding a Food Pantry Drive at school for the West Suburban Community Pantry in Woodridge from March 11-15.  Boxes will be provided in each classroom to collect the non-perishable food items.  Girl Scout Troop 50251, comprised of third and fourth grade students from Prairieview, has graciously volunteered to pack up and deliver the donated food on March 16th.  Thank you in advance for your generosity of spirit and deed!

Spelling This week in spelling the students will work with words that change the final "y" to "i".  They will be responsible for pages 129-131 or for those students who pass the pretest, they will complete activities for the week.

Math - In math this week, we will continue our geometry unit. The students will have a quiz on congruent and similar figures on Monday.  We will also review turns of symmetry and transformations.  They will find patterns based on color, size, shape, and position. They will also identify solid figures based on the number and shapes of their  faces, edges, and vertices.

Reading - This week in reading we will read a biography of Lou Gehrig.  The reading strategies that we will focus on will be Fact and Opinion and Making Judgments. Making judgments involves deciding whether or not a character's actions are appropriate for a situation.  Reader's can ask themselves.  Do I agree with this?  Is this right or fair? The students will also study the origin of words.Word histories can enrich vocabulary, helping learners make connections that might not be apparent, such as the connection between salary and salt.

English - In English this week, we will have a test over Verbs, chapter 3 on Thursday, March 14. This date has changed from the last Newsletter.  The students will bring work home that will help them to practice and review verbs.

Social Studies - There will be a map test of the Southwest on Tuesday of this week.  They should be able to place all the states, the Colorado River, the Rio Grande, the Grand Canyon, and the Gulf of Mexico, in their proper space on the map.  They will earn extra points if they know their capitals.  Spelling does not count, unless I can not figure out with the word says.  We will continue to study the Grand Canyon to learn how it was formed and continues to change today.  We will also learn about the people of the Canyon and why people go there to visit.

Science -In science this week, we will continue to work with simple machines.  The students will investigate how inclined planes help people do work.  They will explain how a screw and a wedge changes the way work is done. The students will review that simple machines do not reduced the amount of work that is done.  They just change the way the work is done to reduce the force needed to do the work

The students have been given information on making a catapult.  You may want to ask them about it, if they have not shared it with you.  Today, I passed out a model they could follow if they were unclear of where to begin with it.  Catapults are due on March 20th.  We will have our launching on March 21st.