News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room Nov. 4-Nov. 8

Conference Week Nov. 4-8 - Monday through Wednesday
No School on Friday, Nov. 8


Math - In math this week, the students will distinguish between the additive comparisons where they use addition or subtraction ( how much more,  how many more, how much less ) and the multiplicative comparisons, where they use multiplication or division ( how may times more and how many times greater).  They will also study the multiplication properties - commutative, identity and zero property, and the division rules-when you divide any number by 1, the quotient is always the dividend.  When you divide any nonzero number by itself, the quotient is always 1. When you divide 0 by any nonzero number, the quotient is 0.  It is not possible to divide a number by 0. A test is scheduled for a week from Wednesday, Nov. 13 over chapter 3.  4x' facts will be tested on Tuesday, and 6-8 facts will be tested on Tuesday, Nov. 12 of the following week.

Spelling - This week in spelling the students will work with words that have the ou sound and u sounding like /aw/.

Reading - In reading this week,  we will continue to read Because of Winn Dixie.  The students will predict and infer and work on their sequencing skills. Please encourage them to read or reread chapters of the book at home.  This will help with their comprehension, vocabulary and fluency.

English - The test in English has been postponed until the following week on Tuesday, Nov. 12.  They will have homework assignments which will help them to review the skills in the chapter.  They should practice the skills at the end of the chapter for a review.

Science - The students will continue to work on their invertebrate posters.  Their test will be on Wednesday of this week over Chapter 1 lesson 3.

The students should study their textbook and know the main concepts and vocabulary.

They should know:

The 5 classes of  vertebrates, give at least two traits of each and two give examples of each.

They should be able to identify arthropods and give some examples of them

What two groups the animal kingdom is classified into

What are the three main body parts of an insect and how is an insect identified (How many legs and body parts?)

What is an exoskeleton and what does an arthropod do to it?

Social Studies - We will have our Resource Day on Thursday to help the students understand the products and resources that come from that region.  Our menu for the day is:
grapes, cranberries, Waffles/Maple Syrup, and crab meat.   I am looking for volunteers to bring in washed and ready to eat grapes. Please let me know if you would like to send some in.  If anyone has an allergy to any of these foods, please let me know.   
There will be a test in Social Studies on Thursday of this week over chapter, 4 Land and Water in the Northeast.  The students should know all the vocabulary and concepts from the chapter.  They should study the papers in their folders and know:

• Where Niagara Falls is, how it was formed and its importance to the area. 
• What is produced by hydropower plants on the Niagara River?
• Know the Mountain Ranges that are part of the Appalachian Mountains and how they are different and how they are alike.
• What is the difference between the Maine Coast line and New Jersey Coast line?
•  Which is the largest Finger Lake.
• How is this lake important to the grapes that are grown around it?
• Know the resources of the Northeast region and where they came from.
• What are some of the problems that challenge Chesapeake Bay and how have they tried to solve them.        

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room October 28-Nov. 1

Conferences- Don't forget to sign up for conferences which are being held the week of Nov. 4th.

Halloween Party - The parade will begin at 1:15 and the party will begin at 1:30.  The students should bring their costumes to change into.  The menu will be one sweet treat, butter cream cupcakes, and healthy treats, cantaloupe and pineapple.  Please let me know if anyone thinks they would have an allergy to these things.

Art to Remember - Orders are due on Monday, October 28th. 

Math - This week in math, we will continue to practice our multiplication facts. The students will be tested on their 5 X's facts, and review of 2's, and Squares on Tuesday, Oct. 29th. Then they will be tested on their 3Xs facts, and review of 5X's, 2X's,and Squares on Friday. This week the students will write multiplication equations to represent comparisons and they will write multiplication equations with a variable to solve a comparison problem.  

Spelling - More words with short and long vowel sounds will be studied this week.  Workbook pages 99-101 will be assigned.  There will be a test on Friday of this week. 

Reading - This week in reading, we will continue to read the story Because of Winn Dixie. There is a comprehension and vocabulary test on Tuesday of this week.  The students have their packet in their folders with the vocabulary words.  They should know the meaning of the words and be able to write them in a good sentence.  They will read chapters 11-14 this week in their books.  The skill this week is on visualizing. The students will be encouraged to form pictures in their minds and draw what they visualize as they read parts of the story.  We will use the context to figure out word meaning, and root words and affixes.  

English -   The students will review uses for commas.   They will understand the difference between direct and indirect quotations and be able to write them correctly.  They will review how to write titles correctly.  There will be a test on Tuesday, Nov. 5 over chapter 5.  The students should use their textbooks and the papers in their binder to help them review.  There are a lot of good review lessons in the back of the chapter to help as well.

Science - This week the students will study invertebrates. They will work in partners to create an invertebrate poster.  There will be a test on Wednesday, November 6 over chapter 1 lesson 3, How are Animals Classified?  

The students should study their textbook and know the main concepts and vocabulary.

They should know:

The 5 classes of  vertebrates, give at least two traits of each and two give examples of each.

They should be able to identify arthropods and give some examples of them

What two groups the animal kingdom is classified into

What are the three main body parts of an insect and how is an insect identified (How many legs and body parts?)

What is an exoskeleton and what does an arthropod do to it?

Social Studies - The students will learn about Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and the people who live and work there.  They will understand the problems that the Bay faces and how it is being saved.  They will understand why the Bay is important to the Northeast.  

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room October 21-25

Picture Retakes - Lifetouch will be back on Wednesday 10/30 at 7:50am for retakes and for anyone who was absent on picture day.  If you did not get your picture taken back in September or need a retake, please let me know so I can give your name to the photographers. 

Coupon Books - The PTO is selling coupon books this year to help fund the purchase of tablets for our students.  If you wish to purchase a book, please send in $25 made payable to the Prairieview PTO.  If you do not wish to buy the book, please send it back with your student.  The deadline is October 29th.  The books have some great local coupons in them and really pay for themselves while the school gets half the money of all books sold!  The grade that sells the most books (15 books minimum) will get a movie and a treat on Tuesday, November 26th and each grade level student who sells the most books (5 book minimum) will get a $100 Target gift card!  Please contact Pam Topp (pam_topp@yahoo.com) or Maureen Gibbons (maureen.gibbons@comcast.net) if you have questions or would like more books to sell.  There are some great holiday shopping discounts available....take a look!!!!

Math - We will begin a unit on understanding multiplication and division.  This week the students will understand how multiplication and division are related and they will relate division and subtraction.  I will assess the students knowledge of their multiplication facts.  I am assuming that the students know their facts, but we will review them beginning with square facts 2 x 2, 3 x 3 etc and 2 times tables.  I will be sending home a sheet for them to practice and ask your signature to show that they have gone over them with you.  They will be tested on their square facts on Tuesday and their 2 X's facts on Friday.    

Spelling - This is a review week in spelling.  All students will be assigned the workbook pages 87-89 this week and given the review test on Friday.

Reading - We will begin reading Because of Winn Dixie this week.  The students will work on their reading strategies and focusing on Noting Details. There will be a poster homework project..  It is due on Thursday.  They will be given guidelines to follow. They will be tested on their comprehension and vocabulary for chapters 1-10 on Tuesday of next week, Oct. 29th.  

English - This week on Wednesday, the students will have a quiz on abbreviations of the days of the weeks and months.  They should be able to write the abbreviations for the days of weeks and months.  The students will also understand how to use commas in a series and other uses for commas.

Science - The students will review the 5 classes of vertebrates.  They will go on a scavenger hunt in the room to find facts of  mammals and reptiles. They will also learn about the different groups of  invertebrates and begin making their invertebrate posters in class. 

Social Studies - We will begin a lesson on the resources of the Northeast.  The students will identify the largest of the Finger Lakes in New York and understand how the lake helps create just the right conditions for grape production.  They will understand how cranberries are grown and how sap is used in making maple syrup. They will also understand that minerals are an important resource of the region as well.

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room October 14-18

Our Fall Book Fair and Taffy Apple sale is on Thursday of this week from 6:30-8:00 P.M.  If you would like more information here is the link:      http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/prairieviewelementaryschool15

I am sending home a permission slip for the movie How to Eat Fried Worms.  The students will be watching it on Friday as a culminating activity to our worm unit.

Math - In math this week we will work on multiple step story problems.  The students will represent a multi-step word problem by writing an equation.  They will also use a variable to represent the unknown quantity in an equation.  We will review the lessons from the chapter and our test will be on Friday of this week.  The students should use all the papers in their folder as a guide and they can bring their books home as well.

Spelling- No spelling this week.

Reading -   The students will be assessed on the skills we have covered so far: text organization, story structure, and author's point of view. We will review syllabication rules, and at the end of the week we will begin reading the book, Because of Winn Dixie.  They will be bringing these books home in the evening to read, and it will be very important for the students to bring their books back to school each day.

English - In English this week, the students will capitalize and punctuate abbreviation for titles, addresses, months, and days.   There will be a quiz on abbreviations of months and days of the week on Tuesday, October 22.

Social Studies - The students will create a mind map which will help them understand how Niagara Falls was formed.  They will learn about the Appalachian Mountain Range and the mountains that make it up.  They will  study a map's features and then make a map of the northeast, with these physical features on the map.

Science - We will begin a unit on classifying animals.  The students will understand that scientists classify animals into two groups: vertebrates and invertebrates.  They will identify traits of the five animal classes of vertebrates: fish, mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room October 7-October 11

Our "Wormy Week" was a huge success!

We had a great time this week applying the scientific method to our worm research.  The students now have been given an assignment to create their own racetracks applying the research that they have done as they create their tracks. The directions have been sent home with them today.  The tracks, worksheets, and worm are due on Friday, October 11. We will have our worm races at that time.

There will be a test this week on The Scientific Method on Wednesday of this week.  They will have to identify parts of the Scientific Method when given an example.  They have to understand what each step means.  For example:   "A worm will go toward the wet side of the towel, because I know that worms like a moist environment".- This would be matched up to a hypotheses. A hypotheses tells what they think will happen and why.  They need to know that when you use the Scientific Method you are testing a hypothesis, and the main purpose of the scientific method is to test ideas.  A hypothesis can be tested.

Math - This week in math the students will use regrouping in subtraction problems that have zeros in one or more of the digits in the minuend.  They can use addition to check their subtraction.They will also be shown how to draw a diagram to help them solve addition and subtraction problems.  Kids should bring home their books, so they can see the model to review at home when completing the assignment.

Spelling - The spelling word this week is homophones, words that sound the same but are spelled differently. They will be responsible for workbook pages 67-69 or alternative activities throughout the week.

English - This week the students will work on writing names of people and pets and places and things correctly.  They will understand and write compound sentences correctly.

Reading -We will continue focusing on the reading strategy of text organization. Many non-fiction authors 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. We will also take a look at syllabication.

Social Studies - This week we will begin the "Beautiful Northeast".  The students will fill in a map with the names of the states.  They will bring this home and use it as a guide to color in a map of the northeast.  I will show them a model in class, and they will have a rater to follow with specific instructions on what to do and how it should look. This will be due on Thursday.  There will be a quiz on Thursday to see if the students know where the states are on the map.  They will be given a blank map and be asked to place the states and the bodies of water of the northeast on the map. Spelling does not count.  They can add capitols for possible extra points.