Miss Pellin's Post

October 29th - November 2nd

The class worked very hard on their descriptive Haunted House stories. Each story was creative, colorful, and classy! I was scared just reading them! I want to thank both my students and their parents for making this a wonderful project.

Friday, November 1st is “Spirit Day” at Prairieview. We will be emphasizing the caring pillar of Character Counts! Please wear red with the teachers! School picture retakes are Tuesday, Oct. 30th. Students must have original picture packets in hand to have a retake. If your child was absent on the first picture day, they will have to have their original order envelope with them at the time of retakes. We will have a field trip to Robert Crown on Wednesday, Oct. 31st.

Halloween: We will have a math period to begin the day. The fun will continue with a trip to Robert Crown (without costumes) from ~9:00-11:30. We return after our normal lunch time so we will have lunch in the room. Please send a sack lunch without peanuts to school this day. After eating, we will change into our costumes for our school wide parade. The whole school parade will be from 1:15-1:30 outside (weather permitting). If your child would like to dress up at school, please send their costume with them in a large bag labeled with their first and last name. After the parade we will return to the room for a party.

Here are some guidelines to follow when choosing a costume:
1. We only have 15 minutes for costume changes. Please make sure your child can change into his/her costume easily and by themselves. If the costume can be worn over there clothes, then both the time to change and the chances of losing any clothes is minimized.
2. If the costume involves make up, please do not send your child with it on that morning. Remember that your child has to be able to apply it themselves.
3. Please do not send any weapons (guns, swords, etc.) as part of the costume. Save those for trick-or-treating.
4. We will not have time to change back into our clothes for dimissal. Your child will wear their costume home.

Our classroom party will be on Wednesday, October 31st at 1:30-2:20. Thank you to all the parents who have been involved in the planning. Any parents who have been contacted to help at our party should arrive no earlier than 1:15.

This Week at School:

Science: We will have a field trip to Robert Crown on Wednesday, Oct. 31st to review our study of the human body and health. Don’t forget to turn in your child's permission slip.

English: Plural and possessive nouns are the “subjects’ of our studies. This unit will be completed Thursday, November 1st with a chapter test coming either at the end of this week or early next week. A study guide will be sent home on Tuesday, October 30th.

Social Studies: The students are learning about communities. We began studying the history, geography, and life in El Paso, Texas. This week each student will make a brochure about a U. S. city. Some of the brochures will require some extra research.

Spelling: This week is extremely short, so we will not be having a challenge list. There will be a Halloween theme to the word list. Those students achieving 100% will not have to take the final test. However, all students need to complete the activities.

Reading: Our reading continues to focus on factual content. Each student is learning to read and review a story in order to receive the most information from it. The book posters were all presented enthusiastically. I am encouraged to read many books this weekend! Our next independent reading party will be November 9th. Keep on reading.

Math: Miss Pellin’s math class will finish our money change unit this week. Next week we will begin Make-a-Table problem solving. Tables are one strategy for solving math story problems. We will be learning the strategy by solving problems together in class. This type of strategy is one area of emphasis on the coming ISAT tests.


Things to Remember:

Monday 10/29: There is a Teacher Institute. No school today – have a great day off!
Tuesday 10/30: School photo retakes will be at 8 am (bring packet). There will be a Halloween spelling pretest.
Wednesday 10/31: It is Halloween at school! The Prairieview Halloween Parade will be starting around 1:15 pm. We will also be visiting Robert Crown! Don’t forget to send a snack lunch without peanuts with your child!
Friday 11/2: There will be a special Halloween spelling test! Join the teachers in wearing red (Caring) for Character Counts Day.

* November/December Spirit Days

Nov. 2 - Character Counts Day – Caring means wear red!

Nov. 9 - School Spirit Day

Nov. 16 - Favorite Sports Team Wear

Dec. 7 - Character Counts Day

Dec. 14 - School Spirit Day

Dec. 21 - Holiday Wear

Contact Information:
Email address: mpellin@ccsd66.org
Voice mail: (630)783-5065

Miss Pellin's Post
October 22nd - October 26th

Last week the class began to study nutrition and health. This is an opportunity to have your children recognize the balanced meals you have been making. It is also a chance to see if they might begin to have healthier eating habits. The students have been doing extremely well on the spelling tests! Congratulations to all the spelling "bee" masters.

Friday, October 26th is “Slipper Day” at Prairieview. Please join the teachers and wear your favorite slippers to school! School picture retakes are Tuesday, Oct. 30th. Students must have original picture packets in hand to have a retake. If your child was absent on the first picture day, they will have to have their original order envelope with them at the time of retakes.

This Week at School:

Science: We are learning about exercise, germs, and drugs (good and bad). We will have a field trip to Robert Crown on Wednesday, Oct. 31st as part of this unit. Don’t forget to sign your child's permission slip. Students have a food pyramid booklet due Monday, October 22nd. Those students who have already turned their booklets in did a great job!

English: In the beginning of the week the class will finish working on their "Haunted House" paragraph. The excitement and energy which each student has applied to this project has been very special! As part of our English curriculum, we are studying types of nouns. We will focus on common nouns, proper nouns, singular nouns, plural nouns, and nouns in the subject of a sentence.

Social Studies: The class continues to work on hemispheres, the equator, the poles, etc. We will have a quiz on Monday, October 22rd. We are beginning a new Social Studies unit on communities. This is Chapter 1 in their Social Studies book. During this unit each student will "travel" to cities across the US and around the world.

Spelling: This week will review all the words and spelling rules that have been covered over the past seven weeks. There will not be a pretest. There will be a sample test on Wednesday, October 24th. Student should use this test as a study guide for the review test on Friday, October 25th.

Reading: Our current unit features non-fiction animal stories. This week students will continue to read animal stories and answer reading comprehension questions. Examples of the stories and their responses can be found in their reading folders beginning Monday, October 22nd. We are also presenting our monthly book reports. This month students need to make a poster advertising the book they read. This is due Friday, October 26th. Remember to keep up with your independent reading! Our next reading party will be November 9th.

Math: Miss Pellin’s math class continues to work on place value and rounding. This week we will start working with money. Your child should be able to determine the correct change for common store transactions. If you have not already sent coins with your child, remember to do so Monday, October 22nd. We will be counting change this week. Next week Miss Pellin's Store will be open for business. Only students making the correct change can make a purchase. Pretty soon you'll recognize that your child is "changing."

Things to Remember:

Monday 10/22: Permission slips for the Robert Crown field trip are needed. There will be a Social Studies quiz on hemispheres. Send coins for math.

Wednesday 10/24: There will be a sample spellling test.
Friday 10/26: There is a spelling review test. Your book report, Advertise a Book Poster, is due. There is a Character Counts assembly. Wear you slippers to school!

* Tuesday 10/30: School photo Retakes (bring packet)

* Wednesday 10/31: We will visit Robert Crown this day.

Contact Information:

Email address: mpellin@ccsd66.org

Voice mail: (630)783-5065

Miss Pellin's Post

October 15th - October 19th

Last week the class took a field trip to see the new playground equipment that the entire third grade helped to make a reality last year. It is always fun to visit your alma mater! The class finished our science chapter on the human body. This week the class had our first quiz on the oceans and continents; I was pleased with the excellent work turned in by the class. Thanks to those parents sending coins and candy for our Money Math Unit.

Friday, October 19th is crazy hat day at Prairieview. Please join the teachers and wear your favorite crazy hat! Friday, October 26th is slipper day.

Don’t forget that on Wednesday, October 17th we will have an early dismissal at 11:00 am. Also, Thursday evening, October 18th from 6:30-8:15 pm Prairieview will host a book fair. This will be a great time to find books for independent reading. Don’t forget those students reading at least 20 minutes a day for 28 days will be welcome to attend our reading party on Friday, November 9th.

This Week at School:

Science: We have begun a 3-4 week long health unit on nutrition. One state goal for third grade is for each student to be able to identify the eating practices which promote health and prevent illness. Students need to be able to recite the USDA Food Pyramid and to recognize the importance of eating a variety of foods. This week each student will be making a nutrition booklet that contains information about the grains, fruits/vegetables, meat and dairy food groups.

English: We are continuing to work on descriptive writing. Each student will be learning that writing has several steps. This process includes brainstorming, pre-writing, rough drafting, editing and then making a final document.

Social Studies: We have finished working on continents and oceans. This week study will turn to hemispheres, the Prime Meridian, the equator, and the poles. We will be making posters about the different hemispheres in the world.

Spelling: There will be a spelling “List 7” pretest on Monday. These words often are plural nouns ending in “lves.” The final test will be on Friday. The words are beginning to get more difficult!

Reading: We will begin a differentiated reading unit focusing on animals. Students will be working in groups reading stories, finishing workbooks, etc.. This unit focuses on reading comprehension.

Math: Miss Pellin’s math class will work on place value, rounding and working with money. Those students who can correctly use coins will find it is a “sweet” learning experience.

Things to Remember:

Monday 10/15: There will be a spelling “List 7” pretest. There will be a DOL quiz.
Wednesday 10/17: There will be an early dismissal at 11 am. There will be an Reading Quiz on prefixes, suffixes, and compound words before we leave.
Thursday 10/18: There will be a book fair at Prairieview from 6:30-8:15 pm.
Friday 10/19: There is a spelling “List 7” test. Spelling Workbook pages and challenge activities are due.

Contact Information:

Email address: mpellin@ccsd66.org

Voice mail: 783-5065

Miss Pellin's Post

October 8th - October 12th

Last week everyone enjoyed the Goo, Glob, and Guts presentations. We also had a special reading party for those students who completed 28 days of reading 20 minutes each day. It was a lot of fun!

This week will be a short week (Monday, October 8th is Columbus Day). Our class will take a field trip to visit the Elizabeth Ide new playground. Remember to return a signed permission slip for the Elizabeth Ide new playground field trip by Tuesday, October 9th. In Math, my class will finish working on rounding and will be working on currency. Look for a letter asking that your student bring in coins. The coins will be returned. As part of this project, the students will gain hands on experience using money in a class candy store.


Friday, October 12th is “Spirit Day” at Prairieview. Please wear your favorite Prairieview shirt or school colors! Each Friday in October will be a “Spirit Day.” October 19th wear a crazy hat. October 26th is slipper day.

It is now easier to get in contact with Prairieview staff and to find my blog! There is now a direct link to the staff directory link on our district homepage - http://www.ccsd66.org. You can also reach it directly at http://www.ccsd66.org/Directory.htm .

This Week at School:

Science: We will continue to review for the “Human Body” final test on Tuesday morning. Students need to be able to explain the function and key parts of each of the six major human body systems. Please use study guides and overviews to assist students in preparing for the unit test. The final test will be in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 11th next week. On Wednesday we will begin a health unit. We will be talking about ways to stay healthy. We will also learn more about graphing and students will make their own pictograph.

English: We are continuing to discuss descriptive writing unit. This week we will emphasize descriptive words including similes, color words, and sensory words. We will also discuss how to pick a topic.

Social Studies: Our map skills unit will continue with the study of the continents and oceans. We will have a graded review over the world's continents and oceans on Friday, October 14th. A study guide will be sent home on Tuesday.

Spelling: There will be a spelling “List 6” pretest on Tuesday. These words often are plural nouns ending in “es.” The final test will be on Friday. Please keep studying. Everyone continues to do an excellent job!

Reading: We are ending The Chalk Box Kid reading unit this week. We will work on summarizing the story and on character traits this week. We will also review the new vocabulary we learned from The Chalk Box Kid.

Math: Miss Pellin’s math class will work on rounding, exact numbers and estimated numbers, and handling and using currency. There will be a graded checkpoint review over the first half of Chapter 1 later this week. The checkpoint review will be open book. Towards the end of the week look for a letter describing the coins that your child should bring to school in a baggie. The money will be returned. The coins will allow the students to experience making change, buying and selling items. We will also work on “Mad Minutes” for subtraction. Students will be given two weeks to achieve 100% on their subtraction tests. The last “Mad Minute” test on subtraction will be given Monday, October 15th.

Things to Remember:

Monday 10/8: No School: Columbus Day
Tuesday 10/9: There will be a spelling “List 6” Pretest. Permission slips are due for the Elizabeth Ide field trip. There will be a science Chapter 1 unit test!
Wednesday 10/10: There is a class field trip to the Elizabeth Ide Playground!
Thursday 10/11: There will be a Social Studies quiz on the continents and oceans.
Friday 10/12: There is a spelling “List 6” test.

*Thursday 10/18: After school there will be a Book Fair!