Miss Pellin's Post
February 2nd - February 6th

Monday, February 2nd is Ground Hog Day! In Science we have been studying the weather, but perhaps we haven't been paying as much attention to checking mammal shadows as we should. I'm hoping that winter will be short this year, but I'm not certain we will know after today.

The Fifth Week of 2009 at School:
Home Room
Science: We will continue our study of weather. Cloud types and different type of storms including hurricanes will be studied. We will also learn about the anemometer, which measures wind speed.

Social Studies: We will begin to study the country and history of Egypt. We will talk about the past versus the present Egypt and begin reading the book Eye on Egypt where this week students will learn about the Nile River and Egyptian after life.

Language Arts
Spelling: There will be a Spelling "List 19" test on Friday, February 6th.

Reading: We will begin the study of inferencing. At the end of the week we will begin a reading Ramona Quimby, Age 8 -- a story the models inferencing. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Thursday, February 5th on words from the story.

English: Expository writing will be the focus of our week. It will begin by writing an essay together. Then students will do a "how to" piece on the topic of their choice. One example would be the steps necessary to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Math: We will begin multiplication "x12." There will be a mad minute "x12" quiz on Friday, February 6th. We will also continue to study geometry, Chapter 14. There will be a Chapter 14 test on Wednesday, February 4th. Students should complete page 373 in the math textbook by Tuesday, February 3rd in preparation for the test.

Things to Remember:
Friday 1/30: There will be a Spelling test. There will be a "mad minute" quiz.
Monday 2/2: This is Ground Hog Day!
Tuesday 2/3: A math page is due.
Wednesday 2/4: There will be a math test.
Thursday 2/5: There will be a vocabulary quiz.
Friday 2/6: There will be a Spelling test. There will be a "mad minute" quiz.
Monday 2/16: This is President's Day. There is no school.

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

Miss Pellin's Post
January 26th - January 30th

Everyone enjoyed taking a few moments on Tuesday, January 20th to watch the inauguration. You might be interested in some capitalization rules. People commonly believe that "president" should be capitalized at all times. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, however, that's not correct. The title is only capitalized when it appears before the president's name. Thus either President Obama or the president are correct!

My home room class is using their newly acquired budget skills to work toward a class pizza party. The class built a projected budget based on earning monopoly money for excellent behavior. Our current budget projects that they will earn a pizza party in seven school days. We hope to learn how to avoid deficit spending!

The Fourth Week of 2009 at School:
Home Room
Science: We will continue to study weather. Students will learn about the water cycle. The key to the water cycle is understanding the three states of matter. One of the vocabulary words this past week was glacier. We talked about ways to save the glaciers and stop global warming. The students are eager to "go green."

Social Studies: There will be a test on Monday, January 26th. The test will cover economics (Chapter 9). Then we will focus on science for the rest of the week.

Language Arts
Spelling: There will be a Spelling test on winter words this Friday, January 30th.

Reading: We will begin reading a new story called Dancing Rainbows. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Thursday, January 29th.

English: There will be a unit test on adjectives and adverbs on Tuesday, January 27th. We will work on a study guide in class on Monday, January 26th. Once the unit test is completed we will begin an expository writing unit.

Math: We will begin multiplication "x9." There will be a mad minute "x9" quiz on Friday, January 30th. We will also begin the study of geometry, Chapter 14. Students will learn many new vocabulary words including isosceles, equilateral, and scalene triangles. They will also learn about different types angles, lines and plane figures.

Things to Remember:
Monday 1/26: There will be a Social Studies test.

Tuesday 1/27: There will be an English test.

Thursday 1/29: There will be a reading vocabulary quiz.
Friday 1/30: There will be a Spelling test. There will be a "mad minute" quiz.

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

Miss Pellin's Post
January 19th - January 23rd

We had an exciting Science day this past Tuesday. Mr. Troche entertained and taught us science as a representative from Nalco! Everyone learned a lot (but enjoyed the experience even more). Thanks to everyone who made the visit possible.

We are now done with Iowa testing. All my student's did a great job on the tests. They worked hard and concentrated all week! This Friday, January 16th my homeroom class will have a practice Spelling Bee! We will complete our real class Spelling Bee on Friday, January 23rd. Our two top class spellers will advance to a Spelling Bee against the other third grade winners in the week of January 26th. The list of the spelling words that will be used was passed out previously. Students can use this list if they would like to prepare for the contest.

Monday, January 19th is Martin Luther King Day. There will be no school. Please plan accordingly. Tuesday, January 20th is Inauguration Day. Please join the teachers in wearing red, white, and blue in honor of this special day.

The Third Week of 2009 at School:
Home Room
Science: We will continue to study weather. Students will learn how small the portion of land is on earth. They will learn about the different types of water on earth (fresh and salt). Also, we will study the water cycle.

Social Studies: There will be a test on Monday, January 26th. The test will cover economics (Chapter 9). This week we will finish Chapter 9 by talking about profit and studying the life of Madame C. J. Walker. A study guide will be passed out on Tuesday, January 20th.


Language Arts
Spelling: There will be a Spelling "List 16" test this Friday, January 23rd.

Reading: We will work in our Illinois Reading Book. These pages focus on the strategies of "summarizing" and "sequence of events."

English: Adverbs will be the focus of study this week. Look for a unit test on adjectives and adverbs on Tuesday, January 27th.


Math: We will begin multiplication "x11." There will be a mad minute "x11" quiz on Friday, January 23rd. Students will finish learning about metric weight and capacity. There will be a test on Chapters 20 and 21 on Friday, January 23rd. We will work on a study guide in class on Thursday, January 22nd.

Things to Remember:
Monday 1/19: There will be no school for Martin Luther King Day!
Tuesday 1/20: This is Inauguration Day, please wear red, white, and blue.
Friday 1/23: There will be a Spelling test. There will be a "mad minute" quiz. There will be a math test.
Monday 1/26: There will be a Social Studies test.

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

Miss Pellin's Post
January 12th - January 16th

Thank you for all the wonderful holiday gifts I received! I hope everyone had a great holiday break (with plenty of time for reading) and is looking forward to an exciting, busy New Year!

This week we will be taking the Iowa Basics Tests. These are standardized tests that will assess students in the subjects of reading, vocabulary, math problem solving, math computation, word usage and expression, math estimation, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Please make sure students get to bed early, eat a healthy breakfast in the morning, and bring a healthy snack to school each day this week.

Ms. Stainman needs parent volunteers to help tie roller skates during PE classes for third grade. She needs help the week of January 12-January 16. We have gym from 10:40-11:05 everyday, but you can help anytime. You can email her at tstainman@ccsd66.org . Thanks for your help!

The Second Week of 2009 at School:
Home Room
Science: We will begin the study of weather this week. We will review the different types of clouds and study wind.

Social Studies: We will continue to study Chapter 9. This unit covers basic economics including supply and demand, profit, opportunity cost, and consumer choices. Look for a study guide towards the end of the week. There will be a test sometime in the week of January 19th. This is difficult, but fun material.

Language Arts
Spelling: There will be a Spelling "List 16" test this Friday, January 16th.

Reading: Due to the Iowa tests we will only have Reading class twice. We will continue to study summarizing and event sequencing. We will also work on an extended paragraph in response to a question from the story The Lost and Found.

English: We will also only meet for English twice this week due to Iowa testing. Students will work on comparing adjectives.

Math: We will begin multiplication "x8." There will be a mad minute "x8" quiz on Friday, January 16th. There will be Iowa testing in Math. Also, students will learn about metric weight and capacity.

Things to Remember:
Monday 1/12: There will be Iowa testing.
Tuesday 1/13:There will be Iowa testing.
Wednesday 1/14: There will be Iowa testing.
Thursday 1/15: There will be Iowa testing.
Friday 1/16: There will be a Spelling test. There will be a "mad minute" quiz.
Monday 1/19: There will be no school for Martin Luther King Day!


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

Miss Pellin's Post
January 5th - January 9th

Have a great winter break! I look forward to seeing you back at school on Monday, January 5th.

The First Week of 2009 at School:

Home Room
Science: We will finish our study of lesson 3, the scientific method, in our introductory Science unit. There will not be a chapter test on this unit.

Social Studies: Culture Day will be Thursday, January 8th and Friday, January 9th. Everyone was assigned to a day. Each student should be prepared to share with the class something about his or her cultural heritage. You will find a packet on what to do in each students binder this week. We will begin the study of Chapter 9, "Choosing Wisely." The chapter focuses on spending money wisely on goods and services. It will also introduce the concepts of supply and demand.

Language Arts
Spelling: There will be a Spelling "List 15" test this Friday, January 9th.

Reading: We will study the strategy of "summarizing." We will read the story Lost and Found by Mark Teague. We will study the story's vocabulary. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Thursday, January 8th.

English: We will begin the study of adjectives and adverbs.

Math: We will begin multiplication "x7." There will be a mad minute "x7" quiz on Friday, January 9th. Please continue to use flash cards at home to help prepare your child for these multiplication quizzes. We will begin to study measurements in Chapters 20 and 21. The chapters will include lengths. weights, capacity, and temperatures in both the Metric and English systems. There will be one test on these two chapters.

Things to Remember:

Monday 12/22-Friday 1/2: Winter break
Monday 1/5: Classes will resume.

Wednesday 1/7: It will be the first Culture Day.

Thursday 1/8: It will be the second Culture Day. There will be a Reading vocabulary quiz.

Friday 1/9: There will be a Spelling test. There will be a "mad minute" quiz.

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