Week of December 12-16

Can you believe we have one week left until winter break!!!!!

We have a really crazy, fun-filled week coming up. Wednesday will be the third graders’ first trip to Brunswick Bowl.  If your child would like to buy snacks, that is a-ok with me.  Consult the snack prices on the pink permission slip for ideas on how much to send with your child.  Also, chances are they won't be very hungry upon arrival back to school.  Therefore, it's probably a good idea to send a light lunch from home that day.  

On Tuesday, we will be visiting the Drury Lane Theater in Oak Brook to see A Christmas Carol.

Coming up next week:

Spelling:  Completed menu/homework will be due on or before December 16.  Please make sure your child does one activity from each column.  A test on your child’s list will be also be on 12/16.

Reading & Language Arts:  We have started our literature cirlces and will continue that next week.

Please keep reading and filling out the December reading log.  It will be due on or before January 4.

Social Studies:  We finished our Downers Grove/Communities unit.  We’ll go on a brief hiatus while we switch gears to science.  

Science:     We’ll be starting a unit on Matter when we return from Winter break.

Mrs. Mandru's Math Class:  We have started unit 4 on mearuement and time.

Important Dates:  

12/13- Going to Drury Lane to see "A Christmas Carol"

12/14- 3rd grade bowling trip to Brunswick Zone

12/16- Last day before break

Week of December 5-9

We had a great time on our DG field Trip! Thank you to Dylan's Mom, Mick's Mom, and Natalie's Mom for chaperoning the field trip!!

Coming up next week:

Spelling:   New spelling lists will be coming home on Monday.  Completed menu/homework will be due on or before December 16.  Please make sure your child does one activity from each column.  A test on your child’s list will be also be on 12/16.

Reading & Language Arts:  We will be close reading the poem "T'was the Night Before Christmas". We will be discussing poems and culture. We have also started literature circles. Students are in groups reading a book together and completing a job for the chapter.

Please keep reading and filling out the December reading log.  It will be due on or before January 4.

Social Studies:  We have finished our Downers Grove history unit.  It was wonderful to go see all the things on our field trip! We have started learning about Modern Day Downers Grove. A quiz on this will be Thursday, December 15.

Science:   We are on hiatus while we learn about Downers Grove.

Mrs. Mandru's Math Class:  We will start unit 4 next week. This will be all about measurement and fractions.

Important Dates:  

12/7- Early dismissal

12/13- Going to Drury Lane to see "A Christmas Carol"

12/14- 3rd grade bowling trip to Brunswick Zone

Week of November 14-22

Friday was Veterans’ Day and we had a wonderful assembly honoring our own veterans (those who have a connection to our Panthers.)  We thank those of you who have served our country and it was an amazing assembly!

We have one more week to go in Trimester 1.  Please make sure you keep an eye on your child’s grades.  

Coming up next week:

Spelling:   New spelling lists will be coming home on Monday.  Completed menu/homework will be due on or before December 2. We are giving an additional week because of the short week with Thanksgiving break.  Please make sure your child does one activity from each column.  A test on your child’s list will be also be on 12/2.

Reading & Language Arts:  There is a fun activity coming home.  Students are asked to “disguise” a turkey using any materials they can find.  The turkey and the letter describing this activity went home Friday.  They are due on or before Wednesday.  We will then start a writing assignment to go along with the disguised turkey.  We’ll also be writing a turkey cinquain.  

Please keep reading and filling out the November reading log.  It will be due on or before November 30th.

Social Studies:  We will finish our Downers Grove history unit this week.  A study guide will be going home Tuesday and a quiz on the history of DG will take place on Tuesday, November 22.  We’ll then start reading about modern day Downers Grove.   Our DG field trip will be on November 29. If you are interested in volunteering please sign your name at the bottom of the permission slip. I can only take two this time, but we will have additional opportunities for field trip volunteers after winter break.

Science:   We are on hiatus while we learn about Downers Grove.

Mrs. Mandru's Math Class:  This week we’ll continue Unit 3 on multi-digit addition and subtraction.  We have been learning different methods to find an answer.  On Tuesday, students will be completing a short “work sample” and on Thursday, there will be a short checkpoint quiz.  

Important Dates:  

11/23 - 11/25 - Thanksgiving break

11/29 - DG field trip for Mandru/Pellin

Have a great weekend!!

Week of November 7-11

Can you believe it is November already and only 3 weeks until Thanksgiving! Thank you to those of you who had conferences. We had great converstaions and I enjoyed talking with you about your child! Don't forget no school Monday or Tuesday!

Coming up next week:

Spelling:    Completed menu/homework will be due on or before 11/11.  Please make sure your child does one activity from each column.  

Reading & Language Arts:  We will be targeting some new skills this week. We will be working on Cause and effect. We will also be celebrating Veteran's Day on Friday with some related activities.

Please keep reading and filling out the November reading log.  It will be due on 11/30

Social Studies:  We will continue our Downers Grove unit this week.  We’ll be learning about the Native American Indians. A Downers Grove permission slip will be going home on Thursday 11/10. Please watch for that!

Science:   We will be on hiatus until further notice.  

Mrs. Mandru's Math Class:  We are deep into our new unit. So far students have learned to round to the tens and hundreds. We will continue to learn new ways to add and subtract multi-digit numbers. There will be a graded checkpoint on Thursday 11/10 covering rounding and mutli-digit addition.

Important Dates:  

11/7 - Day off (conferences)

11/8 - Day off (Teacher’s Institute)

11/23 - 11/25 - Thanksgiving break

11/29- Downers Grove field trip

Week of October 31-November 4

Halloween is Monday and that means our annual party and parade will be taking place!!  Please make sure your child brings his/her costume to school in a bag on Halloween.  No weapons please!  Costumes should be easy to get on and off.  Students will be changing in the classroom (we separate the boys and the girls.) If you have any questions, send me an email.

Conferences for home room students’ parents will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Most parents have already signed up.  I look forward to sitting down with you all and having a great conversation about your awesome child!

Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!!   

Coming up next week:

Spelling:   A new spelling/sort list will be going home on Monday.  Completed menu/homework will be due on or before 11/11.  Please make sure your child does one activity from each column.  

Reading & Language Arts:  We’ll be continuing our first “argumentative” piece this week: “Please Buy my Haunted House!” I will give the students a few extra days to get that typed, so it will be due on Thursday, November 3.

Please keep reading and filling out the October reading log.  It will be due on Monday. .  The new November log will be going home on Tuesday.

Social Studies:  We will continue our Downers Grove unit this week.  We’ll be learning about Israel Blodgett, who had strong opinions against slavery.  His family home will be visited on our DG field trip in late November. 

Science:   We will be on hiatus until further notice.  

Mrs. Mandru's Math Class:  I’ll be returning the Unit 2 tests on Monday and students will be taking a pre-test for Unit 3 on that day as well!   We’ll then plunge into Unit 3 which covers multi-digit addition & subtraction.  This week’s focus will be on rounding to the nearest 10 and nearest 100.

Important Dates:  

10/31 - Halloween party and parade

11/7 - Day off (conferences)

11/8 - Day off (Teacher’s Institute)

11/23 - 11/25 - Thanksgiving break

Week of October 24-28

Happy Fall everyone!   I just want to remind you all to check your child’s assignment notebook (planner) every night and sign it.


A note about Halloween: The Halloween party will take place first and start at 1:10. If you signed up to donate a treat, you can drop it off in the office at anytime that day. If you signed up to run a game, you can check in at the office a few minutes before 1:10.

The parade will take place at 2:10. Similar to IDE, anyone is welcome to wait outside and see the students walk through. 

Costumes: All costumes are allowed except for weapons or make up. Students can bring their costume to school in a bag and they will have time to change into them. 

Conferences for home room students’ parents will be held November 1 and 2. Most parents have already signed up.  I look forward to sitting down with you all and having a great conversation about your child!

Coming up next week:

Spelling:   Spelling homework (3 items on the menu, 1 from each column) will be due on or before 10/28. The test will also occur on that day.  

Reading & Language Arts:  We’ll be writing our first “argumentative” piece this week: “Please Buy my Haunted House!”  Not only will students write about it, they’ll also be able to recreate it!

Social Studies:  We’ll be starting our Downers Grove unit this week.  Pierce Downer and his family will be introduced and discussed. This is a very exciting chapter. Further into November we will be taking a field trip to see all the things we learned about!

Science:   We finished Chapter 9 and will be on hiatus until further notice.  

Mrs. Mandru's Math Class:  This week, we’ll finish up Unit 2 on methods of multiplication.  Our test will be on Friday, 10/28.  A pretest (study guide) will be coming home on Monday for your child to complete.  Feel free to look it over with him/her.  We’ll go over all the answers on Wednesday.

Week of October 17-21

Happy Friday everyone!   I just want to remind you all to check your child’s assignment notebook (planner) every night and sign it.

Congrats to our class for 2 things:
1. They earned a ice cream sundae bar and movie for filling the marble jar! That will be on Tuesday, 10-18

2. They earned a pizza party for having the highest percentage of kids sell magazines!! Way to go!

A note about Halloween: The Halloween party will take place first and start at 1:10. If you signed up to donate a treat, you can drop it off in the office at anytime that day. If you signed up to run a game, you can check in at the office a few minutes before 1:10. 

The parade will take place at 2:10. Similar to IDE, anyone is welcome to wait outside and see the students walk through. 

Costumes: All costumes are allowed except for weapons or make up. Students can bring their costume to school in a bag and they will have time to change into them. 

Mrs. Mandru's MATH: We will be having another check point this week, in class, to see how students are doing. The final test will be scheduled for the last week of October-November. 
Social Science: Study guides were handed out for the final test on Chapter 9-weather. It is scheduled for Thursday, October 20th. 

Reading/ELA:  We are diving deep into descriptive writing. We will be starting to write our haunted house persuasive stories towards the end of next week. 
We will also continue working with Myths.

Spelling: The spelling homework and 3 menu activities are due Friday, October 28.

Important Dates:  
10/26- Early Dismissal 
10/31-Halloween Party

Week of October 17-21

Happy Friday everyone!   I just want to remind you all to check your child’s assignment notebook (planner) every night and sign it.

A note about Halloween: The Halloween party will take place first and start at 1:10. If you signed up to donate a treat, you can drop it off in the office at anytime that day. If you signed up to run a game, you can check in at the office a few minutes before 1:10. 

The parade will take place at 2:10. Similar to IDE, anyone is welcome to wait outside and see the students walk through. 

Costumes: All costumes are allowed except for weapons or make up. Students can bring their costume to school in a bag and they will have time to change into them. 

Mrs. Mandru's MATH: We will be having another check point this week, in class, to see how students are doing. The final test will be scheduled for the last week of October-November. 
Social Science: Study guides were handed out for the final test on Chapter 9-weather. It is scheduled for Thursday, October 20th. 

Reading/ELA:  We are diving deep into descriptive writing. We will be starting to write our haunted house persuasive stories towards the end of next week. 
We will also continue working with Myths.

Spelling: The spelling homework and 3 menu activities are due Friday, October 28.

Important Dates:  
10/26- Early Dismissal 
10/31-Halloween Party

Week of October 11-14

Happy Friday everyone!   I just want to remind you all to check your child’s assignment notebook (planner) every night and sign it.


Mrs. Mandru's MATH: We are diving deep into Unit 2 of multiplication! There will be a graded checkpoint on Wednesday that will be done in class. This helps to see how each student is understanding multiplication thus far. 

Social Science: We have finished up with Social Studies for a few weeks and will transition to Science. We have finished out second lesson about weather, and will start on lesson 3. The chapter test is scheduled for Thursday, October 20th. 


Reading/ELA:  We are beginning our descriptive/persuasive writing unit next week. We will learn different ways to use description in a story. We will end the unit with a fun writing: "Why should someone buy your haunted house!" We will finish off by decorating a haunted house for Halloween. As for reading, we will begin Myths next week. We will start with reading King Midas.

Spelling: The spelling homework and 3 menu activities are due Friday, October 14.


PE: If you child would like to be part of the Prairieview PE Bulletin board, please take an "action" picture of your child showing some type of PHYSICAL ACTIVITY that they are involved in outside of school.  Please get these in as soon as possible.  I will accept pictures as they come in.  Any questions?  Please contact me at tcushing@ccsd66.org  Thanks!

Important Dates:  
10/10- Columbus Day, No school
10/26- Early Dismissal 
10/31-Halloween Party

Week of September 25-30

Happy Friday everyone!   I just want to remind you all to check your child’s assignment notebook (planner) every night and sign it.

Just a reminder that Monday is Johnny Appleseed day. Please send in a peeled/cored/sliced apple with your child and we will be making a delicious homemade applesauce in class!

Mrs. Mandru's MATH:  A study guide will be going home today for the Unit 1 Math test. The test will be Thursday, September 29. Please review the study guide with your child and any other math worksheets in their math folder. That will help prepare them for the test. 

Social Science: We have finished up with Social Studies for a few weeks and will transition to Science. 

Science: On Tuesday, we will be starting our first chapter: The water cycle. Throughout a week, we will read lesson 1 and do some vocabulary note cards. They should keep the note cards in their Science folder. Then we will do a review page either in class or for homework. After, we will have an in class checkpoint that will be graded. There is no need to study since they can use their notes/textbook for this. 

Reading/ELA: We will continue writer's workshop next week focusing on fairy tales. As for reading, we will also be focusing on fairy tales. We will be reading Cinderella and some other fractured versions.

Spelling: The new “sort” list went home last Monday. The  Homework (3 items on the menu, 1 from each column) will be due on or before 9/30.  A test will also occur on that day.

Important Dates:  

9/26- Johnny Appleseed's Birthday

9/27 - Early Dismissal

9/29-Scholastic Book orders are due

10/4-Picture Day

10/10- Columbus Day, No school