Happy Holidays!

For My Student At Christmas

Christmas vacation is great;

Your time is yours to spend;

You can be with friends or watch TV;

You wish it would never end.

You don't miss school or homework;

You really like to be free;

But I'll miss you when I'm gone from school;

You're just what a student should be.

So have a perfect HOLIDAY;

Be sure to have lots of fun;

I look forward to seeing you again,

When Christmas vacation is done.

Modified original by Joanna Fuchs

Enjoy,

Tracy Spakausky

Dear Students and Parents:

         I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry
Christmas.  All the kind warm holiday wishes and thoughtful
gifts were more than sweet!

 Have a restful, fun-filled winter break and enjoy your
time with your loved ones!

Create new memories and celebrate old traditions.

Thank you again for your kindness

and have a magical New Year!!! 

                                        Welcome 2013!

Love,

    Mrs. Spakausky

http://www.ccsd66.org/
Check out some pictures from today's events on our website!

Some pics from this week so far!

 Pictures from the week so far!!!

Trade Fair on Monday

Some book presentations!

Bowling today!

A Fido Collection Thank You!

December 17-21

Too Good For Drugs (T.G.F.D.)



Next week:

What is coming up?

Mon., 12/17-Social Studies-TRADE FAIR---Have students bring their homemade items to trade. 

Mon., 12/17-2nd Qrt. Book Project comic or commercial is due today!

Tues., 12/18-2nd Qrt. Book Project Presentations!

Tues., 12/18-Band Concert at 8:30 for the students

Wed., 12/19-Bowling field trip in the A.M.-STUDENTS MUST BRING A SACK LUNCH THIS DAY!!!

                                Students need to know their shoe size.
                                Money for snacks is allowed and a special is being offered: 
                                (2 slices of cheese pizza with a 16oz. drink = $3.23)
                                STUDENTS NEED TO BRING THEIR LUNCH....ordering lunch from our lunch
                                program will not be available.

Fri., 12/21-Tivoli Theater-movie field trip---Polar Express

Mon., 12/24/2012---Start break-Happy Holidays!  Enjoy your break!!!

Good Basket donations----_________________________for donating this week. 
(items or monetary donations excepted)

HOLIDAY SERVICE PROJECT!!!!!!

It's gone to the dogs..(and cats too)!

Incentive=Donate and Don't do Spelling next week!!!
Donations are due by MONDAY, Dec. 17th. (for my class)

  

During the HOLIDAYS we are asking if you can help by donating any of the goods on the list that was sent home. The list had suggested items that are needed for the cats and dogs in need!

Enjoy the video, if you would like to see how this service project has impacted these animals in need!  Thanks!   Just click the link to download. Remember, you have to register first.

https://vimeo.com/54203875

Coming up this week:

This week the fifth grade "Too Good For Drugs" program will begin. Deputy Seward from the DuPage County Sheriff's Department will be coming to our class on Thursdays to discuss various topics of drug prevention. A letter explaining more about the program will be sent home after our first session.

Spelling: Lesson 14
Monday-Pretest
Thursday-Homework due  (unless you donated to FIDO) :))
Friday- Test

English: Chapter 5-Writing (6 traits) 
We will be studying:
Writing

Reading: Novels---Character Traits, Summarizing, Drawing Conclusions
We will be starting novels, after reviewing the above skills.  Some students will be startingThe Kid in the Red Jacket and some will be reading Touching Spirit Bear.  You will see some "X"s in the "gradebook" computer and that will just mean that your child's grade isn't in the book category.  Each book group will get their own grades.

Social Studies: Chapter 6-"Life in the English Colonies"
Lesson 1-1700's-West Africa-The slave trade continues to grow.
Lesson 2-1723-Philadelphia-Ben Franklin moves to Philadelphia and works as a printer
Lesson 3-1735-New York-The trial of John Peter Zengler wins the first victory for freedom of the press.
Lesson 4-1739-South Carolina-Enslaved people clash with slave owners in the Stono Rebellion.

TRADE FAIR---Have students bring their homemade items to trade on Monday, December 17th!  This is a graded activity!

The chapter 6 Test will be Thursday, December 20th!

Science: Chapter 6-"Ecosystems and Change"
We will learn:
Lesson 1-How Do Organisms Compete and Survive in an Ecosystem?
Lesson 2:How Do Ecosystems Change Over Time?
Lesson 3:How Do People Affect Ecosystems?

The chapter 6 test will be on Friday, December 14th!

Mrs. Spakausky's Math Class: Chapter 24-Area and Volume

We will :

*Area of a rectangle and square
*Area of irregular shapes
*Area of triangles
*Area of parallelograms
*Finding volume

The chapter 24 test will be on Tues., December 18th!



December 10-14

A sample of a comic done for the  book project!

What is coming up?

Mon., 12/17-Social Studies-TRADE FAIR---Have students bring their homemade items to trade. 

Mon., 12/17-2nd Qrt. Book Project comic or commercial is due today!

Tues., 12/18-2nd Qrt. Book Project Presentations!

Tues., 12/18-Band Concert at 8:30 for the students

Wed., 12/19-Bowling field trip in the A.M.-STUDENTS MUST BRING A SACK LUNCH THIS DAY!!!

Fri., 12/21-Tivoli Theater-movie field trip---Polar Express

Start break-Happy Holidays!  Enjoy your break!!!

Good Basket donations----Thanks to Mrs. Spakausky :) for donating this week. 
(items or monetary donations excepted)

HOLIDAY SERVICE PROJECT!!!!!!

It's gone to the dogs..(and cats too)!

  

During the HOLIDAYS we are asking if you can help by donating any of the goods on the list that was sent home. The list had suggested items that are needed for the cats and dogs in need!

Enjoy the video, if you would like to see how this service project has impacted these animals in need!  Thanks!   Just click the link to download. Remember, you have to register first.

https://vimeo.com/54203875

Coming up this week:

This week the fifth grade "Too Good For Drugs" program will begin. Deputy Seward from the DuPage County Sheriff's Department will be coming to our class on Thursdays to discuss various topics of drug prevention. A letter explaining more about the program will be sent home after our first session.

Spelling: Lesson 13
Monday-Pretest
Thursday-Homework due
Friday- Test

English: Chapter 5-Writing (6 traits) 
We will be studying:
Writing

Reading: Novels---Character Traits, Summarizing, Drawing Conclusions
We will be starting novels, after reviewing the above skills.  Some students will be startingThe Kid in the Red Jacket and some will be reading Touching Spirit Bear.  You will see some "X"s in the "gradebook" computer and that will just mean that your child's grade isn't in the book category.  Each book group will get their own grades.

Social Studies: Chapter 6-"Life in the English Colonies"
Lesson 1-1700's-West Africa-The slave trade continues to grow.
Lesson 2-1723-Philadelphia-Ben Franklin moves to Philadelphia and works as a printer
Lesson 3-1735-New York-The trial of John Peter Zengler wins the first victory for freedom of the press.
Lesson 4-1739-South Carolina-Enslaved people clash with slave owners in the Stono Rebellion.

TRADE FAIR---Have students bring their homemade items to trade on Monday, December 17th!  This is a graded activity!

The chapter 6 Test will be Thursday, December 20th!

Science: Chapter 6-"Ecosystems and Change"
We will learn:
Lesson 1-How Do Organisms Compete and Survive in an Ecosystem?
Lesson 2:How Do Ecosystems Change Over Time?
Lesson 3:How Do People Affect Ecosystems?

The chapter 6 test will be on Friday, December 14th!

Mrs. Spakausky's Math Class: Chapter 24-Area and Volume

We will :

*Area of a rectangle and square
*Area of irregular shapes
*Area of triangles
*Area of parallelograms
*Finding volume

The chapter 24 test will be on Thursday, December 20th!



December 3-7

Girls at the Robert Crown Field Trip!

Ask your child about our visitor, "Greenie" today!
What lesson did your child learn from this activity???

What is coming up?

Mon., 12/17-2nd Qrt. Book Project comic or commercial is due today!
Tues., 12/18-2nd Qrt. Book Project Presentations!

Wed., 12/19-Bowling field trip in the A.M.

Fri., 12/21-Tivoli Theater-movie field trip---Polar Express

Good Basket donations----Thanks to ____________ for donating this week. (items or monetary donations excepted)

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 12
Monday-Pretest
Thursday-Homework due
Friday- Test

English: Chapter 5-Writing (6 traits) 
We will be studying:
Writing

Reading: Novels---Character Traits, Summarizing, Drawing Conclusions
We will be starting novels, after reviewing the above skills.  Some students will be startingThe Kid in the Red Jacket and some will be reading Touching Spirit Bear.  You will see some "X"s in the "gradebook" computer and that will just mean that your child's grade isn't in the book category.  Each book group will get their own grades.

Social Studies: Chapter 5-"The Struggle to Found Colonies"

We will learn about :

Lesson 1-"Hard Times in Virginia"-Jamestown and how colonies survived

Lesson 2-"New European Colonies"-Searching for the Northwest Passage

Lesson 3-"The First Colonies"-New England Colonies

Lesson 4-"The 13 Colonies"-William Penn and Roger Williams

Chapter 5 Test on Tuesday, December 4th!

Science: Chapter 6-"Ecosystems and Change"
We will learn:
Lesson 1-How Do Organisms Compete and Survive in an Ecosystem?
Lesson 2:How Do Ecosystems Change Over Time?
Lesson 3:How Do People Affect Ecosystems?

Mrs. Spakausky's Math Class: Chapter 23-Perimeter and Circumference

We will :

This is a short chapter. We covered it this week.  We talked about perimeter this week and next week we will cover circumference. 

The chapter 23 test will be on Tuesday, December 4th!



November 19-23

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving Feasting
When the Halloween pumpkins are gone,
And the leaves have all fallen to ground, When the air has turned windy and cold, Then Thanksgiving will soon be around.
Thoughts of loved ones all feasting together,
Pleasant pictures from past times appear To dwell in each heart and each mind-- Then Thanksgiving is finally here, The kitchen has scrumptious aromas, The dining room looks oh, so fine, Decorations with pilgrims and turkeys, And now we are ready to dine! First the napkins are placed on our laps; Now the prayer for the meal to be blessed,
Then we stuff the good food in our tummies,
And we hope for it all to digest!

Enjoy our turkey in disguise art work and some owl

pellet dissection!

Tues., 11/20-Robert Crown Field Trip-9:00-11:00.  Bring a SACK LUNCH for today!
Wed., Thurs., Fri., 11/21-11/23-Thanksgiving Break! No School, Gobble, Gobble!
Mon., 11/26-2nd Qrt. Book Project book should be finished by today!
Wed., 11/28-"Rockin' Science" Assembly 9:00
Fri., 11/30-One Page TYPED summary of your book is due!
Mon., 12/17-2nd Qrt. Book Project comic or commercial is due today!
Tues., 12/18-2nd Qrt. Book Project Presentations!

Good Basket donations----Thanks to ____________ for donating this week. (items or monetary donations excepted)

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 11 the week after Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 26th-Pretest
Thursday, November 29-Homework due
Friday, November 30-Lesson 11 Test

English: Chapter 5-Writing (6 traits) and Nouns
We will be studying:
Writing next week and then onto nouns!

Reading: Novels---Character Traits, Summarizing, Drawing Conclusions
We will be starting novels, after reviewing the above skills.  Some students will be startingThe Kid in the Red Jacket and some will be reading Touching Spirit Bear.  You will see some "X"s in the "gradebook" computer and that will just mean that your child's grade isn't in the book category.  Each book group will get their own grades.

Social Studies: Chapter 5-"The Struggle to Found Colonies"

We will learn about :

Lesson 1-"Hard Times in Virginia"-Jamestown and how colonies survived

Lesson 2-"New European Colonies"-Searching for the Northwest Passage

Lesson 3-"The First Colonies"-New England Colonies

Lesson 4-"The 13 Colonies"-William Penn and Roger Williams

Science: Chapter 6-"Ecosystems and Change"
We will learn:
Lesson 1-How Do Organisms Compete and Survive in an Ecosystem?
Lesson 2:How Do Ecosystems Change Over Time?
Lesson 3:How Do People Affect Ecosystems?

Mrs. Spakausky's Math Class: Unit on Data

We will :

Learn about mean, median, mode and range.

Test will be on Tuesday, November 20th!



November 12-16

Mon., 11/12-Happy Veteran's Day-No School!
Tues., 11/20-Robert Crown Field Trip-9:00-11:00
Wed., Thurs., Fri., 11/21-11/23-Thanksgiving Break! No School, Gobble, Gobble!
Mon., 11/26-2nd Qrt. Book Project book should be finished by today!
Wed., 11/28-"Rockin' Science" Assembly 9:00
Fri., 11/30-One Page TYPED summary of your book is due!
Mon., 12/17-2nd Qrt. Book Project comic or commercial is due today!
Tues., 12/18-2nd Qrt. Book Project Presentations!

Good Basket donations----Thanks to ____________ for donating this week. (items or monetary donations excepted)

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 10

Tuesday-Pretest and work assigned
Thursday-Homework due
Friday-Test

English: Chapter 5-"Capitalization and Punctuation"
We will be studying:
*Correct Sentences
*Proper Nouns and Adjectives
*Commas in a Series
*Interjections
*Quotations
*Abbreviations
*Titles

Unit 5 Test is rescheduled for Friday, November 16th!

Reading: Novels---Character Traits, Summarizing, Drawing Conclusions
We will be starting novels, after reviewing the above skills.  Some students will be starting The Kid in the Red Jacket and some will be reading Touching Spirit Bear.  You will see some "X"s in the "gradebook" computer and that will just mean that your child's grade isn't in the book category.  Each book group will get their own grades.

Social Studies: Chapter 5-"The Struggle to Found Colonies"

We will learn about :

Lesson 1-"Hard Times in Virginia"-Jamestown and how colonies survived

Lesson 2-"New European Colonies"-Searching for the Northwest Passage

Lesson 3-"The First Colonies"-New England Colonies

Lesson 4-"The 13 Colonies"-William Penn and Roger Williams

Science: Owls
Ask your child how the owl pellet dissection went today!!! (Friday)

Mrs. Spakausky's Math Class: Chapter 6-Decimals

We will :

Lesson 1-Round Decimals

Lesson 2:  Add and Subtract Decimals

Lesson 3:  Estimate Sums and Differences

Lesson 4:  Choose a Method

Lesson 5:  Estimate or Find the Exact Answer

Test will be on Tuesday, November 13th!

Nov. 5-9

Thanks to all the parents who helped in anyway for the Halloween Party!

Enjoy the pics!

Give us YOUR recycled paper---

Did you know that you can help our district earn money by recycling paper here at school?  You can bring in any paper (no cardboard please) to the green and yellow bin marked Paper Retriever located in Lakeview's parking lot to be recycled.  The more paper we collect, the more money we can earn.  The provider of the bin uses the paper to make newsprint, which is then sold to other companies.  That is how we are paid to recycle paper.  Than you for your help (and for helping the environment at the same time!)

The Late Policy for 2nd Quarter =

1 day late - minus 15 %

                                                More than 1 day late until unit test is taken - minus 25%
                                                After unit test is taken - a zero in the grade book


Mon., 11/5-Parent/Teacher Conferences-No School!
Tues., 11/6-Teacher's Work Day-No School!
Fri., 11/9-2nd Qrt. Book Project, front sheet due!
Mon., 11/12-Happy Veteran's Day-No School!
Tues., 11/20-Robert Crown Field Trip-9:00-11:00
Wed., Thurs., Fri., 11/21-11/23-Thanksgiving Break! No School, Gobble, Gobble!
Mon., 11/26-2nd Qrt. Book Project book should be finished by today!
Wed., 11/28-"Rockin' Science" Assembly 9:00
Fri., 11/30-One Page TYPED summary of your book is due!
Mon., 12/17-2nd Qrt. Book Project comic or commercial is due today!
Tues., 12/18-2nd Qrt. Book Project Presentations!

Good Basket donations----Thanks to ____________ for donating this week. (items or monetary donations excepted)

Coming up this week:

Spelling:

No Spelling next week!

English: Chapter 5-"Capitalization and Punctuation"
We will be studying:
*Correct Sentences
*Proper Nouns and Adjectives
*Commas in a Series
*Interjections
*Quotations
*Abbreviations
*Titles

Unit 5 Test is rescheduled for Wednesday, November 14th!

Reading: Drawing Conclusions
We will finish drawing conclusions next week.

We will also do some mini-lessons on analogies.

Social Studies: Chapter 5-"The Struggle to Found Colonies"

We will learn about :

Lesson 1-"Hard Times in Virginia"-Jamestown and how colonies survived

Lesson 2-"New European Colonies"-Searching for the Northwest Passage

Lesson 3-"The First Colonies"-New England Colonies

Lesson 4-"The 13 Colonies"-William Penn and Roger Williams

Science: Owls
What are barn owls?  What are owl pellets?  We have started a mini-unit on owls and owl pellets.  We will dissect owl pellets next week.  What fun!!!

Mrs. Spakausky's Math Class: Chapter 6-Decimals

We will :

Lesson 1-Round Decimals

Lesson 2:  Add and Subtract Decimals

Lesson 3:  Estimate Sums and Differences

Lesson 4:  Choose a Method

Lesson 5:  Estimate or Find the Exact Answer

Test will most likely be on Tuesday, November 13th!