FOURTH GRADE GEOMETRY UNIT ENDS TODAY

Fourth Grade students have completed their geometry unit by taking a final assessment today. They will begin their Literature unit on Monday of next week.

Third Grade Wraps Up Algebra Unit

Third Grade PA students will be taking their Final Test on Friday, November 19th. The test will consist of 10 problems, some that look like this one.

2(-X + 2X) + 4(-X) + 2 = X = (-4)

They have worked hard during this unit and learned a great deal.

Good Luck to all of you!

CHESS TOURNAMENT

Chess Tournament

Saturday, December 11, 2010

On-line Registration


See this link: http://www.dgfrog.org/Chess_Register.html

SPOTLIGHT ON SCIENCE

Parents,

There is an upcoming opportunity for 4th graders at Cowlishaw...Spotlight on Science.

Spotlight on Science takes the young scientist on a journey where he/she explore the process of scientific enquiry in greater detail. It is a comprehensive unit that both teaches and reviews concepts, and prepares the young elementary students for middle school.

Subjects taught: Life Science, Environmental Science, Force and Motion, Magnets, Electricity, Chemistry, Earth Science, Astronomy

Dates: January 12, 19, 26 and February 3, 10, 17 (Wednesdays in 2011)

Location: Cowlishaw Elementary School (Students may stay after school and proceed straight to the program.)

Early registration is recommended, as spaces are limited.

Fee: $120 on or before December 2; $140 after December

For additional information, please email pathwayenrichment@gmail.com, or call 630.995-6494.

More information will be sent home via a flyer.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

I hope that I met with you over the past two weeks during Parent-Teacher conferences. My goal was to meet with parents of PA students who were new to the program this year. I know I missed a few conferences and I apologize to those parents that I did not have an opportunity to meet with. At times I was scheduled to meet with 4-5 parents at a time. If I did not meet with you and would like to meet, please contact me and we can schedule a conference time.
Thank you for the hard work that you do as parents! It truly shows in your child.

IPPA PTA MEETING

Dear IPPA PTA members:

IPPA PTA will hold a General Membership Meeting on Tuesday, 11/16/10,
at 9:30 am at the 95th Street Library, Naperville.

On the agenda:
PTA business items: approval of minutes, review of monthly financial
report, etc.
Representatives from the District 204 administration will be there to
discuss PA curriculum and answer questions.
Chess tournament results will be announced.

Children, who are reasonably quiet, are welcome.

When you have a chance, please check out our Google Documents. When
you go to the IPPA PTA Google Group, you will find Documents at the
top of the page. Select Documents to see postings.

Regards,
IPPA PTA Board

IPPA MEETING

IPPA PTA General Meeting

Tuesday, November 16th at 9:30 am

95th Street Library, Naperville, IL

Meeting Room A/B

Questions can be emailed to ippa.pta@gmail.com

Three-Dimensional Geometry

Fourth Grade PA students have been having fun and learning about Three-Dimensional objects through the investigation of the numbers of vertices, faces, and edges that various closed three-dimensional figures have. In one lesson they discovered that for any closed three-dimensional figure, the sum of the number of faces and vertices is two more than the number of edges (Euler's Formula). Building nets they are able to determine whether the net is a net for a closed three-dimensional figure or not. We will be completing our unit on geometry and beginning our literature unit after Thanksgiving Break.

Final Phase of "X"

"Don't listen to your parents"! These have been the words spoken often to your third grade PA student in my classroom this first quarter. That is, "Don't listen to your parents when it comes to them trying to help you in completing any algebra homework from my class". This "Hands-On Equation" system using blue and white pawns, ("x" and "*") and red and green face-value cubes, (positive and negative numbers) is a way to introduce the algebra concept to students. It often happens that if they are having homework problems, and a parent or an older sibling steps in to help, it only confuses the child more. Students are doing very well, and we should be wrapping up our unit at Thanksgiving Break.

Insects Living and Working Together

Second Grade PA students are researching the social interaction of certain insects. Using Bloom's Taxonomy, which is a cognitive taxonomy developed in the 1950's by a committee of educators and scholars headed by Benjamin Bloom. Students think creatively, analyzing, synthesizing, applying, and evaluating information (higher-order thinking skills) needed to achieve success. As the students complete their research, taking notes, they will in the end create a story based on their insects social behavior, as well as, produce a brochure explaining their findings. Students will be working on this project in the classroom up until Thanksgiving Break. Be sure to discuss this project with your child and see which insect they have chosen to complete their research on.