Winter Break

As we wrap up the end of 2010 and enter into the new year, we should all take time to reflect upon our school work so far and set new goals for ourselves!

Have a safe and wonderful holiday and break with family and friends!

See you next year!

Final week of the year

As we enter into the final week of the year before break, we must remember to stay focused, as we have a busy week next week. Seventh graders have a music, social studies, science, and English test next week so start studying this weekend!

In reading, we will finish reading Sign of the Beaver and complete a culminating project in class. No work will be expected to be completed outside of the classroom. In language arts, we are going to focus on creative writing and work on this throughout the week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

December is here!

It is amazing how quickly the weather can change to from mild to freezing! I don't know if I am quite ready for this change but unfortunately there is not much we can do to stop it! :)

As we move futher into the second trimester, we are wrapping up several things in our LA/Rdg classes.

In reading, we will be finishing up Sign of the Beaver and beginning to work on our final project for the novel. In language arts, we will be finishing up the verb unit and taking a test on Friday.

We had another exciting week in RtI Reading, too, practicing our fluency with the Readers Theater play, The Mystery Spot. We had a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of our actors! :)

Thanksgiving Week!

Today, students had a surprise assembly, the Jessie White Tumblers, as a reward for all their hard work with PBIS this school year. Students have been respectful and earned 3.5 lbs of Spartan Stars so far! :) Our combined goal for the end of second trimester will be 10 lbs.! The Tumblers were fantastic and the students really enjoyed the event. Congratulations to the Lakeview students on all of their hard work!

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving break! See you all on Monday! :)

Second Trimester Begins!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful first week of the second trimester! As we all start anew with clean slates and perfect grades, lets all remember how important our education is and put forth our best effort and dedication!

In Language Arts next week, we will be taking our Sentence test on Monday and completing a writing activity on Tuesday. In Reading we will be doing a culminating activity for Sign of the Beaver Chapters 11-15.

Have a great weekend!

Veteran's Day Week

This week, I hope that we all we spent time reflecting upon and thanking all of those Veterans who have served and protected our country. In RtI this week, we read the story, Scars and Stripes, that introduced us to two teenagers who lost their father's in the Vietnam War and their visit to the Vietnam Memorial. It was a very touching story and we had great class discussions!

Next week, in Language Arts, we are beginning our sentence unit. This will take us until Thanksgiving Break and we will have our unit test on Monday, November 22. In Reading we will continue to read Sign of the Beaver and explore how our characters are changing throughout the book.

Have a wonderful weekend!

November Updates

As the temperatures took a dive this week, we also dove further into our narratives in Language Arts this week. Next week we will be editing and typing our rough drafts. Our final narrative will be due Monday, November 15th.

In reading, we will continue to read the Sign of the Beaver and have a Chapter 1-10 quiz on Wednesday.

Don't forget to change your clocks back an hour on Saturday night! Have a great weekend!

Happy Halloween!

Another week has flown by and I know many of you are looking forward to this Halloween weekend!

In Language Arts next week, we are beginning to write our narrative. For Monday, please have your top three choices chosen for your narrative topic. In reading, we are continuing to read Sign of the Beaver and will have a short quiz over chapters 1-10 at the end of the week.

Reminder: No School-Tuesday, November 2nd!

Have a safe and happy Halloween weekend!

Parent Teacher Conferences

It was great to see all of the parents at Parent Teacher Conferences last night! The support team that the parents in our district provide is so beneficial in guiding our students to success.

Looking ahead to the next few weeks, we will begin writing our narrative in Language Arts and practice writing, editing, and revising our work. Our main goal will be brainstorming this week.

In reading, we will continue with the Sign of the Beaver. Our goal this week is to strengthen our vocabulary skills and ability to use context clues to determine the definitions of new words.

On a personal note, Dominic is already 3 1/2 months old (I can't believe how quickly time is going!) He is starting to sit up with support, which is very exciting! I attached a recent picture for those of you who have asked! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fall Fun

It is hard to believe that October is halfway over already!

In Language Arts next week we will finish up our Adjective Unit and take a test on Friday. In Reading, we have begun to read Sign of the Beaver and will be focusing on summarizing and main ideas throughout theses chapters. Finally, in RtI, we will be reading The Stranger and focusing on vocabulary strategies.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Reminders:
Early Dismissal-Wednesday, October 20th
Parent Teacher Conferences- Thursday, October 21st

Fall Update

Although I have only been back at Lakeview for a short week, I am already back in the school routine! I am very excited to see everyone again and am looking forward to a great year! Thank you to all of the staff and students for making my transition back to Lakeview a great one!

Looking ahead to next week, we will be continuing the Adjective unit in Language Arts. There will be a quiz on Friday. In Reading, we are beginning our first novel of the year, Sign of the Beaver! We will preview the book on Tuesday and begin reading on Thursday!

Additional Info:
8th grade Explore Test- Wednesday, October 13th

Have a great week!

Welcome Back!

School is back in session!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their summer and is returning to Lakeview ready for another year full of enriching classroom experiences! My summer was very busy, as many of you know, as my husband and I welcomed Dominic Anthony into our family on July 6th! He is a wonderful baby and is already growing so fast!

It was great to see many of you at Open House and I look forward to working with all of you when I return from my maternity leave on October 4th!

See you soon!

7 Days Left!

As we enter into the final week of school, we are filled with mixed emotions of excitement for summer and sadness over the end of another school year. With the last day just around the corner, we have many exciting days/events coming up.

In math, we are going to finish the year off by creating a math review book of all the various math concepts that we have learned this year. In RtI, we will be finishing our read-aloud book, After Ever After, and discuss how we can work on continuing to develop our reading skills over the summer.

7th Grade Important Dates:
- Wednesday, May 26th: Ride Janie Ride Pancake Breakfast
- Friday, May 28th: Field Day & Lip Sync Assembly & End of 3rd Trimester
- Tuesday, June 1st: Awards Assembly
- Wednesday: Last Day!

Countdown Begins!

It is officially that time of the school year when many of the students begin to count down the final number of days of school! It is both the most exciting and most busy time of the year!

In math, we are in the middle of our final chapter- Probability and Combinations. Students will have a quiz on Friday over this material. In RtI, we are finishing writing our children's books and we will share those with the class at the end of the week.

Exciting Events:
May 25th-May 27th: Pancake Breakfast for grades 6-8
May 28th: 8th grade fieldtrip & 6/7 Field Day
May 31st: No school
June 1st: Graduation
June 2nd: Last day of school!

RJR 2010

This past Sunday was the official Ride Janie Ride event. It turned out to not only be a beautiful day weather-wise, but a wonderful ride, as well! Over 800 riders drove the 65 mile long ride from Villa Park to Joliet. It was both amazing and overwhelming to watch the two-mile long stretch of motorcyles that lined the street. The RJR members and riders continued to be amazed by the generousity and kindness of the Lakeview students and staff. They even displayed our check on the stage! Here are a few of the pictures taken at the event.

RJR Weekend!

After two weeks of fundraising here at school for Ride Janie Ride, I am excited to say that we are finally at the weekend of the ride. On Sunday, rain or shine, the RJR participants will take off on their 65-mile journey. I know that this will be a very powerful weekend and my appreciation for this event is greatly strengthened knowing that I have the support of my colleagues and students here at Lakeview! I will post pictures from the event on my blog next week!

Looking ahead to next week, we will begin graphing both points and linear equations in math. In RtI, we will finally finish The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and complete a short project using the plot, characters, and events in the story.

Ride Janie Ride (continued :))

There are always those moments in teaching when your students do something that amazes you above and beyond what you thought possible. These moments are what make teaching the best profession in the world and you know that what you and your fellow teachers do make a difference.

The amount of support and donations that have come in within the past two weeks for the Ride Janie Ride fundraiser have been astounding. Students have, and continue to be, an inspiration in all that they have done to raise money. I cannot wait to see the final totals on Monday!

On an academic note, we will be working on long division with remainders all next week in math. There will be a quiz on Thursday. In RtI reading, we will be close to finishing, if not finish, reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ride Janie Ride

As you all know, Lakeview is raising money for the Ride Janie Ride Foundation over the next two weeks (until April 23rd). This fundraiser is very personal and special to me because my brother-in-law, Anthony, who has been battling Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma since last year, was chosen as one of this years recipients. Anthony has been through dozens of chemotherapy treatments and spent months in the hospital during this past year. It has definitely been a very emotional journey for our family. In February of this year, Anthony underwent a stem cell transplant at Northwestern and we are patiently awaiting the results. We should know within the next month, if the transplant was successful.


My family and I truly appreciate all of the support that we have received throughout this process. I am truly touched at all of the thoughts, prayers, and encouragement from all of the staff and students here at Lakeview.



If you would like any additional information on Kayla, Anthony, and Michael or the Ride Janie Ride Foundation, please check out their website- www.ridejanieride.org.



I also know many of you were wondering how to address checks to donate- You can make the checks out to the Ride Janie Ride Foundation.



I can't wait to see the final fundraising results!

April Showers :)

After a restful spring break, everyone is back in "school-mode" for the final stretch of this school year!

In math, we spent the week practicing 1x1 digit and 2x1 digit multiplication. Next week, we will begin to practice 2x2 and 3x2 digit problems!

In RtI, we will continue to read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and, as we become closer to the plot/climax of the story, will be analyzing cause/effect.

Have a wonderful weekend and great week!

Spring Break!

I hope that everyone had a great week! I can't believe that it will be April before we return from Spring Break!

When we return, we will begin multiplication and long division in math. With today's use of calculators, many of us have forgotten how to do these operations with paper and pencil. :) In RtI Reading, we will continue to read our novel, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, in our literature circles.

Have a safe and relaxing Spring Break!

March 19th

It was another great week here at Lakeview! With Snowflake this weekend and sports tryouts next week, we have much to look forward to next week, as well.

In Math, we will be learning how to turn fractions into decimals, decimals into percents, and fractions into percents. We will have a short quiz on Thursday over this material.

In RtI, we will continue to read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, create a character map, and work in our literature circles.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Conference Week!

It was great to see so many parents at Conference Night on Thursday! As we enter into the third trimester it is great to see the wonderful parent support and parent/teacher collaboration!

This week in math, we are continuing to work on fractions. We will begin the week with multiplying and dividing fractions and finish with mixed numbers.

In RtI, we are continuing to read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and we will switch our literature circle roles at the end of the week.

Have a good week!

ISAT Week

We have finally come to the end of ISATS and I want to congratulate all of our students who worked so hard this week during testing!

Looking forward to next week, we will begin a new novel in RtI Reading, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. We will be working in literature circles, rotating roles each week. Our main focus will be on summarizing and monitoring our own comprehension while reading. In math, we will continue to work with adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions!

Have a wonderful weekend!

ISAT Week!

ISAT week is finally here and we have been working all year to prepare! Testing next week will take place during the first three periods of each day. Be sure to bring in your calculator and a silent reading book.

Next week in math we will be continuing to practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. In RtI Reading, we will be reading a Reader's Theater play and applying our reading comprehension strategies.

Enjoy your three day weekend!

ISAT Prep

We are just one short week away from ISATs! This week we will be devoting time in each of our classes to review all that we have learned so far this year in an effort to prepare. In both math and RtI Reading, we will practice writing both short answer and extended responses, as well.

Have a wonderful week!

Happy Valentines Day!

I want to wish everyone and their families a happy Valentine's Day weekend!

Looking ahead to next week, we will be finishing up our graphing unit in math and then we will be moving on to mean, median, and mode. With ISATs only a few short weeks away, we will begin to review many of the major concepts that we have practiced this year.

In RtI Reading, we will also be reinforcing many of the reading strategies and practices that we have worked on this year. Using the text, The Lotus Seed, we will apply previewing, determining the author's purpose, point of view, and chronological order. In RtI, we will end the week with a picture writing prompt.

Have a safe and relaxing weekend!

Spirit Week 2010

We had a very exciting week here at Lakeview! The week started off with ugly shirt day, Pack the Place followed on Wednesday and Thursday, and ended today with the Hats for Haiti! This was a great opportunity to help out those in need! Thank you to everyone who donated!

Looking into next week we will be finishing up angles in shapes in math and in RtI we will be preparing for our second verb test and looking further into Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie!

Have a wonderful weekend!

February is here!

As we begin a new month, it is good to take a look ahead! Pack the Place is Wednesday and Thursday of next week! Be sure to wear your spirit wear here at school and stay to cheer on our teams!

Academically, we will be continuing to practice our reading strategies in RtI using what we are reading in Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie.

In math we will continue to explore angles and their relationship to each other.

Have a great week!

January 25th

Well it is already the final week in January! Despite the gloomy weather, the time is flying by so quickly!

This week in math, we are beginning to learn about the various types of angles and how to solve for supplementary, complementary, and vertical angles. We will be having a short quiz on Friday over this material.

In RtI, we are focusing on the "Making Connections" reading strategy in relation to the novel we are reading, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. Each day we will be focusing on a different type of connection, in addition to, getting ready for our verb test on Thursday.

Have a great week!

Martin Luther King Jr. Week

With IOWAs behind us, we are ready for another week!

In math we are reviewing all five of the area, perimeter, and circumference formulas that we have learned. We will be applying them in real life situations and finishing the week with an Equations BINGO on Friday!

In RtI we will continue to read and discuss poetry, fact and opinion, and our new novel, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie.

Have a great week!

Welcome to Winter!

It has definitely been a busy week....snow and all!

In math, we are continuing to work with area and perimeter and will be learning the formula for circumference. In RtI Reading, we will learn about drawing conclusions and making inferences; as well as, read the Readers Theater play, "The Plot Against Robin Hood."

Next week, students will be taking the IOWA test Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. Be sure to get a good nights sleep and eat a healthy breakfast!