Friday, October 23rd, 2026

Happy Friday Families!

It's so hard to believe that October is almost in the rear view mirror and that November is just around the corner! Now that we're deep into the first grading period, I am excited to see how much more our students will grow throughout the year. There is so much to teach and so much to learn, but so little time!

Our students also enjoyed their final Fun Run at Ivy Hall.  It was so inspirational to see our students push themselves to their physical and mental limits!  

Literacy

Over the last few weeks, our students learned about the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. Our discussions focused on the rise and fall of each empire, as well as innovations and discoveries.  We also studied each empire's geography, climate, flora and fauna.  Throughout our studies, our students learned how to demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary, compared and contrasted the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations, paraphrased information from a text, created an explanatory writing piece using evidence from a text, and developed understanding of grammar, including action verbs, linking verbs, words that compare and contrast, run-on sentences, subjects, and predicates.

Math

Next week, our students will wrap up our second unit in Math, with the focus being on adding and subtracting fractions. We will also start Unit 3, which focuses on adding and subtracting decimals.  Over the course of the next few weeks, our students will turn their focus on rounding numbers, including decimals up to the thousandths place.  In a separate email, I'll send the Unit 3 Family Letter, which discusses the concepts covered in the unit.

Science

Over the last couple of weeks, we learned about consumers and the flow of energy through an ecosystem. We learned that consumers must eat animals in order to obtain their energy and to survive. Through various discussions, activities, and investigations, we also learned that food webs can be severely impacted by naturally occurring events, such as Red Tide.

Upcoming Events

Friday, October 30th - Classroom Halloween Parties

Tuesday, November 3rd - No School

Friday, November 13th - End of Trimester 1

Friendly Reminders

**Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Apple Pencil every night.

**If your child participates in orchestra or band, please remind him/her to bring their instrument on their lesson day.

**Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack - nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!

**Please continue to have your student practice their multiplication facts up to 12.

Monday, September 21st, 2016

Happy Monday Families!

Welcome to the first installment of our bi-monthly blog post!  The purpose of our classroom blog is to keep you informed and up-to-date about the learning that is taking place in the classroom, as well as making sure you are aware of important upcoming dates and and events.

There has been a lot going on in our classroom this past month and we are looking forward to what the school year still has in store for us. Here are the concepts we are currently/planning to work on:

Literacy

We will start to wrap up our first unit of Amplify CKLA next week - Personal Narratives. We’ve been working on skills such as close reading in order to infer, determining author’s tone, as well as continuing to practice showing, not telling, within our writing. Students worked this week on a surprise narrative, where they detailed a time they were surprised by something. They practiced using dialogue and sensory descriptions in their narratives. After next week, we'll move on to Unit 2: Early American Civilizations- the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas.

Math

Our students are wrapping up Unit 1, which focuses on evaluating numerical expressions with parentheses, using the correct order of operations.  We are also a month into our Number Corner lessons, which have been focused around clock and money fractions and finding the volume of rectangular prisms. Next week we will begin Unit 2, which will focus on addition and subtraction of fractions.  The introduction of clock and money fractions in Number Corner will help to provide a springboard for teaching our students to find common denominators before adding or subtracting fractions.

Social Studies

We are really enjoying our first Social Studies unit! Our discussions have focused on the perceptions of Indigenous American Cultures and learning how to formulate questions to help guide our students' learning on how to better honor the cultural heritage of this land. This week, we looked at what really happened at the First Thanksgiving Dinner!

Upcoming Events

*Thursday, October 8th- Early Release- Parent Educator Conferences

*Friday, October 9th- No School- Parent Educator Conferences

*Monday, October 12th- No School- District Holiday

Friendly Reminders

*Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Apple Pencil every night.

*Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack.

*Please continue to have your student practice multiplication facts up to 12.

*Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days of lessons.

Thank you for your partnership this school year and have a great week!

Enzie Pangilinan

Monday, May 11th, 2026

Happy May Families! 

We have officially entered our final month of school.  Where did the time go? We had a great time on our field trip this week and applied our learning from previous units to artifacts that can be found in Lake County!

Literacy

Students have been working on identifying the various strategies that authors use in order to develop a clear theme for their readers. After reading numerous texts, we have been working on comparing and contrasting how two authors can apply different literary strategies to their writing, but still develop the same theme. Students have engaged in many thoughtful discussions to enhance their learning and to hear a variety of perspectives. Our next step will be writing about our analysis.

Writing

In writing, we have been applying our exploration of themes in order to thoroughly develop our own narratives using various strategies. Students are considering character actions, word choice, and dialogue to ensure that their themes are clearly outlined for readers. They are composing very creative and intriguing stories!

Math

We continued working with division word problems and how to decide what to do with a remainder.  We also spent time practicing how to multiply and divide decimals by powers of ten. The students worked hard to understand and explain why we move the decimal point when multiplying and dividing by powers of ten. 

Social Studies

Our students are continuing learning about the Revolutionary War and the factors that contributed to both the Colonists and English successes during the war.  Over the next couple of weeks, our students will discuss the advantages and risks of compromise at the end of the war.  We will also discuss how, today, we can live up the ideals created back then.

Upcoming Events

• Tuesday, May 12th --Early Release
• Friday, May 15th - 5th Graders Visit Twin Groves

Friendly Reminders

• Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night

• Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack

• Please continue to have your student practice multiplication facts up to 12

• Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days of lessons

Tuesday, April 28th, 2026

Happy Tuesday Families,

Is spring finally here to stay? Let's hope so! We have had a busy few weeks wrapping up our units of study across all subjects and we have dug into our final learning cycle of the year! Keep reading to learn more about what's been happening in our classroom!

Literacy

Last week, we began reading the story Jess and Layla’s Astronomical Adventure. We read closely to understand the characters’ points of view and how their personalities and feelings impacted the choices they made. After reading, we will discover a common theme between the book and another short story called Mayday on the Moon. Then, we will discuss the various strategies the author used to develop a theme to compare and contrast their approaches. 

Writing

Last week, we wrapped up our Real Life Superhero speeches. Students really enjoyed researching, working on their notecards, and presenting about their real-life superhero to the class. We learned so much about individuals, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Muhammad Ali, who made a positive impact on society. The kids did a wonderful job! For the rest of the year, we will continue to work on refining our narrative writing skills.

Math

We are in our last unit of math this year! This unit teaches us multiple strategies for dividing whole numbers like partial quotients and area models. Students have been working hard to improve their skills to divide multi-digit numbers using the strategy they feel most comfortable with. Within the unit, we will also be learning more about the powers of ten and multiplying and dividing decimals. 

Social Studies

We started our final unit of study in Social Studies - The American Revolution. Our students are being challenged to examine the people, events, causes, and effects of the American Revolution. They will create connections between the ideals of the American Revolution and our own modern challenges to promote life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all. Ask your child to explain what sparked the American Revolution. In the coming weeks, our students will explore the ideals of democracy that fueled the American Revolution and turned the power structure of the world upside down.

Upcoming Events

• Wednesday, April 29th - MAP Testing (Reading)

• Thursday, April 30th  - MAP Testing (Math)

• Friday, May 1st - Field Trip (Twin Groves Musical)

• Thursday, May 7th - Field Trip to the Dunn Museum (Chally, Knutson, & Deger)

• Friday, May 8th - Field Trip to the Dunn Museum (Mosior & Pangilinan)

Friendly Reminders

• Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night

• Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack

• Please continue to have your student practice multiplication facts up to 12

• Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days of lessons

Monday, April 13th, 2026

Happy Monday Families!

Welcome back! With Spring Break past us, it could only mean one thing...the countdown to summer has officially begun! We are looking forward to all the fun and learning that's ahead of us within the last couple months of school! 

Literacy

This past week, we read and learned about the Navajo code talkers. During World War II, the code talkers played a crucial role in helping the U.S. Marines send coded messages using the complex and unwritten Navajo language. Using texts from RAZ Kids,  Newsela, and Epic, we practiced our skill of compiling information from multiple sources together in order to demonstrate a deep understanding about a specific topic. Throughout the readings, we are also working on explaining relationships and interactions, such as cause/effect and problem/solution, while using text evidence as support.

Writing

Students have begun working on a research project and oral presentation. Piggybacking off the previous reading we did on real life superheroes such as Richard Martin and Raoul Wallenberg, each student chose someone they felt embodies the qualities of a real life superhero. They will conduct research about this outstanding individual and give an oral presentation to the class explaining why they are a real-life superhero. This project incorporates many reading and writing targets for students.

Math

We are continuing to practice skills in the area of geometry in Unit 6. We explored the hierarchy of polygons, with an emphasis on triangles and quadrilaterals. Using academic language related to angles and sides, students have been classifying and describing shapes based on their attributes. This week, we have been reviewing and extending our thinking on the concept of volume, which was covered in Unit 1. 

Science & Social Studies

This week we finished a series of lessons within our matter unit about how to know when new substances are created. We ended with an investigation where students mixed substances such as water, vinegar, iodine, baking soda, salt, and alka-seltzer together in different combinations and observed whether new substances were formed! We looked for changes in color, temperature, and fizzing/bubbling to indicate when a chemical reaction had taken place. 

We will begin our final unit in social studies next week- the American Revolution!

Upcoming Events

• Tuesday, April 14th- Early Release

• Thursday, April 23rd- PTO Pizza Bingo

• Friday, April 24th- Half Day Dismissal

• Wednesday, April 29th & Thursday, April 30th- MAP Testing

• Friday, May 1st- Field Trip- Twin Groves Musical

Friendly Reminders

• *Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night.

• *Orchestra & Band Parents: Please make sure your students have their instrument on assigned days.

• *Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack - nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

• *Please continue to have your student practice their multiplication facts up to 12

Have a wonderful week!

Friday, March 13th, 2026

Happy Friday Families!

It's hard to believe that we've officially entered our final trimester and Spring Break is only a week away! Our students have had the opportunity to reflect upon their 5th grade year so far and are looking for finish our school year off strong! Please read our classroom update below!

Literacy

Our students are currently reading several non-fiction texts in order to find relationships between the topic, events, or people in a text. With this analysis, students are able to draw conclusions about the author's craft based on evidence from the text. This week, our students read about women of discovery, who accomplished great feats and helped pave the way for many young girls and women today! These magnificent women include Bessie Coleman, Katherine Johnson, Mae Jemison, and Wilma Rudolph! We are looking forward to reading about more real life superheroes next week!

Writing

Our students are wrapping up their analytical persuasive essays where they have been tasked with convincing their reader why their choice animal would make the best class pet! Students have utilized several resources in their research in order to craft well balanced and convincing essays with an organized introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Ask your child why their choice pet would be the best fit for a classroom!

Math

 Our students recently started Unit 6, which incorporates skills in the area of geometry. Last week, we learned about locating and labeling ordered pairs on a coordinate plane and investigated patterns within a number series. Within the coming weeks, our students will start to explore the hierarchy of polygons, which include triangles and quadrilaterals. We will work classifying shapes based on attributes using academic language related to angles and length of sides.

Science

This week we completed our study about the Conservation of Matter.  The students had a lot of fun doing various activities to learn about physical and chemical changes.  They used digital scales to weigh the mass of Skittles and created bar graphs comparing the mass of different colored candies. We also started our last science unit about mixtures and solutions.  We finished the week with an assessment about the Law of Conservation of Mass.

Upcoming Events

• March 17--No school

• March 19 -- PM conferences

• March 20 -- AM conferences (No student attendance)

• March 31- April 2 -- IAR testing

• April 3 -- No school

Friendly Reminders

*Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night.

*Orchestra & Band Parents: Please make sure your students have their instrument on assigned days.

*Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack - nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

*Please continue to have your student practice their multiplication facts up to 12.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan

Friday, February 26th, 2026

Happy Friday Families!

Believe it or not, Trimester 2 has come to an end and we are ready to kick off our third and final trimester! Over the last several weeks, our students completed literacy/writing assessments to demonstrate their progress on Trimester 2 learning targets.  Students showed quite the perseverance & stamina!

Check below to see what we've covered over the last couple of weeks, as well as some of the learning we are looking forward to starting!

Literacy

As the second grading period came to a close, we continued to practice analyzing multiple perspectives using nonfiction texts.  With various reading passages, we compared and contrasted different author's points of view regarding topics such as school uniforms, video games, and rescuing penguin populations.  While we read these texts, we continued to practice identifying the author’s main point, and the reasons and evidence that the author uses to support it. 

This week, we started to work on finding relationships between concepts and ideas in nonfiction.

Math

It’s hard to believe, but we completed our Unit 5 assessment this week.  Students worked hard to understand how to multiply and divide fractions using labeled models. 

Next week, we start Unit 6…Geometry!  Our students will learn about locating and labeling ordered pairs on a coordinate plane and investigate patterns within a number series.  Over the next few weeks, we will explore the hierarchy of polygons, which include triangles and quadrilaterals.  Our students will work on classifying shapes based on attributes using academic language related to angles and length of sides.

Science

We started our final science unit exploring the concept of conservation of matter.  During our lab this week, students tested liquids to see which ones would clean the tarnish off a penny.  When their pennies changed from dark and dirty to bright and shiny, they had the chance to think about where the tarnish went.  We are looking forward to many more hands-on investigations later in the unit.

Important Dates

Wednesday, March 4th - Thursday, March 5th: 5th Grade Illinois Science Assessment

Thursday, March 19th: Early Release/Conferences 5-8:30

Friday, March 20st- No School: Conferences 10-1:30

Friendly Reminders

**Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack.  Nothing feeds the brain better than something healthy!

**Please continue to have your child practice his or her multiplication facts up to 12.

**Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days that lessons take place.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan