Happy Tuesday Families!
Believe it or not, Trimester 2 has come to an end and we are ready to kick off our third and final trimester! Throughout the last few weeks, our students completed several literacy/writing assessments to demonstrate their progress on T2 learning targets. Students showed perseverance and stamina, and worked incredibly hard!
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
We just wrapped up our exciting novel, George’s Secret Key to the Universe. The kids enjoyed the plot twists and the character development of George, Eric, and Dr. Reeper all throughout the book! They especially fell in love with George, who discovered the mysteries of the universe while he learned about various aspects such as stars, planets, and moons. This is the first in a series of several books. Students showed so much interest that they have asked for other books in the series. Now would be a great time to build on your child's interest with other books in the series!
Last week we began work on a literacy target which emphasizes finding relationships between concepts and ideas in nonfiction. We also looked at relationships among various topics, including wild pets, sharks, and the 1960’s!
Writing
Our students are in the early stages of planning their analytical choice essays. Their for-or-against topic choices include: Celebrating Christopher Columbus, Learning foreign languages in school, GMO information on food labels, and cell phones in the classroom, just to name a few. Students will utilize multiple resources to research their topic, plan their introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions.
Math
It’s hard to believe, but we completed our Unit 5 assessment last week. Students worked hard to understand how to multiply and divide fractions using labeled models. Next week will begin Unit 6- Geometry! We will learn about locating and labeling ordered pairs on a coordinate plane and investigating 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 on classifying shapes based on attributes using academic language related to angles and length of sides.
Science
We have begun our final science unit exploring the concept of conservation of matter. This week, students completed a lab where they tested liquids to see which ones would clean the tarnish off a penny. Then, when one penny 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
Wed-Fri March 5th-7th- 5th Grade Illinois Science Assessment
Monday, March 10th- Band Concert
Thursday, March 13th- Ivy Hall Cat Packs
Thursday, March 20th- Early Release/Conferences 5-8:30
Friday, March 21st- 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 week!
Enzie Pangilinan
