Friday, September 9th, 2016

Happy Friday Families!

It's the start of September and our students are working so hard in the classroom!  I love seeing the 150% effort they're giving everyday!  We are so excited to share information about what we are currently working on in the classroom!

Literacy

* During our shared reading, we just finished reading Night of the Spadefoot Toads. The students truly enjoyed the book! Throughout the novel we worked on a variety of literacy skills, but focused on finding the overall theme, as well as comparing and contrasting different elements of the story. This novel connected nicely with our current science unit on ecosystems.

Writing

* Our students are just wrapping up their second narrative story. There has been quite an emphasis on encouraging students to infuse natural dialogue between characters, as well as utilizing precise language and word usage. 

Math

* This week we finished our second place value target which involved using powers of ten. We practiced determining whether numbers were multiplied or divided by powers of ten. Today we started working on our new target which involves comparing decimals to the thousandths place using base-ten numerals, number names and expanded form. We will take a CFA on this target next week.

Science

* This week we continued our learning about ecosystems. We’ve been learning about how living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem interact. 

Reading Logs

*All students should be tracking their home reading on the reading logs that were sent home last week. The weekly reading assignments and parent signatures are due back each Monday for a “check-in” and completed logs are due on the last day of the month.

Girl’s Group

*All 5th grade girls will begin participating in Girl’s Group next week! Each session will be a half hour in duration and will focus on a particular skill. If you are interested in viewing the topics and activities, this will be possible through your child’s schoology account. After the first session, your student will be able to show you how to do this. The Boy’s Group will start after winter break.

Reminders/Upcoming Events:

**Tuesday, September 13th - Special Lunch (Culvers)

**Sunday, September 25th  - PTO/District 96 Dash

Friendly Reminders

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

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

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Thank you and have a fantastic weekend!

Friday, August 26th, 2016

Good Afternoon Families!

It was an absolute pleasure seeing you last night!  I hope you found curriculum night to be informative.  Your involvement and support are greatly appreciated!  

The link you clicked on is our classroom Blogger page, which will have bi-monthly classroom updates.  Included in the updates will be our current target concepts in all academic areas, classroom events, and important upcoming dates.  An email with a link to our classroom Blogger page will be pushed out every two weeks when our Blogger page is updated.

Here are the targets we are currently / planning on working to master over the next couple of weeks:

Literacy

* Our students are currently working on finding the theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic.

Writing

* Our students are off to a great start writing narrative pieces. We are currently working on planning our baseline free-topic narrative piece.

Math

* Our students are currently recognizing that a digit in one place represents ten times as much as it represents in the place to its right and one-tenth of what it represents in the place to its left using whole numbers and decimals.

Social Studies

* We plan on starting geography in the coming days.  We will start with locating states and countries based on relative location.

Science

* We started instruction of our new science curriculum!  Our current focus is on understanding the makings of a various ecosystems around the world.

Upcoming Events

** Tuesday, August 30th - Early Release

** Monday September 5th - No School (Labor Day)

Friendly Reminders

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

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

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Thank you and have a fantastic weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan

Friday, May 20th, 2016

Happy Sunday Families!

It is so hard to believe that this will be our final blog for the year. It has been an amazing year with your children. Thank you for all you have done to make it such a success. Here is what has been happening:

Transition Day

The students really enjoyed our time at Twin Groves on Thursday. They were able to hear all about next year. There were many previous Ivy Hall students giving tours around the building. Our students left there with a lot of excitement for next year!

Orchestra and Band Concerts

Congratulations to all of our orchestra and band students. They both had concerts at Twin Groves this past week. They all did an amazing job!

Family Picnic

Our Ivy Hall picnic will be tonight, May 20th, from 6:00-8:00. Come on out for some fun family time!

Museum of Science and Industry

Our field trip is tomorrow Monday, May 23rd. Please send your child with a sack lunch. We are also asking to please not send money with your child. We are so looking forward to a day of exploring.

**If you are chaperoning the field trip, please arrive at Ivy Hall at 8:30.

Ivy Hall Fun Run

Our Fun Run will be on May 27th. Let’s all get out there and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine!

No School

May 30th (Memorial Day)

Last Day

June 1st (We will be dismissing at 2:00)

Enjoy a wonderful, restful, fun-filled summer!! Again, thank you for such a wonderful school year with your children.

Enzie Pangilinan

Friday, May 6th, 2016

Dear Families,

Happy Mother's Day!  I hope all of our mothers enjoyed the beautiful weather and time with your families!

What a week our students have had!  Our students worked extremely hard to wrap up placement testing, we had a special visit from the police department, our band students performed for our 1st and 2nd graders, and we wrapped up Teacher Appreciation Week with a special gift from the class!  With the end of the school year just around the corner, we have many special events and activities planned for our 5th Graders!  Read below to find out more.

Click on the photo to enlarge

Click on the photo to enlarge

Click on the photo to enlarge

Below are the concepts we will cover over the next few weeks:

Literature

We have finished reading the book Beyond the Horizon and we are working on writing editorial opinion papers.  We are working hard to master the following third grading period learning targets:

** Compare and contrast characters, settings or events in a text.

** Quotes accurately from a text when drawing inferences.

** Determine the meaning of unknown/multiple-meaning words and phrases, including figurative language.

Math

It is so hard to believe that we are working on our last math unit of the school year!   We have just finished working on classifying 2-dimensional figures in a hierarchy based on properties and are currently focusing on generating two numerical patterns using two given rules, identifying apparent relationships between corresponding terms, and forming and graphing ordered pairs consisting of corresponding terms from the two patterns. We will wrap up the unit with our students learning to make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (½, ¼, ⅛). 

Science 

We really enjoyed making and playing our Human Body Board games. Thank you for your help at home!  Over the next few weeks, we will complete science explorations in our light and sound unit. Our Museum field trip will help us explore these targets further (More information about the field trip to come).

Social Studies

This week we started to discuss and read about the liberties that we have in our country. We will also contrast our liberties with certain countries who may not have some of the same freedoms that we enjoy.

Important Dates and Reminders:

** Friday, May 13th: Spring Fling @ 6:30.

** Tuesday, May 10th: Orchestra Concert - 6:30 @ Twin Groves.

** Wednesday, May 11th: Ivy Hall Celebrates @ 7:00.

** Thursday, May 19th: Twin Grove Transition Day More information to come.

** Thursday, May 19th: Band Concert - 7:00 @ Twin Groves.

** Friday, May 20th: Ivy Hall Family Picnic.

** Monday, May 23rd: Museum Of Science And Industry Field Trip. Permission slip and chaperone information to come.

** May 27th: Fun Run

** Please remember to send your child to class with a healthy snack. Nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!

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

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me! Thank you and enjoy the rest of your evening!

Enzie Pangilinan

Friday, April 22, 2016

Happy Friday Families!

Our fundraiser walk today was a great success.  Our students have truly gone above and beyond to raise awareness to fight DIPG.  It has genuinely touched my heart to watch as our class has come together to help support one another.  A heartfelt thank you to you as parents for raising such extraordinary children.

Click on the picture to enlarge

Here are the concepts we will focus on over the next couple of weeks as well as placement testing information and dates:

Literature

We started to read our new book, Beyond the Horizon, which continues our theme of exploration through the lens of a young girl as she ventures to distant and new lands.  Our instruction is focused around comparing and contrasting characters, drawing on specific details in the text.  In writing, our current focus is on persuading individuals living in the 1500's why exploration should or should be undertaken, while writing from a specific point of view.  The various points of views students have chosen range from a country's monarch to an indigenous tribe leader.

Math

Students are currently focusing on understanding various polygons and their attributes and how each shape fits into a polygon hierarchy.  We encourage you to learn along with your child as we learn where each polygon fits into the hierarchy.

Science

Our students wrapped up their human body board games this week.  Our students used the opportunity to capitalize on their cooperative learning skills and team building strategies to construct creative games!  Once games are presented to the class, we will have an opportunity to play each other's games in the coming days!

Social Studies

We are wrapping up our discussions about the liberties that we are fortunate to have, living in our country.  We have also contrasted our liberties with various countries who may not have some of the same freedoms that we enjoy.  Our lessons have been accompanied by two truly compelling supplemental texts, The Breadwinner, which is about a young girl living in Afghanistan, and Shooting Kabul, which is about a young boy's journey to find his younger sister left behind in Afghanistan.

Placement Test Information

** Monday, April 25th: Video Performance Task Math Placement Test.  Please make sure your child gets a good night sleep and eats a good breakfast!

Important Dates and Reminders

** Tuesday, April 26th: Early Release

** Wednesday, April 27th: Variety Show Rehearsal @3:00

** Thursday, April 28th: Variety Show @6:30

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

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

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan

Friday, April 8th, 2016

Happy Friday Families!

We are refreshed from Spring Break and have been using our renewed energy to work hard on our Trimester 3 learning targets!  Here are the current concepts we will focus on over the next couple of weeks as well as a message regarding PARCC testing next week:

***Please Note: PARCC testing for 5th grade takes place Tuesday through Friday of next week. Most days we will have testing in the morning and afternoon. Please avoid taking your student out of school for doctor’s appointments if at all possible.  Please also be sure that your child gets a good night’s sleep and eats a good breakfast each day! 

** A message from our art teacher: Please bring in an empty "cool whip container" or anything like it and some newspaper.

Literature

We have finished reading Explorers: Triumphs and Troubles  and Pedro’s Journal. which both focused on the theme of exploration.  We have compared and contrasted each book's text structures, as well as the valuable information contained in both texts.   In writing, we just completed an opinion essay about Christopher Columbus.  Through our extensive research, we learned that although Columbus's impact on America was significant,  his explorations and discoveries came with many negatives as well. The students wrote about how he was portrayed in the text we read, as well as his influence on our country’s history. 

Math

Today we ended unit 5 with a post test that encompassed three learning targets. Students were required to demonstrate their skills in the areas of measurement conversions, finding volume of rectangular prisms and finding volume of composite shapes where rectangular prisms have been joined together. Students who do not demonstrate mastery of such targets on the post test will receive an intervention next week.

Science

We are wrapping up the body systems unit and will begin light and sound soon. This week we started creating our human body board games. The kids are having a great time working with their peers to create games that utilize the knowledge they gained during our study of the body systems. We will continue to work on these games for the next few weeks.  At the conclusion of the project, groups will be given the opportunity to present the games to the class, as well as having an opportunity to play each other’s games!!

Social Studies

This week we started to discuss and read about the liberties that we are fortunate to have, living in our country.  We will also contrast our liberties with various countries who may not have some of the same freedoms that we enjoy.

Important Dates

** April 12-15: 5th Grade PARCC Testing

** April 15: Author Suzanne Slade Visits Ivy Hall

** April 22: Joshua's Jam Walk for DIPG Awareness - More information to come in the coming weeks.

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

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

A Message Regarding Variety Show Opportunities

Sasha Hite will be putting together a 5th grade finale act.  She will be working with any of the 5th graders who would like to be in the 5th grade finale during recess on the following dates: 

** Thursday, April 14th
** Tuesday, April 19th
**Thursday, April 21st

   

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Friday, March 11th, 2016

Happy Friday Families!

It has been a breath of fresh air this week as we are enjoying some warmer, spring-like temperatures. It is hard to believe we are starting our final trimester. Here is what we are/will be working on in the next couple of weeks:

Literature:

We have been reading the book Explorers: Triumphs and Troubles. We are using this text to determine main ideas and details. We are also determining the author's purpose and point of view. The text is guiding the students' opinion writing as well. They are finding what motivated the explorers and supporting those motivations from good text evidence.

Math:

We are in Unit 5 working on measurement. This week we have practiced converting different sized standard measurement within a given measurement system, and using these conversions to solve multi-step real-world problems. Next week we will be working on measuring volume by counting unit cubes.

Science:

We are wrapping up the body systems unit and will begin light and sound soon.

Social Studies:

We are beginning our patriotism unit. We are starting by looking deeply into our Pledge of Allegiance and discussing its meaning.

Important Dates and Reminders:

**3/15 NO SCHOOL - Teacher Institute Day

**3/16 Variety Show Auditions - Beginning at 3:00

**3/17 PTO 5th Grade Guys Night Out

**3/23 Early Release at 2:00 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00 pm

**3/24 NO SCHOOL-Parent/Teacher Conferences 10:00-1:30

**3/25 NO SCHOOL-District Holiday

**3/28-4/1 NO SCHOOL - Spring Break

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

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

Joshua's Jam Website Link:

Please click on the link below to view Joshua's Jam DIPG Fundraiser T-Shirt website. You can view and/or purchase t-shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers directly from the site.

Joshua's Jam Fundraiser Link

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan