Friday, September 11th, 2020

Good Afternoon Families!

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.

It was an absolute pleasure seeing many of you last week at our virtual curriculum night. I hope you found it to be an informative and useful evening.  Your involvement and support are greatly appreciated!  If you were unable to attend, please refer to presentation, which was emailed to you, or feel free to contact me with any questions!

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 summarizing fiction texts, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges.  We are also greatly enjoying our first chapter book, Night of The Spadefoot Toads. Because some of the chapters are quite lengthy, students are being required to read portions outside of school hours. They are welcome to use their print copy (which can be be picked up at the Ivy Hall office during the week from 7:45am to 4:00pm) or read the story on their iPads using either the Realize, Epic, or Books app.  Just a reminder, the Epic app shuts down at 3:00pm unless you have a home Epic account.

Writing

* Our students are off to a great start to learning and refining their narrative writing skills.  We are currently learning the ins and outs of how to write narrative pieces.  Soon, our students will plan their own narratives, which will include an effectively written introduction, well-developed body paragraphs, and an effective conclusion. 

Math

* Our students are currently working on writing and evaluating numerical expressions with parentheses as well as demonstrating their understanding of how to find the volume of rectangular prisms. The first few weeks have also involved getting used to our remote math routines.  

Science / Social Studies

* Our students just wrapped up their first lessons utilizing our TCI online science curriculum.  Our  focus was on understanding the makings of various ecosystems around the world. This unit tied nicely into the Night of the Spadefoot Toads chapter book we are currently reading in Literacy.

*Our students are starting their government unit in Social Studies, which focuses on the responsibilities and powers of government officials at various levels and branches of government and in different times and places.  Over the next two weeks, the focus will revolve around why America declared its independence from Britain.

Upcoming Events

** Monday September 14th - MAP Testing

** Tuesday, September 15th - Early Release
** Monday, September 28th—District Holiday—No school

Friendly Reminders

** Please remind your student to turn his or her camera on during class.  This will help your child to stay engaged at the same level they would be during in-person instruction.

** If your child is experiencing issues with his or her iPad, please email our district tech department at elearningsupport@d96.zendesk.com.

** I am  available during parent office hours for communication via Zoom on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:45am - 8:15am.  If the office hours are not convenient for you, please send me an email and I will reply as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Thank you for your continued support and partnership and have a fantastic weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan

Sunday, March 1st, 2020

Happy Friday Families,

This week trimester 2 has come to and end and we are ready to kick off our third and final trimester next week! This week the kids have taken several literacy/writing assessments to demonstrate their progress on T2 learning targets. We also took our unit 5 math post test on multiplication and  division of fractions. 

Literacy

Next week we will start a new module in literacy with a theme of "Exploring New Worlds". To guide our learning we will use a nonfiction text called “Explorers: Triumphs and Troubles”. In this text we will learn about different explorers throughout history and the positive and negative impacts their explorations had on society. While reading, we will be looking closely at how authors use reasons and evidence to support their points. We will also continue to work on identifying multiple main ideas within a text and the supporting details.

Math

We started our new unit in math this week. It will focus primarily on geometry concepts that involve graphing & patterns, classifying quadrilaterals, and finding volume. 

Social Studies

For the last few weeks our learning has focused on analyzing the effects of specific catastrophic and environmental events as well as technological developments that have impacted our nation. We primarily focused on the effects of hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and wildfires, and how technology has been used to help warn and protect citizens from the aftermath of such disasters.

Science

Our next unit will explore the topic of Matter. Students will start by identifying, comparing and contrasting the various states of matter.

Upcoming Events

Monday, March 2 -- No School

Wednesday, March 4 -- Math Placement Test

Thursday, March 5 -- IH PTO Pizza Bingo @ 6:00pm

March 9,10, 11-- Illinois Science Assessment

Tuesday, March 10 -- PTO Special Lunch

Thursday, March 12 -- Early Release, Family/Educator Conferences

Friday, March 13 -- No School, Conferences

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.

**Don’t forget to sign up for your collaborative conference. Students are working hard to prepare for these conferences and are excited to tell you about their learning and progress in 5th grade. 

Monday, February 17th, 2020

Happy Monday Families!

Please read below to find out the specifics of what we've been working on!

Reading:

This week students have been reading the text Angel Island. This text tells about the history and hardships surrounding immigrating through Angel Island in the early 20th century.  As we read this book we have been practicing various nonfiction targets such as finding the main ideas, identifying an author's point of view and the evidence they use to support their points and comparing and contrasting. 

Writing: Along with reading "Real-Life Superheroes", students have been writing about a real-life superhero of their choice! Students have selected an individual in history who they feel has made an outstanding contribution to society--someone who they feel portrays the characteristics of a real-life superhero. After researching this individual's life, students have been writing an essay that highlights the important biographical info, as well as the reasons this person should be considered a hero. Upon completion, students will share their essays with each other so that we can all hear about the amazing accomplishments of these remarkable people!

Math:  We have recently been learning how to multiply fractions while utilizing the area model and the traditional method. Most recently, we have begun learning how to divide by fractions and will finish up Unit 5 in the next couple of weeks!

Social Studies:  Students are learning about probable causes and effects of events and developments in U.S. history, with a focus on the exploration of the Arctic.  Students are currently researching and developing a presentation that describes the causes and effects of a key event in history.

Science:   We have continued to work on our unit on the Earth, Moon, and Stars. We recently completed a section of this unit on the perceived movement of stars in the night sky. Students learned that the stars in the sky seem to move because the Earth is moving. We modeled this movement with students in a circle with various pictures of constellations, a globe, and a person representing the sun. Students saw that at different times of the year different stars and constellations are visible due to the position of the Earth in relation to the sun. In the final section of this unit, students will be learning about the different tools scientists use to observe space. 

Important Dates

Feb 17 - No School- President's Day

February 25 - Early Release 

February 28 - Half Day/End of 2nd Trimester

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.

**If students want to play in the snow outside, they must have the appropriate snow gear in order to do so. Please make sure to send your student with snow pants, snow boots, jacket, gloves, and hat. 

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

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Enzie Pangilinan

Sunday, February 2nd, 2020

Happy Sunday Families!

Please read below to find out the specifics of what we've been working on!

Reading:

This week students finished reading a book called "Real-Life Superheroes". This nonfiction book taught students about the amazing lives of four "superheroes": Raoul Wallenberg, Richard Martin, Thomas Barnardo, and Rosa Parks. As we have read this book we have been practicing various nonfiction targets such as finding main idea, summarizing, identifying an author's point of view and the evidence they use to support their points, and comparing and contrasting. Next week we will continue to work on nonfiction targets as we read "The Great Migration by Jacob Lawrence.  

Writing: Along with reading "Real-Life Superheroes", students have been writing about a real life superhero of their choice! Students have selected an individual in history who they feel has made an outstanding contribution to society--someone who they feel portrays the characteristics of a real-life superhero. After researching about this individual's life, students have been writing an essay which highlights the important biographical info, as well as the reasons this person should be considered a hero. Upon completion, students will share their essays with each other so that we can all hear about the amazing accomplishments of these remarkable people!

Math:  We recently wrapped up our unit on multi-digit whole number multiplication and have shifted our focus back to fractions. Last week students learned how to multiply a fraction by a whole number. Students learned that when you multiply a fraction by a whole number, the answer is smaller than the whole number in the problem because when you multiply you are finding a fractional piece of that whole number. Students played the workplace game "Target One Fractions" where they used number cards to create whole number times fraction problems that had products, as close to 1 as possible. We are now moving into multiplying a fraction by another fraction. Students will learn how to create models to represent the product of these fraction times fraction problems.

Social Studies:  Students are currently learning about probable causes and effects of events and developments in U.S. history, with a focus on exploration of the Arctic.  Students will be reading articles and watching videos about arctic exploration to continue to hone their research skills and their use of multiple sources to support their thinking.

Science:   We have continued to work on our unit on the Earth, Moon and Stars. We recently completed a section of this unit on the perceived movement of stars in the night sky. Students learned that the stars in the sky seem to move because the Earth is moving. We modeled this movement with students in a circle with various pictures of constellations, a globe, and a person representing the sun. Students saw that in different times of the year different stars and constellations are visible due to the position of the Earth in relation to the sun. In the final section of this unit, students will be learning about the different tools scientists use to observe space. 

Important Dates

Feb 3 - Author Visit

Feb 4-6 Book Fair

Feb 6 - Ivy Hall Celebrates Giving Back 6:30-8:00pm

Feb 14 - Valentine's Day!

Feb 17 - No School

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.

**If students want to play in the snow outside, they must have the appropriate snow gear in order to do so. Please make sure to send your student with snow pants, snow boots, jacket, gloves, and hat. 

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

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Enzie Pangilinan

Friday, January 10th, 2020

Happy New Year Families!

We've hit the ground running into the new year! We enjoyed sharing our winter break adventures with each other, and now we are ready to resume the school year with renewed energy and enthusiasm!

Please read below to find out the specifics of what we've been working on!

Reading:

Next week, will start to delve into a nonfiction book entitled Real Life Superheroes.  Be sure to ask your student about some of the amazing individuals which will be highlighted in this book! We will use this text as a springboard to work on literacy targets in the areas of finding main idea, summarizing and comparing and contrasting texts of similar topics. 

Writing: Along with reading about Real-life superheroes, we will also be writing about them! Students will select an individual in history who they feel has made an outstanding contribution to society--someone who they feel portrays the characteristics of a real-life superhero. After researching about this individual's life, students will be writing an essay which highlights the important biographical, as well as the reasons this person should be considered a hero. Upon completion, students will share their essays with each other so that we can all hear about the amazing accomplishments of these remarkable people!

Math:  This week we've been continuing the work we started prior to break with multi-digit multiplication. Upon completion of our unit, students should feel comfortable in utilizing the traditional method, as well as other algorithms such as partial products. Ideally, students will show proficiency in being able to solve two and three digit multiplication problems with accuracy. Those students who have already demonstrated mastery of such skills have been working on extending their skills with related challenges.

Social Studies:  Students have been learning about probable causes and effects of events and developments in U.S. history, with a focus on Westward Expansion.  In the coming weeks, our discussions will focus on the California Gold Rush, as well as answer and defend the argument of whether or not they would have traveled West.  

Science:   In science we are continuing our unit on the Earth, Moon and Stars. Within this unit we are exploring such concepts as gravity, how distance affects the brightness of stars, and how day and night occur. 


Important Dates
Monday, Jan. 20th - No school Martin Luther King Day
Tuesday, Jan. 28 - Early release @ 2:00 p.m.

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.

**If students want to play in the snow outside, they must have the appropriate snow gear in order to do so. Please make sure to send your student with snow pants, snow boots, jacket, gloves, and hat. 
**Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days that lessons take place. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan

Friday, December 6th, 2019

Happy Friday, Families!

We've gotten back into the swing of things after our Thanksgiving break. Please read below for an update of what we're currently learning!

Literacy
*We are finishing up begin The Road to Freedom, a story that is narrated from the point of view of a young girl, Emma, who is traveling on the Underground Railroad with her mother in hopes of making it North to freedom.  Using this text, we have been focusing on determining the theme of the text and have been looking at how different text features affect how a story is understood by the reader.

Writing
*As we continue reading Road to Freedom, we will be finishing up writing an opinion based on topics/issues related to slavery from the book. We will continue to work on Opinion writing throughout the trimester.


Math
*We are finishing up our unit with decimals, which includes writing, comparing, rounding, adding, and subtracting decimals. We have also worked on converting within powers of ten using the metric system and real-life examples such as technology storage (gigabytes, megabytes, kilobytes). We will be beginning Unit 4 next week and will begin our focus on multiplying multi-digit numbers.


Social Studies
*Our students wrapped up our discussions about the various responsibilities and powers of different types of governments.  Our discussions revolved around the pros and cons of a democracy, a parliamentary government, a monarchy, and a dictatorship.  Of the four governments, students had to decide which government uses their powers and responsibilities for the benefit of its citizens.

Science
*We recently started learning about ways that governments, companies, and individuals can protect our earth. We recently did an investigation that involved students working with small groups to create a water filter out of various materials. 

Upcoming Events

December 9th: MAP Testing (Reading)
December 10th (Tuesday): Early Release (2:00PM)

December 11th: MAP Testing (Math)

December 20th (PM): Winter Parties

December 21st-January 6th: Winter Break

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.

**If students want to play in the snow outside, they must have the appropriate snow gear in order to do so. Please make sure to send your student with snow pants, snow boots, jacket, gloves, and hat. 

Friday, November 15th, 2019

Happy Friday Families!

I hope everyone is staying warm during this early November Arctic blast!  But as we deal with the bitter cold, our students continue to work hard, wrapping up the grading period.  As we move on to the second grading period, I am excited to see how much more our students will grow!  There is so much to teach and so much to learn, but so little time! 

Here are the targets we will focus on as we work through the beginning of the second grading period:

Literacy
*Our students wrapped up our shared informational text, Animals of the Rain Forest.  In the coming weeks, we will begin The Road to Freedom. The story is narrated from the point of view of a young girl, Emma, who is traveling on the Underground Railroad with her mother in hopes of making it North to freedom.  Using this shared text, we will focus on literacy skills such as summarizing and identifying narrator's point of view.


Writing
*As we move into Road to Freedom, we will use it as a springboard for various writing samples. We will practice writing short-constructed responses, as well as plan and write an opinion paper based on topics/issues related to slavery from the book.


Math
*We are continuing our unit with decimals, which includes writing, comparing, rounding, adding, and subtracting decimals. We will start to work on converting within powers of ten using the metric system and real life examples such as technology storage (gigabytes, megabytes, kilobytes).  As the students start to explore powers of ten, they will also solidify their conceptual understanding of shifting place values when multiplying and dividing by tens.


Social Studies
*Our students wrapped up our discussions about the various responsibilities and powers of different types of governments.  Our discussions revolved around the pros and cons of a democracy, a parliamentary government, a monarchy, and a dictatorship.  Of the four governments, students had to decide which government uses their powers and responsibilities for the benefit of its citizens.


Science
*We recently started learning about earth systems in science. The unit discusses the four main systems of Earth: the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. In addition to learning about their attributes and characteristics, we are also identifying interactions that occur between the systems. Our most recent investigation involved creating a clay model of the Earth, showing each Earth's system. 


Upcoming Events
November 22 (Friday): Report Cards Released
November 25 (Monday): Early Release - Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 26  (Tuesday): No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 27  (Wednesday): No School - Start of Thanksgiving Break

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.

**If students want to play in the snow outside, they must have the appropriate snow gear in order to do so. Please make sure to send your student with snow pants, snow boots, jacket, gloves, and hat. 

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan