Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th Grade Blog 12/9/16

Dear Parents,

The cold weather is definitely upon us! Because we will be having outdoor recess unless the wind chill levels are very cold, students should be prepared with hats, gloves, and warm coats. Students are only permitted to play in the snow if they have boots and snow pants. Thank you for making sure that your child is prepared for the colder weather!

We’ve been busy this week with MAP testing and an end of unit test in literacy. However, we’ve managed to “squeeze in” some other activities in between as well! Here’s what we’ve been busy with:

Literacy

As we begin our unit on science fiction, we have started reading a very engaging novel called George’s Secret Key to the Universe. Interestingly, it is one in a series of books written by renowned physicist, Stephen Hawking. It is the first novel in our new unit which introduces the theme of “Understanding the Universe”. Please know that because of the length of the book, your child will be required to read certain chapters for homework. I have given them the choice of reading from the book or using their I-PAD to read and/or listen along. This reading can be counted towards the minutes on their home reading log. Because of the positive feedback that students having been giving thus far about the book, I am hopeful that many will choose to read the other books in the series on their own as well! They can be found at your local library!

While reading we will be working on many of the same targets as first semester and focusing on determining the meaning of unknown words and comparing and contrasting characters in a text.  Students continue to identify the main ideas in a text, and explain how they are related. We have had some great discussions in class. Take a moment to ask your child to reflect on what they have learned from these discussions/lessons and to share their ideas with you. 

Writing

For the past week students have been working on creating slide presentations based on a real-life superhero that we read about in class. They have also been practicing their oral speaking skills by presenting them to the class. Throughout this process, students worked on carefully choosing quotes to support or explain their topic, writing topic sentences that hold the reader’s attention, and using specialized vocabulary to make their ideas clearer and easier to understand. Ask your student to present it to you! I’m sure you will be both entertained and informed! Our next writing project will involve writing a science fiction story! The kids will LOVE it!

Math

Fractions! Fractions! Fractions!  We are finishing up our work with addition and subtraction of fractions in word problems. Today your student brought home a CFA we took this week. Kindly sign the CFA and send it back on Monday. Next week we’ll be starting our work with the first of two learning targets based on order of operations. We will continue our work with this target when we return after winter break.

Social Studies

In Trimester 2. Students will be able to describe how a citizen can show patriotism, explain why liberty is an important thing, and also explain the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Science

In Science we have been enjoying working with the interactive Science unit TCI on our IPADS. Along with that, we have included many hands on experiments that the students are actively enjoying. This week we learned how people have been negatively impacting the different Earth systems. Today we simulated those harmful effects with a simulation of coal mining. Using chocolate chip cookies to represent the land being mined, and the chips to represent coal, students used “tools” such as toothpicks and paperclips to “mine” the “coal”.  Be sure to ask your student what we learned!

 Have a great weekend! 

Upcoming Events

12/12—Signed CFA’s due back, Reading log check-in
12/13--PTO Special Lunch--Urban BBQ

12/16 – Last day of school before Winter Break begins, Winter parties @2:00 

SCHOOL CLOSED: Winter Break Dec. 19–Jan. 2 

1/3 – School resumes 

1/16 – NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

1/ 31 – EARLY RELEASE DAY Grades KDG–5 students dismiss 2 PM Grades 6–8 dismiss 1:30 PM

Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th Grade Blog 11/17/16

Happy Friday! 

I hope you have all been enjoying this beautiful fall weather! It looks as if winter weather is going to be here before we know it. Please be sure your child is wearing a coat and appropriate articles of clothing (gloves, hats, etc.) to school.  We want all students to stay warm during outdoor recess.

The fifth grade teachers are excited to meet with each of you during Parent-Teacher Conferences. There is so much to cover, and so little time (15 minutes), so in order to stay on schedule, we want to make sure that everyone is on time. Please email if you have any questions!

School Progress Reports

***Your child’s progress report is now available online.

Parents, please note:
Your child’s progress report indicates his or her current progress toward an expectation. When a standard repeats in more than one trimester–as is typical in literacy instruction, for example–we do not expect students will master the knowledge and skills indicated until the completion of the last trimester in which the standard is reported on. In fact, it’s likely that many students will earn a score of Developing.

For example, we assess students using text we expect they will be able to master by the end of the school year. For a literacy course standard that repeats, we report each trimester based on your child’s progress toward those end-of-year expectations. This practice gives you consistent information regarding where your child is performing currently, compared to where he or she should be later in the school year or at the year’s end. 

What should you expect to see for a standard that repeats in more than one trimester? You should expect to see a steady progression, such as Not Mastering (1) or Developing (2) in Trimester 1; Developing (2) in Trimester 2; and Mastering (3) in Trimester 3.

Access your KCSD96 student’s progress report online next Friday, Nov. 18, after 3 p.m. Need assistance? CLICK HERE for instructions to view your student’s progress report, to switch between more than one student’s progress reports, and more.

CONNECTING…
Our District 96 community is richly diverse: We differ in race, ethnicity, culture, customs, and more. Our District 96 community is deeply committed: We share a goal as parents to equip our children to grow academically and emotionally to excel as learners and in their future careers.

Join us Mon., Dec. 5 @ 7 p.m., Twin Groves Middle School, 2600 N. Buffalo Grove Rd
We invite all interested D96 parents to the Twin Groves Learning Center to listen, learn, and participate in leader-led interactive activities with parents who want the best for their children. Learn about current efforts to build cultural awareness in teachers and administrators, talk about the new parents' group that adds access points for constructive involvement, and share expectations for our diverse community.

Your RSVP is not required, but helps us plan. Please CLICK HERE to indicate you will attend. Questions? Please call 847.459.4260, ext. 8022.

Take a peek into our class! Here are the targets we have been working on as well as what is ahead…

Literacy

This week we wrapped up two texts, Real-Life Superheroes and The Great Migration.  As students read and discussed these texts, they focused on the understanding that real historical figures made a difference in society by fighting for their beliefs.  Students continue to identify the main ideas in a text, and explain how they are related. We have had some great discussions in class. Take a moment to ask your child to reflect on what they have learned from these discussions/lessons and to share their ideas with you.

Writing

We just finished our real-life superhero essays. Students chose a real-life superhero to research. They found facts and used details to develop an informative/explanatory essay. Throughout this process, students worked on carefully choosing quotes to support or explain their topic, writing topic sentences that hold the reader’s attention, and using specialized vocabulary to make their ideas clearer and easier to understand. During parent-teacher conferences, please take a moment to read their essays. They are located in the hallway outside of our class.

Math

Fractions! Fractions! Fractions!  We are entering the fifth grade world of adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, simplifying fractions, solving fraction word problems, and creating equivalent fractions.  For many students, this is a tough target to grasp.  We will continue to work on these skills for the next couple of weeks. Yesterday we practiced our skills with a fun activity called “inside, outside circle”. Be sure to ask your child about it!

Social Studies

Last week we wrapped up our learning about slavery and how it affected the growth of Colonial America. We will be diving into Government/Civics in Trimester 2. Students will be able to describe how a citizen can show patriotism, explain why liberty is an important thing, and also explain the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Science

We have been studying the four main systems of Earth: the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. We’ve been learning about the attributes and characteristics of each, as well as how they interact with each other. We are now focusing on determining which of Earth’s systems interact to produce weather and climate. Students will be creating a diagram and giving a weather report about one of their examples. Stay tuned for weather news you can use. We also created group projects that will be on display in the hallway during conferences! Simply scan the QR code of your child’s group project, and enjoy the show!

Today we had our November Raffle! Lots of “valuable” prizes were given away! Students have been earning raffle tickets throughout the month for a variety of academic tasks!

I look forward to seeing you next week! Have a great weekend! 

Upcoming Events

**Monday, November 21: Early Release--2:00 PM

**Monday, November 21 & Tuesday, November 22: Parent-Teacher Conferences

**Tuesday, November 22-Friday, November 25: No School

Important Links:

November Lunch Menu

District 96 Safe Snack List

Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th grade Blog Update 11/4/16

Happy November Families! It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving will be upon us in just a few short weeks! The 5th grade teachers are looking forward to meeting will all of you for our Fall conferences coming up on the 21st and 22nd! We are anxious to share all of the progress that your child has been making during the last few months! If you have not yet signed up for a conference on the Sign-Up Genius site, please use the link that was sent to you a few weeks ago by your child’s teacher to do so.

Literacy

* This week we wrapped up the first half of a unit with the theme of “finding courage”. We read several books that revolved around issues such as slavery, women’s rights and the rights of workers. Throughout this unit we had some great discussions about injustice, equality, and the perseverance demonstrated by individuals when overcoming obstacles.

Writing

Our focus in the last several weeks has been on opinion writing. After reading The Road to Freedom, students identified an issue related to slavery that resonated with them. They went on to compose an opinion paper to express their specific evidence and views in support of their topic. Currently, students are working on an opinion piece which supports or refutes whether professional sports teams should use the names of Native American tribes as mascots. We read several articles that presented evidence for both sides, leaving it up to students to form their own opinion about the topic.

Math

*It has been all about decimals for the last few weeks! With addition and subtraction of decimals “under our belts” we’ve currently been working on multiplication and division of decimals. This target requires students to use visual models as well as paper and pencil strategies to solve decimal problems. We have learned that it is very important to estimate our answer first so that we can know whether the placement of our decimal is correct. We will finish up this unit towards the end of next week, culminating with a unit test encompassing all four operations with decimals.

 Social Studies

* Last week we wrapped up our learning about indentured servitude. We are now going to shift our focus towards slavery and how it affected the growth of Colonial America.

Science

*We have been studying about the four main systems of Earth: the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. We’ve been learning about the attributes and characteristics of each, as well as how they interact with each other. We are making a clay model of the earth which includes a representation of each system!

Have a great weekend! 

Upcoming Events**Tuesday, November 8—No School/Teacher Institute/Voting Day

**Friday, November 11—Report Period ends

**Thursday, November 17—Family Reading Night

Important Links:

November Lunch Menu

District 96 Safe Snack List

MRs. Holzhauer's Blog Update for 10/21/16

Happy Friday Families!

Fall is in the air and Halloween is just around the corner!  Our students continue to work extremely hard to learn our target concepts and are picking up and practicing strong study skills they have learned in the classroom!  Thank you for your continued support at home.

Today we had our October Raffle where the kids could “spend” the raffle tickets they’ve been earning for the last month! Be sure to ask your child how we earn them! If you ever have anything you’d like to contribute as raffle prizes, donations are much appreciated! :)

Also, please remind your child that they must bring their iPad charged each day. We’ve had a number of students forget iPads at home, or bring them without a charge. Because we use them throughout the day, this can be problematic.

Here are the targets / concepts we are tirelessly working to master:

Literacy

Our students are quite invested in our classroom read called The Road to Freedom.  It is narrated from the point of view of a young girl who is traveling on the Underground Railroad with her mother in hopes of making it North to freedom. The kids are highly engaged with the text and we are continuing to have many valuable discussions related to topics raised within the story. Because of the interest being demonstrated by the students, we decided to learn a bit more about Harriet Tubman and her role in the Underground Railroad. The kids used a variety of websites to gain knowledge about her amazing accomplishments. The Road to Freedom ties in nicely with the study of indentured servitude that we have been doing in social studies.

Writing

We are using The Road to Freedom as a springboard for various writing activities. Our students are currently learning to write short-constructed responses based on prompts from the story.  We are also in the planning phase of our opinion essays which are based on topics/issues related to slavery from the book. Each student chose a topic after the class brainstormed a number of possibilities together.

Math

Our students are currently working through division using a four-digit dividend and and a two-digit divisor.  We emphasized the partial quotients and long-division algorithms to solve these problems. Students were given a common formative assessment (CFA) today in order to monitor their progress.  Next Monday, our students will move on to our next concept, which is adding and subtracting decimals.

Social Studies

Our discussions continue to revolve around how indentured servitude affected the growth of the early American colonies. We’ve had a number of engaging activities based on this topic. On Wednesday, we read a journal excerpt from an indentured slave named John Halfhead. We then used an active engagement strategy called “Numbered Heads” which involved teams working together to answer questions about the text. The kids really enjoyed it!

Science

We are continuing to learn more about various ecosystems. We are exploring what makes an ecosystem healthy or unhealthy, how ecosystems change, and how humans change ecosystems. Today we took an assessment with the topic of how matter and energy move through an ecosystem. Yesterday we played a team Quizlet game on our iPads which helped us review the important terms.

Reminders

**Tonight is Movie Night for grades 3-5. It begins at 6 pm at Ivy in the cafeteria

**Our next reading log check-in is this Monday, Oct. 24! This students who bring in a completed reading log for each check-in day during October will receive a free Pizza Hut certificate at the end of the month!

**Early release on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 2:00

**Literacy Night takes place at Ivy on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:30 pm

**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.

HALLOWEEN PARADE AND CLASSROOM PARTY INFORMATION

Parade:

Our Parade Route begins at 1:20 PM on October 31 outside of our southeast doors (near our gymnasium and the buffalo) and the students will continue north on the sidewalk and then head west past the district office around the building, past the playground and end back at the Buffalo.  Please keep your fingers crossed that we have great weather!  In case of inclement weather, we will have an indoor parade for teachers and students only.

Classroom Parties:

*THANK YOU in advance to all of the volunteers who are sending items and/or helping at the parties!                                                                                               *Parties will begin at approximately 2:00pm and end at 2:45pm.    

*Only PTO approved parent party volunteers may attend classroom parties. No siblings are able to attend. 

*If you are a volunteer, it is recommended that you have your driver's license scanned into our security system prior to party day so that your badge can be ready for you upon arrival.  *All party treats must come from the Approved Snack List and brought in to be checked by the nurse. These need to be at school by 9:00am on October 31st. They can be brought in prior to that and will be kept safely in the office. 

Can students go home for lunch to get into costumes?

Students are able to be picked up to go home,  it will be during their own grade level lunch period. See below for details:

*Students will meet their parent/grandparent/family member in the foyer of the school.
*Please write a note stating that students will be going home for lunch. Students will give their “going home for lunch” note to the staff members who are supervising pick-up.
*Students need to return to school by the end of their lunch/recess period.  5th Grade lunch and recess runs from 12:00pm - 12:40pm.  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Have a fantastic weekend!

Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th Grade Blog 10/7/16

Good Afternoon Families!

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying this beautiful weather!  I am looking forward to getting some sleep over the long holiday weekend. :)  If you are traveling, have a safe trip. If you are staying home, I hope you are able to relax a bit.

BOOK IT! starts this week!

Reading is the heart of education, and the only way to get better at reading is to do it!  To encourage your child to “read their heart out” this year, our classroom is participating in the BOOK IT! Program. I remember participating in BOOK IT! as a child. Did any of you participate when you were in elementary school?

In order to earn a certificate for the month, your student must have his reading log minutes sheet completed each week, along with the weekly activity. Please note that when we return to school next Thursday, I will be checking reading logs. The week 1 assignment will be due that day.

Be a role model by reading yourself and reading to or with your child to show that you, too, value books and love reading.  When your child achieves their monthly goal, make it a celebration! You can redeem your child’s Reading Award Certificate for a free, one topping Personal Pan Pizza, Passport to Reading and a sticker at Pizza Hut.  So, make it a date! That special one-on-one time can make your child’s reading achievement even sweeter. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” –Dr. Seuss

It's Party Time! Classroom Party Parent Volunteers Needed!

Each classroom's Room Parent will be organizing three parties this year, and you're invited to help! Each party needs parent volunteers to help out with crafts, games and snacks. To sign up, please click here for more info and to add your name to the list. Room Parents will make every effort to provide all interested parents the opportunity to attend at least one party this school year.

A few things to note:
-For safety reasons, only one room parent and three parent volunteers are allowed at each party. No exceptions. No siblings may attend the party with a parent volunteer.
-Because the volunteer parent positions are so popular and fun we do sometimes have waiting lists. Please consider volunteering as a Party Photographer for your child's grade as an alternative!  It's fun and there is NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY! There are other opportunities to help, including sending party supplies and snacks.
-Please sign up for ONLY ONE classroom per party if you have multiple children at Ivy Hall. You may also sign up as an alternate for another party in the classroom under the Alternate section.

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

Literacy

* 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. Our next story, called Road to Freedom, is a historical fiction book about the underground railroad. This will tie in nicely to our upcoming study of indentured servitude in social studies.

Writing

* We just finished conducting research on an endangered animal, and created a brochure discussing why they are endangered, and what the world can do to save them from becoming extinct. Have your child tell you some fun facts about their endangered animal! The students had a choice of making a paper brochure, a google slide presentation, or an “explain everything” presentation where they could record their voices to match slides they created.

Math

* Today we took our CFA on the target that involves multiplying 2-digit by 2-digit numbers, as well as 3-digit by 2-digit numbers. These will come home next Friday with your student’s Friday update.  Students have been working on solving multiplication problems using multiple strategies (Area/Box, Partial Products, Expanded, Tradition/Standard, etc.).  Take a few moments to have your child explain 1 or 2 strategies that they use to solve multiplication problems.  Next week we will begin division.  We will then move into multiplying and dividing decimals. Next week we will start strategies for long division.

Social Studies

* We will be starting our study of indentured servitude and the effects it had on America’s economy. We will be doing some fun activities to support this learning.

Science

* We are continuing to learn more about the ecosystem. We are exploring what makes an ecosystem healthy or unhealthy, how ecosystems change, and how humans change ecosystems. Next week we have a hands-on activity planned where the kids will be making food chains that will join together to make food webs. We have been most recently learning about how living things in an ecosystem share energy.

Upcoming Events

**Monday, October 10 - No School (Columbus Day)

**Tuesday, October 11- No School

**Wednesday, October 12- No School (Yom Kippur-District Holiday)

**Thursday, October 13— Reading log check-in
**Friday, October 14--Student Council Crazy Hair Day
**Monday, October 17--Picture Retakes

**Tuesday, October 25-Early Release

**Monday, October 31-Halloween Party & Parade—more details to come

Important Links:

Math Night for Parents

October Lunch Menu

District 96 Safe Snack List

Community Events

Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th Grade Blog 9/23/16

Good Afternoon Families!

Happy Fall!

The fall equinox is scheduled to occur Sept. 22 at 10:21 a.m. EDT, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. The equinox, which refers to the time of year where night and day are about equally long, will usher in autumn. Summer will be officially over, but don't fret — fall means Halloween, Thanksgiving, pumpkin spice lattes, chunky sweaters, cooler temperatures and colorful leaves.

**You may have been hearing your child talk about using the app Dreambox at school. The district is encouraging students to spend time on this program and they are enjoying it as they do. Below I have listed the research behind this program. I think you will agree that it seems powerful .

“A study was conducted by the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University to explore the effectiveness of Dreambox usage by measuring growth in NWEA MAP data.  3-5 graders who spent 14 hours on Dreambox saw a growth in their MAP results by about 4 points.  Harvard analyses suggest the observed average improvement of students using Dreambox is a linear relationship.  Therefore, it is projected that 3-5 graders who spend 40 hours on Dreambox will show a 10 point increase in their NWEA MAP data.”

Although your student will be spending the majority of their time on Dreambox during school hours, they will also receive it as homework from time to time. I will be assigning them to do problems that augment the specific math targets we are working on in the classroom! This is true of the Tenmarks site as well.

**Did you hear about our first raffle! Many valuable prizes were raffled off! Be sure to ask your child how he/she can earn raffle tickets within the classroom! We will be having a raffle every month!!!

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. We just finished our second shared reading book of the year, a story entitled Washed up! It featured three families on a Survival show and the challenges they faced along the way. Today we started a nonfiction book called Rainforest Food Chains. It goes along perfectly with our study of ecosystems in science!

Spelling- 

Next week, we will start our new Words Their Way spelling program. Most weeks, your child will bring home a new set of words to sort and use for homework tasks.  Each boggle choice sheet is due on Friday with three completed activities.

Below is a link with more information regarding our Words Their Way spelling program:

http://www.kcsd96.org/curriculum/Elementary-Literacy.cfm

What is Words Their Way?

Words Their Way supports the CCSS’s Reading Foundational Skills and Language Standards in Grades K–5. The depth and breadth of word knowledge developed through the Words Their Way approach to word study also supports the Common Core’s emphasis on students’ reading more complex literary and informational texts.

Writing

* We just completed our first information/explanatory research project about an ecosystem. Ask them to show you their work in their,  Google Docs. After conducting research and recording these facts on a graphic organizer, your child composed a five paragraph essay about an ecosystem of his/her choosing. Our next writing project will involve researching an endangered animal and composing a brochure to highlight different aspects of the animal's life and endangered status.

Math
Today we took our CFA on the last target in our unit, 5.NBT.4, which consists of rounding decimals! The students did quite well on this! Please look for this CFA to come home on MONDAY. Kindly sign the attached sheet after looking it over and send it back to school with your child on Tuesday. Next week we will spend the beginning part of the week reviewing for our upcoming math unit test on Thursday. Today we reviewed by playing a really fun, interactive game called KAHOOT! Be sure to ask your child about it!

The following targets will be assessed on Thursday's unit test:

5.nbt.1-Recognize that in a multi-digit number, 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.

5.nbt.2-Use patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by Powers of Ten, to determine the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a Power of Ten. Use positive integer exponents to denote Powers of Ten.

5.nbt.3-Write and compare decimals to thousandths using base-ten numerals, number names and expanded form.

5.nbt.4-Use place value understanding to round decimals to any place.

Unit 2 will be starting as October begins. Here is a link to the parent letter for Unit 2.

parent letter Unit 2

Social Studies

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

Science

 Our current focus is on understanding the makings of various ecosystems around the world. We are working on our unit about Consumers in an ecosystem. Next week we will be dissecting owl pellets in order to bring a hands-on learning aspect to this study. The pellets are like small treasures with many discoveries inside! The kids are so excited about doing this!

Upcoming Events
9/25 District 96 Dash
9/27 Early Release @2:00

9/26- Book fair starts

9/28-6:30-8:00 - Ice Cream Social, Book Fair open during ice cream social

10/3 – NO SCHOOL – District Holiday

10/10 – NO SCHOOL – Columbus Day

10/11 – NO SCHOOL – District Holiday

Girls interested in math and Science look at the information below:

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day – October 13, 2016

Please see the below invitation for the Siemens Healthineers “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” Day in Hoffman Estates. There are currently 50 spots available; registration information can be found below. If you are interested in volunteering at this event, watch for a message next week with information on how to get involved. We hope to see you there!

Rsvp Here

	Girls in Grades 5-12 are Invited!
	On behalf of Siemens Healthineers, we invite you to our Introduce aGirl to Engineering event at our facility on Thursday, October 13, 2016.   Did you know that engineers are changing our world every day? Participate in Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day to learn how creative and collaborative engineering is and how engineers are improving our world and quality of life. We will open our factory to girls in grades 5-12. You'll enjoy a factory tour and learn more about the reasons to love engineering!    There is no cost to attend.

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