Happy Friday Families!

Winter break is quickly approaching and students have been hard at work. As the calendar year comes to a close, I can't help but look back on all the wonderful things students have done so far this year! With winter MAP testing finished up, students have been doing some reflection on the work that they have done so far this year and the progress they have made towards meeting their goals. This reflection and goal setting is important for student growth and will continue as we move forward into the New Year. 

I hope that everyone has a wonderful winter break and that you are able to take time to rest and be surrounded by peace, love and joy!

Here are the targets we are focusing on as we continue to work through the second grading period:

Literacy
*Through our ReadyGen lessons students read a historical fiction piece titled "Operation Clean Sweep". This story was told from the point of view of a young boy living in Umatilla, Oregon in 1916. The story tells how the women in the town had recently earned the right to vote and had decided to run in the election for local political offices and surprised everyone when they won! After reading and analyzing this story, students spent time comparing and contrasting this story with our previous story "Road to Freedom" and looking at how the two stories approach similar themes of "people fighting for equality". We are now reading and analyzing a biography with a similar theme about Cesar Chavez, and we will proceed to compare that story to the previous two. Through all lessons we have been working on summarizing, comparing and contrasting, and point of view.

Writing
*We have finished our opinion papers based on our reading of The Road to Freedom, and are currently writing opinion papers on the effects of video games on kids. Students conducted research on the pros and cons of video games and are now writing opinion pieces using the evidence they discovered.

Math
*We have started our next unit on multiplying multi-digit whole numbers. In this unit students will learn a variety of strategies for multiplying multi-digit whole numbers, but ultimately will be responsible for knowing how to solve problems using the standard algorithm. I have started meeting individually and with small groups with students who need continued support with this particular skill. As we work through this unit, students are also being exposed to and practicing multiplication involving decimals and division strategies.

Social Studies
*We are starting to dive into our new unit on government/civics in the upcoming weeks, and our students will begin to start digging deeper into the concepts of patriotism.

Science
*We are reaching the end of our unit on Earth Systems. The unit discussed the four main systems of Earth: the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. In addition to learning about their attributes and characteristics, we also identified interactions that occur between the systems. We also looked at how humans impact the Earth's system, particularly the affects of farming and industry. Students conducted an investigation to model the effects of the mining industry on the geosphere by "mining" chocolate chips from chocolate chip (safe snack list approved-"Enjoy Life" brand) cookies!

Upcoming Events

December 21 (Friday): Winter Parties @ 1:45 PM 

December 22 - January 6: WINTER BREAK

January 8 - Feb 15: 5th Grade Parents don't forget to provide the office with your proof of residency. See Mr. Hanrahan's blog for more details: https://www.kcsd96.org/ih-principal/blog/1617015/december-7-2018 

February 19 - Ivy Hall Celebrates Diversity 

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. Students must be equipped with snow pants, snow boots, jacket, gloves, and hat. 

Happy Friday Families!

It was great seeing everyone to discuss your students' academic progress during conferences last week. I loved that I was able to learn more about each student through the conversations we shared! Now that we're already into trimester 2, I am excited to see how much more the students will grow throughout the year. There is so much to teach and so much to learn, but so little time! Please keep the lines of communication open and email me with any questions or concerns!

I hope that everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving break and enjoyed spending time with love ones. As our snow day this week reminded us, winter has fully arrived, and we are quickly heading into the last month of 2018. With that being said, let the countdown to winter break commence! 

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

Literacy
*Our students are wrapping up our shared text, 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. Our students were highly engaged throughout text and had many great discussions related to topics raised within the story. Our previous social studies unit covered slavery, and the students were able to make cross-curricular connections to help deepen their understanding of slavery and the Civil War era. Using this shared text, we worked on literacy skills such as summarizing and identifying narrator's point of view.

Please check in with your student periodically about his/her usage time on our Successmaker program. In order to "stay in the green" students need to complete about three twenty-minutes session per week. Although we sometimes have an opportunity to spend some time on it at school, those students who are consistently meeting their weekly goals are also using it at home as well. Students can use this time towards their at home reading log minutes.

Writing
*We are currently using The Road to Freedom as a springboard for various writing samples. We have practiced writing short-constructed responses, and we are currently planning and writing an opinion paper based on topics/issues related to slavery from the book.

Math
*We are continuing our unit with decimals, which include writing, comparing, rounding, adding, and subtracting decimals. Recently, we started working on converting within powers of ten using the metric system and real life examples such as technology storage (gigabytes, megabytes, kilobytes). As the students explore powers of ten, they are also solidifying their conceptual understanding of shifting place values when multiplying and dividing by tens. We will be having a unit test to cover all of the topics in decimals we have learned next Friday.

Social Studies
*Last trimester, we closed off our unit about slavery and how it affected the growth of Colonial America. We will be diving into government/civics in the upcoming weeks, and our students will start to dig deeper into the concepts of patriotism.

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. This week we've been focused on learning about how the earth systems interact to produce weather. 

Upcoming Events
December 4 (Tuesday): Math MAP (in morning)

December 5 (Wednesday): Reading MAP (in afternoon)

December 11  (Tuesday): Early Release @ 2:00 PM 

December 11  (Tuesday): Special Lunch

December 12 (Wednesday): Lewis and Clark Assembly

December 13 (Thursday): Student Council Field Trip to Belmont Village

December 21 (Friday): Winter Parties @ 1:45 PM 

December 22 - January 6: 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. Students must be equipped with snow pants, snow boots, jacket, gloves, and hat. 

Good Afternoon Families!

It looks as if winter weather already here!  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. 

I am excited to meet with 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.  You can log onto Sign-Up Genius to check your conference time.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. 

We have been having many student forget their instruments for band or orchestra. Please know that at this point in the year, students are not permitted to call home if this happens. I appreciate your cooperation in helping students become responsible for being prepared. This is also true of making sure that they come to school each day  with a charged I-PAd and logic-tech crayon. When students do not have these items, their daily work is impacted significantly.

School Progress Reports

***Your child’s progress report will be available online after 3:00 pm this afternoon.  

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 might you expect to see for a standard that repeats in more than one trimester? You might 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.

Here's What's Happening in Class:

Literacy

This week we, we started our new story, 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. We look forward to having many valuable discussions related to topics raised within the story.

Writing

Our students are currently wrapping up their research on an endangered animal, and creating a brochure or Google Slideshow discussing why the animal is endangered, and what the world can do to save them from becoming extinct.  Have your child tell you some fun facts about his or her endangered animal! The QR codes that link to these projects will be hanging in the hall during conferences. Once you scan them with your camera on an I-Phone, or with any QR code reader app, you'll be able to view your child's project. Our next writing sample will be our first in the genre of opinion writing!

Math

Our students are continuing their work with decimals.  They are currently refining their skills in the area of using expanded  decimal notation, comparing decimals, adding and subtracting decimals, and rounding decimals. We took another checkpoint assessment today, and will be wrapping up our decimals unit the first week in December with a unit test. 

Social Studies

Last week we wrapped up our learning about slavery and how it affected the growth of Colonial America.  We will dive into Government/Civics in the coming weeks. 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. 

Please note: I mistakenly assigned current event article to students next week. Those students were given a new calendar and will be presenting the following week. So sorry for the mix-up!

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. At this point, your child should be able to tell you what each Earth system contains. We will be focusing on determining which of Earth’s systems interact to produce weather and climate, as well as what we can do to protect the Earth systems.

Upcoming Events

**Monday, November 19: Early Release - 2:00 PM

**Monday, November 19 & Tuesday, November 20: Parent - Parent / Teacher Conferences

**Tuesday, November 20-Friday, November 23: No School - 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.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.  Enjoy your weekend and stay warm!

We finished out the month of October with a boo! Our parade and classroom parties were such fun!  It’s hard to believe that November has arrived! Don’t forget to “fall back” Saturday evening for Daylight Savings Time! Be sure to turn your clocks back for an extra hour of sleep!

Literacy

*During shared reading we recently finished Pale Male, a true story about a Red-tailed hawk who took up residence on a high rise in New York City in 1991. Be sure to ask your child about the real life adventures of this unusual bird! In the coming weeks we will also begin to analyze poetry and become familiar with vocabulary and terms related to this genre. In addition, we will continue to use writing in response to nonfiction text, providing textual support and evidence for such responses.

Our informal book talks have been going great! So many students have been volunteering to talk to the class about what they are reading! Their peers are getting great suggestions on what books to read! If you ever go to the public library on a weekend, be sure to have your student bring his/her I-Pad along. Each student has a “book tracker” document with a list of the book talk books that they may be interested in reading!

Students have been doing a great job on utilizing our new “Successmaker” reading app resource. Our gaol is for students to stay “in the green” for usage minutes. Last Friday, 77% were in the green which is fantastic! Students are most likely to stay in the green if they work on Successmaker at home as well as school. We are tracking our progress on a weekly basis. 

Writing

*Students are researching and composing brochures based upon an endangered animal of their choice. Using the skills learned  when writing their previous essays about eco- systems, students are applying such skills independently to these brochures!

Math

*We are digging decimals! In the coming weeks we will be perfecting skills in the area of using expanded  decimal notation, comparing decimals, adding and subtracting decimals, and rounding decimals. We will have a checkpoint at the end of next week to track our progress.

Science

*Our next unit will focus on the four main Earth systems: The Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Geosphere. We will learn about each system individually, as well as how the four systems interact in our environment. 

Social Studies

*As we finish up our learning about indentured servitude, we will learn how slavery affected the growth of the English colonies. 

**Please note: Current Event Calendars for November came home at the beginning of the week. Presentations for November start on Monday.

Family Educator Conference:

Please remember to sign up for a family educator conference using the link below. Conferences will be held November 19th and 20th.

https://www.signupgenius.com/index.cfm?go=c.SignUpSearch&eid=0EC0C0D9FDCFFD65&cs=09B6BADF8FCD8B6C7B7B64715BB29BCB&sortby=l.title&view=l 

Upcoming Events

November 1 (Thursday): Orchestra Demonstration Concert 7PM @ Twin Groves

November 6 (Tuesday): No School

November 9 (Friday): HALF DAY (Dismissal @ 11:45AM)

November 15 (Thursday): Family Reading Night (6:30PM-7:45PM)

November 19 (Monday) Early Release @ 2:00, Conferences 5:00-7:00 p.m.

November 20 (No school) Conferences  2:00-7:00 p.m.

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.

**As the months get chilly, it may be a good idea to have your child bring a sweater/light jacket to keep within the room.

**Please remember that students should be reading nightly and filling out their reading logs.

Hi Parents,

We've had an action-packed few weeks in fifth grade and I'd love to share some of the highlights with you below! The kids have also been working hard at home and at school on their MAP  literacy and math goal work. I am pleased that so many students are recording their work at home on their logs and sharing it with me at school. Each Friday we will be tracking our week's usage on the Successmaker app. Our goal each Friday is for the majority of students to be in the green zone! Be sure to ask your student about this! We are excited to use Successmaker as a way to improve our reading skills!

Literacy

*In the past week we have made the transition in our reading from primarily fiction texts to nonfiction texts. We are working on quoting accurately and comparing/contrasting characters and events within these nonfiction texts. We have begun practicing these skills by using shared reading text titled Rainforest Food Chains. The students have begun looking at various text features in this text and using them to help them locate evidence to support their thinking with question responses. This text is replete with vocabulary and we have been playing games to increase our knowledge and understanding of all of these new words!

Writing

*Students have completed their narratives and have now moved to expository writing. Students have been researching an ecosystem and using graphic organizers to classify their information. Students are then taking those plans and developing their essays focusing on organized, detailed information with transition words to help the flow of their writing. Ask your student to share information they have learned about the ecosystem they are researching and writing about! When we are completely finished next week, students will share them at home as well!

Math

*We are nearing the end of our second unit in math which focuses on fractions. The unit 2 targets includes addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators and solving fraction story problems. Students have completed two checkpoints on these targets, and are receiving instruction based on needs identified in those assessments. The end of unit assessment for these targets will be given next week, most likely on Tuesday. In number corner we've been weighing two carrots regularly in order to track the information on a double line graph. Our smaller carrot has lost a considerable amount of mass! Ask your student to describe its appearance! Yuck!

Science

*We are continuing our focus on understanding the characteristics of various ecosystems around the world. We have been creating our own food chains and food webs, and learning about the flow of matter in an ecosystem. Ask your student about how carbon dioxide, carbon, and oxygen flow through an ecosystem.

Social Studies

*We have started learning about indentured servitude and its effect on the colonial economy.  We began by discussing colonization and the reasons people would choose to leave their homes in Europe to come to the “New World”. This lead to discussing the system of indentured servitude as a means of coming to the “New World” for those who could not afford passage on a ship. Students learned the effects of this system on the colonial economy and will begin to learn how this system lead to slavery in the colonies.

Word Their Way

*We have begun our work with our spelling/word study program called Words Their Way. District 96 utilizes this curriculum to implement spelling/word study. All students have access to a Spelling City account which has games tailored to your student's individual list. These games can be played at home too!

Family Educator Conference:

Please remember to sign up for a family educator conference using the link below. Conferences will be held November 19th and 20th.

https://www.signupgenius.com/index.cfm?go=c.SignUpSearch&eid=0EC0C0D9FDCFFD65&cs=09B6BADF8FCD8B6C7B7B64715BB29BCB&sortby=l.title&view=l

Upcoming Events

October 23 (Tuesday): EARLY RELEASE DAY (Dismissal @ 2PM)

October 26 (Friday): PTO Movie Night, Grades 3-5 (6:30PM-8:00PM)

October 31 (Wednesday): Halloween - Parade @1:30PM/Party @2-2:45PM (Please see the principal’s message for more details)

November 1 (Thursday): Orchestra Demonstration Concert 7PM @ Twin Groves

November 6 (Tuesday): No School

November 9 (Friday): HALF DAY (Dismissal @ 11:45AM)

November 15 (Thursday): Family Reading Night (6:30PM-7:45PM)

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.

**As the months get chilly, it may be a good idea to have your child bring a sweater/light jacket to keep within the room.

**Please remember that students should be reading nightly and filling out their reading logs.

Mrs. Holzhauer's Blog Update 9/28/18

First full month of school: Check! Time sure flies by when we're having fun
learning! It is about that time of the year when the leaves are turning shades of red and yellow and all the comfy sweaters come out. Autumn is just around the corner, and there is still so much going on within our classroom! Continue reading to know all about what's been happening in fifth grade. 

Literacy

*We have been preparing for our Unit 1A assessments next week. We are working on quoting accurately from a text by providing evidence and comparing/contrasting characters and events within literary texts. We have been practicing these skills by using shared reading texts such as Night of the Spadefoot Toad and "Shells". The students have been analyzing the main characters in each text to compare and contrast them. This helps them dig deeper into the development of the main characters. Today we also started using a new app on the I-Pads that is being utilized district-wide called Successmaker. It focuses on many of the literacy skills we are emphasizing within the classroom. Students will be utilizing this engaging app both at home and at school. More information will be forthcoming. 

Writing

*Students are continuing to work on narrative writing. After utilizing graphic organizers to plan, students developed their stories through the use of a detailed sequence of events and effective character development. Encouraging students to infuse dialogue into their writing was also an emphasis. We are working on elevating their writing by adding higher level transitional words and figurative language. Ask your student to share with you their narratives! We have also been working on making sure that we are answering comprehension questions in a thorough and accurate manner. By fifth grade, students are expected to produce well-written, edited responses.

Math

*We just finished our first unit in math, which included order of operations and volume. Unit tests will be sent home next week for you to view, sign and return to school. We have recently started Unit 2, which includes addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators and solving fraction story problems. 

Science

*We are continuing our focus on understanding the characteristics of various ecosystems around the world. We just completed our owl pellet investigation, which was so much fun and exciting. Using the owl pellet investigation, the students were able to learn more about producers, consumers, and the flow of energy within the ecosystem. Ask your child about what they discovered in the pellets!

Social Studies

*We plan on starting indentured servitude and its effect on the colonial economy in the coming days.  

Words Their Way

*We are starting our spelling program, Words Their Way, soon. District 96 utilizes this curriculum to implement spelling/word study. More information will be sent home shortly. We will also be using a site called Spelling City to support our learning in this area. 

Upcoming Events

October 1-3 (Monday-Wednesday): Book Fair

October 8 (Monday): NO SCHOOL (Columbus Day)
October 15 (Monday): Picture Retakes

October 23 (Tuesday): EARLY RELEASE DAY (Dismissal @ 2PM)

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.

**As the months get chilly, it may be a good idea to have your child bring a sweater/light jacket to keep within the room.

Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th Grade Blog 9/14/18

Happy Friday!

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been back in school for several weeks! Please read below to find out about all of the wonderful learning that is going on in 5th grade at Ivy Hall! Today’s Fun Run was fabulous! The weather could not have been better! 

Literacy

*We are finishing up our first shared reading book of the year—Night of the Spadefoot Toad by Bill Harley. We’ve used this text as a springboard for many reading and writing learning targets thus far.  This book has also connected nicely to our study of ecosystems in science. Be sure to ask your student about what he/she has learned about vernal pools and spade foot toads! We are having fun with a few culminating projects! Students are making posters to reflect important literary elements of the book. We are also working cooperatively to write comprehension questions based on the book that I will compile into a KAHOOT game that the kids will play on their I-pads! If you haven’t heard about KAHOOT, be sure to ask your child about it!

Writing

*Students are in the process of finishing their first narrative stories of the year! After utilizing graphic organizers to plan, students developed their stories through the use of a detailed sequence of events and effective character development. Encouraging students to infuse dialogue into their writing was also an emphasis.  We will be writing yet another narrative in order to apply what we’ve learned and produce an even higher quality sample.

Math

*Our students are continuing their work with writing and evaluating numerical expressions with parentheses as well as demonstrating their understanding of how find the volume of rectangular prisms. We’ve been also been on focusing  basic multiplication strategies in preparation for more complex problems that will be headed our way soon! Be sure to ask your student about the following strategies: doubling and halving, the over strategy, and the 5 is half of 10 strategy. Our “Number Corner” routine which takes place each day for about 20 minutes outside of our regular math block, is well under way! Here, students practice skills in such areas as computational fluency and problem solving (in addition to several others) on a daily basis. We’ve been focusing on focusing our basic multiplication strategies in preparation for more complex problems that will be headed our way soon

Social Studies

*We plan on starting indentured servitude and its effect on the colonial economy in the coming days.  Please note that new current events calendars for the month of October will be sent home the week of September 24. Kindly help your student make a note of their presentation date in order to be ready and prepared! Thus far, students having been doing a great job!

Science

*We are continuing our focus on understanding the characteristics of  various ecosystems around the world. Our first science investigation involved “traveling” to virtual ecosystems and studying the interactions between living and nonliving organisms. Our learning throughout the week focused on learning about producers and the process of photosynthesis. Ask your child to tell you what a plant uses during the process, as well as what byproducts a plant gives off!

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, Sept. 18—PTO Special Lunch

Wednesday, Sept. 19 -No School/District Holiday

Tuesday, Sept. 25—Early Release at 2:00

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.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Thank you for your continued partnership and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th Grade Blog

Good Afternoon Families!

Our school year is off and running! It was an absolute pleasure meeting many of you at 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, feel free to contact me with any questions! If you have a Twitter account be sure to follow me at  julie_holzhauer  to hear about some of our educational adventures! 

In addition to becoming comfortable with all of our organizational and academic routines, we have been doing a variety of teambuilding activities in order to establish a level of trust between classmates! Each Friday, we try to end the week with a team builder in order to start the weekend on a positive note. Today we played the card game called SPOONS! Be sure to ask your student about it! We had tons of fun!

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 comparing and contrasting characters, events, and settings of stories, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges. We are also working on “quoting accurately” within a text which involves students supplying text support for their answers. We are greatly enjoying our shared reading book, Night of The Spadefoot Toads. Because some of the chapters are quite lengthy, students are being required to read portions at home. They are welcome to use their print copy, or read the story on their I-Pads. Students are welcome to use this reading towards their daily required reading of 20-30 minutes. Home reading logs have been introduced and students are becoming comfortable with the routine of recording their minutes.

Writing

* Our students are off to a great start writing narrative pieces.  We are currently working on planning an original story, including a 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 math routines. In fact, with the new month approaching, we will also be starting our daily Number Corner routine. 

Please check take home folders for your child's math checkpoint. After looking it over, kindly sign the attached slip and return the entire packet back to school on Tuesday. Any student who did not receive a mastery grade or higher will receive extra help/support.

Science

• Instruction utilizing our TCI science curriculum is well underway!  Our current focus is on understanding the makings of a various ecosystems around the world. This week we played a really fun game to practice some of the vocabulary from this unit. After taping a card to the back of each student, they partnered with peers in order to ask questions and guess the term! Our ecosystems unit ties nicely into the reading we are doing with The Night of the Spadefoot Toad book we are reading during our literacy block.

Social Studies

**Though we have not started our formal curriculum yet, today we spent some time learning about Labor Day and its significance. Be sure to ask your child which U.S. President made Labor Day a Federal holiday! 

Also, Current Events Calendars for the month came home earlier in the week. Please support your student in being prepared on his/her assigned day. 

Upcoming Events

** Monday September 3rd - No School (Labor Day)

**Wednesday, September 5th—Picture Day

**Monday, September 10th—District Holiday—No school

**Wednesday, September 19th—District Holiday—No school

**Tuesday, September 25th—Early Release @ 2:00

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.

Have a great long weekend!