Dear Families,

Happy February! As this “month of love” begins we will start to focus on our school-wide monthly theme of compassion. Throughout the month we will examine how we can show compassion to those around us!

Please Note: Students brought home Valentine lists earlier in the week. I know some students like to plan ahead and may want to start working on their Valentines soon! On the day of our party, February 14th, please be sure that your child brings a Valentine for every student on the list in order to avoid hurt feelings. Also, we will be decorating Valentine bags at school late next week to use on Valentine’s Day to hold our cards. Some students have asked if they can bring in a box (such as a shoe box) to decorate—and that is fine with me! I will be supplying bags and decorative items to those who wish to use them, but students are also welcome to bring decorating items in from home. 

Here is what we’ve been working on in each of our content areas:

Literacy

*This week we’ve been reading a nonfiction story called Angel Island which discusses the journey and challenges faced by Chinese immigrants as they entered the United States in the early 1900’s. In comparison, students also began reading a journal excerpt written by Li Keng Wong, a Chinese immigrant who gives her first-hand account of the discriminatory practices which occurred at Angel Island. By exposing students to first and second hand account resources, we are continuing to explore the differing perspectives and points-of-view reflected in such accounts. As students have been reading about Angel Island, they have also been able to make connections and comparisons to the immigration experience of Eastern Europeans as they entered Ellis Island.

**January reading logs and projects are due MONDAY! The word collages that have been coming intros far look amazing! New reading logs for February were sent home last week.

Writing

*Recently, students read the nonfiction text Real-Life Superheroes, which highlighted the amazing lives of Rosa Parks, Richard Martin, Raoul Wallenberg, and Thomas Barnardo. Among these four "superheroes", students chose one such person to research further. Students are using this research to create a Google slides presentation highlighting his/her life events and accomplishments. Be sure to ask your student about his/her chosen superhero! 

Math

*Within Unit 5, we are continuing to work on multiplying fractions. This week, we practiced multiplying fractions by fractions. The students have been working on creating diagrams using the area model and geoboards to represent dimensions and the area of rectangles. As we head into the next week, students will be practicing their skills with fraction multiplication story problems. Yesterday we started a new theme in number corner for the month of February. We are “collecting” different amounts of water each day, converting the amount into milliliters, and then pouring the water into a 2 liter bottle. By the end of the month, we will see if our bottle can hold all of the water! In addition, our calendar cards have us multiplying fractional dimensions to find the area of a different item each day! Lots of great learning!

Social Studies

*Today we wrapped up our learning about examining the liberties we enjoy in the United States in comparison to countries such as North Korea. Next week we will begin to learn about patriotism. Our previous learning about the Pledge of Allegiance and liberty will lead nicely into this new learning. Students will explore the meaning and importance of patriotism. They will also discuss how people in the United States can show patriotism to their nation. 

**Please continue to remind your student to check the current events calendar for their assigned date. We have been having a number of students unprepared on their assigned date.  Current Events Calendars for February were sent home last week. The calendar is also posted in schoology in the Social Studies course.

Science

*We have started our unit about the Earth, the Moon, and the Stars. This week, we learned about the sun and other stars. Students read about how the brightness of star depends on their proximity to the Earth. We even learned that one star (Rigel) is 773 light years away from the Earth. This means that the light left that star 773 years ago! 

Change Donation Boxes

*Within each classroom, there will be a donation box for students to bring in any loose change. All proceeds are collected to provide underprivileged students with reading books. All and any donations are appreciated. This is a school-wide event, and all the classrooms will be participating. Let's see which class can collect the most change to make a change in the world!

Upcoming Events

Feb. 6th-8th (Tuesday-Thursday) - Book Fair

Feb. 8th (Thursday) - Ivy Hall Celebrates Diversity @ 7PM

Feb. 13th (Tuesday) - Early Dismissal @ 2PM

Feb. 13th (Tuesday) - Band Concert

Feb. 14th (Wednesday) - Valentine's Day Parties @ 2PM

Feb. 19th (Monday) - No School: President's Day

Feb. 23rd (Friday) - Half Day Dismissal @ 11:45AM