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  nearing the end of our shared text, The Road to Freedom. It is 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 individual chapters and have been looking at how different text features affect how the 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. Be sure to ask your student what topic he/she chose to write about. We will continue to work on Opinion writing throughout the trimester.


Math
*We finished up our unit with decimals, which included writing, comparing, rounding, adding, and subtracting decimals. We also worked on converting within powers of ten using the metric system. Our next unit will have us focus multiplying multi-digit numbers.. By the end of the unit, all students will be expected to show proficiency utilizing the traditional method for multiplication. Those students who are already proficient in multi-digit multiplication will participate in other learning experiences which build on this knowledge.


Social Studies
We are taking a break from Social Studies to focus on Science. Our social studies unit will resume in a few weeks!

Science
*We recently started learning about ways that governments, companies, and individuals can protect our earth. Today we conducted a really fun investigation that involved students working with small groups to create a water filter out of various materials. After planning and drawing a diagram of their filter yesterday, today students executed their plan by using coffee filters, cotton balls, stones, pebbles and other materials in order to make a filter that would clean muddy water. One of our groups was able to produce water that was ALMOST clean enough to drink!

Upcoming Events

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

December 11th: MAP Testing (Math)

December 20th (PM): Winter Parties @2:00

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. 

Happy Friday Families!

I hope everyone is staying warm during this early November Arctic blast!  As we deal with the bitter cold, however 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, Rainforest Food Chains.  Next week we will begin reading a book titled The Road to Freedom. This 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. This week students finished working in groups to produce a video about an assigned Earth system. Together, they researched information, wrote scripts, and produced their videos! Students really seemed to have fun during this learning experience. These will be in the hall for you to enjoy during conferences!


Upcoming Events
November 19 (Tuesday): PTO Special Lunch
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!

5th Grade Blog Update 11/1/19

Happy November Families!

We finished out the month of October with a boo! Even though we were forced to stay inside due to the weather, our parade and classroom parties were such fun!  We didn’t let a little snow hamper our celebration! 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

*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

Recently, 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 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

We have continued our learning about the four Earth Systems and how they interact. We are learning about how the Earth’s climate and weather are connected to these interactions.In order to enhance their learning, students are also working in small groups to produce a movie about an assigned Earth system. This video must be structured around answering certain questions such as...How does this Earth system interact with other? How do people play a role in enhancing or harming this Earth system?  They are having a great time time on this project and are getting some invaluable practice on working with others towards a common goal.

Social Studies

Next week we will continue our Civics unit by focusing on different forms of government. We will primarily focus on direct and indirect democracy, monarchy, and dictatorship. We will also learn the important aspects of each form of government, including examples of countries that utilize each of them. 

Upcoming Events

November 4 (Monday): Beginning band concert at TG at 7:00

November 7 (Thursday): Orchestra concert at Woodlawn at 7:00
November 11 (Monday) Picture Re-takes

November 15 (Friday): HALF DAY (Dismissal @ 11:45AM)

November 19  (Tuesday) PTO Special Lunch

November 21 (Thursday) Family Reading Night 6:30PM

Hi Parents,

We've had a busy week of learning! Here's a quick update to let you have peek into the content we have been covering in each of the academic areas:

Literacy

* We have begun reading a shared reading text titled Washed Up, a story about three families that are on a survival reality show. Within this text the students have continued to examine various text features to them to help them locate evidence to support their thinking with question responses. We've also been looking at the way authors link one chapter in a book to the next. Does foreboding occur? Does the author leave us with a cliffhanger? Do the characters and setting change from on chapter to the next?

Writing

*Students have completed their narrative stories and have now moved to expository writing. We have been researching an environment of choice (desert, tundra, rainforest or prairie) and are using graphic organizers to classify this information. Students will eventually utilize these plans to develop an essay. After our research is complete, we will learn how to write an effective introduction, and then move onto body paragraph writing. Ask your student to share information they have learned about the ecosystem they are researching and writing about!

Math

*We are nearing the end of our second unit in math which focuses on fractions. The unit 2 targets include 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. In number corner, we've been weighing two carrots regularly 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 individual 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

*This week, we have been working hard to answer the question, What are the Responsibilities and Powers of the officials in the US after gaining independence? To do this, we have been studying the three Branches of Government (Executive, Legislative, Judicial) and have been exploring the checks and balances in place to ensure that one office does not have more power over the other.

Words Their Way

*We have been continuing our work with our spelling/word study program called Words Their Way. We meet weekly in small groups to discuss patterns and word meanings.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, October 22nd—Early Release @ 2:00
Friday, October 25th--School picture re-takes
Thursday, October 31st--Halloween parade and classroom parties

Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th Grade Blog 9-27-19

Happy Friday Families!

Please read below to find out about all of the wonderful learning that is going on in 5th grade at Ivy Hall!

Literacy

*After finishing our novel, Night of the Spadefoot Toad, we read a short story called Shells and an excerpt from the book Hatchet. After reading each of these additional texts we have been making connections between all three literary samples. We have been comparing and contrasting characters, settings, and events, within and across the three texts. We have also continued to work on using quoted evidence to support our thinking. Today we played a fun game called "Numbered Heads" to practice finding evidence and quotes within a story.

Our "First Chapter Friday" routine has been going great! Each Friday I've been reading the first chapter of a book aloud in order to entice students to want to read the rest on their own! So far, I've had many students want to do so! Today I read the first chapter of Stone Fox by Robert Gardiner!

*The book fair starts next week with a preview day on Tuesday. Students will have a chance to browse the shells and will bring home a "wish list". If you would like your child to purchase any of those books (or any others at the book fair) you can send money with your student on Wednesday or Thursday of next week and I will find time for them to make purchases. Books can also be purchased on Thursday evening as well.

Writing

*Students have continued to work on narrative writing. They have continued to use graphic organizers to plan, then developed their stories through the use of a detailed sequence of events and effective character development. Students have also continued to be encouraged to add dialogue into their writing to enhance the reader’s understanding of their characters, setting, and events. Last week we focused on writing effective endings. We've been trying to include interesting vocabulary, effective imagery and even some figurative language!

Math

*This week we began our second math unit focusing on addition and subtraction of fractions. This week we have been utilizing money and time to model the operations. The models have provided a springboard for teaching students to make common denominators before adding or subtracting. As we come to the end of this week students determined which models best fit with each fraction equation.

Social Studies

*Last week we concluded our discussions on why America declared its independence from Britain. As we move forward in the next portion of our social studies unit, our focus will be on the responsibilities and powers of officials in the United States after gaining independence. Much of the conversation will center on understanding the powers and responsibilities of each of the three branches of our government. You may have heard that I showed the kids the Schoolhouse Rock video about the Preamble! They were quite impressed that I was able to sing it by heart.!When I told them that I had learned it many, many years ago when I was in elementary school by watching the video, many of them did the same! I was so impressed with their renditions!!

Science

*We have continued our unit on ecosystems by learning about the difference between producers and consumers. When learning about consumers we got an opportunity to dissect owl pellets in class. Students thoroughly enjoyed looking through the pellet at all of the bones to see the animals the owl ate. After dissection we discussed the flow of energy through food chains in ecosystems. We are excited about next week's field trip which will highlight many of the concepts we've been learning in science!

Upcoming Events

Sept. 30 - No School

Oct. 1 - Kirberger / Holzhauer Field Trip - BRING A SACK LUNCH

Oct. 3 - Ice Cream Social / Book Fair - 6pm-8pm

Oct. 4 - Pangilinan / Dalton Field Trip - BRING A SACK LUNCH

Oct. 9-14 No School

Friendly Reminders

** Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack.  Nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack! Please also remember that we do have students in our room with allergies, so snacks need to be allergy friendly. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding appropriate classroom snacks.

** 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!

Happy Friday Families!

It was great to wrap up our week with the Fun Run! We didn't let a few puddles get in our way! The kids had a great time at their last (sniff, sniff) Fun Run in elementary school! Our last hour of school today was spent participating in a school-wide SEL (social emotional learning) activity about effective problem-solving strategies. We ended our day with part two of our team building game called THE BEST GAME that we started last Friday. Be sure to ask your child about it! We had sooo much fun!

Literacy

*We are finishing up our first shared reading book of the year—Night of the Spadefoot Toads 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 spadefoot toads! Today we played some culminating Kahoot and Quizlet games that test our vocabulary and comprehension knowledge of the story. 

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 also began our “Number Corner” routine which takes place each day for about 20 minutes outside of our regular math block. Here, students practice skills in such areas as computational fluency and problem solving (in addition to several others) on a daily basis. 

Social Studies

*We started our discussion 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 of our discussions will revolve around why America declared its independence from Britain. Today I showed an "old school" Schoolhouse Rock video entitled "No More Kings!" to help the kids understand why the colonies broke away from England. :)

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. This week we also learned what a plant does and does not need to grow and survive. Many of the kids were surprised to learn that soil is not actually required--but sunlight, water and carbon dioxide definitely are!

Upcoming Events

Sept. 30 - No School/District Holiday

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 18. Brushing up on division facts would be helpful too, as we will be learning the process of long division this year!

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!

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 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. Last Friday we played the card game Left, Center, Right in groups. The kids loved it! Today I introduced the card game Spoons to the class. They played in groups and really enjoyed it! Be sure to ask your student about it!!

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 will soon become comfortable with the routine of recording their minutes. Please encourage your student to find a convenient spot at home to keep his/her log. Students should be recording the minutes themselves each day. They are due back each Monday with a parent signature. Our first check in will be Monday, Sept. 9.

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. Today we traveled to virtual ecosystems around globe, making not of the living and nonliving organisms that interacted on each. Next, we will be learning more specifically about the producers, consumers and decomposers who make up our ecosystem. 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

Because our focus has been on Science for the last few weeks, we have not yet started our first Social Studies unit. Stay tuned for more details in the upcoming days ahead!

Upcoming Events

** Monday September 2rd - No School (Labor Day)

**Friday, Sept. 13—Ivy Hall Fun Run

**Tuesday, September 24th—Early Release @ 2:00

**Monday, September 30th—No School/District Holiday

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!

5th Grade Blog update for 5-10-19

Happy Friday families!

Now that the weather is finally cooperating, it actually feels like Spring! It’s hard to believe that we are heading into our final month of school!

I’d like to thank everyone for making Teacher Appreciation Week so special! The cards, letter, flowers, and treats were amazing! I am so lucky to work with such an amazing group of students and parents! I truly feel so appreciated!

Please be sure to refer to the important upcoming dates at the end of this blog. We have so many exciting activities in the weeks ahead!

Here’s what we’ve been working in this week:

Literacy:

We are finishing up our exciting novel, George’s Secret Key to the Universe. The kids have enjoyed the plot twists and the wonderful character development! Other books within the series would make great summer reading choices! These books by Stephen and Lucy Hawking are really terrific!

Writing:

We have been hard at work on our science fiction stories!Students have planned stories which include elements of science fiction such as time travel, advanced technology, or advanced life forms! Thus far, their stories sound amazing! They are really enjoying the creative aspects of narrative writing! We have also been honing our summary writing skills through our literacy targets.

Math

We have started our final unit in math, one which focuses on division and decimals. We have recently been working with powers of ten and will be moving into the multiplication and division of decimals. We have been trying hard to make sure that all students are able to solve long division problems using the traditional method. Students who just recently learned this method will need to practice periodically over the summer to ensure retention heading into 6th grade.

Social Studies

We are currently learning about the Columbian Trade Route and the many animals, foods, riches and diseases that were traded between the Old and New Worlds during the time of Christopher Columbus. Last week your student brought home a letter explaining the details of our much anticipated Trade Fair, which takes place on Friday, May 24—which is also a half day of school.. Please periodically check in with your student to be sure that he/she is working at home on preparing the items needed for the Trade Fair.

Science

Currently, as a part of our unit on Matter, we are learning about what causes substances to change. Students are learning how to use fair tests to plan an investigation. We will be planning  and carrying out an investigation where we will mix together a variety of different substances. Students will develop a plan to identify which substances react together to form new substances.

Important Dates and Friendly Reminders:

Friday, May 10—Family Picnic 6:00-8:00 pm

Tuesday, May 14—Early Release @ 2:00

Thursday, May 16—Band Extravaganza

Friday, May 17— 5th Grade Spring Fling (5th grade t-shits will be handed out next week!!!!)

Monday, May 20—Tour of Twin Groves

Tuesday, May 21—PTO Special Lunch

Friday, May 24—1/2 Day, Trade Fair

Monday, June 27—No School Memorial Day

Happy Friday!

The month of April is really flying by and students have been working hard to show what they know! This week we finished the last of our IAR testing, and next week we move on to MAP testing. The Math MAP test will take place on Wednesday May 1, and the reading MAP test will occur on Thursday May 2. Both of these assessments will be used as part of the placement process for 6th grade. Please remind your student to get a good night's rest, eat a hearty breakfast, and bring a healthy snack. Also... don't forget to charge those iPads!

Literacy

Last week we began a new unit in literacy with a theme of exploring the universe. We began our unit with a new novel titled “George’s Secret Key to the Universe” by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. In this book, George’s  neighbor has a superintelligent, superpowered computer that can transport them into space on great adventures! As we have been reading we have continued to practice literacy skills such as comparing and contrasting characters and settings, analyzing themes and using quoted evidence from a text to support responses.

Writing

Within writing, the students have been working on writing their own science fiction stories. After learning and reviewing the main components of a science fiction story students brainstormed ideas for stories and then chose one to use for their story. Students planned their story with an i-planner to identify the characters, setting, problem, solution, and map out the beginning, middle and end of their story. Students have really enjoyed the creativity of this writing task.

Math

Students have wrapped up their work with the hierarchy of polygons and have been multiplying and dividing fractions, including mixed numbers. Students have been working on breaking up the mixed numbers when multiplying and multiplying each of the pieces (4 total multiplication problems) and then adding all 4 solutions together to get the final answer. Arrays have been used as a visual model of this strategy. On Friday students will take the unit 6 post assessment for math and next week we will begin unit 7 which includes skills such as long division, and decimal multiplication and division.

Social Studies

We are continuing to work on our economics unit. We have studied how goods and services work in a market economy, and including the ideas of supply and demand. Next we will study how people of the past were positively and negatively impacted by cultural exchanges.

Science

We have continued to work on our unit on Changes in Matter, which encompasses the three states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). We will be engaging in a fun investigation where students identified various powders such as baking powder, talc powder, salt, and sugar, by their attributes and reactions to substances such as iodine, water, and vinegar.

Upcoming Events

Friday, April 26 -- Half Day // Dismissal @ 11:45

Tuesday, April 30 -- Variety Show

Wednesday, May 1 -- Math MAP test

Thursday, May 2 -- Reading MAP test

Friday, May 3 -- Trip to Twin Groves for musical performance (morning)

Friday, May 10 -- All library books due