Trimester 2 has come to an end and we are ready to kick off our third and final trimester next week!  This week, our students completed several literacy/writing assessments to demonstrate their progress on T2 learning targets.  Students showed perseverance and  stamina and worked incredibly hard! 

Check below to see what we've covered over the last couple of weeks, as well as some of the learning we are looking forward to starting!

Reading

Now that our week of district literacy assessments are behind us, we can now look ahead to the next few weeks. On Monday, we will kick off the grading period with a focus on new literacy targets. We will be utilizing a non fiction text called "Real Life Superheroes" which details the lives of several historical figures, all of whom possess heroic qualities. 

Has your student shown you our monthly reading calendar? If not, please ask them to do so! It shows each week's "reading events" including book talk days, status of the class check-ins, and scheduled individual book conferences. Our renewed emphasis and focus on self-selected reading at home has been quite successful in holding students accountable for their reading outside of school. 

Also, please remember that each Friday your student has fluency Friday poems to read to you over the weekend! Please remind your student to share these poems with you each week!

Writing

After a learning cycle of focusing on narrative writing, we will now refocus our efforts towards analytical writing. For our next project, we will use the above-mentioned "Real life Superheroes" book as a springboard for students to select their own real life superhero to learn more about. Students will practice researching techniques and learn to take notes onto notecards that will be used for an oral presentation. After rehearing with these notecards, students will record themselves using a site called "Flipgrid". This will allow peers and parents to view their presentation and provide positive feedback!

Math

We're currently strengthening our abilities to multiply fractions while utilizing the area model and the traditional method. Most recently, we started to learn how to divide by fractions by understanding whether or not division word problems are sharing or grouping division problems.  We're also learning how to solve these problems utilizing models, as well as more traditional strategies.  We will finish up Unit 5 next week!

**Please note: Students will take the second math placement test on Wednesday, March 2nd.

Social Studies

Students wrapped up their discussions about probable causes and effects of events and developments in U.S. history, with a focus on the exploration of the Arctic.  We read about a British explorer, Robert Scott, who historically competed with a team of Norwegians, in a quest to be the first  to arrive in the South Pole. We learned skills in note-taking and research, and put such skills to use on their project, which asked them to describe the causes and effects of a key event in U.S. history. These projects will be shared by your student at our upcoming conferences!

Science   

In the coming weeks, we will start to explore the states of matter. The students will learn about identifying the changes in matter and substances. We will also discuss matter by learning how changes in substances affect their weight and how engineers improve materials people use on a daily basis.

Family-Educator Conferences

Please make sure to sign up for a conference.  An email was sent by the district yesterday.  If you did not receive the email, please contact the Ivy Hall front office at 847-459-0022.  Conferences this year will be student-centered, so we ask that your child be present during the conference.

Important Dates

March 4th - Report Cards Issued

March 7th - No School (Pulaski Day) 

March 14th - Early Release / Family-Educator Conferences

March 15th - No School / Family-Educator Conferences (students should be in attendance at the conference)

Friendly Reminders

**Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack.  Nothing feeds the brain better than something healthy!

**Please continue to have your child practice his or her multiplication facts up to 12.

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

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