Feb. 24- March 6

February 24th-March 6th

Language Arts:

Our next focus skill will be determining the main idea and identifying supporting details. The main idea is the most important or central thought of a passage. Supporting details clarify, explain, and describe the main idea of a passage.

The students did a great job of mastering the commonly misspelled words. Hopefully, they will now begin using these words in normal writing contexts. Here is the next set of words:

Book Talks are due this Friday, February 28th.  The genre is realistic fiction.  Please check in with your child to make sure progress is being made and that their Book Talk is ready to be presented.  The requirements continue to include: minimum of 2 minutes, RAH calendar turned in on time and signed with correct total minutes and object. Thank you!

The next book talk will cover March and April (due to spring break).  March/April's book talk genre will be biography. Please note that the format will be different for this particular Book Talk.  This will be a no-notes presentation. Instead of using notes, the students will only use images on Google Slides to help them present their information. More information on the Book Talk and no-notes presentation will be given in class and through upcoming blogs/emails.

Science:

For the next couple of weeks, we will be moving into our next unit of science, chemical magic. This unit focuses on chemical reactions and properties of matter. This week, students will experiment with several types of solutions to test their hypothesis if you could transform something worthless into gold. By the end of the week, students will create a conceptual model of how particles from the pennies are the same ones that eventually coat the nail in copper. In addition, students will be learning more about acids, which is a group of substances with a reputation for being reactive. Students will be working with safe chemical reactions in class to understand the science behind how different solutions react differently. Our last lesson will focus on gases and particle models where students will understand why things explode. Students will be conducting safe experiments with peers in class to test their predictions and take notes of their observations. Throughout this unit, students will engage in the process of inquiry: beginning with observations, debating a range of possible causes, and reasoning to possible conclusions. By the end of this unit, students will begin to make sense of how the properties of matter connect to why certain chemicals react. 

Math: 

We are in the middle of Unit 5: Fractions and Mixed Numbers Computation and Measurement. The concept of fractions can be more challenging, but the students are making good progress. We are learning how to add and subtract fractions and mixed fractions with like and unlike denominators. The last half of the unit will focus on geometry (angles and symmetry). We appreciate your support at home while working through the home links. Remember, this website is a wonderful resource for home links, explanations and other materials you or your child may need at home:

Everyday Math Unit 5

Please keep plugging away at Reflex Math (if your child hasn't achieved 100% fluency yet).  This is very important for their math progress moving forward.

In addition to our math curriculum, we are stressing the following 8 mathematical principles in our math classes:

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning 

March Madness with Books

All Longfellow students will be participating in “March Madness” with books during the month of March. Homerooms are assigned to a “region.” Every student in each region reads specific titles and votes on the title they want to “win.” Votes will be tallied and displayed in the front hallway each week. We look forward to spreading the joy of reading throughout the building. Which book will win the tournament?

Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) Information from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)

Our students in grades 3-5 take federally required assessments every spring. These assessments help us understand how our students are growing academically, compared to their peers across the state. The state uses this information to provide more support and resources to the schools in the greatest need. This year, the English language arts and math assessment for grades 3-8 is called the Illinois Assessment of Readiness.

The district testing window for the IAR will be March 31-April 21. 

If you could please avoid scheduling doctor visits/trips during this time, it would be most appreciated! Students will have to miss class time to do test makeups.

SEL

This week we will continue learning strategies for calming down. Our next topic is about not jumping to conclusion. Please continue working on those SEL homelinks. These homelinks help connect what we are doing in SEL to home life. Please be sure the date and sign the SEL homelinks. Thank you!

Important Dates

• Friday, February 28: Realistic Fiction Book Talks Due
• Friday, February 28: 
  • Wear 60s groovy clothes to get ready for Bingo Night!
  • PTO Bingo Night, 6:00-9:00 PM
• Monday, March 2: House Meeting
• Friday, March 6: End of Trimester
• Wednesday, March 11: McTeacher Night, 5:00-8:00 PM  (I'll be there from 5-6:15)
• Thursday, March 12: PTO Meeting, 7:00 PM
• Friday, March 13: Trimester 2 Report Cards Sent Home
• Tuesday, March 17: NO SCHOOL, Institute Day
• Thursday, March 19: 
  • House Meeting
  • CCSD21 Board of Education Meeting, 7:30 PM, Gill Administration Building
• Friday, March 20:
  • Sweatshop Assembly sponsored by PTO
  • All School Lunch
• Monday, March 23-Friday, March 27: NO SCHOOL, Spring Break
• Monday, March 30: Return from Spring Break

February 10-February 21

Valentine's Day is this Friday. Students are asked to bring in a box, envelope, bag, or holder for the valentines they receive. They can decide how elaborate or simple their holder will be. Please have your child bring in 21 valentines, one for each person in our classroom. 

Also when entering your child's minutes for the Six Flags Read to Succeed program please use the following code: vbydb   Minutes need to be entered into the site by March 31 to receive a complimentary ticket.
Read to Succeed Link

Language Art

The students did a great job of learning a fact is that can be proven true and an opinion is someone’s own thoughts, feelings, or beliefs. Our next focus skill is theme. Theme is a life lesson, meaning, moral, or message about life or human nature that is communicated by a literary work. Identifying the theme of a story is a more challenging focus skill. It requires the reader to identify a main idea in the story. Then extend the idea to the real world and even your own life. There will be an assessment on theme at the end of the two weeks.

This week we will also introduce the new Spelling/Vocabulary words for Lesson 9. These are
words I often see misspelled in everyday writing. By studying these words for the next two
weeks, I hope to see them spelled correctly in everyday writing.

Math:
Our next unit will start with the study of fractions. Lessons will include decomposing fractions, adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators, word problems, and mixed fractions. Many students are working on a new game called Prodigy. Once students have mastered Reflex Math (multiplication and division facts) they will go onto a more challenging game that has them apply their facts into new concepts. I have asked the students to keep fresh on their facts by using Reflex Math at least once a week still. Once they have mastered those facts I don’t want them to forget all they learned.

For each unit a Family Newsletter goes home for parents. Unit 5 newsletter was sent home on Friday since we will start the first lessen to the unit on Monday. If you misplace your newsletter you can always use this link to access the letter. This link will give you all the units for the year. Everyday Math Family Letters

Home Links (In case your child forgets his/her homelink at school)

Science:

For the next six weeks we will be going back to our science curriculum, Mystery Science. Our first unit we are learning about is waves of sound. This will help students develop the idea that sound is an actual thing, a wave of vibrations traveling through the air. This past week we introduced our first lesson and created paper cup telephones with a partner to see how sound waves travel through each cup and the string. Students goal was to work on creating a clearer sound over a greater distance by using different materials. Students were engineers for the day creating two more experiments that tried to create better communication with their partner. Students began to understand how important vibration is in order to hear your partner. This upcoming week we will continue learning more about sound, waves, and communication. Throughout this unit, students will engage in the process of inquiry: beginning with observations, debating a range of possible causes, and reasoning to possible conclusions. By the end of this unit students will begin to make sense of how sound and music work.

The next few weeks we will focus on mastering this Science standard:

Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.

SEL

In the next few weeks we will be focusing on calming down strategies and managing anxiety. Even though it's a few months away, I often see students using these strategies during state testing (IAR test). Students will decide on a stop signal, name their feeling, and decide on a way to calm down. Some calming techniques we will practice and discuss are taking deep breathes, counting until we have relaxed, and using positive self talk. Hopefully  

  

Important Dates:

• Tuesday, February 11: 100th Day of School! (Grades 1-5)
• Monday, February 17: NO SCHOOL, Presidents Day Celebrated
• Wednesday, February 19: Discovery Science
• Thursday, February 20: CCSD21 Board of Education Meeting, 7:30 PM
• Friday, February 21: Spelling/Vocab Assessments
• Friday, February 28: Book Talk Due AND PTO Bingo Night, 6:00-9:00 PM