Hello, 206 families and friends!

Another busy week in Room 206!

The Greek Independence Day program was amazing! Everyone did a fantastic job! I especially enjoyed hearing the students’ thoughts on Freedom.

This week, we had Ms. Emma from the Des Plaines History Center teach us about the artist Aaron Douglas, a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Students learned about his art career, which focused on addressing social issues like race and segregation in the United States. They had the opportunity to create their own paintings using some of his techniques, experimenting with gradients of color and creating silhouettes of people in motion.

In reading, we’re halfway through “The Parker Inheritance.” Students are practicing responding to questions about the book, using evidence from the text to support their ideas.

In social studies, our research projects are looking fantastic, and students will get the chance to present their work to the class next week. We’re also brainstorming ideas on how to display the final products in the classroom. I’m impressed by how engaged everyone was in their research and the creative ways they crafted their presentations.

In math, we’re wrapping up Unit 5 in Everyday Math. This unit focuses on geometry, including naming and measuring angles, recognizing angle measurement as additive, identifying the line of symmetry for 2-dimensional shapes, and reviewing multi-step math problems. We also celebrated Pi Day! Students watched a short video on the properties of circles and the significance of pi. They worked in pairs to find the value of pi for various circular objects in the classroom, such as the top of a glue stick, a roll of duct tape, and water bottles. Everyone came extremely close to 3.14 (rounded), and some even got exactly 3.14! Finally, we celebrated with a tiny piece of pumpkin pie!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Beth

Hello, 206 families and friends!

The weeks are flying by!  

Our Battle of the Books – round 3 is going strong! Students were grouped into 4 teams of 7, with students from Mr. Patrick’s and Ms. Bia’s classes. They met, chose their team names, and divided the reading of 8 selected books for this round. There’s a variety of genres including a graphic novel, a novel in verse, historical fiction, and short stories. After finishing a book, students fill out a sheet detailing key characters, settings, and events, and practice writing questions about the book. This helps them remember and understand the content. They also share interesting or funny parts with each other, creating a positive atmosphere around the book selections.

Our class novel, The Parker Inheritance, continues to retain our attention and keeps us guessing about the mysterious location of the inheritance and who James Parker really is.  We have some working theories. Ask your student what they think. 

In social studies and art, our research projects are nearly finished, and I’m excited to see how they all come together. We also created portraits inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and they turned out fantastic. Each portrait is paired with the student’s “How to Be” poem. Students also chose a word inspired by Basquiat and their independent research that reflects equality and justice, which they added to their painting. Basquiat’s artwork, our class novel, and the students’ independent research projects all emphasize the importance of standing up for what is right. It’s inspiring to see how the students are motivated by these themes and recognize the significance of equal rights and freedom of expression.

In math class, we practiced creating line plots using a data sample of students’ head measurements. We talked about when line plots are useful for displaying data and the significance of understanding how data size affects interpretation. We also reviewed angles and practiced using a protractor to measure them. Additionally, students had fun learning the game Angle/Tangle, which reinforced their proficiency in using a protractor accurately and employing strategies for estimating angle measurements.

We also had fun cheering on and supporting our St. Baldrick’s participants!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Beth

Hello, 206 families and friends!

Another busy week! 

Our class novel, “The Parker Inheritance”, definitely has us working to solve the puzzle of where the inheritance might be, but the deeper conversation revolves around equality and justice.  These class discussions are emphasizing the importance of students’ research projects on slavery in America, the Underground Railroad and the civil rights movement, as it highlights the importance of advocating for equality and justice at all times.  Students are doing an excellent job of transforming their research into creative images and presentations to share with the class.  I am amazed by their creativity and passion as they put their research projects together. We continue to study the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and students participated in a creative exercise of creating images/words from important past memories and things that are important to them. We are working on finding ways to include these images/words into their final research projects. I am excited to see how it all comes together!

We are onto round 3 of the Battle of the Books! For this round, we will be reading from a selection of 8 books and will compete with Central School in Des Plaines in May.  We previewed each book, and students selected their first book to read. We decided as a class that each student will read 3 or more of the books.  Students are motivated and excited to get started. As part of our ongoing self-reflection, students completed a questionnaire on their reading habits and goals for enhancing their reading skills. It was valuable for me to see how students view themselves as readers and where they want to improve. We also rearranged the furniture in the reading room, putting our knowledge of area and perimeter to work! 

In math, we’re focusing on fractions, which involves breaking them down, adding, subtracting, and finding common denominators.  We also worked with line plots and open middle equations.  As part of our daily math routine, students use individual white boards/slates for mental math and equation computations. To get out our urge to doodle and draw, we took 3 minutes for free draw and students created some unique images!

 

We had a special visit from First Class Smiles in DesPlaines.  Students learned about the importance of keeping our teeth clean and healthy, and each student received a tooth brushing kit to take home. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Beth