In Reading and Language Arts, our class began our 2nd novel, “How I Became a Ghost” by Tim Tingle which blends tells the story of The Trail of Tears from the perspective of a 10 year old, Choctaw boy, who becomes a ghost during the grueling 1,000 mile journey. We unpacked the genre of historical fiction and literary device known as imagery. We also wrote an Interpretive summary with 3 pieces of Text Evidence and our analysis that explained our thoughts about why we chose these events from our reading. Our class made predictions about each character’s journey through the novel, the tone of our tale, and how will this intense Choctaw story end.

Enjoying a Good Book at the Des Plaines Library

Chalkboard Questions of the Week (Most Common Student Responses)

–What Things Make You Stressed? (School and Rushing)

– Are You a Night Owl or an Early Bird? (Night Owl)

– What Languages would You Like to Learn? (Icelandic and French)

–What Do You Think the Purpose of Life is? (Ask Your Student…there were so many great answers!)

In Social Studies, our class unpacked “The Trail of Tears” in preparation for our 2nd novel, “How I Became a Ghost”. Each one of journaled about what it would be like to suddenly be forced to move to Montana! We each had to wrestle with not only what to take, but how we felt having to leave our homes and our freedom be taken from us in a prompt titled, “You Must Leave Tomorrow!” Our new two new Geography Challenge: “Tectonic Plates” and “Longitude and Latitude Lines” which we will test our knowledge next Friday with an interactive Kahoot.

Mindful Meditation: YOGA

“Professor Math”: Rotini, Marina, Yianni, and Julia

In Science and Math, our class reviewed and explored some interesting topics this week. Math Challenges: everyday our class is presented with a handful of problems that may be review or pushing our knowledge of mathematical skills. Graphing/Plotting Points, Fractions, and Area. “Professor Math” had its first two lessons delivered by: Dr. Yianni (F.O.I.L),  Dr. Fotini (Dividing Fractions),  Dr. Julia (Volume), Dr. Marina (Solving for a Variable). Mr. John lead the class in a coin and dice activity about Probability and Statistics.  Science: (Engineering) “The History of Pop” taught about us about the ancient history of chewing gum from it’s Central American roots to the wide variety of gum flavors and shapes.

Coin Flipping Fractional Fun!

In Reading and Language Arts, our class finally finished our first novel (Island of The Blue Dolphin) this week! We were elated, saddened and felt a sense of accomplishment coming to the end of Karana’s adventure. She taught us so much about survival, our humanity, coexisting with nature, and never stop believing or trying. Our class wrote our final End of Novel Reflection addressing 3 major items: summarizing an entire novel/story, what is one lesson this novel taught you, and finally did you like this novel + why?

Chalkboard Questions of the Week (Most Common Student Responses)

–When you are Sick, What things Do You Like to help you feel better? (Soup and TV)

– What is the Worst Pet to Have? (Hairless Cat)

– Is it Harder to Apologize or Forgive Someone? (Forgive)

In Social Studies,  We completed our First Project of the year! Our class created a Native American Tribe Gallery Walk within our class. Each one of us explored, learned and admired every tribe and project within our class. Our class chose to make dioramas, Google Slide presentations, stories, and beautiful learning posters. I am so proud of the research, hard work, and creativity we displayed these past 3 weeks! Our new two new Geography Challenge: “Tectonic Plates” and “Longitude and Latitude Lines“.

Mindful Meditation: CHAIR YOGA

Native American Tribe Project: Complete!

Everywhere is a Science Class!

Revist the 1980’s: “Head’s Up, 7 Up!”

“Professor Math”: Dr. Sokrates and Dr. Charlie!

In Science and Math, our class reviewed and explored some interesting topics this week. Math Challenges: everyday our class is presented with a handful of problems that may be review or pushing our knowledge of mathematical skills. Graphing/Plotting Points, Fractions, and Area. “Professor Math” had it’s first two lessons delivered by: Dr. Sokrates (Converting Fractions into Decimals) and Dr. Charlie (Probability) Science: We have a chance to learn from a classmate and work with others to review and learn new Math skills. Each one of us will be teaching over the next few weeks. Our class nearly trampled a Praying Mantis on our way back from recess. We stopped for a moment to ask questions and make observations, just like the scientists we are in class. STEM: (Geology) Our class took our prior knowledge about how different types of volcanoes, various eruption styles, and varieties of landforms that cover our Earth. We also predicted about safe zones and why do certain eruptions cause more destruction.

STEM: OUR VOLCANOES!

In Reading and Language Arts, our class entered the final 1/3 of our first novel (Island of The Blue Dolphin) this week. We unpacked the arc of a story, the climax, and how unresolved problems can begin to become resolved for the reader as the story comes to a close. Our class wrestled with the complex world of Metaphors and how each draw special interpretations to certain characters. We used these thoughtful and rich Book Talks to mirror our verbal contributions and connections to each Writing Prompt.

Holidays’ Graphing

Chalkboard Questions of the Week (Most Common Student Responses)

–Would You Rather Live in Rainforest or Desert? (Rainforest)

– When You Think of Reading, What is the 1st Word that Springs to Mind? (Book)

–Would You Rather Be Able to Fly or Breath Underwater? (FLY)

– What are 2 of Your Favorite Things about School? (Seeing My Friends)

In Social Studies, our class observed and honored 9/11 with a minute of silence. We viewed a video of the 9/11 Memorial and how the staff of the NYC monument place a white rose in every name of a victim, that was lost on that fateful day, on their birthday, to forever honor their memory. We used this opportunity to categorize and better understand different holidays and how we “celebrate” them. Our class created a Holiday Grid with 4 Quadrants: Joyful/Religious, Joyful/Secular/National, Remembrance/Religious, Remembrance/Secular/National. We continued to diligently work on our 1st project of the year: Native American Tribe Research Project. Each one of us chose 1 of 12 famous tribes that span the United States from 6 different regions: Northeastern, Great Lakes/Midwest, Southeastern, Great Plains, Southwest, and Pacific NW. Our class had our 1st Kahoot, “Geography Challenge”. We demonstrated a superb knowledge of the US States Capitals with a record high 84% class success rate! I am so proud of the quality practice and determination that each one of us showed these past 2 weeks.

Mindful Meditation: YOGA!

Honoring Our Nation’s Past (NA Tribe Projects)

In Science and Math, our class reviewed and explored some interesting topics this week. Math Challenges: everyday our class is presented with a handful of problems that may be review or pushing our knowledge of mathematical skills. This week’s topics were :  Open-Middle Problems (Multiplying Fractions to make a Mixed Number), (, and . We are growing in confidence in reaching out to fellow classmates for help with difficult problems.   STEM: (Herpetology) “I Lasso Lizards”, our class learned how a curiosity as a youth can lead to an amazing career capturing lizards who can teach about us the condition of their environment and the larger climate. “Professor Math” launched for the school year. Each one of us has selected a Math skill that they either feel confident in or want to improve upon. We will each teach our whole class with 3 example problems of varying ability. STEM: Zoology “Cougars in Crisis” how we can adapt our environment with large cats in California. We also took a Deep Dive into Data on a Line Graph to enhance our understanding of this ecological quandary. Mr. John lead us in a “Triangle Challenge” which blended Algebra, Addition and open-middle problems. Our class rigorously engaged and excelled at this 3 tiered challenge.

Tricky Triangles

**BREAKING NEWS**

Our Class welcomed Mr. John, a NEIU (Northeastern Illinois University) student-teacher who will be joining us 3 days a week for clinical observations and hands-on teaching experiences over the next three months. We are such a kind and welcoming class.

In Reading and Language Arts, our class continues to read and discover new things about Karana, a 13yo, Native American girl abandoned on an island off the coast of California in our current class novel,  “The Island of The Blue Dolphins” . We explored and dissected how Karana had to struggle with balancing her own survival needs, honor the traditions of the tribe, and also in the end conquer a ferocious enemy (the pack leader of wild dogs) by showing mercy. Our class used a Venn diagram to Compare and Contrast ourselves to the main character, Karana. We used this as thorough review of our first novel as we passed the 1/2 point in our story. Our class was impressed with how many details we remembered.

Chalkboard Questions of the Week (Most Common Student Responses)

–Besides Christmas or Your Birthday, What is One of Your Favorite Holidays? (Halloween)

– How Well Do You Know Me? (2 Truths and 1 Lie-Students Presented their 3 Personal Statements)

– Some of Your Favorite Singers and Bands? (Taylor Swift, Drake, The Beatles)

– Math Skills & You: Your Confident and Challenging Skill (Order of Operations + Solving a Variable)

In Social Studies, our class began the first major assignment of the year: Native American Tribe Research Project. Each one of us chose 1 of 12 famous tribes that span the United States from 6 different regions: Northeastern, Great Lakes/Midwest, Southeastern, Great Plains, Southwest, and Pacific NW. We are learning how to conduct quality research, cite our sources and gather information on 15 distinct topics before we create a product that informs and inspires others about our tribe. We review and study the many states, their locations, and capitals in our first Geography Challenge (50 US States and their Capitals). Next week is our first US States and Capitals Identification Test. See if you can beat your amazing student! Our class joined Ms. Beth and Ms. Bia’s classes in the Middle School Space to have a mixed group, upper grade/upstairs fun lunch together. We had a blast and are so grateful to Ms. Bia and her class for putting this cool experience together and hosting us!

Native American Tribe Research: “So Many Questions”

Lunch with New Friends: Upper Grades “Cafeteria” 

(Math Jeopardy): Fun Math Review!

In Science and Math, our class reviewed and explored some interesting topics this week. Math Challenges: everyday our class is presented with a handful of problems that may be review or pushing our knowledge of mathematical skills. This week’s topics were : Order of Operations, Open-Middle Problems (Making a Number line of Fractions a True Statement), (Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, Dividing Fractions), and Solving for a Variable (Algebra). We are growing in confidence in reaching out to fellow classmates for help with difficult problems. Math Jeopardy: It made its 1st appearance of the school year. We were divided into 3 table groups and collaborated worked on Math problems in a Game Show style setting. Our class reviewed many topics from the past 3 weeks. Math Jeopardy is a biweekly event in our class.  STEM: “Space Escape” was an article about the famous Apollo 13 accident onboard the Space module. Our class viewed a clip from the award winning film to understand the gravity of phrase, “Houston, We Have a Problem. We broke into groups, then visually planned and created teaching murals about the various space travel related events that

(Creative Collaboration)

In Reading and Language Arts, our class continues to read and discover new things about Karana, a 13yo, Native American girl abandoned on an island off the coast of California in our current class novel,  “The Island of The Blue Dolphins” . We placed ourselves in her shoes about dealing with survival needs, mourning the loss of her family, and wrestling with time-honored tribal traditions. Our class started “Wordly Wise”, a vocabulary and grammar strengthening program. These collections of words present us with the challenge and opportunity  to create sentences, find synonyms, and make personal connections to greater our understanding of each definition.  We visited and toured The Des Plaines Public Library. Our class was able to discover all of the many exciting resources available to us. We were even allowed to use the complex, computerized sorting machine that aids librarians in returning books back to the shelves when they have been returned. Our class will visit the library 1-2 times a month, so we will always have a chance to find new books.

Thoughtful, Determined Writers

Chalkboard Questions of the Week (Most Common Student Responses)

–When You Hear Native American, What is the first word that Pops in Your Head? (Feathers)

– What Are You Afraid of? (Bugs/Spiders)

– Our Favorite Books! (Ask your Student; Ms. Beth, Ms. Bia and Ms. Mari all added their choices too!)

– What is Your Favorite Color? (Light Blue/Blue)

– What is Your Favorite Ice Cream Flavor? (Choc/Cookie Dough)

In Social Studies, our class began the first major assignment of the year: Native American Tribe Research Project. Each one of us chose 1 of 12 famous tribes that span the United States from 6 different regions: Northeastern, Great Lakes/Midwest, Southeastern, Great Plains, Southwest, and Pacific NW. We are learning how to conduct quality research, cite our sources and gather information on 15 distinct topics before we create a product that informs and inspires others about our tribe. Our class used this article as an opportunity to write an Interpretive Summary in our Writing Journal. Each one of us provided 3 facts from our reading and supported these facts with our own analysis and reasoning.  We press on with familiarizing ourselves with the many states, their locations, and capitals in our first Geography Challenge (50 US States and their Capitals).

Des Plaines Public Library: WHAT A MAGICAL PLACE!

In Science and Math, our class reviewed and explored some interesting topics this week. Math Challenges: everyday our class is presented with a handful of problems that may be review or pushing our knowledge of mathematical skills. This week’s topics were : Order of Operations, Area of a Rectangle, Converting Measurements, (Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, Dividing Fractions), and Solving for a Variable (Algebra). We are growing in confidence in reaching out to fellow classmates for help with difficult problems. Science: We continue discuss the many aspects of island life, engineering canoes, building a shelter, sailing on the ocean, survival skills, and studying animal behavior to tame and defeat a pack of wild dogs are consistently interwoven within our novel “Island of The Blue Dolphin”. STEM: Next Week will be our first experiment!

(Math Mentors): Math is Easier with Helpful Friends

**Our class is beginning to transform from talented individuals into something united and new, a special class, an “Us”.

(Parent’s Note): Please leave a comment of 1 of Your Favorite Books. Thanks!