Narratives, Place value, and Caterpillars- Oh my!

The children have been very hard at work the last several days on our new unit in writing- Personal Narratives! We first learned what ingredients are necessary to create a personal narrative. These ingredients include: 

• writing in first person using pronouns including I, me, and my
• elaborating on a small moment or event
• developing a beginning, middle, and end
• using order words to show a sequence of events
• including the thoughts and feelings of the characters
• problem/conflict resolution

The students brainstormed a few different possible story ideas from their lives before selecting the option that they felt they could write the most interesting details about.  They have chosen the most fascinating story plots! Problems the children are writing about are: runaway pets, missing legos, a nest of wasps, a toddler escape, a broken window, and missing sporting event tickets! I am SO impressed with the creativity, details, and dialogue the children are inserting into their writing! Their stories are turning out absolutely terrific and I can't wait until they are finished and ready to be shared!

In math, the children have been working to add and subtract money amounts using decimal notation. They are doing a great job of lining up the decimal point before adding or subtracting, and making sure there are always two places after the decimal!

We also worked with place value up into the thousands place this week! We will expand and build number sense into the ten thousands and hundred thousands place as well!

Mrs. Neumann came to visit the class on Wednesday afternoon for a fun and engaging Art Appreciation lesson with our class. They reviewed "American Gothic" by Grant Wood!

As we delve deeper and deeper into the history of Arlington Heights, the children are developing an understanding of what the land in our area was like long ago, before the settlers arrived in their covered wagons and began to develop the land.  This week the children learned that the Native Americans were able to fulfill their 3 basic needs (food, clothing, and shelter) through use of the land around them. We also discussed the arrival of the settlers and the new law of 1830 that forced the Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi River.

 Some very small visitors arrived in our classroom this week! The unit coming up after we finish our study of the history of Arlington Heights will be Life Cycles- focusing on the butterfly. Our caterpillars made their entrance into our classroom this week! The children were so enthusiastic to take a close look at these tiny creatures and begin to record their observations in their Life Cycle cycle student journals. 

It was Jack's week to shine as our Super Star 2nd Grader this week!  It was Crazy Hat day at school, and all of the Fitzgeralds arrived showing their school spirit!

 Jack and his mom demonstrated how to create a simple ciphon using a tube and a bowl of water

 Jack read a cute story to his classmates about dragons and their love of tacos!

It was so much fun to have the Fitzgerald family in for a visit this afternoon! We especially loved their "crazy hats!" Everyone agreed that Jack is kind, caring, intelligent, sincere, and is eager and excited to learn new things at school! We are so fortunate to be able to spend time with him each and every day.

Our Australia Commercials!

The children spent several weeks in small groups researching each of the Australian states and territories.  They prepared persuasive "commercials" to convince us that their territory is the one to visit! Take a look at our commercials and decide for yourself- which territory would you most like to visit, and which territory would you most like to live in?

A message from our office regarding registration:

On April 29, the district will be emailing a letter with your child's individual passcode to register for school for next year. (In the past parents have received a physical letter in the mail. This will be a change.) 

Every student has to "re-register" every year online. (fees, emergency forms, bus applications, PTA membership..) Grade 5 will receive their email from South. 

ONLINE REGISTRATION WINDOW IS MAY 1 - JUNE 1 

Thank you!

Our field trip to the Arlington Heights Historical Museum

We had a BEAUTIFUL day for a field trip on Wednesday! The children were so eager and excited to  go out "into the field" learn all about the history of our town, Arlington Heights!

The children were eager to locate street names of our founding families, including Sigwalt and Dunton, as we drove through town to F.W. Muller's home.

Miss Judy greeted the children and let them know all they would be learning about today!

The children were great listeners to a story called "Covered Wagon, Bumpy Trail." They then proceeded to "pack" a covered wagon. There was a space marked off on the floor that represented the size of a covered wagon- it was a challenge to fit all of the children and their items inside!

The children visited a model of a log cabin. They first thought about how it was made including the materials that were necessary and the work that it required,

We weren't sure we would all fit inside!

The children looked around the one room and noticed it was several rooms in one! They pointed out the kitchen, the bathroom, the dining room and the bedroom- all by spinning around in a circle.

The children thought about why the women might cook with such a long spoon...

We learned the meaning of the phrase "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!"

Then it was time for some chores. First, the children had to gather sticks for the fire.

Then they had to go down to the stream to collect water in their buckets.

I've never seen kids so eager to get to work!

Kassie and Ola gathered some water.

James and Nikolas passed the time throwing some corn cobs into a barrel.

Noah and Adrian tidied up a bit by sweeping the path.

Nikolas helped remove the dust from rugs.

Kelly happily gathered some water.

Adrian rang the triangle to gather everyone in from the field, while Noah churned the butter!

Noah was so proud of himself for making a bucket!

We couldn't wait to see inside Mr. Muller's home!

Miss Patricia showed the children a number of old-fashioned games that the kids played with back in the late 1800's

The children found these simple toys made from wood very interesting and entertaining!

We had our dishes, seeds, salt, books, furniture, lantern, washboard, and our cow Bossy, and we were ready to hit the trail!

We thought about the jobs the early settlers may have had, including blacksmiths and carpenters, and viewed some of the tools they needed long ago.

We imagined we were in a one-room school house, and practiced our lessons on slates!

We viewed beautiful dioramas that showed how the land changed from the early prairie into the start of our town!

The children practiced bartering for different items at the country store.

The children learned so much during our informative field trip! Thank you, parents, for supporting such a valuable learning opportunity for our students! And thank you to Mrs. Brancato, Mrs. Ninness, Mrs. Quinn, and Mrs. Sessler for coming along with us!