5th Grade Team Update
As we prepare for summer break, student device collection will be on Tuesday, June 2nd at the end of the day.
Please make sure all items are returned:
~iPad
~iPad bag
~Charging cable and charging adapter (wall brick) The fee is $20 if not returned
~iPad case should remain on the device
If your child’s device is damaged or having issues that have not already been reported to the Help Desk, please contact the Tech Department.
Language Arts and Advanced
Language Arts
Field Trip Hits a Home Run! ⚾
After an inspiring unit on Breaking Barriers, our students had the chance to step into the world they’ve been learning about—literally! We wrapped up the unit with a field trip to the Windy City Thunderbolts baseball game where students saw the sport’s rich history and enduring spirit come to life. From discussing the legacy of the Negro League baseball players to watching today’s diverse lineup take the field, it was a powerful reminder of how far the game—and our society—has come.
5th Grade Math
As we wrap up the school year, we are finishing our work with line plots and analyzing data. Students have been building their skills in interpreting information and drawing meaningful conclusions from graphs.
With our remaining time, students will take on a “Problem of the Month” called Digging Dinosaurs, which will challenge their mathematical thinking and push their problem-solving abilities to the next level.
It has truly been a wonderful year in 5th grade math. The growth I’ve seen in students has been nothing short of astonishing. Their confidence, perseverance, and understanding of math has blown me away. I am so proud of all they have accomplished!
5th Grade Math Novotny
The 5th graders showed great growth on their Spring Diagnostic test in i-Ready last week, and I couldn't be more proud of their hard work and effort this year!
We will be wrapping up the year with some work on the COORDINATE PLANE and STATISTICS. Students will be solving real-world problems in all 4 QUADRANTS using ORDERED PAIRS with integers and rational numbers. They will also be using their real-world DATA from their last quiz to calculate the MEASURES of CENTER and VARIABILITY. Our cumulative "Zombie Apocalypse" project will put their graphing and statistics skills to use, in a fun, but always educational way!
I will also be sending students home with CUMULATIVE PRACTICE sheets so they can keep their math skills sharp for the upcoming school year. Please keep an eye out for them in your child's backpack.
Social STudies
Our 5th graders did an outstanding job with their Market Day projects! Students showed incredible creativity, energy, and enthusiasm as they designed businesses, created products, and practiced their entrepreneurial skills. It was so much fun to see their hard work come to life, and I truly enjoyed having this wonderful group for U.S. History this year. I am so proud of all they accomplished and wish them continued success in middle school!
Science
Science is everywhere! Matter is everywhere! Over the summer break, we encourage students to keep observing the world around them. Track the changing evening shadows and moons, bake something to watch a chemical change in action, or look up at the night sky.
Have a wonderful, wonder-filled summer!
5th Grade Team Update
Some important end of year dates:
- Homework Club will officially end on Thursday 5/21
- All late or missing work that is still eligible (within one week of the original due date) is due by Wednesday, May 27th at 3:30pm. Students must submit AND message the teacher in order for work to be accepted.
In addition, as we prepare for summer break, student device collection will be on Tuesday, June 2nd at the end of the day.
Please make sure all items are returned:
• iPad
• iPad bag
• Charging cable and charging adapter (wall brick) The fee is $20 if not returned
• iPad case should remain on the device
If your child’s device is damaged or having issues that have not already been reported to the Help Desk, please contact the Tech Department so that the issue can be addressed.
Thank you for helping make the collection process smooth and organized!
Language Arts and Advanced Language Arts
Students are continuing their reading of We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson—a powerful nonfiction account of the Negro Baseball League. As we read, students are analyzing each chapter to identify the text structures Nelson uses to present historical events and personal stories. This will help them better understand how authors organize information for different purposes and audiences. Students have also begun practicing key research skills, including how to paraphrase information and directly quote evidence effectively.
We are excited for our field trip to see the Windy City Thunderbolts on May 28th where students will be able to see the sport’s rich history and enduring spirit come to life.
5th Grade Math
We’ve been having a great time exploring how to classify quadrilaterals! Students worked hard to identify and compare different types of polygons, and we all agreed, the square is king!
We’ve now moved into graphing points on the coordinate plane. Students are learning important vocabulary and beginning to understand how to plot and describe locations using ordered pairs. Students are working harder than ever, and it’s really showing in their growth. We are heading into the final stretch of the school year, and I’m excited to see all they continue to accomplish!
Social Studies
Our 5th graders have wrapped up their unit on the U.S. economy, exploring key concepts like supply and demand, goods and services, and how businesses operate. To bring this learning to life, students are now preparing for our upcoming Market Day, where they will become entrepreneurs by creating and selling their own products. I’m excited to see their creativity, planning, and teamwork in action as they get a firsthand experience of running a business!
Science
Students engaged in evidence-based, scientific reasoning to obtain information about water resources and sources of water pollution. They then developed an action plan and presented to the class to inform them on ways that they can protect water resources.
5th Grade Team Update
We had a BLAST at yesterday's FUN RUN! Thank you to all the families who donated to support our school!!!
Language Arts/Advanced Language Arts
We are now headed into our final unit of the year: Module 4: Breaking Barriers. In this module, students will explore stories of athletes who overcame significant obstacles to succeed in their sport. Our core text, We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson, will guide our learning as we study the powerful history and legacy of Negro League Baseball.
Additionally, students have begun their final Building Vocabulary unit, where they will learn about and practice using new suffixes including -ate, -ation, -phobia, -phobe, -crat, and -cracy. We’re excited to see their vocabulary knowledge continue to grow!
5th Grade Math
In math class, we’ve been working on converting units in both the customary and metric systems. Students are learning how to switch between units like inches, feet, yards, and miles, as well as millimeters, centimeters, meters, and kilometers.
We will also be practicing applying these skills to word problems, where students read carefully, decide which units are needed, and choose the correct conversions to solve real-world situations. This helps build both their problem-solving skills and their confidence in math. You can support your child at home by encouraging them to notice measurements in everyday life like cooking, traveling, or even measuring objects around the house. Happy converting!
5th Grade Math Novotny
We are working with PERCENTS, which are rates that show an amount per 100!! In this lesson, students will be able to model percents and write an equivalent fraction and decimal for the percent. We will also be solving real-world problems involving percentages. There are 3 basic percent problems: Finding the PART, Finding the WHOLE, and Finding the PERCENT. 
Social Studies
Our 5th graders recently finished their unit on the 20th and 21st centuries by creating engaging decade presentations! Students researched important events, inventions, cultural trends, and historical changes from their assigned decades while also practicing valuable presentation and public speaking skills. It was wonderful to see their creativity, teamwork, and confidence grow as they shared their learning with classmates.
Science
We are diving into a new unit on our planet's vital resources: water, air, and land! Students aren't just reading about environmental threats; they are becoming local activists by identifying challenges in our own community and designing plans to help. This week, our focus is on water quality and how human impact shapes the health of our local waterways.
Students are also learning about how all of our wastewater is cleaned!
5th Grade Team Update
Hi! My name is Ms. Izzy Donile, and I am so excited to join the team as the new 5th/6th grade special education teacher! I recently graduated from Lewis University with my Bachelor’s in Special Education, and I am eager to bring that passion to our classrooms for the rest of the school year. To share a little about myself, I am a huge Disney fan and head to the parks at least once a year; when I’m not dreaming of Disney, I love to get lost in a good book or ride my bike when the weather is nice. Everyone has been incredibly kind and welcoming during my first week, and I truly look forward to working closely with all of my students and their families!
Language Arts
Students are finishing up The Phantom Tollbooth, our second novel of the year. Throughout the book, we’ve been focusing on how characters grow and change. In particular, we’ve closely analyzed Milo, the main character, and his transformation from the beginning of the story to now. Ask your student to describe Milo’s personality at the start of the book and how he has changed by the end. What qualities does he have now that he didn’t have before, and what caused this change?
Advanced Language Arts
Students have been highly engaged in exploring novels by Jerry Spinelli, participating in meaningful group discussions about character development, setting, plot, and their own personal connections to the stories.
5th Grade Math
As we head into the final stretch of the school year, we’re getting ready to tackle our last fraction skill, division! Up to this point, students have been working hard to add, subtract, and multiply fractions, and it’s been wonderful to see their confidence grow along the way. Division with fractions can feel a bit tricky at first, so we’ll be taking our time and using lots of visual models and hands-on strategies to help make sense of it. Our goal is to build a strong understanding, not just memorizing steps, but really knowing why the math works.Students have been putting in great effort, asking thoughtful questions, and supporting one another during lessons. You can help at home by encouraging them to explain their thinking or show how they solve a problem. We’re excited to keep building on all the progress they’ve made and finish the year strong!
5th Grade Math Novotny
We will be using our knowledge of RATIOS to work with 2 new types of ratios called "RATES" and "UNIT RATES". Students will be able to solve real-world problems that involve unit rates like, miles per hour and cost per item. They will also use rates to convert measurements in both the U.S. Customary System and Metric System.
Social Studies
Our 5th graders are diving into an exciting unit on the 20th century! Students are exploring major events and movements such as the World Wars, the Great Depression, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights Movement. Through discussions and activities, they are building their understanding of how these events shaped our country and the world, while also practicing critical thinking and making connections to issues that still impact us today. We look forward to all the meaningful learning ahead!
Science
Students are continuing to learn about the different spheres/systems on Earth that interact with each other to sustain life on Earth. They created a model to show where living things are found on Earth. The models show where the biosphere layer (all living things on Earth) overlaps with the geosphere, atmosphere, and the hydrosphere layers.
5th Grade Team Update
Wishing all our families a wonderful, restful Spring Break! Whether you are heading out on a grand adventure or enjoying a quiet staycation at home, we hope this week is filled with sunshine, relaxation, and plenty of quality time together
Reminder: No School April 6th!
Language Arts
Our students continue to make great strides in their writing journey, with a continued focus on narrative writing. Students are honing their skills in crafting stories with strong plot structures, learning to develop a clear exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
In our reading, things are really picking up in The Phantom Tollbooth! Milo has accepted his quest to save Rhyme and Reason, and the adventures are getting more thrilling by the page. We are diving deep into the plot as we analyze his journey and the creative world around him.
Advanced Language Arts
Students are currently exploring the stories and characters that have made Jerry Spinelli a popular author by reading one of his novels of their choice. His books highlight themes of resilience, friendship, and self-discovery. As they read, students are reflecting on how his own life experiences have influenced his writing while also discovering the meaningful messages within his stories. They will also be meeting in novel groups to discuss their reading, share ideas, and deepen their understanding of the text.
5th Grade Math
We’ve been working on multiplying fractions through word problems and using three different strategies: fraction number lines, area models, and the standard algorithm. It’s been great to see students try out different approaches and build their understanding.
After spring break, we’ll begin learning how to divide fractions, both by whole numbers and other fractions. The kids are working very hard and are excited to keep building important math skills together!
5th Grade Math Novotny
We have been busy going "Around the Room" writing ratios, finding equivalent ratios, and using ratios in real-world situations. Students are expressing ratios as part-to-part and part-to-whole relationships on different types of models: Double Number Lines, Ratio Tables, Tape Diagrams, Proportions, and Ordered Pairs. They are also realizing that these ratio relationships form a straight line on the coordinate plane when graphed...WOW! We even talked about SLOPE : )
Social STudies
The 5th graders completed their unit on the late 1800s and early 1900s, where they explored major changes in American society. Students learned about urbanization, immigration, and the Industrial Revolution, and how these shifts impacted people’s daily lives. Through discussions and lessons, they developed a deeper understanding of both the opportunities and challenges faced during this time period.
Science
In our new unit, students are learning about the different spheres or systems on Earth that interact with each other to sustain life on Earth. The biosphere on the surface of the Earth involves all life on Earth. The biosphere interacts with the atmosphere (the system of air,) the geosphere (the system of land, including soil and rocks), and the hydrosphere (the system of water).
5th Grade Team Update
March 13th - Late Start, 9:05 arrival time
March 13th - PTC Ice Cream Day
March 17th - PTC Fun Lunch MS Jimmy Johns
March 27th - Inclement Weather Day (non-attendance day unless needed)
March 30th - April 6th, No School, Spring Break
April 7th - PTC Fun Lunch MS Pizza
Language Arts
Students are diving into character creation! They’re designing unique characters with distinct traits, backgrounds, and personalities that incorporate wordplay using the word abandon. To bring their characters to life, they're practicing "snapshot" writing—capturing a moment in time with vivid verbs, concrete details, and sensory language. Ask your student about the character they’re creating!
Advanced Language Arts
Students read Knots in My Yo-Yo Strings by Jerry Spinelli. Throughout his novel, Spinelli shared stories from his childhood, including his school experiences, friendships, and the challenges he faced while discovering who he was. Using elements of Spinelli’s writing style as inspiration, students will begin writing their own autobiographical pieces.
5th Grade Math
We have been working on multiplying fractions and exploring what the process means using models and visual representations. When multiplying fractions, we multiply across the numerators and across the denominators to find the product. Next, we will begin applying this understanding as we explore finding the area of rectangles with fractional side lengths.
5th Grade Math Novotny
We are starting our unit on Ratios and Proportional Relationships! This week, our students are beginning to understand the concept of a ratio by using specific ratio language to describe how two quantities relate to one another—like comparing the number of boys to girls in a classroom or comparing the number of wins to losses for a football team. To help visualize these connections, we are practicing with simple models. As we move forward, we will focus on finding equivalent ratios by creating tables to solve real-world problems, such as adjusting a recipe or calculating travel speeds.
Social Studies
Our 5th graders had a wonderful time on our field trip to Naper Settlement where they stepped back in time to experience life in the 1800s. Students watched a blacksmith at work, created prints using an old-fashioned printing press, churned their own butter (a class favorite!), and even participated in a typical school lesson from the 1800s. It was a fun, hands-on way for students to bring history to life and better understand what daily life was like long ago.
Science
As we end our solar system unit, students will complete a short constellation project! This project will challenge them to explore the wonders and legends of the constellations; combining research and scientific understanding. They will also learn about their zodiac signs! It's a wonderful way to celebrate their achievements and curiosity as the unit comes to an end.
5th Grade Team Update
Important Reminders:
Feb. 27th - End of T2, No School, District Institute Day
March 3rd - PTC Fun Lunch - Pasta
March 8th - Daylight Savings Time Begins
March 13th - Late Start 9:05am
March 13th - PTC Ice Cream Day
Language Arts
In addition to continuing our novel study of The Phantom Tollbooth, students will soon begin a creative writing project where they will develop their own characters for the fictional town of Abandon. To prepare for this, students have been building their toolkit by analyzing author techniques during close reads, experimenting in quick writes, and refining their writing through sentence rewrites.
This project allows students to showcase their mastery of wordplay, sensory language, and vivid verbs. We are excited to see them get creative and apply their knowledge of these skills in their writing.
Check out this student’s work as they practice using vivid verbs and concrete details to make a weak sentence stronger and support their ideas with evidence from the book!
Advanced Language Arts
In our new unit, students will explore autobiographies and memoirs as they learn how authors share meaningful life experiences through their writing. We will be reading Knots in My Yo-Yo Strings by Jerry Spinelli, where students will discover how Spinelli uses humor and heartfelt reflection to tell stories from his childhood. As they read about the moments that helped shape him, students will analyze how personal experiences can inspire their own writing. By the end of the unit, students will apply what they’ve learned by writing a mini-memoir about an experience that has helped shape who they are.
5th Grade Math
We have been diving deeper into decimals, focusing on division by building models and truly understanding what is happening in the problem, not just following steps. Students have been using place value understanding, visual models, and reasoning to make sense of how decimals behave when we divide. A big focus is on understanding why the decimal moves and how place value plays a role in each operation.
Practice makes permanent! Encourage your student to explain their thinking at home. The more they talk through their reasoning, the more confident they will become!
5th Grade Math Novotny
Students will be putting their fraction skills to the test in our next lesson on Volume with Fractional Measurements. We will now be filling right rectangular prisms and cubes with cubic units with fractional edge lengths. One strategy students will use is to find the volume of one cube and then multiply by the total number of cubes inside the prism. We will also use the volume formulas V= lwh and V= Bh.
Social STudies
Our 5th graders are finishing up their unit on the Civil War. Students did a wonderful job thoughtfully discussing the causes and effects of the war, learning about important figures from this time period, and exploring the challenges of the Reconstruction era. I’m proud of the maturity and respect they showed while studying this important chapter in our nation’s history.
Science
Students have been busy learning about Earth's movement in space and its relationship to the sun and the moon. Students also participated in an in class demonstration to distinguish between a solar and lunar eclipse. Some key vocabulary terms we have been using in class include: revolution and rotation!
5th Grade Team Update
Important Reminders:
Feb. 13th - Late Start 9:05a.m, PTC Ice cream Day
Feb. 16th - No School, President's Day
Feb.1 7th - PTC Fun Lunch MS McD's Burgers
Feb. 18th - Ramadan begins
Feb. 20th - PTC Flying High FUNdraiser Pizza Night 7 - 10pm
Feb. 27th - End of T2, No School, District Institute Day
Language Arts
5th grader readers are continuing their exciting journey through The Land’s Beyond in Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth. In this whimsical novel, students are exploring the clever wordplay embedded in the characters and setting. They are discovering how the author uses language to create humor and deepen the story’s meaning with the use of wordplay.
Ask your reader to explain the wordplay of one of these characters: Humbug, Spelling Bee, Lethargarians, Whether Man or Tock.
Advanced Language Arts
As we wrap up our Characters Who Grow and Change unit, students are reading the short story “Raymond’s Run” and discussing how the main character learns and grows through her interactions with others. They will identify the story’s theme and will conclude the unit by writing a literary analysis that explains how the character’s change helps reveal that theme.
5th Grade Math
We began multiplying decimals last week and will continue to build on this work throughout the week ahead. Students are focusing on understanding why the decimal is placed where it is, not just following a rule. We are also using place value reasoning, estimation, and models to check that our answers make sense. As we remind students often, practice makes permanent. Ask your student how they decide where to place the decimal and how they know their answer is reasonable.
5th Grade Math Novotny
We began dividing fractions this week and will continue to build our understanding of what it means to divide by a fraction. Students are using models and the standard algorithm to solve both mathematical and real-world problems in Lessons 9 and 10. They are also making connections between multiplication and division when using fractions. Students were excited to learn a NEW way to simplify a fraction, by using CROSS-CANCELING before they find the product of a fraction problem.
Social Studies
Our 5th graders wrapped up their Westward Expansion unit with an exciting group project—designing game boards for the different trails settlers used as they moved west. Students had a blast playing each other’s games and trying to “survive” the journey while learning about the challenges, choices, and risks people faced along the way. It was a hands-on and memorable way to bring history to life!
Science
Students completed dissecting owl pellets last week to learn about the food chain of the barn owl.
We are moving right along into our next unit; Space Systems! To begin our new unit, students will learn about the different tools and advancements that have helped make space exploration possible.
