Monthly / Unit Updates

Read below to see what we are focusing on this month in the classroom and ways you can support learning at home!

SEL - Social Emotional Learning

Development focus:

• Students build community and get to know one another
• Students learn and reflect on table job responsibilities (table captains)
• Students develop listening and speaking skills (having conversations with a partner)
• Students follow and reflect on their classroom norms:
• Be Kind
• Be Safe
• Take Care of Our Materials
• Practice Self Control 
• Talking circles focusing on kindness, safe bodies, listening and respecting adults

 

Math

Unit 1: Adding, Subtracting and Working with Data

Sub-Unit 1: Showing your Data

Sub-Unit 2: Adding and Subtracting within 10

Sub-Unit 3: What Does Data Tell Us?

 

Essential Questions:

- How can you represent data in a way others can understand?

- How can you use counting to help you add and subtract?

 

Read the caregiver unit overview to learn how to support more at home!

 

Reading

Unit 1: The Moral of the Story - Fables and Tales | Caregiver Letter

This unit introduces students to timeless fables and classic folktales that expand vocabulary, enhance reading comprehension skills, and impart ethical lessons. Students listen to well-known fables like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “The Goose and the Golden Eggs,” and “The Fox and the Grapes.” In doing so, they learn the elements of this genre and understand key story structures. Students also explore folktales, such as “The Little Half-Chick: Medio Pollito” and “The Crowded, Noisy House,” which help them differentiate between various types of fiction. This foundational knowledge fosters an understanding of cultural references and a deep appreciation of fiction.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary
• Deepen comprehension of stories by using the “Somebody Wanted But So Then” strategy
• Identify a purpose for listening
• Understand the meaning of certain sayings and phrases
• Begin to explore the genre of narrative writing

 

Unit 2: From Noes to Toes: How your Body Works | Caregiver Letter

In this domain, students are introduced to the five systems of the human body (skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory, and nervous) and the functions of the major organs within those systems. They identify five keys to good health and understand the importance of the food groups in a well-balanced diet. Students focus on the care and maintenance of the human body by discussing germs and diseases. They also learn about doctors and scientists like Edward Jenner and Louis Pasteur, whose discoveries aided in the cure of many diseases.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the human body as a network of systems
• Identify and distinguish between the five systems of the human body
• Explain the effects of germs and the importance of vaccines
• Describe ways to stay healthy
• Identify the food groups in a well-balanced diet
• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary
• Identify the elements of a narrative
• Use a graphic organizer to plan and draft writing
• Plan, draft, and revise a group narrative about solving a problem

 

Phonics / Writing

Unit 1: Skills 1

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify five short vowel sounds and twenty-five consonant/consonant digraph sounds
• Spell words with double-letter spellings
• Identify Tricky Spellings: ‘th’>/th/, /th/, ‘s’ pronounced /s/ or /z/
• Decode and spell consonant digraphs: ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘th’, ‘ng’
• Identify Tricky Words 
• Read stories in the decodable Reader
• Answer story questions

*Check your child’s blue folder for optional take home pages you can do together (page is printed on a colored paper)

 

Social Studies

Unit 1: Getting Along Together

Objectives

• Understand how individuals are the same and different from others and how the things that make people unique make them special.
• Develop skills for getting along with others and solving problems in a variety of situations and communities, including in the classroom.
• Gain new knowledge about rules and laws and how they are intended to help people in communities get along and work and learn together fairly and safely.
• Explore the idea that rules and laws are sometimes unfair or applied and enforced unfairly.
• Consider ways to get help or to stand up to power and/or authority when rules or laws are unfair or being enforced unfairly.
• Understand that communities are made up of members who share certain rights and responsibilities.

 

Science

Unit 1: Needs of Plants and Animals

• Students take on the role of scientists in order to figure out why no monarch caterpillars live in the area that was converted from a field to a community vegetable garden. They investigate how plants and animals get what they need to live and grow, and then they make a new plan for the garden that will provide for the needs of monarch caterpillars and produce vegetables for humans.

Student activities:

• Make multi-sensory observations as they go on a science walk to figure out what things live in the neighborhood.
• Investigate photos of animals eating and animals in their habitats
• Observe and record the growth of plants
•  Plan an investigation to determine whether plants need light to live

Happy October! We are starting a few new units this month, please read below to support your child’s learning at home!

SEL - Social Emotional Learning

Development focus:

• Students build community and get to know adult members of the school community.
• Students act respectfully toward adult members of the school community.
• Students develop listening and speaking skills.
• Students follow and reflect on their classroom norms:
• Be Kind
• Be Safe
• Take Care of Our Materials
• Practice Self Control 
• Participate in talking circles that focus on: fairness, difficult feelings,ways to talk about problems that happen during school and helping others

Math 

Unit 2: Addition and Subtraction Story Problems | Caregiver Letter

• Sub Unit 1: Represent and solve Add To, Change Unknown story problems.

Make sense of equations with an underline that represents the unknown amount in a story problem.

• Sub Unit 2: Represent and solve Put Together/Take Apart, One Addend Unknown story problems.
• Sub Unit 3: Represent and solve Compare, Difference Unknown story problems.
• Sub Unit 4: Represent and solve a variety of story problem types addressed in this unit.

Essential Questions:

• What are the relationships between amounts in story problems? 
• How can addition and subtraction equations be used to represent and solve story problems?

Reading

We are finishing Unit 2: From Noes to Toes: How your Body Works

Unit 3: Common Threads: Different Lands, Similar Stories | Caregiver Letter

Students are introduced to three common themes found in fairy tales and folktales from around the globe. Although these themes may be familiar, the cultural differences and unique details of each fairy tale and folktale in the unit provide an opportunity for students to appreciate this diversity and learn valuable, universal lessons.

In addition to learning about different cultures, students explore the ways in which folktales from different lands treat similar themes and characters—including variations on the Cinderella story, the adventures of uncommonly small characters, and the exploits of cunning tricksters.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary
• Identify a purpose for listening
• Make text-to-text connections
• Retell stories using domain-specific vocabulary and correct sequencing
• Compare and contrast diverse fairy tales and folktales
• Plan, draft, and revise a narrative retelling of a fairy tale

Phonics/Writing

• We are currently finishing Unit 1 for phonics. Students have been enjoying reading the book Snap Shots and answering comprehension questions about the story.

Unit 2

• Students are introduced to five vowel sounds and the most common (or least ambiguous) spelling for each sound. They also learn to read and write words with separated digraphs, such as the ‘a’ and ‘e’ in cake. The unit includes grammar lessons on nouns—including proper nouns—as well as practice with new Tricky Words.

Learning Outcomes

• Read and write long vowel sounds, including separate vowel digraphs (e.g., CVCe words)
• Identify and use common and proper nouns
• Identify and spell Tricky Words: he, she, be, me, we, they, their, my, by, you, your
• Spell dictated words

*Check your child’s blue folder for optional take home pages you can do together (page is printed on a colored paper)

Social Studies

We are finishing Unit 1: Getting Along Together

Unit 2: Our World

• In this unit, students will investigate the world around them. They will learn about people, places, and things they can find at their schools and in their neighborhood. They will gain an understanding of how they are part of their many communities, including their school, neighborhood, city, state, country, and world and learn about the different ways people move around within and between those communities. Finally, children will explore ways they can take care of the world around them.

Learning Objectives

• Understand that we are part of a variety of communities.
• Develop basic map skills to understand where places are located.
• Identify the city, state, and country we live in.
• Understand some of the different ways people move from place to place.
• Begin to understand how we play a role in harming or helping the world around us.
• Consider ways we are responsible for taking care of the world around us.

Science 

We are continuing our focus on our first unit: Needs of Plants and Animals.

• Students take on the role of scientists in order to figure out why no monarch caterpillars live in the area that was converted from a field to a community vegetable garden. They investigate how plants and animals get what they need to live and grow, and then they make a new plan for the garden that will provide for the needs of monarch caterpillars and produce vegetables for humans.

Student activities:

• Make multisensory observations as they go on a science walk to figure out what things live in the neighborhood. 
• Investigate photos of animals eating and animals in their habitats
• Observe and record the growth of plants
•  Plan an investigation to determine whether plants need light to live

Happy November! We are starting a few new units this month, please read below to support your child’s learning at home!

SEL - Social Emotional Learning

Development focus:

• Students take responsibility for the classroom
• Students work responsible with partners
• Recognize and name emotions
• Name strategies to use to calm down when feeling upset
• Reviewing tattling vs. reporting 

Math

Unit 3: Adding and Subtracting up to 20 | Caregiver Guide

Sub-Unit 1: Addition and Subtraction Within 10 (Lessons 1–4)

• Develop fluency with addition and subtraction within `10`.

Sub-Unit 2: Exploring Teen Numbers (Lessons 5–9)

• Understand teen numbers are composed of a ten and a number of ones.
• Represent and solve Add To, Start Unknown story problems.

Sub-Unit 3: Addition Within 20 (Lessons 10–15)

• Find sums within `20`.
• Represent and solve story problems involving addition within `20`.

Sub-Unit 4: Subtraction Within 20 (Lessons 16–20)

• Find differences within `20`.
• Represent and solve story problems involving subtraction within `20`.

Reading

Unit 4: Reach for the Stars: Astronomy | Caregiver Letter

Unit Summary: In this introduction to the solar system, students learn about Earth in relation to its moon, other planets, the sun, the stars, and major constellations. They also learn about the sun as a source of light, heat, and energy. Students are introduced to space exploration, including the Apollo missions to the moon and the Parker Solar Probe mission to the sun.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify Earth, the sun, the moon, other planets, and stars
• Describe how Earth moves
• Explain what causes day and night
• Identify major constellations and discoveries by astronomers
• Distinguish between inner and outer planets in the solar system
• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary
• Explore parts of an opinion paragraph by stating an opinion and supplying reasons to support it

 

Phonics/Writing

We are continuing Unit 2 which has been focusing on long vowel sounds (/ee/, /o_e/, /a_e/, /i_e/ and /u_e/. We have also been reviewing the following Tricky Words: he, she, be, me, we, they, their, my, by, you, your. Students continue to identify and review nouns (including common and proper nouns).

Unit 3 (beginning Mid-November) | Caregiver Letter

Unit Summary: Students are introduced to five vowel sounds and the most common (or least ambiguous) spelling for each sound. They also learn five new Tricky Words and the Tricky Spelling ‘oo.’ Grammar exercises focus on identifying verbs and verb tenses (regular present, past, and future). Students begin to receive formal instruction in the writing process, with a focus on narrative writing.

Learning Outcomes:

• Read and write words with vowel sounds: /oo/, /oo/, /ou/, /oi/, /aw/
• Distinguish between similar vowel sounds: /ue/, /oo/, /oo/, /u/
• Identify and spell Tricky Words: should, could, would, down, because
• Spell grade-level words correctly during weekly spelling tests
• Identify and use verbs and verb tenses
• Use the writing process to compose a narrative
• Unit Assessment

*Check your child’s blue folder for optional take home pages you can do together (page is printed on a colored paper)

Social Studies

Unit 2: Our World

• In this unit, students will investigate the world around them. They will learn about people, places, and things they can find at their schools and in their neighborhood. They will gain an understanding of how they are part of their many communities, including their school, neighborhood, city, state, country, and world and learn about the different ways people move around within and between those communities. Finally, children will explore ways they can take care of the world around them.

Learning Objectives

• Understand that we are part of a variety of communities.
• Develop basic map skills to understand where places are located.
• Identify the city, state, and country we live in.
• Understand some of the different ways people move from place to place.
• Begin to understand how we play a role in harming or helping the world around us.
• Consider ways we are responsible for taking care of the world around us.

Science 

We are continuing our focus on our first unit: Needs of Plants and Animals.

Student activities:

• Gather evidence to explain why the two milkweed plants that received water grew differently. 
• Form their own investigation examining whether plants need light to grow. 
• Students observe and record the growth of sunflower plants that grew in light and dark areas, concluding that plants need light to grow. 
• Reading of the book Above and Below, prompting students to think about and record their understanding of what plants and animals need in the places where they live and grow. 
• Engage in a firsthand observation and investigation of plants

Here is what we are focusing on for our three weeks in December!

SEL - Social Emotional Learning

Development focus:

• Students take responsibility for themselves
• Students work responsibly with partners
• Students contribute to partner work
• How we can be responsible and kind in the classroom 
• Tattling vs. Reporting 

Math

• We will be finishing Unit 3 before winter break
• Refer to the  Caregiver Guide to support learning at home!

Sub-Unit 3: Addition Within 20 (Lessons 10–15)

• Find sums within `20`.
• Represent and solve story problems involving addition within `20`.

Sub-Unit 4: Subtraction Within 20 (Lessons 16–20)

• Find differences within `20`.
• Represent and solve story problems involving subtraction within `20`.

Reading

• We are finishing Unit 4 which is all about Astronomy! The class has been enjoying learning about space exploration and the solar system. We have been making Astronomy Journals and students will be bringing them home before winter break!

Before winter break we will begin Unit 5: Charting the World: Geography | Caregiver Letter

Unit Summary

This domain continues students' study of globes, maps, and atlases. By understanding and learning how to use the compass rose, legends, and keys on maps, students can identify cardinal directions and better understand the geographical information being represented. Students begin to think critically about geography as they ask and answer questions about geographical knowledge and the characteristics of specific locations.

Students start to acquire and use geographic vocabulary, and they develop their speaking and listening skills by participating in collaborative conversations with peers. They also become map makers in a culminating project as they use information they learned in the domain to create a map. Students design, illustrate, and share a map of a favorite place in their neighborhood.

Learning Outcomes:

• Compare and contrast the characteristics of globes, maps, and atlases
• Use cardinal directions to locate and label various places on a map
• Describe time zones and how the relationship between the sun and the earth affects the seasons
• Locate and label major landforms using a legend on a world map
• Understand that some countries are organized into states and provinces
• Identify geographical characteristics of urban, rural, and suburban areas in the United States
• Locate and label urban, rural, and suburban areas on a map
• Identify major cities on a world map
• Write about the type of community (urban, suburban, or rural) that students would prefer to live in
• Create a map, and write  about a favorite place in students’ neighborhoods

Phonics/Writing

• We are continuing Unit 3, students have been enjoying reading different fables and answering questions about the stories. We have also been creating story maps about the stories which identify the characters, setting and what happens in the beginning, middle and end. 
• Students will be taking home spelling review pages in their blue folder, please review the words with your child as we will be having some spelling review during the following week!
• They will also be taking some stories home that we read during the unit and words with our phonics skills that we review during the week you can use these as resources to practice at home!

Social Studies

• We are finishing Unit 2: Our World
• Students have enjoyed learning about their place in the world and about Chicago! We are currently focusing on ways that we can take care of our world. 

Science

We will be finishing our unit on Plants and Animals before winter break. We are learning about what is above and below the surface as well as understanding what monarch butterflies need to survive in their habitat!

Happy 2026! Here is our focus for the month in the classroom! RM 100 is so excited about show week! This week we focused a lot on getting back into the school routine and school behaviors, please take time to review with your child at home.

Social Emotional Learning

Development focus:

• Recognizing our emotions
• Talk about and share emotions
• Talk about how feelings look and sound
• Develop listening and speaking skills

We will be reading different books that explore more feelings and emotions as well as different scenarios where students can identify emotions.

Math

• We are starting Unit 4 | Numbers to 99
• Refer to the caregiver guide on how to support your child at home.

Sub Unit 1: Multiples of Ten 

• Represent and use the base-ten structure of two-digit multiples of `10`.
• Add and subtract two-digit multiples of `10`.

Sub Unit 2: Tens and Ones

• Understand that the 2 digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones.
• Add two-digit numbers and multiples of `10`.
• Mentally find `10` more and `10` less than a two-digit number

Sub Unit 3: Comparing Numbers to 99

• Use place value understanding to compare 2 two-digit numbers, and record comparisons using the `<`, `>`, and `=` symbols. 

Reading

• We continued Unit 5 in reading this week which focuses on geography. Read the Caregiver Letter to support learning at home! These are the learning goals:
• Understand that some countries are organized into states and provinces
• Identify geographical characteristics of urban, rural, and suburban areas in the United States
• Locate and label urban, rural, and suburban areas on a map
• Identify major cities on a world map
• Write about the type of community (urban, suburban, or rural) that students would prefer to live in
• Create a map, and write  about a favorite place in students’ neighborhoods

Later in the month we will be starting Unit 6:  A World of Homes: Animals and Habitats

• Read the Caregiver Letter to support the learning at home!

Unit Summary

In this domain, students learn what habitats are and why living things are suited to particular habitats. Specifically, they identify unique characteristics and animal adaptations in environments such as the Arctic tundra and ocean, the desert, grasslands, temperate deciduous forests, tropical rainforests, and freshwater habitats. Students classify animals based on their diets, explore the diversity of ocean life, and examine the ocean floor's landscape. Additionally, they explain the impacts of habitat destruction on species extinction and consider how conservation efforts help species like the bald eagle recover from near extinction.

Overall Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary
• Set a purpose for listening
• Identify important information in a text
• Recognize that all living things have adapted to live in habitats to which they are particularly suited
• Understand that each habitat has distinct characteristics
• Explain that habitat destruction can lead to extinction

Phonics / Writing

• This week in phonics we reviewed nouns, verbs and our digraphs ‘oo’, ‘ou’, ‘oi’ and ‘aw’. Students also enjoyed some winter writing activities this week including writing about their winter break, making New Year goals and a writing craft about a warm drink they like to have in the winter. 

We will begin Unit 4 in Phonics next week, the learning goals are below. Students will also have a weekly spelling review. I will be posting the spelling words to the classroom webpage on Monday for you to review with your child for the week, we will also try to send them home. 

Unit Summary

Students are introduced to the most common (or least ambiguous) spellings for /r/-controlled vowel sounds. They learn the concept of a syllable and practice with two-syllable words. Students are also introduced to past-tense verb forms ending in –ed as they continue to work with nouns and verbs in phrases. Finally, they learn about adjectives and practice descriptive writing. 

Learning Outcomes

• Read and write words with /r/-controlled vowels
• Review long vowel spellings, including digraphs
• Identify and use contractions
• Spell grade-level words correctly
• Divide multisyllabic words into parts
• Read and spell Tricky Words: today, yesterday, tomorrow
• Read and write past tense verbs ending in ‒ed
• Compose descriptive writing pieces

Social Studies

• We started a new unit in Social Studies this week focusing on the United States. The class learned about different leaders (Mayor, President, Vice President, Governor and Alderman) and drew themselves as a leader!

In this unit, students will investigate some of the key people, places, events, and symbols of the United States. They will explore ways people celebrate the United States and show pride in their communities. Students will also begin to gain an understanding of the many different ways people in the United States express who they are, building upon what they have already examined about their own identity.

Objectives

• Gain knowledge about leaders in the United States, Illinois, and Chicago.
• Identify national symbols and consider what they represent.
• Develop calendar skills by identifying national holidays and explore how holidays can be celebrated.
• Understand the importance of some people and places in the history of the United States.
• Explore different ways people express their identity and show pride.

Science

• We started a new unit in science -- Pushes and Pulls! The class will become engineers to design and create pinball machines. They learned what a pinball machine is and observed how a ball moves in a pinball machine. We also connected our prior knowledge with experiences they have had with moving objects (balls, bikes, etc.) and how those objects move. 

Objectives

• An object starts to move when another object exerts a force on it.
• Visualizing is making a picture in your mind and it can be used to notice forces.
• Scientists often talk about how things are connected.
• Scientists and engineers search for cause and effect relationships to explain natural events.

We have had a great month of February with classroom celebrations including the 100th Day of School, Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day! Read below to see our current and upcoming learning objectives for the rest of the month. 

Social Emotional Learning

Objectives: 

• Students explore what it means to be helpful.
• Students develop the desire to be helpful.
• Students think about their feelings and the feelings of others.

• SEL Competencies: Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making

Math

The class enjoyed learning about the greater than, less than and equal to symbols! They have been doing a great job using math vocabulary to compare two-digit numbers. We will be taking out Unit 4 assessment on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Sub Unit 3: Comparing Numbers to 99

• Use place value understanding to compare 2 two-digit numbers, and record comparisons using the `<`, `>`, and `=` symbols. 

Sub Unit 4: Different ways to make a number

• Create and interpret equivalent base-ten representations for two digit numbers that show different amounts of tens and ones. 

Reading

The class has loved learning about different habitats in our current reading unit! We have learned about the Arctic, Sonoran Desert and East African Savanna Habitats. Students have their own ‘habitat journals’ where we are recording information about the animals, plants, climate and adaptations about each habitat. 

We will continue to learn about the following topics:

• Temperate Deciduous Forest Habitat
• Tropical Rainforest Habitat
• Freshwater Habitat
• Saltwater Habitat
• Habitat Destruction and Endangered Species 

Phonics / Writing

• Students have enjoyed reviewing our r-controlled vowel sounds (/or/, /er/, /ar/) and reviewing past, present and future tense verbs. 
• The class will also begin an informative writing piece.

Goals:

• Students will use regular present- and future-tense verbs orally and will write and sort verbs into present- and future-tense categories.
• Students will read, spell, and write words with ‘ed’ > /t/, ‘ed’ > /d/, and ‘ed’ > /ed/, and the Tricky Word have.
• Students will understand that adjectives are words used to describe nouns. 
• Students will read and spell two-syllable words with the suffixes –er, –ness, and –less.

Social Studies

• Students will continue to learn about important people in Black History to celebrate Black History month. 

Science

• We are continuing our unit about pushes and pulls. Students enjoyed working with a classmate to determine how we can use objects to create forces. They were able to explain the relationship between the objects and what force was being used to make the object move (i.e. they pushed the popsicle stick to move the hex nut)

Continued learning goals for the month:

• Students are introduced to the Chapter 2 Question: How do we make a pinball move as far as we want? 
• Students learn:

• Things move a longer distance when we push them harder.
• Things move a shorter distance when we do not push as hard

• Provide students with vocabulary to talk about the relationship between the strength of a force exerted on an object (the cause) and the distance that object travels (the effect)
• Draw diagrams of their pinball machine models

Social Emotional Learning

Objectives: 

• Students explore what it means to be helpful.
• Students develop the desire to be helpful.
• Students think about their feelings and the feelings of others.

• SEL Competencies: Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making

Math

The class did a wonderful job with their Unit 4 assessment! We worked really hard in understanding how to compare numbers using symbols and representing numbers with place value and base ten! The class was excited to get new math workbooks, they will be bringing their old workbooks home and do not need to bring them back to school.

We began Unit 5: Numbers to 100 | Caregiver Guide

Unit objective: Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add within `100`.

Sub-Unit 1: Adding Without Making a Ten 

• Add one-digit and two-digit numbers within `100`, including adding a one-digit number and a two-digit number and adding 2 two-digit numbers, without composing a ten.

Sub-Unit 2: Making a Ten: Adding One- and Two-Digit Numbers

• Add two-digit numbers and one-digit numbers within `100` by composing a ten.

Sub-Unit 3: Making a Ten: Adding Within 100 

• Add 2 two-digit numbers within `100` by composing a ten.

Phonics / Writing

The class worked on a descriptive writing piece this week about one of the animals we have read about in the ‘Green Fern Zoo’. These will be shared during conferences!

We will begin Unit 5 next week:

Students begin learning spelling alternatives that make up the advanced code. They practice making nouns plural and changing spelling by adding suffixes. Regarding grammar, students identify sentence types (statements, questions, and exclamations) and practice creating longer sentences. 

Learning outcomes:

• Segment and blend two-syllable words
• Read and write spelling alternatives for /ch/, /j/, /v/, and /r/
• Review single- and double-letter consonants
• Form plural nouns by adding ‒s and ‒es
• Write words with suffixes ‒ed and ‒ing
• Spell grade-level words correctly
• Identify and write different sentence types

Reading

We are continuing to read about animals and habitats! Students will be bringing their Habitat Journals home before spring break. 

We will begin to start Unit 7: A New Nation: American Independence after Spring Break

In this domain, students learn about the birth of the United States of America and identify the continent, country, and state where they live. Then, using maps, they locate, identify, and gain a geographical understanding of the thirteen original colonies within the United States. Students are introduced to important historical figures, places, and events in the story of how the thirteen colonies became an independent nation. They also learn the significance of the country’s symbols, including the U.S. flag, the Liberty Bell, and the bald eagle.

Social Studies

We began our unit that focuses on the Past and Future. 

Objectives:

• Understand the difference between the past, the present, and the future.
• Compare life long ago with life today.
• Recognize how communities change over time.
• Describe some ways Chicago and the United States have changed and continue to change.
• Explore ways people make change.

Science

The class has been enjoying our pushes and pulls unit! They have been doing a nice job collaborating with their tablemates to explore our pinball machines. This week we talked about how using a gentle or strong force can make an object move a short or long distance.