Good evening families and friends!

We had such an exciting week in our classroom! We kicked off our PLATO ACADEMY countdown and the energy is definitely building as we look ahead to the end of the year.

We also put the finishing touches on our song and dance for the upcoming program, and the excitement is growing. They’ve been practicing hard and can’t wait to perform!

To top it off, we partnered with Ms. Demetra’s class to make posters promoting our fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish-Foundation. The students were excited to spread the word for such a meaningful cause.

Make-A-Wish Foundation Service Learning Project-

💫Make-A-Wish Foundation – A note from Ms. Melissa’s and Ms. Demetra’s classes

“We will be raising money to help grant wishes for children with critical illnesses. All classes will be participating in a Walk-a-thon on Wednesday, May 27 at 9:15 AM at school. Thank you for helping our students learn how even small acts of kindness can create something wonderful. Every step they take helps bring a little more magic into someone’s world. Please find details and donation sign up here: Walk-A-Thon Make-A-Wish 2026 Foundation 2026”

We presented our posters to every class in the school. The students did a great job!

Wednesday was a special day because my daughter, Ella, and our dog, Bea, came for a visit. We enjoyed taking turns holding Bea and playing with her. Ms. Georgia also came that morning to play math games with us!

In math we have been working more on comparing fractions, practicing multiplication, and have been playing our math games that involve fast math with two digit by two digit equations.

We Celebrated Oscar’s birthday this week! We hope all your wishes come true, Oscar!

We look forward to our walk-a-thon next Wednesday! I will send another email out Monday to remind families about our special days for the PLATO COUNTDOWN. 🙂

Have a great long weekend!

Love,

Ms. Melissa

Hello, families and friends!

We had a great week in our classroom with lots of excitement around trying out our new Smart Board! The students have loved drawing on it, and it’s been so helpful for quickly pulling up information and pictures with just a tap. It’s already becoming a wonderful new tool for our learning.

In science, we talked about the life cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly and are eagerly watching our Chrysalis, waiting for our butterfly to emerge.

We’ve also been busy practicing our song and dance for our program coming up in a few weeks. Please plan to have your child wear red, white, and blue on the day of the show, June 5th.

Ms. Georgia brought us some fun new math games, and the students have been working hard to sharpen their math facts while playing. It’s been wonderful seeing their confidence grow.

We’re continuing to read “Ramona and Her Mother” and the class is really enjoying hearing about the family dynamics of the Quimby family. We’ve also been journaling each day, and it’s always a treat to see the stories, ideas, and little slices of imagination that land on the page.

Lifecycle of a Butterfly Drawings…

Centers…

Heads Up, Seven Up

Trying out our new Smart Board!

As a part of our math routine, we do “Wednesday Wonders” from the Multiplicity Lab Website. Visual math routines can be a really powerful ritual because it turns math into something kids notice and talk about, not just something they race to finish on a worksheet. We teachers at Plato love these images and prompts because they promote flexible thinking, grow student voice–students explain how they see something, defend ideas, revise them, and hear classmates’ strategies, it lowers the pressure. Since the focus is on noticing, wondering, estimating, and comparing, everyone can contribute something. It also naturally strengthens number sense and allows the teacher to hear their thinking.

Wednesday Wonders…

Math Games…

DEAR Time…

Journaling…

Have a great weekend!

Love, Ms. Melissa

We all had a great week! I so enjoyed all the time, attention, and thoughtfulness parents put into Teacher Appreciation Week. I felt very loved and appreciated. Thank you all so much!

The students also enjoyed putting together a little gift for their moms for Mother’s Day. We hope all of our wonderful moms have a very special weekend!

This week we visited Ms. Beth’s class to see their national park presentations on PowerPoint. Some of our students were so inspired that they want to try to create PowerPoint presentations of their own! Stay tuned for that!

We also loved taking care of Ms. Ela’s four chicks for the morning. I think it’s safe to say that our class is full of animal lovers, which warms my heart.

On Thursday Ms. Georgia , our favorite math teacher stopped by to teach us some new math games. The students had so much fun learning and playing together.

To honor Mother’s Day, we also started a new novel, Ramona and Her Mother. The students love reading about Ramona and her adventures!

Class Store… The students priced objects around the room and created their own store for each other to shop.

Art Class

Dear Time…

Ms. Beth’s National Parks Presentations…

Choice Time/Centers…

Wednesday Wonders…

Practicing Our Dance for our Show…

Ms. Georgia Time…

Babysitting the chicks from Ms. Ela’s room…

And Happy Birthday to Geo!! We hope all your wishes come true!!

Have a great weekend!

Love, Ms. Melissa

This week was such a fun one in our classroom! We spent time reading “Ramona and Her Father” and students brought the story to life by working in groups to create and perform their own commercials- complete with creative ideas and plenty of teamwork as they tried to “sell” their products.

Wednesday was “Poem in Your Pocket Day,” and it truly felt like our classroom turned into a little poetry festival. We joined Ms. Demetra, Ms. Beth, and Ms. Anna’s classes to share poems we wrote, and it was such a delightful experience to hear all of the students’ voices and creativity shine!

In math, we’ve been building our skills in multiplication and practicing rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. The students are working hard and showing great progress.

Prepping for our commercials that the students are writing and acting out…

Ms. Ela’s Class has Chicks!

We visited the K/1 classroom twice this week- once to learn about the chicks before they hatched and once to meet the babies!

Painting our Greektown Sculpture…

Playing Math Games…

Writing and Sharing our Poems…

Wednesday Wonders…

Have a great weekend!!

Love,
Ms. Melissa

We had a great week as we presented our dioramas about our novel, “Sarah, Plain and Tall,” to all of the students in the school! It’s always fun for our students to get the chance to visit with and get feedback from the other kids. 🙂

Wednesday Wonders…

What shapes and patterns do you see?

Math…

We worked on reviewing place value, adding and subtracting two digit by two digit numbers, and memorized the facts…6×7, 7×8, 8×6, 7×9, and 8×9. We also practice memorizing facts everyday by playing fun and engaging math games.

Multiplicity Lab…

“Save the Bees” Craft…

Ms. Georgia Games…

Checking our the baby birds…

Recess…

We are busy practicing our song and dance for our final show of the year…

Have a great weekend!!

Love, Ms. Melissa

This week we had so much fun creating dioramas depicting life on a prairie. We finished our novel, “Sarah, Plain and Tall, and chose a memorable moment from the story to construct with art materials. We then learned some facts about prairies…

What is a prairie?

A prairie is a type of grassland found mostly in the central part of North America, especially in places like Kansas, Nebraska, and Illinois. Instead of trees, prairies are filled with grasses and wildflowers. Prairie plants have very deep roots- sometimes 10-15 feet underground! These roots help them survive droughts and strong winds. Wildflowers like coneflowers and blazing stars add bursts of color.

They are one of the most endangered ecosystems as much of the original prairie has been turned into farmland.

Prairie soil is incredibly rich, which is why it’s great for growing crops.

Our dioramas…

Centers/Choice Time…

Math Games…

In our multiplication unit for math, we have worked on 2s, 5s, and fast doubles. Next week we will work on the facts that are the hardest to memorize- 6×7, 7×8, 8×6, 7×9, and 8×9.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Ms. Melissa

Introducing our new novel…

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan is a gentle, heartfelt story about a widowed farmer named Jacob who lives on the prairie with his two children, Anna and Caleb. To help care for them, he places an ad for a wife, and Sarah, a woman from Maine, comes to stay.

Sarah is very different from what the children expect—she misses the sea and finds prairie life unfamiliar—but she forms a close bond with the family. Anna and Caleb grow to love her and worry she might leave. In the end, Sarah chooses to stay, bringing hope, love, and a sense of family back into their lives.

We read one chapter a day then I ask the children questions to check their comprehension of the details in the story. We then practice putting events in order from beginning to end and we learn new vocabulary words.

The students are enjoying the story so far!

Math- This week we began learning multiplication! Many students now know their fast doubles, such as 4×4 and 8×8. A few of the older students have moved on to division. Our math time for the next few weeks will be filled with games meant to help the students memorize their facts.

Math Centers…

Ms. Georgia’s Visit- Introducing Math Games

Centers/Free Choice…

Recess…

Mythology Play…

To wrap up the week, I read the students a picture book called, Miss Rumphius.

Miss Rumphius is a classic children’s book by Barbara Cooney about a woman who fulfills her childhood dreams of traveling the world, living by the sea, and doing something to make the world more beautiful, inspired by the real-life “Lupine Lady” who scattered lupine seeds along the coast of Maine. The story follows Alice Rumphius as she grows from a girl hearing tales of faraway lands to an old woman who finds her purpose in planting flowers, creating a legacy of beauty. The book won the American Book Award in 1982 and is celebrated for its timeless message and exquisite illustrations. 

To honor the theme of the book, went around to each student and they shared what they would do to make the world a better place. Some of their answers were planting trees, planting flowers, helping people and animals, don’t litter, and pick up litter.

Have a great long weekend!

Love,

Ms. Melissa

Good evening, families and friends!

It was so great catching up with everyone at conferences! Here is what we have been up to this week!

Dalmatians as firehouse mascots…

Since we are reading about the Chicago fire and talking about firefighters, we wondered why the Dalmatian became the mascot for firefighters… Dalmatians became closely associated with firefighters because of their unique abilities and historical role alongside early fire brigades—especially in the days of horse-drawn fire engines.

Here’s how that connection developed:

🐎 1. Natural partners for horses

Dalmatian dogs were known for their calm temperament around horses and even had a natural affinity for running alongside carriages. In the 18th and 19th centuries, fire engines were pulled by horses, and Dalmatians were used to:

• Run ahead of the engines to help clear the الطريق
• Guide and protect the horses during chaotic emergencies
• Keep the horses calm amid loud noises and crowds

🔥 2. Firehouse guardians

Once at the firehouse, Dalmatians served as watchdogs. They protected valuable equipment and the horses themselves from theft or harm.

🚒 3. Symbol of tradition

Even after motorized fire trucks replaced horse-drawn engines, the image stuck. Fire departments—especially in the United States—kept Dalmatians as mascots to honor that history and tradition.

🧯 4. Cultural icon

Over time, Dalmatians became a recognizable symbol of firefighting, reinforced by media, parades, and even movies like 101 Dalmatians.

Centers/ Choice Time

Practicing reading our poetry for conferences…

Ms. Georgia’s Math Games

Playing “Heads Up, Seven Up”

Building Leprechaun Traps…

Art Class…

Multiplicity Lab… How Could You Organize the Dice?

Heggerty…

Reading “I Survived the Chicago Fire”

Recess…

Have a wonderful Spring break!

Love,

Ms. Melissa

Good afternoon, friends and families of room 120!

We had another fabulous week together!

On Monday we journaled about the three places we’d like to visit.

We took a trip to the Des Plaines Library!

We continued reading our novel, “I Survived the Chicago Fire” and answered comprehension questions about the story…

Centers/Choice Time-

We read two poems by Shel Silverstein chorally in preparation for conferences. We plan to read them to you to showcase our fluent reading with expression in our voices!

Chess Class…

Story Writing…

This week we spent a few days practicing the writing process which included Prewriting (Planning), Drafting, Revising, Editing, and we will Publish (Share) our pieces at conferences! Our story prompt was… While I was sleeping, Marshmallow went on an adventure…

We also illustrated our Marshmallow stories. This student drew his portrait…

Math- Along with playing math games, we talked about fractions and and how the represent part of a whole. This activity allowed students to see that a fraction shows something that is divided into equal parts. Next week we will discuss more info about fractions like the numerator and the denominator. We will also go over other types of fractions such as proper, improper, and mixed number.

Our Greek Show…

Have a great weekend!!

Love,

Ms. Melissa

Hello Room 120 Families and Friends!

This week we continued reading our “I Survived the Chicago Fire” novel and in honor of our gorgeous Chicago Skyline, we created our own cities and tied in multiplication while we were at it! We practiced making arrays, using them as windows for the buildings…

Math- This week we focused on Geometry. We worked on naming shapes by the number of sides and angles, identifying the triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, and hexagon.

Centers/Choice Time

Math Games- Pig

“I Survived the Great Chicago Fire”

Art- In art class with Ms. Andrea, the students created pottery inspired by our Greek Mythology unit. They then wrote a myth about their creations. We are going to edit their writing and share it with you at conferences in a couple of weeks.

Visiting Ms. Demetra’s Class to see their presentations on Emus and Ostriches…

Multiplicity Lab…

How Many are Missing?

More Math Games… “Fill the Stairs,” “Guess My Number,” and “Guess Odd, Guess Even”

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Ms. Melissa