Dear Parents,
     Well, Happy Thursday!!!  These days seem to roll around quickly anymore.  We are nearing Spring Break all ready.  The cold is back!!  Not sure it is going away quickly either.  Sounds like the weekend could be a snowy one.  Not a ton of accumulation but very fluffy stuff.  That information is from our private weather forecast given by Chris Coanan from channel 5 yesterday.  How right will he be?

Weather Presentation - We had Chris Coanan down from Channel 5 yesterday.  Mrs. Burg does a 5th grade unit on weather with the 5th grade so she plans his visit.  Third and fourth grade get to enjoy his presentation also.  He does an excellent job reporting about weather to the kids.  He also shares a great power point presentation with fun video of clouds and storms. I really feel the kids enjoy this and benefit from his experience.  Thanks Ms. Burg for coordinating it and including us!!

Language Arts-  This week we are reading a fun and interesting Biography.  The story is called: I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Woman The Vote.   It is a great story about a woman who is involved in the Woman's Suffrage Movement.  She actually got the state of Wyoming to give women the right to vote before the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution was added in 1920.  I think all students in the class find this story to be interesting, especially the girls.  Grammar this week is focusing on negative words (no, nobody, nothing, nowhere, none, and never) and also double negatives.  I am glad to see this lesson come up because students don't really know what I am saying when I talk about not using double negatives in a sentence.  

Math-  We took our Chapter 5 test today.  I am hoping to see great scores from this assessment.  If I don't have that, we will need to do some reteaching before we move on.  Chapter 6 is over double-digit multiplication.  I move pretty slowly through this chapter to ensure students are catching on before moving forward.  This is a big concept to grasp.  I really don't foresee any problems with this class understanding it.  It will be difficult at first but once we get going they will run with it!!  I will not stress about basic facts. I will be giving them a multiplication table that they can use.  I want them to understand the process and not allow facts to hold them back.  It would be a great help if you would work on those at home!!

Social Studies - We are testing today over chapter 7.  This ends our study of the Southeast states.  We will now move to the Midwest region.  We will choose states for projects next week.  Iowa is not an option for these states.  The reason is because in 5th grade there is an entire 9 week unit focusing on Iowa History and they will each do a major project during that unit.  We only have two more projects left.  Please be sure your child knows what they can choose to do and what you want them to stay away from.  I always look forward to this region because I feel the kids get excited over it.  We are reading about things they all ready are aware of, and I think they like that.  They like to see in a book things they are familiar with.  I will have project due dates for this around first week in April.  Which means last projects will be due mid May. Yes, we are nearing the end!!

Conferences:  You will be receiving a conference survey today in folder.  This needs to be returned by Tuesday whether it is filled out or not.  This is to give us a better idea of what information you want to know about your student.  It will better help us to prepare for our conferences.  Thank you for taking the time to fill them out. Also, those who have a conference on Tuesday expect a phone call from me to see about setting up a different time.  Molly has an event that Tuesday night I would like to attend.

I hope everyone has a great and safe weekend!!

Reminder:  We DO have school Monday even though public school doesn't.

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels