Dear Parents,
Well, what a wet and yucky day!!! We did not get to do our lap-a-thon today due to rain. We are planning on doing it tomorrow. It looks like the weather can cooperate for us I am headed to Carroll to a track meet tonight. I was hoping for it to be cancelled. Such is the season!!!
Lap-a-thon - This will take place Friday, April 25th. We will run with 3rd and 5th grade from 9-10 in the morning. I recommend you send two pair of shoes if you have them. It will be damp from today's rain and will trample down into mud quickly. Extra socks would be a good idea too. Looks like tomorrow is to be a very nice day.
Language Arts - This week we read a story called Amphibians Alert! This story is about amphibians and how they need protected from becoming extinct. We are again reading a non fiction story with informational text. Our spelling words this week dealt with final syllables ending in -le, -al, -el. This was a difficult spelling list. In grammar we have been discussing comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs. We also are covering negatives words. Both of these topics are review topics. We read poetry about amphibians and fables that deal with frogs. We discussed lessons or morals to those fables. It has been a good week because some of it is review. Last week's Friday assessment was very good. The students went up in scores. Let's hope we maintain that this week.
Math- We finished up chapter 6 and took a test this week. They did a fairly nice job on the test. I really feel all of them have mastered this topic with only a few basic fact errors. I was very pleased with the test. We will now spend a couple days learning perimeter, area, and volume before we move on to division. I saved those topics from geometry because I think they all go together and we needed to know how to multiply to do area and volume. Hopefully it will be an easy couple of days before we hit is hard again with division,
Social Studies - We have begun the Southwest Region. We read lesson one on the Grand Canyon. We are now watching a video on the Grand Canyon. We will pick our next state next week for projects. I know students are anxious to get it and get started. They get excited about the projects. This lesson focused on the founder and exploration of the Grand Canyon and how it was formed. The movie focuses on wildlife and a little on the Native Americans there.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!!! I really wish this weather would make up its mind!! I hate have nice warm days then back to the cold. I know the kids wish it would also. It is hard to know how to dress each day. Plus, the forecast changes every 4-5 hours. Yesterday was great except for the wind. I am ready for 70's and no wind. I want nice sunny days. AMEN!!
Good Friday Spring Clean-up- Tomorrow is our annual Clean-up day. Now that your child is in 4th grade they need to bring in a rake. We will be raking out the fence line around the property. Mainly on the north side by alley. We do this with the 5th grade. We will spend an hour or so outside doing clean up. It is a way to get rid of the dirt and let spring shine through. The trash and dirt accumulated over winter needs to be taken away. We usually go outside mid-morning after it warms up a bit. Please, send work gloves with students also. They will be picking up trash, using a rake, lots of dirty outdoor work. Gloves will help protect hands from blisters, and germs. Thank you in advance for the rakes and hard work.
Language Arts - We have started Unit 6 this week. I am finding that most of it is review. The only topic that has moved up and maybe gotten harder is spelling. This unit is not even in our large textbook. It is a separate book with just the stories in it. I am trying to learn to teach without all the things we had in the book before. I am still covering vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and reading the story 5 times. We will still have Friday assessments. This story was called The Girl Who Loved Spiders. It is a story about a boy who moves to different place and has a fear of spiders. In his new house his new neighbor had a love for spiders. He learns a few things about spiders from her and it helps his fear. The story also contains facts hidden in the story. That is what makes it interesting. You think you are just reading a story yet there a interesting facts embedded into it. Some students have found this story more interesting than others. (haha)
Math - We are working on reviewing for a Chapter test. Today they are working on a review. I hope to check that review tomorrow and test on Monday. If our clean-up takes up more time than we will check the review on Monday and take a test on Tuesday. I plan on teaching them a couple more geometry lessons after this test. They will focus on perimeter, area, and volume. Now that we know how to multiply we can do area and volume. I save perimeter just because I think to teach them all three together is better and give them a better understanding. We will not test over these topics. I just want you to know we are covering them. The next chapter will focus on division. I really think this class will not have a problem catching on to this topic since they caught on to multiplication so quickly.
Social Studies - We finished up the Midwest this week. Projects are all shared, and the test is today. We will move onto the Southwest next. This only involves 4 states. I combine these 4 with the West when we pick our last projects. Which we will do very soon. These will be due mid May. The students are used to the social studies book, how it is set up, how I teach it and what homework is expected of them, so I tend to move more quickly through the Southwest than normal. I need to be sure we get to the West Region. It contains more states and more information. It's my favorite region to study.
Sedar Meal - I just want to share that today is the Sedar Meal. It is one of the best activities we hold her at St. Malachy. I love that we all are in the gym at once sharing a meal. This is the only time in a year it happens. Yes, I know there are a couple days all the kids are in there with their angels sharing a meal, but it is normally a meal you have provided. I like this one because it is family style and we are all eating the same thing. What a great way to celebrate all that Jesus did for us!!
I hope all of you have a very Happy Easter!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!!! I really wish this weather would make up its mind!! I hate have nice warm days then back to the cold. I know the kids wish it would also. It is hard to know how to dress each day. Plus, the forecast changes every 4-5 hours. Yesterday was great except for the wind. I am ready for 70's and no wind. I want nice sunny days. AMEN!!
Good Friday Spring Clean-up- Tomorrow is our annual Clean-up day. Now that your child is in 4th grade they need to bring in a rake. We will be raking out the fence line around the property. Mainly on the north side by alley. We do this with the 5th grade. We will spend an hour or so outside doing clean up. It is a way to get rid of the dirt and let spring shine through. The trash and dirt accumulated over winter needs to be taken away. We usually go outside mid-morning after it warms up a bit. Please, send work gloves with students also. They will be picking up trash, using a rake, lots of dirty outdoor work. Gloves will help protect hands from blisters, and germs. Thank you in advance for the rakes and hard work.
Language Arts - We have started Unit 6 this week. I am finding that most of it is review. The only topic that has moved up and maybe gotten harder is spelling. This unit is not even in our large textbook. It is a separate book with just the stories in it. I am trying to learn to teach without all the things we had in the book before. I am still covering vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and reading the story 5 times. We will still have Friday assessments. This story was called The Girl Who Loved Spiders. It is a story about a boy who moves to different place and has a fear of spiders. In his new house his new neighbor had a love for spiders. He learns a few things about spiders from her and it helps his fear. The story also contains facts hidden in the story. That is what makes it interesting. You think you are just reading a story yet there a interesting facts embedded into it. Some students have found this story more interesting than others. (haha)
Math - We are working on reviewing for a Chapter test. Today they are working on a review. I hope to check that review tomorrow and test on Monday. If our clean-up takes up more time than we will check the review on Monday and take a test on Tuesday. I plan on teaching them a couple more geometry lessons after this test. They will focus on perimeter, area, and volume. Now that we know how to multiply we can do area and volume. I save perimeter just because I think to teach them all three together is better and give them a better understanding. We will not test over these topics. I just want you to know we are covering them. The next chapter will focus on division. I really think this class will not have a problem catching on to this topic since they caught on to multiplication so quickly.
Social Studies - We finished up the Midwest this week. Projects are all shared, and the test is today. We will move onto the Southwest next. This only involves 4 states. I combine these 4 with the West when we pick our last projects. Which we will do very soon. These will be due mid May. The students are used to the social studies book, how it is set up, how I teach it and what homework is expected of them, so I tend to move more quickly through the Southwest than normal. I need to be sure we get to the West Region. It contains more states and more information. It's my favorite region to study.
Sedar Meal - I just want to share that today is the Sedar Meal. It is one of the best activities we hold her at St. Malachy. I love that we all are in the gym at once sharing a meal. This is the only time in a year it happens. Yes, I know there are a couple days all the kids are in there with their angels sharing a meal, but it is normally a meal you have provided. I like this one because it is family style and we are all eating the same thing. What a great way to celebrate all that Jesus did for us!!
I hope all of you have a very Happy Easter!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Dear Parents.
Happy Thursday!! What a nice day yesterday and hopefully today. I hope we keep moving in the direction of warm temps and good weather and not back to snow or cold. Track season is under way and I only like to attend if it's nice. I am not a fan of being cold watching a track meet. Our big week of testing is OVER!! The students were well behaved and did what they were suppose do. I hope they did their very best!! We will find out in May!!
Language Arts - We didn't do much with this subject this week. We are in the middle of working on writing project. We are creating an Author Report. The students chose an author and we generated some questions. They tried to locate the answers to at least 10 questions. We also talked about an introductory paragraph. They were to play around with a couple introductory paragraphs for today. Next week we will get back into the textbook and it will be a normal week.
Math - We are still working in the double-digit multiplication chapter. We have learned the standard algorithm. Students even worked on a 3 digit number times a double-digit number. They have truly done an excellent job of learning the multiplication strategies. I voiced to the students how proud I was on them because they were doing a great job!! There is not too much left in this chapter and then we will test over it. That will show me what they really know. I also feel like they have come a long ways with basic facts.
Social Studies - We have focused on projects this week. I have been making sure we get those in before we do anything else. It's just the kind of week we have going on with tests and all. We have done a little book work also. I love listening to the projects. Sometimes we get a project that someone put a lot of hard work into because it is what interests them and sometimes we just get the bare minimum because that's what interests them. I still love them all no matter if they are over the top or not. I enjoy them sharing their knowledge with others. I feel we are really promoting leadership when students get up in front of others and display knowledge of a topic and share their interests.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!! What a nice day yesterday and hopefully today. I hope we keep moving in the direction of warm temps and good weather and not back to snow or cold. Track season is under way and I only like to attend if it's nice. I am not a fan of being cold watching a track meet. Our big week of testing is OVER!! The students were well behaved and did what they were suppose do. I hope they did their very best!! We will find out in May!!
Language Arts - We didn't do much with this subject this week. We are in the middle of working on writing project. We are creating an Author Report. The students chose an author and we generated some questions. They tried to locate the answers to at least 10 questions. We also talked about an introductory paragraph. They were to play around with a couple introductory paragraphs for today. Next week we will get back into the textbook and it will be a normal week.
Math - We are still working in the double-digit multiplication chapter. We have learned the standard algorithm. Students even worked on a 3 digit number times a double-digit number. They have truly done an excellent job of learning the multiplication strategies. I voiced to the students how proud I was on them because they were doing a great job!! There is not too much left in this chapter and then we will test over it. That will show me what they really know. I also feel like they have come a long ways with basic facts.
Social Studies - We have focused on projects this week. I have been making sure we get those in before we do anything else. It's just the kind of week we have going on with tests and all. We have done a little book work also. I love listening to the projects. Sometimes we get a project that someone put a lot of hard work into because it is what interests them and sometimes we just get the bare minimum because that's what interests them. I still love them all no matter if they are over the top or not. I enjoy them sharing their knowledge with others. I feel we are really promoting leadership when students get up in front of others and display knowledge of a topic and share their interests.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
I am sorry, I forgot I was going to announce the top 3 Dollars for Scholars essay winners. These three students will move on to the next level where they will have a chance of winning $50.
Halle Evans
Briley Hayes
Megan Pellman
Congratulations to these three students. The topic of the essay was "What Education Means To Me". These three talked about how education was important to their future and important to them. Great Job!! We will not now the winner until mid-May.
Halle Evans
Briley Hayes
Megan Pellman
Congratulations to these three students. The topic of the essay was "What Education Means To Me". These three talked about how education was important to their future and important to them. Great Job!! We will not now the winner until mid-May.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!!! What a yucky day!! I am happy that the High School Track Meet in Osceola was cancelled due to weather. I was not at all looking forward to watching people run in this weather. We have had a very good stretch here this week. Kids seem to be keeping busy and working hard this week. Next week I hope they continue to do the same!!!
Iowa Assessments - We will be taking these tests all next week. Testing days will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. If there is anything we haven't finished we will pick it up on Friday morning. I am hoping to show them a movie on Friday just as a pick-me-up from a full week of testing. Please, be sure your child gets a full night's sleep, eats a good breakfast, and tries their very best!! We will be having snacks for "brain food" during the tests provided by the PTO. It is nice to come to the gym or go outside and take a small break from all the testing. Just remember to encourage your child to do their very best work!!
Language Arts- This week the students completed the Unit 5 assessment. We took a small portion of it everyday. I was hoping by doing that they would put all their effort into it and use all the time. Some kids did that, others still just flew through it not paying attention to the questions or going back and looking for the answers in the story. I checked each portion as they did them. They were to look over what they missed to see if it would help them as they did the next day's testing. Again, some took advantage and got better and some did not! I have yet to finish checking today's. I hope to see some improvement from last unit. The only other thing we did this week was write the Dollars for Scholars Essays. I will put on here tomorrow the top 3 essays that will be going on with a chance to win $50.
Math - I am so very happy with this class in Math!! They learned a new strategy this week. The strategy you all know and love, the standard algorithm for multiplying! They caught on and did a great job. We took our time this week and even had a fun day today with the 30 sided die, where they each roll a number and that becomes their multiplication problem. I love hearing them argue or discuss whose answer is right and why someone's is wrong. It is a great learning experience for both kids. No homework tonight. I gave them a break. Tomorrow we will have a lesson on bigger numbers. A number in the hundreds multiplied by a double-digit. Woohoo!!
Social Studies - Projects are getting closer!! I am getting excited!! We are on lesson 4 in this chapter which means we are finishing up the Midwest. We will then move onto the Southwest Region. This region is small and I will move quickly through it so we can get into the West because it covers more states. Students are doing a great job. We need to practicing where the states are and really memorizing that States and Capitals song. We will begin singing it everyday so we get it down. Those capital tests will be coming.
I will be gone next Wednesday, April 9th. I will be going with 9 students to the Young Writer's Conference in Lamoni at Graceland College. I am taking 3 students from each 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Halle Evans, Sarah Rhone, and Jacob Zachary are the students attending from this room. There will be a substitute in the room and life will go on as normal for the students not attending. It is an early out, with Mass and Lenten Angels so should be a good day.
Have a great weekend!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!!! What a yucky day!! I am happy that the High School Track Meet in Osceola was cancelled due to weather. I was not at all looking forward to watching people run in this weather. We have had a very good stretch here this week. Kids seem to be keeping busy and working hard this week. Next week I hope they continue to do the same!!!
Iowa Assessments - We will be taking these tests all next week. Testing days will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. If there is anything we haven't finished we will pick it up on Friday morning. I am hoping to show them a movie on Friday just as a pick-me-up from a full week of testing. Please, be sure your child gets a full night's sleep, eats a good breakfast, and tries their very best!! We will be having snacks for "brain food" during the tests provided by the PTO. It is nice to come to the gym or go outside and take a small break from all the testing. Just remember to encourage your child to do their very best work!!
Language Arts- This week the students completed the Unit 5 assessment. We took a small portion of it everyday. I was hoping by doing that they would put all their effort into it and use all the time. Some kids did that, others still just flew through it not paying attention to the questions or going back and looking for the answers in the story. I checked each portion as they did them. They were to look over what they missed to see if it would help them as they did the next day's testing. Again, some took advantage and got better and some did not! I have yet to finish checking today's. I hope to see some improvement from last unit. The only other thing we did this week was write the Dollars for Scholars Essays. I will put on here tomorrow the top 3 essays that will be going on with a chance to win $50.
Math - I am so very happy with this class in Math!! They learned a new strategy this week. The strategy you all know and love, the standard algorithm for multiplying! They caught on and did a great job. We took our time this week and even had a fun day today with the 30 sided die, where they each roll a number and that becomes their multiplication problem. I love hearing them argue or discuss whose answer is right and why someone's is wrong. It is a great learning experience for both kids. No homework tonight. I gave them a break. Tomorrow we will have a lesson on bigger numbers. A number in the hundreds multiplied by a double-digit. Woohoo!!
Social Studies - Projects are getting closer!! I am getting excited!! We are on lesson 4 in this chapter which means we are finishing up the Midwest. We will then move onto the Southwest Region. This region is small and I will move quickly through it so we can get into the West because it covers more states. Students are doing a great job. We need to practicing where the states are and really memorizing that States and Capitals song. We will begin singing it everyday so we get it down. Those capital tests will be coming.
I will be gone next Wednesday, April 9th. I will be going with 9 students to the Young Writer's Conference in Lamoni at Graceland College. I am taking 3 students from each 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Halle Evans, Sarah Rhone, and Jacob Zachary are the students attending from this room. There will be a substitute in the room and life will go on as normal for the students not attending. It is an early out, with Mass and Lenten Angels so should be a good day.
Have a great weekend!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
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