Thursday, December 18, 2014

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!!   Here we are, the last Thursday before break.  ONE WEEK until Christmas!!  I knew this would all move quickly and it has.  This will be my last letter for a while.  Students have been good, we are still working hard.  We will be a good place in all subjects to end for break.  I hope everyone has a great break.  I hope to do something fun with my kids over break besides opening gifts.  We may go Prom dress shopping. I am NOT sure how much "fun" that will be for me, but it has to be done.

Language Arts-  This week our story was called Life and Times of the Ant.  We learned a lot about ants, their nests or anthills, and the jobs that ants perform.  Most interesting is that we learned that ants work until they die.  Our spelling list this week focused on a final long e sound.  The word has a long e in the final syllable which could be spelling with a -y or an -ey or -ie.  In grammar we talked about participles, which are verbs ending in -ed or -ing and are used as adjectives instead of verbs.  We focused on present participles (-ing) and past participles (-ed).  We also read a fable called "The Ant and the Dove".  It taught us to do nice things for others.  We are testing today instead of tomorrow.  We have too much going on tomorrow, so I prepared the kids to test today.

Math -  This week in Math we have focused on partial product.  The student have been practicing this strategy all week.  Today they will do a Chapter Mid-point check.  I want to be sure they are successfully able to work problems using the strategies they have learned so far before we move on.  We will not move on until we get back from Christmas break and then we learn the regrouping strategy or the algorithm that you and I learned.  Tomorrow and Monday we will be doing some fun math.  It deals with a grid and directions of what to do in each square on the grid.  If they follow directions well, they should have a Christmas picture when they are done.  All my classes have loved this and found it challenging yet fun!!  Normally in the last series I taught out of we were studying coordinates and a coordinate grid right now so it was very fitting.  I am doing for fun this year and will have to talk a bit about a grid and the directions.


Social Studies -  The projects that have been coming in have been great!! I am so pleased with the work they are putting into them.  I am trying to give advice on presenting their projects.  Students need to slow down and speak clearly.  If no one can understand what you are saying they are not learning from your presentation.  I have had some do excellent and some that have zipped right through very quickly.  We have begun the next chapter which is on People of the Northeast.  We will cover the first lesson and then stop because it is a great place to stop for break.  I will play State and Capitals bingo with them and trivia games dealing with states and capitals.  We may even take a quiz over them.

Tuesday, Dec. 23rd -  I want to let you know what will be happening on Tuesday.  Students will still go to  Music as planned.  When they return we will spend some time in read aloud.  I am reading the first Harry Potter book and though they have seen the movies they are really enjoying this and want me to read the all the time.  At 9:30 we will have a small Christmas party.  I am looking for someone to bring a drink and someone to supply a treat for that day.  If you are interested shoot me an email or text.  We will then play games.  The students are welcome to bring a board game from home that they really like to play.  We will all have treats and enjoy each others company for the morning. We will then eat lunch with Advent Angels and then have the all school sing-a-long in the gym. I want you to know you are invited to come join us for ANY of these activities.  Please feel free to come for all day if you would like.  Pack a lunch and join us!!! 

I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

A Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord!
                                                                        Luke 2:11

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels





Thursday, December 11, 2014

Dear Parents,
      Happy Thursday!!  I told you these next few weeks would go quickly.  I know for the kids it really doesn't but for us who are really preparing for Christmas it goes fast.  Next week is our last full week until next year!  That sounds crazy.  Next week will be treated like a normal week.  The only difference will be is Friday the 19th.  Our schedule will be very different that day.  The kids are all very excited this time of year but sometimes I feel a little too much.  Usually when they are this out of sorts a big snow storm is brewing.  I am not sure that is true, but if we get a good one before Christmas, I will say I am not surprised!!

Language Arts -  In language arts this week, we continue the theme of nonfiction stories.  This one is Antarctic Journal: Four Months at the Bottom of the World.  We heard from an author who truly researches her subjects before writing about them.  She went and stayed in Antarctica for four months for research.  She was there over Christmas, which the kids and I had a hard time understanding.  I did talk about no one being able to be there during their true winter season because it is too dangerous.  This week in spelling we are working on more words ending in -ed and -ing.  We learned about words parts -spect, 
-struct, -tele, and -vis.  We learned that 3 of them originated from Latin and one Greek.  We learned their meanings which makes sense with our words that contain these parts.  In grammar we are discussing modal auxilaries, which are words like; may, might, can, could, would, should, and must.  We are learning what these words express and how to use them properly.  This is a challenge to teach when the slang of today changes the true meaning of these words.  Our main strategies and skills we are working on in the story are sequence, which we did activity over it in our small books that go along with the story, and summarizing. I reviewed the "Fab 5", that I went over earlier this year.  Our end of week assessment will be tomorrow.  Study those spelling words and vocabulary words!!

Math - We are working in chapter 3 on double-digit multiplication.  We have reviewed area boxes this week and how to do them with a double-digit number.  I am a huge fan of this strategy because it gives a visual that we can all understand.  It uses partial products which again is one of my favorites.  They have been working problems using area box the last couple of days.  Today we will use the area box to help us, but we will be focusing on partial products.  We will work our way into solving the problem using partial products without the area box.  This class will catch on quickly.  They have done an excellent job learning multiplication.  I am enjoying teaching this content!  Next week we will learn the regrouping strategy or the standard algorithm that you and I learned.  After that lesson we will spend a few extra days practicing what we learned and then we will do a Math activity that deals with coordinates and following directions.  They will create fun Christmas pictures following directions for coloring using a grid.  It is just a fun activity to do before a break.  I like to do this when I find a good spot to consider a stopping point for their vacation.

Social Studies - The projects have started arriving!! We have shared a couple.  I talked to the students about proper way to present their work.  I stressed no being silly and goofy and how they should be proud of the work they have done and want to share it so their classmates can enjoy their work also.  We are finishing the week with a test over chapter 4.  Next week we will begin chapter 5.  I will be sure to have a good stopping point in this subject also.

Friday, December 19th -  On this day our schedule will be a little different.  The Finals of the National Geography Bee will be held in the gym at 10:15.  All parents are welcome to attend to see what this event is all about.  We held the preliminary rounds the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  This event is for grades 4-8.  Our ten finalists are : Rowan Pope, LIly Pryor, Garon Wurster, Danika Schultes, Jaxie Luther, Aubrey Allen, Olivia Hagen, Aliyah Drey, Megan Pellman, and Tessa Powers.  In the afternoon, we will travel to the Performing Arts Center to practice for our Christmas Concert.  We will be gone most of the afternoon.  Please look for the permission form in your students take home folder.  Sign it and return it to me ASAP.  They need this filled out to travel to the YMCA that day.

Monday, December 22nd - We will be going to the Congregate Meal site with the 5th grade to sing our Christmas songs to the people there.  We will just walk since it is in the Depot.  Mrs. Weishaar-Mullin, Ms. Surma and myself will be walking them over.  We will go around 11:30 and be back by 11:55.  Short trip but I know the people will enjoy the show.

Tuesday, December 23rd - This is the last day before our Christmas Break!!  This day will be very different.  I will let you know specifically what we will be doing those last couple of days in next weeks blog.  The main thing I wanted you to know so you could plan ahead is: at 2:30 we will all meet in the gym for caroling.  The student sit with their advent angels and we sing Christmas Carols.  If you have never been here, I would highly recommend you try to get here.  It is the most awesome thing we do as a school.  The singing is loud and fills the gym.  It brings tears to most of our eyes watching the kids enjoy each other.  Truly fills you with the Christmas Spirit!! Please feel free to come sing with us.

I will have a lot more information next week concerning December 22nd & 23rd.  So stand by until next week!!  Have a great weekend, I hope all of you are getting your shopping done!!!  Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and hope you are enjoying the Holiday Season.

God Bless, 
Mrs. Sickels

Friday, December 5, 2014

Reminder:  Monday is a Mass Day!!! Students need to dress in Mass clothes.  Thank you!!

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Dear Parents,
     Happy Holidays!! I hope all of you had a very happy Thanksgiving.  We did.  We had a nice trip to Chicago.  We enjoyed some shopping on Friday.  Macy's was my favorite black Friday shopping!!  They had some great deals.  I have a good start to my Christmas shopping.  I am almost done.  Now, I am looking for specific things.  The rest of the month will go quickly.  We are gearing up for Christmas but at school we are still working very hard.  We will work as hard as we can up to that very last week.  On the last day we are hear we will finish up some important stuff but then have fun and celebrate the season with one another.  We will be adding a tree to our wing tomorrow.  Kids are creating ornaments to put on them.  

Language Arts - This week we are reading a story called  The Earth Dragon Awakes.  This is a story about the Earthquake in San Francisco, California in April of 1906.  We consider this Historical Fiction because it is about a true event in History.  The destruction is real, but the actual story of a father Ah Sing and son Chin was fiction.  It is kind of a scary story thinking about being in a real earthquake and being trapped beneath rubble.  There were real pictures from that day added in also.  We have focused on visualizing this week.  Students chose a scene out of their book report books and drew a picture of what was happening.  They shared in their groups.  Fun activity.  In grammar we are focusing on  possessive nouns.  They are getting familiar with the apostrophe again.  They are learning about singular possessive nouns and plural possessive nouns.  Our spelling list and decoding this week go hand in hand.  The spelling list was on words ending in -ed and -ing.  They had to either drop an e before adding the endings or they needed to double a consonant.  We talked about how that works and how to find the base word when we remove the ending sound.  Tomorrow is our weekly assessment.  They should be studying their spelling words and vocabulary.

Math -  We just started chapter 3.  I would love to have it done by Christmas but that may not happen.  We have jumped up into double-digit multiplication.  Ms. Sherrod taught the first lesson and did an EXCELLENT job.  We covered the first part of lesson 2 today which is on estimating products which they find very easy.  Since they estimate every answer before they find the real answer they enjoy this lesson cause they don't know how to find the exact answer yet.  We will continue to practice out multiplication basic facts also.  I am so excited we are learning this content earlier in the year than I used to teach!!

Social Studies- We are getting closer to our first due dates!! Social studies projects will soon be in our halls.  I am pumped to see them!!  We have learned about land forms and resourced in the Northeast.  My favorite fact is that out of 1,000 cranberry bogs in the United States, 500 of them are in Massachusetts.  Not a very big state to have that many!!  We will be finishing up  this chapter soon and taking another test before Christmas Break.  We will even get the next chapter started before we take off.  Again, I said we are going to work hard and get as much done as we can, as long as we are learning!!

Please remember book orders are due tomorrow.  Let me know if you are ordering for gifts.  There were a lot of great things in the book orders!! I love the Holiday order.  The Hunger Games Foil box set would make a great gift.  I always push for kids to read the books because they are so much better than the movies.  I started reading the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone book out loud and they are really enjoying it because it has so much more than the movie.  They all say, that didn't happen!!  Send in your orders if you have them!! Thank you!

Have a great weekend!

God Bless, 
Mrs.Sickels