Dear Parents,
      Happy Thursday!! Another week has passed!  What a depressing week this one has been.  The weather has been dreary all week.  I am not sure about you, but it makes me grumpy!! I wish it would just storm and then clear off!! The sun is what we need!  The students need it too.  I have had a lot of yawning and sleepy eyes this week, including my own!  Our time together is dwindling.  When I make plans every week, I am now making them with the end in mind.  Where I want them to be and what I want to cover with them by the time 4th grade comes to an end.  Hard to believe we are at that point.

Language Arts - We are reading The Fun We Had this week.  It is a story with a setting in the future.  It talks about school, teachers, homework, and books in the future.  The kids find an old book, a book made out of real pages.  They are amazed.  Then they begin comparing past and present.  It made kids think.  We also talked about the movie Back to the Future.  One of the future dates he travels to is the year 2015.  The movie portrayed life with hoverboards and things that are not happening in the year 2015.  We also talked a  little about the genre of Science Fiction.  In grammar this week they have been reviewing compound sentences.  Mainly for the use of conjunctions and the commas that go with them.  We also reviewed the types of sentences and the ending punctuation that goes with them.  Capitalization of titles, nationalities, languages, names, and states were also reviewed.  Next week we will be writing a descriptive story or a fantasy.  I have quite decided yet.  We will begin Charlie and the Chocolate Factory soon also.  If your child has a kindle or the kindle app on a tablet this book is only $1.99.   I like all students to have their own books.  They are welcome to bring their device to school and use during class.  I hope some of you take advantage of this because I am short a few copies of the book for all to have.  Thank you very much.

Math - We are finishing up the division chapter.   We completed the last lesson today on word problems.  They are multi-step word problems which means you have to do a couple different problems to get to your answer.  We will work on the chapter review then have a test.  Yes, this test we be next week.  I know this is Iowa Assessment week but I have to  have them complete the test because I am looking at the big picture.  The next chapter is a short one with only 5 lessons, then I hit fractions.  We need to get as much learning about fractions in before the end of the year as we can.  Again, I can't believe we are nearing the end.

Social Studies - We took a test this week.  it was a great test.  I had 6 kids with perfect papers and several just missing one or two.  That is awesome!!  We will move right into chapter 9 which is still over the Midwest.  Remember projects are due next week.  We will be sharing projects next week and also working in chapter 9.  Iowa Assessments will take place all morning but our afternoons will remain the same.  I think they are enjoying learning about the region they are a part of.  They did a great job locating states on the map.  The next test they have to also name the capitals.  Some of them have all ready begun working on memorizing those.  We will continue to work hard.

Here are a couple more photos from my trip.  I hope you are enjoying them.  Have a great weekend!!  Hopefully the weather turns around and the sun shines!

Jefferson Memorial from the top of Washington Monument

Circle is the WWII Memorial, then the reflection pool that leads to the Lincoln Memorial.  This is the view from the top of the Washington Monument.  No water was flowing in the pool or the fountain because it was too cold.

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels