Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!  I am very proud of the 4th grade students.  I feel that they are learning to work hard during their study halls  and work time.  I feel like they are finally realizing that working hard gets things done and I don't take as much work home to complete.  This makes our day run so much smoother.   All students seem to be very chatty when they arrive in the morning and it takes a little bit to settle down, but that will come with a little more time. I hope not too much longer. I think they just have so much to tell each other when they arrive they can't seem to get it all in!  Oh the exciting lives kids lead!!

Language Arts -  We are back to a normal week.  We are reading Invasion From Mars this week.  It is a fun story.  It is actually a play, or drama.  This has a funny story of its own.  Back in the 1930's before we had television and everyone listened to the radio for entertainment, Orson Welles had a radio program where they dramatized the book War of the Worlds.  There is a section in this book where an extraterrestrial object land in New Jersey and people are panicking.  This portion of the book aired on October 30, 1938.  People who joined after the program started thought it to be real and were scared.  This actually set about panic because they thought an alien had really arrived.  We read the story and I have shared the actual broadcast of this with them.  They have found it to be very entertaining!  This week we have also worked on action verbs, linking verbs and helping verbs.  We understand what an action verb is but sometimes still struggle picking them out of a sentence.  We have memorized the main linking verbs ( am, is, are, was, were) and we have discussed what a helping verb is, what it does and how it is usually always followed by an action verb. I hope they can remember this and keep them straight for tomorrow's test.  We will review right before the test to help them.

Math -  We are finishing up correcting their review over chapter 1.  They will be taking a test over chapter 1 tomorrow.  They will have the whole class time to complete this test.  We will correct it on Monday and start chapter 2 on Tuesday.  This is a great chapter to review items needed for the rest of the year.  We introduce some of the same concepts but at a higher level.  Kids have been taught how to round numbers by the time they get to me, but I get to teach the skill with larger numbers!  Sometimes we really struggle with this.  This is also a time we review adding and subtracting large numbers.  Remembering to regroup in subtraction can still be a struggle.  You can help your child study for the Math test tonight by looking at the review and giving them similar problems to solve.  This review is set up just like the test they will take, it will just not be the exact same problems, but same concepts. If #4 is a subtraction problem than #4 on the test will be also but with different numbers.  I suggest focusing on rounding numbers, knowing place value, and renaming numbers!!  These are areas of difficulty.

Social Studies - We discussed the three levels of Government and the 3 branches.  I gave the students a chart over it.  They were to study the chart and had quiz over it.  Most did pretty well.  Some mixed up the branches of Government.  We are now moving onto rights and responsibilities of a U. S. Citizen.  We will discuss things that are our rights and then also to talk about what are responsibilities are.   This chapter covers 2 benchmarks that we are required to report on.  One being knowing the 3 branches and that we have 3 levels of Government.  The other is knowing the difference between responsibilities and rights as a citizen.  This is all important stuff for us to know!

Halloween is coming!!  That is an exciting time for us.  We have a fun day on the 30th with Halloween activities put on by the Civics Club and ending the day with our Annual Halloween Parade in the gym at 2:30!  All parents are welcome to attend.  I hope you realize that once Halloween is here the rest of the year flies by!!  After Halloween is conferences, then Thanksgiving, Advent begins, Christmas is here and BOOM the end of the year is here!! We are then halfway done.  Conference schedules are being discussed and will be out sometime soon for you to sign up.  Our website is struggling and is down more than it is up, so we are working on another way to get you signed up for a time.  I will keep you updated and will most likely be sharing a link on my blog to get you signed up.  I will be anxious to meet with each of you about your student.

Have a great weekend!!!

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels