Good Morning!! It's Monday!!! I hope you all had a great weekend gearing up for Thanksgiving this week. This is a short week! I had something to put in my letter on Thursday and forgot, it is about the calendars that came home in your folders last week.
Religion- In your child's folder is a Random Acts of Kindness calendar. This is an Advent Calendar for them to use during the month of December. I know some of the things probably can't be done, but it's always good to just think about what we can do in this month for others besides the gifts we need to buy for our loved ones. These can make someone's day just a little brighter! ~ Ms. Surma
Happy Thanksgiving to all you!! I hope you have a fabulous time with family or friends. Oh....also Black Friday shopping! I will be doing mine in Chicago where Black Friday is not a big deal. They have sales but people don't go crazy like they do here. There are not lines for specific items. Last year my favorite store was Macy's. There are long check out lines but people aren't fighting for things.
Have a great week!!!
Mrs. Sickels
Monday, November 23, 2015
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!!! What a GREAT day!! We got off to a great start with Muffins with Mom. What a great turn out! Thank you to all the moms who were able to come and enjoy breakfast with your child. I think the kids are all ready looking forward to a day with Dad in February! Tomorrow is the end of the trimester! That means late slips get wiped away and we start over!! On Monday everyone will come with a clean slate! I hope this trimester is better for some! This also means the report cared will be coming out. They will be out the week after Thanksgiving. If you are unsure how to find them on Power School be sure to stop in or contact the office so you get help.
Language Arts - This week has been a Unit 2 test week. We have focused on DEAR time for about 20 minutes a day, then we have spent 30-40 minutes working on a section of the test. After all students were finished we would share book reports. We are almost done sharing book reports. We will definitely finish them tomorrow. You will see test results for Unit 2 the week after we return from Thanksgiving.
Book Report #2 - I will be assigning the next report to kids tomorrow. They will be given a sheet with instructions then 2 sheets of things they need. They will be putting together a cereal box book report. On the two sheets are the things that go on the top and sides of the box. They first need to finish the whole book before they begin. I will be talking to them about book size. We will discuss books that are best for them. They will have a couple weeks to choose a book and let me know what it is. If I feel they need to challenge themselves more, than I will have that discussion with them. We don't want them to just do the minimum. This report will not be due until January. They will have plenty of time to do the work. We need to be more helpful with them managing their time or pacing their reading so it ensures they finish the book and the box on time.
We will have a "Cuddle Up and Read" Day on Tuesday, Nov. 24th. This is where the students are allowed to bring blankets, pillows, pillow pets, and stuffed animals to school to cuddle up on the floor and read with. We will spend our entire language arts class reading to ourselves or I will be reading to them. It is a day devoted to reading. All the minutes can be included on the book it calendar too!! I do not start a story next week, we have a fun week in Language Arts.
Math - We had a great lesson today. They learned to multiply using expanded form. The best part is this strategy pulls together several of the things they have all ready learned and I stressed the importance of learning. Now, they are seeing the benefits of mastering one skill before we move on to the next. Chapter 3 will be easy because it just adds to everything we learned in chapter 2! I had them excited about Math today. I feel like they got a good grasp on the skill. We will review it tomorrow, spend some more time on the problems then do the worksheet. I was even told I was the best teacher ever! (Only because I had them excited and pointing out the things they learned before coming together). You could see the light bulbs appear about their little heads! That for me is the best!!! I love my job!
Social Studies - We are beginning a whole new unit this week. We will be studying the Northeast Region of the United States. There will be a total of 15 vocabulary words for this chapter. Today we began going over Social Studies projects. We will finish going over them on Friday and the packets will come home. Next week they will pick their first state and the project they want to do. Please go over packet with your child and let them know if there are any you would prefer them to stay away from. (food projects). The students will be introduced to the States and Capitals song by Macho Nacho next week. This is free on itunes so everyone can have it at home to memorize. We will sing it a couple times a week so they memorize the words. The words ARE the states and capitals of the United States. There is also a fun couple videos on youtube videos that sing the song and place the states on a map which helps learn location.
Geography Bee - On Wednesday, Nov. 25th, your student will be participating in the school wide Geography Bee. This includes 4-8 graders at St. Malachy. They are divided up into 3 rooms. There will be students from 4-8 grade in all three rooms. They will be put through 7 rounds of geography questions. I will go over a "mock" geography bee with them Tuesday during Social Studies. From these 7 rounds we will narrow it down to 10 finalists, that will participate in the Geography Bee Finals in December.
I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. I will be working hard on report cards to have them done by Thanksgiving. I go to Chicago every year and return on Sunday so I want them done! I want a stress free vacation. I will say we are not heading downtown Chicago this year. We do some shopping in the northern suburbs where my family lives. I want to wish all of you a very happy and safe Thanksgiving Break!! Enjoy family!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!!! What a GREAT day!! We got off to a great start with Muffins with Mom. What a great turn out! Thank you to all the moms who were able to come and enjoy breakfast with your child. I think the kids are all ready looking forward to a day with Dad in February! Tomorrow is the end of the trimester! That means late slips get wiped away and we start over!! On Monday everyone will come with a clean slate! I hope this trimester is better for some! This also means the report cared will be coming out. They will be out the week after Thanksgiving. If you are unsure how to find them on Power School be sure to stop in or contact the office so you get help.
Language Arts - This week has been a Unit 2 test week. We have focused on DEAR time for about 20 minutes a day, then we have spent 30-40 minutes working on a section of the test. After all students were finished we would share book reports. We are almost done sharing book reports. We will definitely finish them tomorrow. You will see test results for Unit 2 the week after we return from Thanksgiving.
Book Report #2 - I will be assigning the next report to kids tomorrow. They will be given a sheet with instructions then 2 sheets of things they need. They will be putting together a cereal box book report. On the two sheets are the things that go on the top and sides of the box. They first need to finish the whole book before they begin. I will be talking to them about book size. We will discuss books that are best for them. They will have a couple weeks to choose a book and let me know what it is. If I feel they need to challenge themselves more, than I will have that discussion with them. We don't want them to just do the minimum. This report will not be due until January. They will have plenty of time to do the work. We need to be more helpful with them managing their time or pacing their reading so it ensures they finish the book and the box on time.
We will have a "Cuddle Up and Read" Day on Tuesday, Nov. 24th. This is where the students are allowed to bring blankets, pillows, pillow pets, and stuffed animals to school to cuddle up on the floor and read with. We will spend our entire language arts class reading to ourselves or I will be reading to them. It is a day devoted to reading. All the minutes can be included on the book it calendar too!! I do not start a story next week, we have a fun week in Language Arts.
Math - We had a great lesson today. They learned to multiply using expanded form. The best part is this strategy pulls together several of the things they have all ready learned and I stressed the importance of learning. Now, they are seeing the benefits of mastering one skill before we move on to the next. Chapter 3 will be easy because it just adds to everything we learned in chapter 2! I had them excited about Math today. I feel like they got a good grasp on the skill. We will review it tomorrow, spend some more time on the problems then do the worksheet. I was even told I was the best teacher ever! (Only because I had them excited and pointing out the things they learned before coming together). You could see the light bulbs appear about their little heads! That for me is the best!!! I love my job!
Social Studies - We are beginning a whole new unit this week. We will be studying the Northeast Region of the United States. There will be a total of 15 vocabulary words for this chapter. Today we began going over Social Studies projects. We will finish going over them on Friday and the packets will come home. Next week they will pick their first state and the project they want to do. Please go over packet with your child and let them know if there are any you would prefer them to stay away from. (food projects). The students will be introduced to the States and Capitals song by Macho Nacho next week. This is free on itunes so everyone can have it at home to memorize. We will sing it a couple times a week so they memorize the words. The words ARE the states and capitals of the United States. There is also a fun couple videos on youtube videos that sing the song and place the states on a map which helps learn location.
Geography Bee - On Wednesday, Nov. 25th, your student will be participating in the school wide Geography Bee. This includes 4-8 graders at St. Malachy. They are divided up into 3 rooms. There will be students from 4-8 grade in all three rooms. They will be put through 7 rounds of geography questions. I will go over a "mock" geography bee with them Tuesday during Social Studies. From these 7 rounds we will narrow it down to 10 finalists, that will participate in the Geography Bee Finals in December.
I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. I will be working hard on report cards to have them done by Thanksgiving. I go to Chicago every year and return on Sunday so I want them done! I want a stress free vacation. I will say we are not heading downtown Chicago this year. We do some shopping in the northern suburbs where my family lives. I want to wish all of you a very happy and safe Thanksgiving Break!! Enjoy family!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!! I am so glad I was able to visit with all of you last week. I appreciate you taking the time to come in and look at how things are going in 4th grade. I hope if you have questions or concerns in the future you will reach out via email so we can discuss or set up another time to meet.
What a change in the weather!! Wednesday was definitely interesting day for weather. I was out of school that day. I was in Omaha on a college visit with my daughter Jami. It was a very good visit. We had a great tour guide and the campus is very compact and beautiful. Last Friday I went to Iowa State with Josie. It was also a great day. Being back on campus was a great feeling even if I am old. She really loved the campus and all it has to offer. I have one more visit, this Saturday in Iowa City. I hope after that Jami will make a decision. Josie is definitely a Cyclone!!
Language Arts - This week we are reading the last story in Unit 2. The story is called Jose`! Born to Dance. It is about a young boy and his years growing up and leading to him becoming a famous dancer. He made the decision later in life to be a dancer and had to work very hard at it. He didn't start dance at an early age. We have been learning about pronouns (subject and object), we talked about reflexive and demonstrative pronouns as well. Today's lesson was over pronouns and their antecedents. The antecedent is the words or words that the pronoun replaces. We did a lot of sharing of examples. Tomorrow is our end of the week testing day like normal. Next week will be a unit 2 test week. We will not have a spelling test. I split the test up so we do a little bit of test every day and then we will do other activities. Most likely something to do with writing. I try to make these fun activities for them.
Math - We are working on some basic skills the students will need as we push further into the chapter on multiplication. I feel like we are all in good place right now and the lessons have not been too grueling. We are going to embark on some new stuff today or tomorrow. I think it is fun, it requires them to draw arrays on graph paper. I also think it shows us an easy way to multiply larger numbers. We will be using the Distributive Property of Multiplication to do it. It will take us 2-3 days to get the hang of it. I am excited about it because I think it is fun to teach. They will see they can work with bigger numbers and make it easier for them to deal with. I know this is something that you are not used to doing. Let them show you how it works. We will take it slow so everyone understand.
Social Studies - We finished up chapter 3 and are working on reviewing. They will have a test on Monday. The study guide was assigned today, we will check it tomorrow, they will test on Monday, which is great to have the weekend to study. Please remember to study the vocabulary words in the packet. Next week we will begin learning our states and capitals song, talk about studying the regions, a region at a time, and go over projects and how they work. If at anytime you have questions about projects be sure to ask. Social Studies is about to get a lot more interesting!!
I would like to thank those families that donated books to the library in my classroom! I love having books in my room for students when they are needing something new to read. I encourage them to check out library books but sometimes they finish those and need something new. I have a great selection in the classroom. Thanks again very very much!
Tomorrow is Spirit Day!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!! I am so glad I was able to visit with all of you last week. I appreciate you taking the time to come in and look at how things are going in 4th grade. I hope if you have questions or concerns in the future you will reach out via email so we can discuss or set up another time to meet.
What a change in the weather!! Wednesday was definitely interesting day for weather. I was out of school that day. I was in Omaha on a college visit with my daughter Jami. It was a very good visit. We had a great tour guide and the campus is very compact and beautiful. Last Friday I went to Iowa State with Josie. It was also a great day. Being back on campus was a great feeling even if I am old. She really loved the campus and all it has to offer. I have one more visit, this Saturday in Iowa City. I hope after that Jami will make a decision. Josie is definitely a Cyclone!!
Language Arts - This week we are reading the last story in Unit 2. The story is called Jose`! Born to Dance. It is about a young boy and his years growing up and leading to him becoming a famous dancer. He made the decision later in life to be a dancer and had to work very hard at it. He didn't start dance at an early age. We have been learning about pronouns (subject and object), we talked about reflexive and demonstrative pronouns as well. Today's lesson was over pronouns and their antecedents. The antecedent is the words or words that the pronoun replaces. We did a lot of sharing of examples. Tomorrow is our end of the week testing day like normal. Next week will be a unit 2 test week. We will not have a spelling test. I split the test up so we do a little bit of test every day and then we will do other activities. Most likely something to do with writing. I try to make these fun activities for them.
Math - We are working on some basic skills the students will need as we push further into the chapter on multiplication. I feel like we are all in good place right now and the lessons have not been too grueling. We are going to embark on some new stuff today or tomorrow. I think it is fun, it requires them to draw arrays on graph paper. I also think it shows us an easy way to multiply larger numbers. We will be using the Distributive Property of Multiplication to do it. It will take us 2-3 days to get the hang of it. I am excited about it because I think it is fun to teach. They will see they can work with bigger numbers and make it easier for them to deal with. I know this is something that you are not used to doing. Let them show you how it works. We will take it slow so everyone understand.
Social Studies - We finished up chapter 3 and are working on reviewing. They will have a test on Monday. The study guide was assigned today, we will check it tomorrow, they will test on Monday, which is great to have the weekend to study. Please remember to study the vocabulary words in the packet. Next week we will begin learning our states and capitals song, talk about studying the regions, a region at a time, and go over projects and how they work. If at anytime you have questions about projects be sure to ask. Social Studies is about to get a lot more interesting!!
I would like to thank those families that donated books to the library in my classroom! I love having books in my room for students when they are needing something new to read. I encourage them to check out library books but sometimes they finish those and need something new. I have a great selection in the classroom. Thanks again very very much!
Tomorrow is Spirit Day!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
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