Happy Thursday!! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. We had a fabulous relaxing trip to Chicago. My favorite store again was Macy's!! Also, I guess Micheal's because we had a craft day and spent all day Saturday doing crafts. I was the runner and went to Micheal's 4 times that day!! Last one was 9:30 at night!!
We are all excited that Advent is here!! The students had their first Advent Angel activity. It was a fun time! This month will go quickly but we will continue to work hard. I will admit that i play Christmas music any opportunity I have. I love the songs and keeps us in the season. Kids seem to calm down and work quietly while I have it on too. We have had some illnesses pop up in our room. Just remember to keep them home so we can limit the spread. I feel all of you do a good job at this.
Language Arts - Last week we had "Cuddle-up and Read" Day. We moved the desks out of the way and spread our blankets out all over. They made nests and laid down and read for about 65 minutes. It was a nice time. They were busy reading the whole time unless they became drowsy. I then sent them on a walk for a drink of water, so they could perk up a bit. I will share pictures at the end of my letter.
We are reading a nonfiction story this week on Hurricanes. It is called Hurricanes: Earth's Deadliest Storm. It has a lot of graphic features, like charts, graphs and diagrams with it to help us understand the story. That is what we are focusing on this time is Graphic Features. We discuss their importance to the story and how is enhances the reading and understanding. We have been working on easily confused words like: to, two,too, their, there, they're, its and it's. We have talked about how to decide which to use in sentences. In spelling they are working on compound words. Remember to study vocabulary words and spelling words tonight!! Maybe after the parade!
Math - We have spent some time working on flash cards and multiplication facts the last couple of days! We will begin a new lesson today. I am hoping to have Chapter 2 finished up before Christmas break. I am positive that will happen. We are getting closer to the students learning the standard algorithm of multiplication which is what you and I learned in school. We have about 7 lessons left in this chapter. Should take a couple weeks. I love this chapter and all that I teach the kids. All of it consists of great ways to multiply. We have begun taking times tests over the basic facts of multiplication. You will see those results on Power School. They are given 100 basic problems and 5 minutes to do them. Ultimately they are to do them in 2 minutes. I start them at 5 and as they master that I lower the time limit. Some kids will be able to do them in at least 3 minutes but maybe not have 100% accuracy. We will keep working on it!
Social Studies - The students have been assigned their first state and picked their first project!! I will get them their due dates next week. They will be due anywhere from January 4-20. They seem a little excited about doing this. Most 4th graders love this about 4th grade. Not all parents love it though. We are also moving along in Chapter 4. Students are working on completing vocabulary words, and learning about the Northeast. So far this week we have talked about Niagara Falls and how it is not just a sight of awe and beauty, but an electrical power source. It had hydropower plants on the Niagara River that produces the majority of electricity for the state of New York. We also looked at a cross-section diagram of a power plant to try and understand how it works. Next week we will look at some specific products from the area and Mountain Ranges in the states. Did you know there are about 1,000 cranberry bogs in the United States and 500 of them are in the state of Massachusetts? Just and interesting fact!! There are also a couple in Wisconsin. These are things we will be talking about!
Mrs. Levine - I ask that all of you keep her husband Kirk in your prayers. She is now at home to be with him as his time on Earth comes to an end. We need to pray for peace from his pain and suffering. We pray for him every morning here at school.
Book Report - I am sharing with you before the kids. Their book reports will be due January 29th. I want them to have plenty of time to complete social studies projects and the book report. Most all students have picked a book suitable for them to read. We need to help them manage their time wisely so they complete the book and project. If you lose the papers I sent home to make the cereal box, I can always print more!
Well... enjoy the photos of our "Cuddle-up and Read" Day!! Have a great weekend!! Is the tree up? We have 2 real trees. They are up but not decorated. That will be happening over the weekend.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
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