Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!! I honestly feel like it just wrote this letter.  The weeks are flying by for me.  I am very busy with middle school track, high school track, and graduation things I can't keep the days straight.  The 4th graders are very chatty and finding it hard to focus this week.  I know it is just the fact that it is May and there are 25 of them.  I plan on teaching meaningful content up to the time we leave for summer.  I am changing the way we do things and allowing for more movement and cooperative work so that talking is appropriate but needs to focus on the content at hand.  Only 16 days left.  I am sad in couple ways, I feel our year has gone quickly and I have really enjoyed all of the students, plus my oldest two are graduating and will be moving on.  So proud I can still be that ISU fan!!  I am happy to be an ISU mom.  Also I will be a UNO Maverick fan!!  Universtiy of Omaha will be blessed with one of mine!!

Field Trip -  I have planned our yearly field trip to Boone, Iowa.  We will be visiting the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad and taking a train ride.  On this train they get the feel of riding on a train like they did long ago and a little Iowa History on the way.  I have sent in your child's folder a schedule of our day, fees, and permission form to fill out.  Please read through all of it and return ASAP.  The train ride is free, it is paid for by donation.  We have the $10 a child fee for the bus.  Please, be sure to include that money with the permission form.  The most important part of that information is that the bus will leave St. Malachy at 7:45 in the morning.  Yes, this is before school normally starts so it is important that your child is here.  The bus must be pulling away at this time or we will not make our boarding time for train.  If your child is not here, they will miss the opportunity to go.  Train is very particular about arrival times and boarding.  There are several other schools involved so they won't hold the train for us.  Also be sure your child brings a sack lunch. Sometimes it is nice if we pack an extra item in lunch bag in case someone forgets their lunch we can all share an item.  It has happened before.  This is a fun day and interesting trip.  The "high" bridge is the best part for the kids but not for me.  I have to set myself in the middle of the train and pray. I get very nervous.  Sometimes I take my book and read across it so I am not thinking about it.  They slow the train down and go over it at a snail's pace!

Language Arts -  We have begun reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  They have read the firs 4 chapters.  We have worked on vocabulary words, discussed the chapters and now they are working on an 8-page book showing the steps of making chocolate.  This activity is being completed at school with partners.    We will also be reviewing what sentences are, the use of commas, identifying nouns, adjectives and quotation marks. We will then move onto the next section which is chapters 5-10.  We will again work on vocabulary, create golden tickets and discuss the chapters.  The kids are having fun with this so far.  The downfall is the kids are sharing the books and I apologize for that, I only have 16 books.  I will try to work something out when there is homework with the books.

Math - We are learning to use their multiplication tables to estimate division problems this week.  They will be able to complete the worksheet using the multiplication table. I also plan to show them how to do it without the table.  We will focus on estimation and the standard algorithm for the rest of our days.  It is very important they have that down before they move on to 5th grade.  They seemed to be having fun with the lesson yesterday.  It is always fun when you feel good about getting an answer.  At home you could be working on those division facts.

Social Studies -  We have begun a study guide over the first chapter in Midwest States.  They will need to be able to label a map with the states and also list the capitals.  This is the only test we will take over the MIdwest.  We are going to finish the Midwest by doing some puzzle sheets on the states and it will require them to do some research, so we will be going to the computer lab for most of it.  We will also cover the Southwest in this way also. The puzzle pages are very challenging.  

         I hope all of you have a great weekend!!!  The graduation parties start!!  

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels