Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!  The weekend is here and it is the St. Malachy Gala and Auction!!!  Such a fun time of year!  I really enjoy our auction.  We have some great items to put up for auction this year!!  I hope all of you are planning to attend.  Tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased in the school office if you haven't all ready picked yours up!  I hope to see all of you there!

March 10th - This is next Friday and is a day that the public school doesn't have school but we do!  So therefore, you must get your child to school and from school that day, due to no buses!    

Shorts- Yes, according to the dress code shorts are allowed in March but I would hope that you would not let your child wear them on cold days.  We go outside for recess and will still do so even if it is cold and kids are wearing shorts.  That 20 minutes will be very long if they are freezing cause they are in shorts.  I told the kids I was very proud of them for not wearing shorts today.  It was too cold.  They all thought it was nuts to wear them today.  I am glad to know they will be smart about it.  Just because we can doesn't mean we should.

Language Arts - This week we did not read a story, we were taking the Unit 4 Assessment.  You will receive results from week 20 and the Unit assessment next week.  This week we have completed the unit test, made donuts for the entire school, and shared book reports that were due on Wednesday.  It has been a busy week for Language Arts.  

Math -  We are all ready up to lesson 5 in division.  We have been focusing on estimating quotients.  We started by using a multiplication table to do the work, then moved away from using that to using compatible numbers.  We also investigated remainders. We used several different counters to help us play around with division and see remainders.  This activity has them visually seeing division and the remainders they may have.  It was fun because they "played" with items and they learn because they see it in action. In the 2nd half of the chapter we will begin to use the different strategies for division.

Social Studies - We finished the unit on the Northeast Region.  We are now moving onto the Southeast Region.  If your child struggled with labeling the northeast states and naming the capitals, they need to continue to practice because we are moving on to the next region. They will now need to work on studying this region.  Now that we have more of a routine on the Interactive notebooks we will move quickly through this chapter.  We need to or we won't get all the regions covered.  

JA BizTown -   The 4th and 5th graders will be attending JA BizTown as their field trip this year.  We will be going on Tuesday, April 25th.  This is a great experience for your kiddos.  It is  fun day but a huge learning experience.  Here is a little overview about it:
     Junior Achievement USA empowers young people to own their economic success.  Since its founding in 1919, JA has contributed to the business and economic education of more that 100 million young people in the United States and throughout the world.
     JA's programs span the K-12 educational spectrum.  The programs help students assess their personal skills, interests, and values; understand the economic benefits of education; explore career options; learn job-hunting skills; respect and understand business ethics; and practice personal and business financial management.  Junior Achievement's Capstone Programs introduce studnts to the principal characteristics of a market economy and the roles that consumers and producers play in the free enterprise system.
     Junior Achievement used hands-on experiences to help young people understand the economics of life.  IN partnership with educators and business, JA brings the real world to students, opening their minds to their potential.

This is a great day for the kids to experience.  I will be preparing them for their big day.  We will do some financial literacy during math and some items about philanthropy during social studies.  They will learn how to get paid, how to use a check book and write a check, and why taxes are removed from their checks.  They will have to apply for jobs and interview.  They will be given a job they must fulfill that day.  The kids actually run the town.  We have adults that will be working in each business to help guide the kids if needed.  Ms. Surma and I have all the volunteers we need for that day all ready.

I wanted to let you know a little bit about BizTown before I get started teaching it to the students.  I hope to see all of you at the Gala and Auction this weekend.  Enjoy the weather!

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels