Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!  The snow is falling AGAIN!!  Well we are here at school and going to work!  It was not a fun drive to get her for some.  We have to be happy it is not a snow day though.  Remember that conferences are next week!  Please be sure you have signed up for a time to meet with me. I have 3 of you that have not signed up for a time yet!!  Here is the link:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0544a5a72ca1fe3-4thgrade6

Language Arts - This week the students are reading a story about Sacagawea.  It is an interesting story because you actually learn about her travels with Lewis and Clark and what she did to help them.  She proved herself invaluable to the Corps of Discovery which was the name of the group.   We are working on Abbreviations in grammar which is great!  They need to learn how to correctly abbreviate words.  Plus, we will soon have a spelling list that is based solely on abbreviations.  So this lesson helps tremendously.  The vocab strategy this week was shades of meaning.  Again, this is showing words that are synonyms but still just paint a little different picture.  Example would be large and enormous.  They are words that have same meaning yet when you hear enormous you get a different picture than if you say large. Tomorrow will be our spelling post test and end of week test.  Make sure your child gets our their yellow packet of vocabulary words and study.

Math - We are finally back and working on multiplication.  We will cover the last lesson in this chapter today and tomorrow.  Looking ahead we will most likely review on Monday, check it on Tuesday and start our test on Wednesday.  After that we will learn about area and perimeter then dig into Division.  We have been working on becoming more fluent in our multiplication facts, which will help us in  division also.  I plan to continue to work on this for the rest of the year.  We are also going to step up our game on our online program, Dreambox.  

Social Studies -  We are working on lesson one in Chapter 7.  They are working on vocabulary words and reading the lesson.  I intend to finish the lesson tomorrow.  I told the kids we would be stepping up our game a little to get moving.  The snow days are killing our progress.  Because our class in first thing in the morning a late start makes us miss it.  We have also talked about them having too much free time in study hall, so them having a little more to do will not hurt them one bit.  They are excited to get moving into the Midwest.

Spirit Day -  Tomorrow is a Spirit Day!  Bring a dollar and wear sweatpants all day!   It all goes to a very good cause.  

Food Pantry -  We are gathering items for the Food Pantry this Lenten Season.  You will find a flyer in their folders on what they are to donate.  They are in need of all baby items (diapers, wipes, body wash) .  They can also use all sorts of health and beauty products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, ect.  Anything you would like to donate in these areas is very much appreciated.  We will collect the items until April 12th.

Biztown -  I want to thank all those who voluteered or donated money for our 4th and 5th graders to attend a day at Biztown.  It was a great day and everyone really had a lot of fun,  Volunteers can't say enough about the day and what a great learning experience it is for the students.  This is the first year I have been able to walk around and just enjoy the kids in every one of their jobs.  Some tried to take a shortened lunch period because they just wanted to work.  That was fun to see.  Some found their jobs a little overwhelming, which was a good thing.  They now know how hard their parents work every day.  Again thanks for any roles you played in getting us there.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.  I am at a Strategic Planning workshop for the Food Pantry all afternoon Saturday.  If it's going to rain I would rather be inside!  Spring Break is just around the corner, let's hope Mother Nature figures it out and gives us some weather that feels like spring.

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels