Dear Parents,
     Happy Rainy Thursday!!! I guess we can't complain at least it is not the white stuff floating to the ground.  I love snow and am a winter person, but it is too early for that stuff. I hope it stays away until December at least.  This has been a crazy week.  I have not given as many late slips but I feel like we have been very busy. They have been extra talkative this week.  I blame Homecoming for that.  We are not really affected as much here, but they are all excited about Friday. I think with Panther Pancakes, a pep rally, and 3 hour early out is making them a little crazy.  I may go crazy.  I hope to see all of you at Panther Pancakes in the morning.  I will be arriving by 6:45 and my job is cooking the pancakes.  I may smell like a pancake the rest of the day! I think it will be a fun event for the whole family.

Language Arts -  This week we have ready the story Stormalong.  It is a tall tale similar to John Henry, Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan.  It is the story about a sailor.  Tall tales are exaggerated stories that usually have someone that has some sort of super power or something awesome about them.  He is a giant.  He is much bigger and because of his size he feels he does not fit in anywhere. He has no place to call home.  He goes on a quest to find a home.  He thinks the sea is where he belongs.  Ask your student what Stormalong finally figures out.  We have been working on homophones in spelling, capitalization in grammar and reference materials for or vocabulary strategy.  I plan on getting in our normal Friday with post test and end of week test tomorrow.  We are going to have to work hard with many interruptions but I know we can do it.

Next week we will be taking the Unit 1 benchmark test.  It is very hard and the kids scores are not that great but it just shows we have room for improvement and  improve is what they normally do.  It is a long test and I spread it out over 3 days so that they are not sitting and taking a test for 2 hours.  They will have some DEAR time, we will begin working on Handwriting, and a writing activity.  It will still be a busy week, just no spelling words for a week.

Math - We finished up chapter 1 this week. They will be correcting their tests today and finishing up the pretest for chapter 2.  I plan to start chapter 2 on Monday.  It will be a kind of long and drawn out chapter.  There are about 14 lessons which is double what this one has.  We will be lucky if we can finish chapter 2 by Christmas.  It is a very important chapter. This chapter is on Multiplication.  We will learn a couple different strategies for them to use to multiply.  These are strategies that you were not introduced to.  These are great strategies!  I wish I would have learned these in school.  I think I would have been a better math student.  I know you might get frustrated with it, but it truly is good stuff and will make them a better algebra student in High School.  I have had a high school student observe who wished they would have learned these strategies and a grandpa sit through a math class and totally get what we were doing when he saw me teach it. He told me I taught an old dog a new trick.  He thought it made better sense then the standard algorithm we all learned.  So, it really is good stuff. Just be patient and maybe your child will need to come in early on a morning to get extra help.  That is not a big deal. I have done that in the past.

Social Studies - We have finished up chapter 2. We are moving on into chapter 4.  This chapter begins our exploration of the 5 regions of the United States.  I plan to introduce the region. I will introduce the interactive notebook which we will begin next week and talk about map work.  We begin our journey in the Northeast Region of the U.S.  We will spend 2 chapters talking about the Northeast, learning the states and their location on a map, plus their capitals.  It will be a lot of work.  Once we get going they will get the hang of it quickly and we can move smoothly through the process.  We will have map tests over the Northeast to help us get to know the region.  I will cover all of that next week!

Panther Pancakes- Tomorrow is our special family breakfast.  If you are able to have breakfast with your child we will serve pancakes from 7-8:30.  This event is replacing Donuts with Dad and Muffins with Mom.  We are trying something new this year, to get the whole family involved.  We will be serving in the gym and you and your family may eat there or in their classrooms.  We are going to clean desks today so they are ready for anyone who wants to use them.  Enjoy!!!

Homecoming!  The big day is tomorrow.  It begins with Panther Pancakes at 7:00. Then we will have our pep rally with the high school football players, cheerleaders and Peppers at 9:45.  We dismiss at 12:10. Remember we are not feeding lunch.  The parade will take place at 1:30!  The football game is at 7:00 at Panther Field.  Dress warm!! GO PANTHERS

Spirit Day - Tomorrow is is spirit day and will be cold enough students may want to pay$1.00 to wear sweats!  Don't forget your panther gear!

Creston Public School does not have school on Monday the 14th but St. Malachy school WILL BE IN SESSION!

I feel like I am forgetting to tell you something. If I have forgotten anything I will send it out via Class Tag.  I hope you all have a fun and safe Homecoming weekend!  I plan to attend the parade and the game.  

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels