Dear Parents,

     Happy Thursday!!  It's a short week!  This is our Friday!  I hope everyone enjoys their 3 day weekend!  I will be sitting in the High School auditorium in a class learning about PLC's (Professional Learning Communities).  We have been working on this for a couple years now.  Learning how to make ours better and be sure we are always doing what is in the best interest of our students and curriculum is a long process and hard work.  We are at what some would consider a disadvantage because we do not have other 4th grade teachers to help collaborate and make decisions. Yet, it can be an advantage for that same reason.  We work in grade bands and are able to make sure we are following decisions throughout 3-5th grade.  I sure wish I could do something fun and relaxing outside on Friday but I will be doing something very beneficial for my job and your children!   I will enjoy the other two days of the weekend for sure.

Language Arts -  This week we are reading a play which everyone loves.  They like to be given parts and actually read through the play.  This drama also teaches us a valuable lesson about how kids can help to make a difference.  Their neighborhood has a traveling library because they live in large city (Dallas, Texas) and the real library is just too far away.  The "Bookmobile" comes to their neighborhood and they get to use computers and check out books.  It was a pilot program and they have run out of funds.  The kids find a way to make money to keep it going.  They have a car wash and make flyers.  They are very successful and save the Bookmobile.  It is a great story.  The spelling list this week was on short o and long 0.  The grammar lessons this week were on sentences and whether they were fragments, or run-on sentences.  The vocabulary strategy was on the prefixes non-, and mis-.  We also read a short story on money management for kids.  It walked them through a budget.  I talked to them about the difference between needs and wants.  They had it figured out already which was great!  The discussion went very well. The kids were very serious about it. I love the life lessons.

Math - This week we have worked on a Mid-Chapter review to make sure we are all doing okay before I move on.  The next lesson will be a hard one.  It is on renaming numbers.  Like when we say that 1,800 can also be 18 hundreds, or 180 tens.  It is looking at all the possibilities of saying one number.  The students will struggle with this.  I plan to check the review tomorrow then play a math game of some kind.  I won't begin the lesson until next week so we can get a full two days in a row in to learn it.  They are doing a great job at working hard in Math class.

Social Studies -  We have finished up chapter 2. They have begun their first study guide for chapter 2!  They have worked in partners  for 2 days on it.  They will need to have it complete by Monday.  We will check it together on Monday and them take the test on Tuesday!  Most finished their study guide today. Please be sure they study their vocabulary flash cards over the weekend.  Let's not wait until the last minute.

Free Reading -  I just wanted to talk about free time and reading in my room.  Some students can get finished with items before others and have a few minutes to themselves.  In 4th grade the first thing you should do is read a book.  The students must be reading a chapter book in my room.  I do not count graphic novels as chapter books.  If they are given free reading during language arts time you HAVE to read a chapter book.  If you get your homework done early during study hall you may read whatever you want which would then include graphic novels.  Reading is a priority in my room.  I will sometimes allow them to draw and I will specify those days or times to the students.  I really push the students to challenge themselves and read books that contain more than 100 pages.   I share my love for reading and any reading experiences with the students all the time.  I will talk about how I become the characters, how books make me feel, and whether I enjoyed the ending. Some days I come and talk about how my characters made me mad and I had to put the book down, sometimes I will talk about how it made me sad and I cried.  I hope to help them find the joy in reading. I hope to help them find a series that interests them or a genre that interests them.  One of my goals is always getting kids to read more than they used to and finding books that they love.  I am normally pretty successful but it can be a challenge.  I hope you start to see a difference in their wanting to read.

I hope the kids enjoy their 3 day weekend!  I do wish I had one!  I hope they all get outside and enjoy the weather!  I have kids coming home for the weekend which makes my heart very happy. 

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels