Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday and Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all are ready for Christmas Break because it is almost here! Only a day and half until they are all yours for a couple of weeks!! We have had a pretty good week, considering it is the last week. I appreciate their behavior! I have kept them pretty busy this week. I was gone on Monday, twin #2 had her wisdom teeth out so I had to be "Mom" duties all day. All went well that day and we have had a normal week since then.
Language Arts - Their story this week is called Antarctic Journal. It is about a women who writes nonfiction books and she researches everything she writes. She went to Antarctica and stayed for some time. She kept a journal while she was there and ended up publishing her journal. It is really an interesting story but not sure a full week of it hold their interest. We will see tomorrow how well they do on their test. In grammar we have been talking about Modal Auxiliaries which are words like: can, may, would, should, might could and must. There is a reason we use each one. They are learning when appropriate to use can or may, which is a fun one. We also learned some Greek and Latin word parts that we use in our language and what they mean. Those parts are spect, struct, tele, and vis. They like seeing the connections. We will still have a post test and end of week test tomorrow morning like normal. The kids should be studying their vocab words and spelling words tonight.
Math- This week we had one lesson on multiplying using 10. We spent one day talking about it and then a worksheet. On Wednesday and Thursday we did what I call "Fun Math". We use a coordinate grid to color a picture. The students were given a blank grid and then a sheet of instructions. They are to follow the instructions and will end up with a Christmas picture if they do not make a mistake. They are to have one picture complete but can pick another one to do if they get finished. It is kind of like a battleship grid. Funny how we wonder how that relates to math but it does. In High School they will get into graphing and coordinate pairs. This is just a simple beginning to that. The students enjoyed it. Some are also wanting to do Suduko. We will see if I can get that done.
Social Studies- We have put our last state for the Northeast into our notebooks! Yay!! The students took a 2nd map test over the Northeast States. You will find the results to both in today's folder. It is on an orange sheet. We will pick up back in the chapter when we return from Christmas Break. I hope to finish the chapter up and then start a new region. We also completed a map skill on Map Keys, you will find that in the folder also on pink paper. The students are doing a great job in Social Studies. I keep them going and they just keep working hard.
GeoBee - The Geography Bee finals were held yesterday. Our winner was Spencer Brown in 6th grade. Second place went to Daniel Buls 7th grade and 3rd was Rosie Leonard 8th grade. Congratulations to our winners. Spencer will be taking an online quiz in January to try and qualify for competition at the State Level. Good luck to Spencer!! I am very proud of the 3 4th graders who made it to the finals. They should be proud. Usually I am lucky to have just one, but three! WOW!! They all got their first question right also. That was awesome.
Friday - Tomorrow is the day!! Our last day together before break. We will start the day in Music, then we will have language arts. When we have completed all academics we will then have some fun! The students are all allowed to bring in board games that we can play. I will let them enjoy each others company and celebrate together. There will be treats and drinks and lots of fun. I have a couple parents coming in to help and enjoy the day. At 11:40 the students will go to lunch with their Advent Angels and at 12:15 we will begin our annual caroling in the gym. You are invited to attend any part of the day with us that you want. The caroling is always my favorite part. It just melts my heart to see them singing songs together and having fun
I would like to say Thank you to all those who have given me such wonderful gifts. I really enjoy the kids faces when I open them and they get so excited to see my reaction and they are so proud. I have gotten some truly sweet thoughtful things. Thank you very much!
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas Season. My girls are home which is my favorite part. Having all my children under one roof is the best. I know my days are numbered for this to happen. They will be having their own houses one day and won't need to stay with me. I am taking a nice little trip to Branson with Ms. Surma, my daughter Molly and a friend over break. We are looking forward to exploring some fun places while we are gone. I hope things that I can use in Social Studies. Have a safe Holiday!!
God Bless and Merry Christmas,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! It is the 2nd week of Advent!! We are down to 12 days before Christmas. The kids have been really good. I am very happy with their behavior and hard work this week. I know this time of year can be very exciting for them and they are going about the days normally. I have my first family Christmas this weekend. One night I host everyone at my house and I feel like I have been a little crazy but not sure the students have noticed, yet! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Language Arts - We are reading a story called The Earth Dragon Awakes. It is a story about a father and son living in Chinatown in San Francisco and they experience the 1906 earthquake that took place there. They live in a tenement building and it collapses with them in it. They are buried in the rubble. It is kind of a scary story. It may bring fear in some of the kids. I know I was fearful reading it. They are rescued in the end so it was a happy ending. We are talking about Possessive nouns this week. They are learning proper rules to adding 's or just the ' if it has the "s" all ready. The vocabulary strategy this week was on synonyms. This is just a review for them because i have them find synonyms for their vocabulary words each week. We will have our end of week test tomorrow and post test for spelling. You will find the results for the last couple of weeks assessments in today's folder.
Math - This week we have been busy. We have taken chapter 2 test. We have begun the pretest for chapter 3. The students will make corrections on their tests today. I will give final score and I will send them home next week to be signed and returned. Chapter 3 is over double digit multiplication. This chapter will take the strategies they learned in chapter 2 and apply them to 2-digits. They will pick it up rather quickly. We will put in some "fun Christmas" math next week to lighten the load a little bit. We are progressing very nicely through our studies. Keep up the good work.
Social Studies - We are working through chapter 5. We took our first Map Test this week. It is very important the students do well on these so they prepare themselves for the end of year test over all 50 states and capitals. Some did not do so well. I hope to send those results today but not sure that will happen. I like to keep the test in their binders so I can refer back to them but I will report results to you in some way. I hope to finish putting states of the Northeast in the interactive notebooks by Christmas. I also hope to have another map test next week before break.
Friday, December 21 - Next Friday is our last day before Christmas break. I just want you to know what that day will look like. Students will start their day in music like normal. When they return at 8:50 we will do Language Arts to finish up our story for the week. When that is finished we will have a small Christmas party. It is Melanie's birthday so she is providing us with a treat that day. I haven't decided which we will do but normally I have the students bring in their favorite board games and we play games and enjoy each other's company. We could also show a movie. I think I will talk to the kids and see what they want to do to celebrate. I love playing games. It is nice to show them that you can still have a good time playing board games instead of playing video games. I may start with BINGO and give prizes! At 11:30 they will meet their Advent Angel and eat lunch, following will be Christmas Caroling in the gym at 12:15-12:45. Students are dismissed at 1:10 that day. You are very welcome to come to the classroom around 10:30 and join us for our fun activities and also caroling. If a grandparent wants to come in and spend the morning that is fine too. I just want to make the sense of "family" known with the students. I want them to enjoy each other family style before the holiday. Students will need to bring a sack lunch but milk will be provided. Also students are encouraged to wear festive clothes for Christmas. It is also a spirit day that day!
Geography Bee - The finals for the Geography Bee will be held next Wednesday the 19th after mass. It will begin at 10:15. Baret, Rhett and Jace from 4th grade all made it into the finals. We wish them luck. Anyone is welcome to attend the finals to support. This will be held in the gym.
I hope you are all getting your shopping done! Mine is finished. I get to wrap now. Safe travels to anyone doing any traveling over the this month.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! It is the 2nd week of Advent!! We are down to 12 days before Christmas. The kids have been really good. I am very happy with their behavior and hard work this week. I know this time of year can be very exciting for them and they are going about the days normally. I have my first family Christmas this weekend. One night I host everyone at my house and I feel like I have been a little crazy but not sure the students have noticed, yet! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Language Arts - We are reading a story called The Earth Dragon Awakes. It is a story about a father and son living in Chinatown in San Francisco and they experience the 1906 earthquake that took place there. They live in a tenement building and it collapses with them in it. They are buried in the rubble. It is kind of a scary story. It may bring fear in some of the kids. I know I was fearful reading it. They are rescued in the end so it was a happy ending. We are talking about Possessive nouns this week. They are learning proper rules to adding 's or just the ' if it has the "s" all ready. The vocabulary strategy this week was on synonyms. This is just a review for them because i have them find synonyms for their vocabulary words each week. We will have our end of week test tomorrow and post test for spelling. You will find the results for the last couple of weeks assessments in today's folder.
Math - This week we have been busy. We have taken chapter 2 test. We have begun the pretest for chapter 3. The students will make corrections on their tests today. I will give final score and I will send them home next week to be signed and returned. Chapter 3 is over double digit multiplication. This chapter will take the strategies they learned in chapter 2 and apply them to 2-digits. They will pick it up rather quickly. We will put in some "fun Christmas" math next week to lighten the load a little bit. We are progressing very nicely through our studies. Keep up the good work.
Social Studies - We are working through chapter 5. We took our first Map Test this week. It is very important the students do well on these so they prepare themselves for the end of year test over all 50 states and capitals. Some did not do so well. I hope to send those results today but not sure that will happen. I like to keep the test in their binders so I can refer back to them but I will report results to you in some way. I hope to finish putting states of the Northeast in the interactive notebooks by Christmas. I also hope to have another map test next week before break.
Friday, December 21 - Next Friday is our last day before Christmas break. I just want you to know what that day will look like. Students will start their day in music like normal. When they return at 8:50 we will do Language Arts to finish up our story for the week. When that is finished we will have a small Christmas party. It is Melanie's birthday so she is providing us with a treat that day. I haven't decided which we will do but normally I have the students bring in their favorite board games and we play games and enjoy each other's company. We could also show a movie. I think I will talk to the kids and see what they want to do to celebrate. I love playing games. It is nice to show them that you can still have a good time playing board games instead of playing video games. I may start with BINGO and give prizes! At 11:30 they will meet their Advent Angel and eat lunch, following will be Christmas Caroling in the gym at 12:15-12:45. Students are dismissed at 1:10 that day. You are very welcome to come to the classroom around 10:30 and join us for our fun activities and also caroling. If a grandparent wants to come in and spend the morning that is fine too. I just want to make the sense of "family" known with the students. I want them to enjoy each other family style before the holiday. Students will need to bring a sack lunch but milk will be provided. Also students are encouraged to wear festive clothes for Christmas. It is also a spirit day that day!
Geography Bee - The finals for the Geography Bee will be held next Wednesday the 19th after mass. It will begin at 10:15. Baret, Rhett and Jace from 4th grade all made it into the finals. We wish them luck. Anyone is welcome to attend the finals to support. This will be held in the gym.
I hope you are all getting your shopping done! Mine is finished. I get to wrap now. Safe travels to anyone doing any traveling over the this month.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! Welcome to Advent Season! This is my favorite season on the Liturgical calendar. We have great activities planned for the kids during Advent Angels. We started this activity yesterday. Yesterday seemed to be a very busy day for 4th graders. It was our mass so we started our day in the gym practicing. After Mass we had Advent Angels and Language Arts. After Lunch/recess we went to the High School to practice for our Christmas Program! It's a good thing we do that because our program last night was great! It is so fun to hear the kids sing. I am a little biased but thought that the 4th and 5th sounded fabulous!! I am so proud of them. Whew! That is one thing checked off on our calendars! Hope you enjoy the rest of the Advent Season with your kids. I know I plan to enjoy them these nest couple weeks! They are all very special and I appreciate you sharing them with me.
Language Arts - This week we are reading the story Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms. It is a non-fiction informational story. Some of it is interesting with facts kids want to hear but the majority is pretty detailed about how they form and the kids don't find these facts very interesting and fun. They probably need to go over the story at home again tonight for sure. We have worked on homophones this week. These are my favorite lessons in the book. We learn how to use to, too, two, its, it's, there, their , and they're properly. So many struggle with this, adults included. This is one that I catch on Facebook all the time. The vocabulary strategy this week was on suffixes -ful, - ness, -less, and -ment. We discussed their meanings and how when added to a word they change the meaning of the base word. We will read a short story today about Hurricane Katrina and the damage she caused. They may or may not have heard of this storm before. I try to talk about ones they are more familiar with. We will have our spelling post test tomorrow and end of week assessment. Please remember to have your child study the yellow packet of vocab words.
Math - We have completed the last lesson in chapter 2 this week. We will begin work reviewing for the chapter 2 assessment. We look to begin to take this assessment on Monday or Tuesday of next week. It will depend on how tomorrow goes because we are going to the Food Pantry in the afternoon to help unload the truck. this takes our math time. Sometimes when we return we may fill our time with Math. It just depends on how the day goes. The students have learned some great strategies this chapter on how to multiply. They have several ways to choose from. They all like the regrouping strategy once they caught on. The kids will do the test on computer but will have a paper copy also that they need to show their work on. It is important that I see all work so I can see why they are missing things. I look at multiplication strategy used, did they make a simple error or is it something bigger that I need to address. Proving their knowledge is key. By the way the last lesson on Order of Operations was Algebra. Some of them caught on better than others. Showing each step is what threw them off. They just wanted to work the problems and move on. I made them show each step because that is what is expected in Algebra. Hopefully all kids will do well. Remember I forgot to have them take a pretest so I have nothing to compare their scores with this time. I am anticipating great scores though.
Social Studies - We have begun practicing the Northeast states locations on maps. They have an answer key they may and some practice maps so they can practice placing the states and capitals on their maps. You can copy more maps at home if you have the capabilities to do that. It is very important for them to learn these states because we will move on to the Southeast soon and won't practice this region much after that. At the end of the year they are expected to label all 50 states with their capitals. This is to lead us up to that. Next week I plan to give them their first map test which will cover just the Northeast states. Make sure your child is practicing. We are still moving through chapter 5 on people of the Northeast. We will also work on finishing up the states in their interactive notebooks. We do a lot of work in social studies. Oh yes, and singing the states and capitals song. Is it driving you crazy yet??
Reconciliation - Next Friday the 14th we will hold reconciliation for the students. This is a time for them to spend with Father one on one to either be blessed or confess sins for forgiveness. All students will be given a blessing. It is a nice fresh , weight off the shoulders feeling for most. It prepares us for Christmas also.
Our last day before break is Friday, December 21st. We have a two hour dismissal that day. We will some fun activities going on in our classroom that day. All are welcome to come join us. At noon the kids will eat lunch with their advent angels and the we have our annual sing-a-long in the gym. I will give more details next week in Blog on what will happen on the 21st.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! Welcome to Advent Season! This is my favorite season on the Liturgical calendar. We have great activities planned for the kids during Advent Angels. We started this activity yesterday. Yesterday seemed to be a very busy day for 4th graders. It was our mass so we started our day in the gym practicing. After Mass we had Advent Angels and Language Arts. After Lunch/recess we went to the High School to practice for our Christmas Program! It's a good thing we do that because our program last night was great! It is so fun to hear the kids sing. I am a little biased but thought that the 4th and 5th sounded fabulous!! I am so proud of them. Whew! That is one thing checked off on our calendars! Hope you enjoy the rest of the Advent Season with your kids. I know I plan to enjoy them these nest couple weeks! They are all very special and I appreciate you sharing them with me.
Language Arts - This week we are reading the story Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms. It is a non-fiction informational story. Some of it is interesting with facts kids want to hear but the majority is pretty detailed about how they form and the kids don't find these facts very interesting and fun. They probably need to go over the story at home again tonight for sure. We have worked on homophones this week. These are my favorite lessons in the book. We learn how to use to, too, two, its, it's, there, their , and they're properly. So many struggle with this, adults included. This is one that I catch on Facebook all the time. The vocabulary strategy this week was on suffixes -ful, - ness, -less, and -ment. We discussed their meanings and how when added to a word they change the meaning of the base word. We will read a short story today about Hurricane Katrina and the damage she caused. They may or may not have heard of this storm before. I try to talk about ones they are more familiar with. We will have our spelling post test tomorrow and end of week assessment. Please remember to have your child study the yellow packet of vocab words.
Math - We have completed the last lesson in chapter 2 this week. We will begin work reviewing for the chapter 2 assessment. We look to begin to take this assessment on Monday or Tuesday of next week. It will depend on how tomorrow goes because we are going to the Food Pantry in the afternoon to help unload the truck. this takes our math time. Sometimes when we return we may fill our time with Math. It just depends on how the day goes. The students have learned some great strategies this chapter on how to multiply. They have several ways to choose from. They all like the regrouping strategy once they caught on. The kids will do the test on computer but will have a paper copy also that they need to show their work on. It is important that I see all work so I can see why they are missing things. I look at multiplication strategy used, did they make a simple error or is it something bigger that I need to address. Proving their knowledge is key. By the way the last lesson on Order of Operations was Algebra. Some of them caught on better than others. Showing each step is what threw them off. They just wanted to work the problems and move on. I made them show each step because that is what is expected in Algebra. Hopefully all kids will do well. Remember I forgot to have them take a pretest so I have nothing to compare their scores with this time. I am anticipating great scores though.
Social Studies - We have begun practicing the Northeast states locations on maps. They have an answer key they may and some practice maps so they can practice placing the states and capitals on their maps. You can copy more maps at home if you have the capabilities to do that. It is very important for them to learn these states because we will move on to the Southeast soon and won't practice this region much after that. At the end of the year they are expected to label all 50 states with their capitals. This is to lead us up to that. Next week I plan to give them their first map test which will cover just the Northeast states. Make sure your child is practicing. We are still moving through chapter 5 on people of the Northeast. We will also work on finishing up the states in their interactive notebooks. We do a lot of work in social studies. Oh yes, and singing the states and capitals song. Is it driving you crazy yet??
Reconciliation - Next Friday the 14th we will hold reconciliation for the students. This is a time for them to spend with Father one on one to either be blessed or confess sins for forgiveness. All students will be given a blessing. It is a nice fresh , weight off the shoulders feeling for most. It prepares us for Christmas also.
Our last day before break is Friday, December 21st. We have a two hour dismissal that day. We will some fun activities going on in our classroom that day. All are welcome to come join us. At noon the kids will eat lunch with their advent angels and the we have our annual sing-a-long in the gym. I will give more details next week in Blog on what will happen on the 21st.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! I hope everyone enjoyed their snow day on Monday!! I am a lover of snow but I didn't ask for this one. It is a little early, yet I know when I was a kid this was normal. I had to come home from Chicago a day early to beat the snow. I was a little irritated about it but very glad I did it. I am thankful we all got home safe and my older two back to college before "Bruce" decided to move in. I will say having a snow day makes for a crazy week. Not because of the kids but because all my plans are off a day, which can make me crazy!! Thank goodness the kids are used to me and my crazy now. They have handled this week perfectly and gone with the flow like champs. I am very pleased with their behavior.
Language Arts- This week we are taking the Unit 2 Assessment. This assessment will be easier than the first one. The first one was a benchmark test and tends to be a lot harder than others. This unit is a performance test and goes along better with the stories they read. A lot of answers can be found by looking back in the story. Their are also some questions that may be more difficult. I kept them on to see how they do. I may end of up using them as bonus points. We will finish the assessment today and we will go over it tomorrow as a whole class. The kids will pull up their test and we will go over each question one by one. I will also make them highlight things in their packet if they didn't already. I requested they do that but sometimes they know the answer and skip that part. Next week we will go back to a normal week with spelling tests and reading stories.
Math - We are still working on multiplication. This week we have focused on bigger numbers. We are doing 3-4 digit numbers times a single digit. They are doing very well with this regrouping strategy. This strategy is the one you and I were taught. We will work on the last lesson today and tomorrow and next week we will prepare for the Chapter 2 Assessment. I totally blew giving them the pretest which frustrates me because this the chapter that usually sees the most growth. When I fill out the paper work on the assessment you will not see a pretest score. Most students do pretty well on this test. The next chapter is on 2-digit multiplication. It is a shorter chapter, it is all strategies we have already learned we just apply them to 2 digit numbers times 2-digit numbers. They may struggle but will catch on. I hope to do some fun "Christmas" Math closer to Christmas and then we skip to chapter 13. I cover perimeter and area right after multiplication because I feel it is an appropriate place to do that. After two pretty heavy chapters I like to throw in a fun one to lighted the load. We do a lot of hands on activities.
Social Studies - We are starting chapter 5 which is another chapter over the Northeast Region. We spend this chapter discussing the people of the Northeast. We will continue putting states into our notebooks and will begin map work on locating the states of the region. This is a busy time for social studies. I will begin giving them map tests. The map test will only cover the Northeast Region. It is easier to learn them a region at a time then trying to do all 50 states at once. They will locate the state and list the capital with it. We will begin working on that next week. I will give them practice maps to work with. They will make one into an answer key then will have some blank ones to practice. This is very important for them to learn because at the end of the year they will need to do all 50 states!
Book It - Book It calendars are due by next Wednesday for a reward. After Wednesday I will still accept them for minutes but not a reward. Remember I need a parent signature on the calendar.
Food Pantry - Advent begins this weekend! My favorite time of the year. This year we will be collecting items for the Food Pantry from Dec 3-14. The 3-5 graders will be bringing in toilet paper to donate. Personal items such as this are bought by the pantry at normal prices. These are not provided by the Food Bank of Iowa. These items are distributed once a month, the first weekend of the month. They are always running low on these items. Please donate if possible. No matter how big or small it is always very helpful! The Food Pantry provides for 70-90 families on any given week. Our students are able to see the volume of products that go through the pantry when they volunteer unloading the truck.
Cold Weather Rules: St.Malachy plays outside under the following conditions. Morning Drop-Off Outside if feels like temperature is 13 degrees or above. K-8 Recess outside if feels like temperature is 0 degrees or above. PK students Outside if feels like temperature is 13 degrees or above.
I hope the weather cooperates better for all of us. I love this time of year and I feel it makes it better with snow but no more snow days! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! I hope everyone enjoyed their snow day on Monday!! I am a lover of snow but I didn't ask for this one. It is a little early, yet I know when I was a kid this was normal. I had to come home from Chicago a day early to beat the snow. I was a little irritated about it but very glad I did it. I am thankful we all got home safe and my older two back to college before "Bruce" decided to move in. I will say having a snow day makes for a crazy week. Not because of the kids but because all my plans are off a day, which can make me crazy!! Thank goodness the kids are used to me and my crazy now. They have handled this week perfectly and gone with the flow like champs. I am very pleased with their behavior.
Language Arts- This week we are taking the Unit 2 Assessment. This assessment will be easier than the first one. The first one was a benchmark test and tends to be a lot harder than others. This unit is a performance test and goes along better with the stories they read. A lot of answers can be found by looking back in the story. Their are also some questions that may be more difficult. I kept them on to see how they do. I may end of up using them as bonus points. We will finish the assessment today and we will go over it tomorrow as a whole class. The kids will pull up their test and we will go over each question one by one. I will also make them highlight things in their packet if they didn't already. I requested they do that but sometimes they know the answer and skip that part. Next week we will go back to a normal week with spelling tests and reading stories.
Math - We are still working on multiplication. This week we have focused on bigger numbers. We are doing 3-4 digit numbers times a single digit. They are doing very well with this regrouping strategy. This strategy is the one you and I were taught. We will work on the last lesson today and tomorrow and next week we will prepare for the Chapter 2 Assessment. I totally blew giving them the pretest which frustrates me because this the chapter that usually sees the most growth. When I fill out the paper work on the assessment you will not see a pretest score. Most students do pretty well on this test. The next chapter is on 2-digit multiplication. It is a shorter chapter, it is all strategies we have already learned we just apply them to 2 digit numbers times 2-digit numbers. They may struggle but will catch on. I hope to do some fun "Christmas" Math closer to Christmas and then we skip to chapter 13. I cover perimeter and area right after multiplication because I feel it is an appropriate place to do that. After two pretty heavy chapters I like to throw in a fun one to lighted the load. We do a lot of hands on activities.
Social Studies - We are starting chapter 5 which is another chapter over the Northeast Region. We spend this chapter discussing the people of the Northeast. We will continue putting states into our notebooks and will begin map work on locating the states of the region. This is a busy time for social studies. I will begin giving them map tests. The map test will only cover the Northeast Region. It is easier to learn them a region at a time then trying to do all 50 states at once. They will locate the state and list the capital with it. We will begin working on that next week. I will give them practice maps to work with. They will make one into an answer key then will have some blank ones to practice. This is very important for them to learn because at the end of the year they will need to do all 50 states!
Book It - Book It calendars are due by next Wednesday for a reward. After Wednesday I will still accept them for minutes but not a reward. Remember I need a parent signature on the calendar.
Food Pantry - Advent begins this weekend! My favorite time of the year. This year we will be collecting items for the Food Pantry from Dec 3-14. The 3-5 graders will be bringing in toilet paper to donate. Personal items such as this are bought by the pantry at normal prices. These are not provided by the Food Bank of Iowa. These items are distributed once a month, the first weekend of the month. They are always running low on these items. Please donate if possible. No matter how big or small it is always very helpful! The Food Pantry provides for 70-90 families on any given week. Our students are able to see the volume of products that go through the pantry when they volunteer unloading the truck.
Cold Weather Rules: St.Malachy plays outside under the following conditions. Morning Drop-Off Outside if feels like temperature is 13 degrees or above. K-8 Recess outside if feels like temperature is 0 degrees or above. PK students Outside if feels like temperature is 13 degrees or above.
I hope the weather cooperates better for all of us. I love this time of year and I feel it makes it better with snow but no more snow days! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! Can you believe next week is Thanksgiving?! I can't ! This year is going very quickly. I guess time flies when you are having fun. We have been working really hard in 4th grade. We are all pretty much adjusted to the routine and doing very well. Tomorrow is the end of the first trimester and I will be working on report cards over the weekend! I try to have them done before Thanksgiving break. We travel to Chicago every Thanksgiving! It is our favorite time of the year!! We leave on Wednesday and come back Sunday. We do our Black Friday shopping out there. It is not a huge deal in Chicago so the stores are not packed or stand in line kind of shopping like it is back here. Plus we get some items that are not around here. I hope anyone else who is traveling has a safe trip.
Language Arts - This week they are reading a story called Jose! Born to Dance. It is about a famous dancer and his life story. He didn't take up dancing until later in life. He was an immigrant from Mexico. This is a story that the kids find hard to understand and they are not big fans of it. That just means that tomorrow I have to work hard to be sure they understand it. If your student brings their book home and rereads they night before the test you might read it with them so you can see if they are understanding. This week in grammar they are learning about pronouns. We have focused on Subject, Object, Reflexive, and Demonstrative Pronouns. We also will learn what an antecedent is. That is the word that the pronoun replaces. For our vocabulary lesson we talked about Shades of meanings when it comes to words like: big, large, huge, giant, enormous, and gigantic. They all have similar meanings but the all make us picture something a little different or a little bigger than the other words. This section of the test might be a tad bit difficult for them. We always want to choose the more exciting words or the more professional sounding word. The end of week test is tomorrow along with spelling post test. We are then ready for a Unit test. We will not take that until the week after Thanksgiving. This Unit test will not be as bad as the first one. I always see scores go up but I will require them to go back into the stories and highlight the answers. We will talk about taking their time and working hard. I will get the test done in 3 days then spend a day going over test results with them.
Book Reports - Reminder that book reports are due tomorrow. I can't wait to see what they come up with. We will share them in class next Monday. The 1st graders will vote on the cereals and I will give a prize to the top choice.
Cuddle up and read - On Tuesday, November 20th, we will be having a special day. ON this day the students will be allowed to bring a blanket, pillow and stuffed animal. They may bring one item, two items, or all three, whatever they want to carry. We will begin our day normally with Music class. After that they will return tome for our special reading time. The students get to pick a spot in the room to lay down, snuggle up and just read. We will spend 60-75 minutes just reading . They may count all the minutes on their "Book It" calendars. I will also be reading along with them. It is just a fun da to enjoy reading. They have been looking forward tothis day ll year. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do!
Math - This week we have spent our time working on word problems. These word problems are multistep word problems. This means that you can't just do one problem to find the answer. You at least need to do 2 or maybe even more to get to your answer. The students don't like this because it is a lot of work. They want a simple easy problem to do and be done. This lesson really challenges them to think. They have to think about what the problem is saying, what information is important, and how to solve the problem. The next lesson is teaching them the regrouping strategy of multiplication, which is the standard algorithm that you all learned in school. They may struggle catching on because they won't understand how it all works but the more we practice the better they will get. We will work on this strategy until Thanksgiving. Then when we return we will work on it again but will bigger numbers. I will work on it until I feel all students are understanding.
Social studies- We just finished chapter 4 and took a test. They all did very well on the test. We are now putting more states into our notebooks and we will learn the States and Capitals song tomorrow and Monday. We will also start practicing where the Northeast states are on the map. I will give them practice maps to work on and then we will have a map test. They have to be able to label all the states in the Northeast Region on a map. They will also need to know their capitals. This is when Social Studies gets a little challenging yet fun for some. It is very important for students to know what our Unites States looks like and where the states are. Again you can get the song on itunes. It is by Macho Nacho. The students will have a copy of the lyrics in their folders.
Geography Bee- The 4th graders get the opportunity to participate this year in our annual Geography Bee. What happens is the 4th-8th grade students are split up between 3 rooms and put through 7 rounds of geography questions. The top 10 scorers of the preliminary rounds will move on to the Finals. The Finals will be held on a Wednesday after Mass in December. The official date will come later. I have had 4th graders make it to the finals in the past. It is the luck of the questions. This is not something the kids can opt out of. They will all participate. This will happen Tuesday morning of next week. I will run the 4th graders through a practice couple of rounds in our own room Monday, so they know exactly what to expect.
Again I want to wish you all a great Thanksgiving! I know I will eat too much! Also, we will have our Mass on December 5th. That day will be a noisy change collection for our adopt-a-family and our Christmas Program that evening. What a way to kick-off the Advent Season. There will not be a blog next week due to Thanksgiving.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! Can you believe next week is Thanksgiving?! I can't ! This year is going very quickly. I guess time flies when you are having fun. We have been working really hard in 4th grade. We are all pretty much adjusted to the routine and doing very well. Tomorrow is the end of the first trimester and I will be working on report cards over the weekend! I try to have them done before Thanksgiving break. We travel to Chicago every Thanksgiving! It is our favorite time of the year!! We leave on Wednesday and come back Sunday. We do our Black Friday shopping out there. It is not a huge deal in Chicago so the stores are not packed or stand in line kind of shopping like it is back here. Plus we get some items that are not around here. I hope anyone else who is traveling has a safe trip.
Language Arts - This week they are reading a story called Jose! Born to Dance. It is about a famous dancer and his life story. He didn't take up dancing until later in life. He was an immigrant from Mexico. This is a story that the kids find hard to understand and they are not big fans of it. That just means that tomorrow I have to work hard to be sure they understand it. If your student brings their book home and rereads they night before the test you might read it with them so you can see if they are understanding. This week in grammar they are learning about pronouns. We have focused on Subject, Object, Reflexive, and Demonstrative Pronouns. We also will learn what an antecedent is. That is the word that the pronoun replaces. For our vocabulary lesson we talked about Shades of meanings when it comes to words like: big, large, huge, giant, enormous, and gigantic. They all have similar meanings but the all make us picture something a little different or a little bigger than the other words. This section of the test might be a tad bit difficult for them. We always want to choose the more exciting words or the more professional sounding word. The end of week test is tomorrow along with spelling post test. We are then ready for a Unit test. We will not take that until the week after Thanksgiving. This Unit test will not be as bad as the first one. I always see scores go up but I will require them to go back into the stories and highlight the answers. We will talk about taking their time and working hard. I will get the test done in 3 days then spend a day going over test results with them.
Book Reports - Reminder that book reports are due tomorrow. I can't wait to see what they come up with. We will share them in class next Monday. The 1st graders will vote on the cereals and I will give a prize to the top choice.
Cuddle up and read - On Tuesday, November 20th, we will be having a special day. ON this day the students will be allowed to bring a blanket, pillow and stuffed animal. They may bring one item, two items, or all three, whatever they want to carry. We will begin our day normally with Music class. After that they will return tome for our special reading time. The students get to pick a spot in the room to lay down, snuggle up and just read. We will spend 60-75 minutes just reading . They may count all the minutes on their "Book It" calendars. I will also be reading along with them. It is just a fun da to enjoy reading. They have been looking forward tothis day ll year. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do!
Math - This week we have spent our time working on word problems. These word problems are multistep word problems. This means that you can't just do one problem to find the answer. You at least need to do 2 or maybe even more to get to your answer. The students don't like this because it is a lot of work. They want a simple easy problem to do and be done. This lesson really challenges them to think. They have to think about what the problem is saying, what information is important, and how to solve the problem. The next lesson is teaching them the regrouping strategy of multiplication, which is the standard algorithm that you all learned in school. They may struggle catching on because they won't understand how it all works but the more we practice the better they will get. We will work on this strategy until Thanksgiving. Then when we return we will work on it again but will bigger numbers. I will work on it until I feel all students are understanding.
Social studies- We just finished chapter 4 and took a test. They all did very well on the test. We are now putting more states into our notebooks and we will learn the States and Capitals song tomorrow and Monday. We will also start practicing where the Northeast states are on the map. I will give them practice maps to work on and then we will have a map test. They have to be able to label all the states in the Northeast Region on a map. They will also need to know their capitals. This is when Social Studies gets a little challenging yet fun for some. It is very important for students to know what our Unites States looks like and where the states are. Again you can get the song on itunes. It is by Macho Nacho. The students will have a copy of the lyrics in their folders.
Geography Bee- The 4th graders get the opportunity to participate this year in our annual Geography Bee. What happens is the 4th-8th grade students are split up between 3 rooms and put through 7 rounds of geography questions. The top 10 scorers of the preliminary rounds will move on to the Finals. The Finals will be held on a Wednesday after Mass in December. The official date will come later. I have had 4th graders make it to the finals in the past. It is the luck of the questions. This is not something the kids can opt out of. They will all participate. This will happen Tuesday morning of next week. I will run the 4th graders through a practice couple of rounds in our own room Monday, so they know exactly what to expect.
Again I want to wish you all a great Thanksgiving! I know I will eat too much! Also, we will have our Mass on December 5th. That day will be a noisy change collection for our adopt-a-family and our Christmas Program that evening. What a way to kick-off the Advent Season. There will not be a blog next week due to Thanksgiving.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a great day!! Are you enjoying the weather? Looks like we are going to take a drastic change. Will we see the white stuff? I hope so!! If is it going to be cold then we might as well have some snow. BUT I hope the farmers have time to get their crops out before it hits too hard. We know today's won't last! I think all kids came prepared for recess today with coats! That makes me very happy! Sweatshirts just don't cut it. I see hats and mittens too. I have recess duty today and brought my winter coat, headband and mittens myself. It does put me in Christmas spirit a little bit. I am all ready shopping but just not feeling it yet. The kids aren't really feeling it yet either!! Thank goodness.
Language Arts - We are reading a great story this week! It's one of my favorites. It is called Dear Mr. Winston. It is a fun story about a girl who gets a snake, wants to know what kind it is, but can not check the book she needs out of the library. So she sneaks the snake into the library in a box. The librarian questions her, opens box, and is deathly afraid of snakes and faints. The ambulance has to come to take him away. She is writing an apology but yet it really isn't much of an apology cause she finds many ways to blame the librarian for the problem. The kids seemed to enjoy it too. That may mean they will do well tomorrow on assessment. This week in grammar we are learning about compound and complex sentences. We learned what a dependent clause was and how it can not stand alone without a simple sentence. Our vocabulary strategy was a review topic of antonyms. Be sure to study vocabulary words and spelling words tonight!
Math - This week in math we have learned 2 new strategies to multiply 2 digit numbers. One was using expanded form and the other is partial product. One actually leads right into the other. Learning to use expanded form leads right into partial product. They are almost the very same just recorded differently. The partial product strategy starts us on the beginnings of the standard algorithm also. Only in the order in which we do the problems. The book teaches them to start in the hundreds or largest place value and I teach them to start in the ones because that is how the standard algorithm works. All strategies we learn are leading us into that algorithm that you learned as a kid. We make sure they understand exactly how multiplication words and why they are doing what they are doing now. I know I would have been more successful in math if I would have know these strategies for sure. So much of it lends itself to algebra also! If your child ever has any questions I am available in the mornings before school. I happy to help. I give them time at the end of the day to also search out for help.
Social Studies - We are finishing up chapter 4 this week. We are learning about the resources that come from the Northeast Region and learning about Chesapeake Bay and all the seafood that comes from the bay. Kids are learning that fishing is not just a hobby but way of life. They are shocked to think about it but when I talk about seafood restaurants and explain they get it. We will be doing a study guide on Monday, checking it on Tuesday and taking a test on Wednesday of next week! We are moving along quite nicely in Social studies. We will spend some days next week putting more states into our notebooks also!!
Veteran's Day Program - We are hosting a Veteran's Day Program at St. Malachy tomorrow in the gym at 2:00 P.M. Students are asked to wear red, white, and blue to celebrate. Please feel free to attend and please invite any Veteran's that you know to also attend. There is something for everyone there!!
Book it! We has a very successful October for reading minutes! I hope the students keep it up in November! It makes my heart happy to see them reading things they enjoy and finding authors that they enjoy! I have a definite favorite author. Colleen Hoover is my favorite. She writes so many books dealing with so many different things. if you have not read any of her books I recommend them. I keep a blog of the books I read. Here is my link in case you are looking for something to read. I am part of a book club and so the books we read are on here also.
https://msickels0.wixsite.com/mysite
I hope all of you have a great weekend! Thanksgiving is coming very quickly!! Tomorrow is a Spirit Day! Students can wear sweats for $1.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a great day!! Are you enjoying the weather? Looks like we are going to take a drastic change. Will we see the white stuff? I hope so!! If is it going to be cold then we might as well have some snow. BUT I hope the farmers have time to get their crops out before it hits too hard. We know today's won't last! I think all kids came prepared for recess today with coats! That makes me very happy! Sweatshirts just don't cut it. I see hats and mittens too. I have recess duty today and brought my winter coat, headband and mittens myself. It does put me in Christmas spirit a little bit. I am all ready shopping but just not feeling it yet. The kids aren't really feeling it yet either!! Thank goodness.
Language Arts - We are reading a great story this week! It's one of my favorites. It is called Dear Mr. Winston. It is a fun story about a girl who gets a snake, wants to know what kind it is, but can not check the book she needs out of the library. So she sneaks the snake into the library in a box. The librarian questions her, opens box, and is deathly afraid of snakes and faints. The ambulance has to come to take him away. She is writing an apology but yet it really isn't much of an apology cause she finds many ways to blame the librarian for the problem. The kids seemed to enjoy it too. That may mean they will do well tomorrow on assessment. This week in grammar we are learning about compound and complex sentences. We learned what a dependent clause was and how it can not stand alone without a simple sentence. Our vocabulary strategy was a review topic of antonyms. Be sure to study vocabulary words and spelling words tonight!
Math - This week in math we have learned 2 new strategies to multiply 2 digit numbers. One was using expanded form and the other is partial product. One actually leads right into the other. Learning to use expanded form leads right into partial product. They are almost the very same just recorded differently. The partial product strategy starts us on the beginnings of the standard algorithm also. Only in the order in which we do the problems. The book teaches them to start in the hundreds or largest place value and I teach them to start in the ones because that is how the standard algorithm works. All strategies we learn are leading us into that algorithm that you learned as a kid. We make sure they understand exactly how multiplication words and why they are doing what they are doing now. I know I would have been more successful in math if I would have know these strategies for sure. So much of it lends itself to algebra also! If your child ever has any questions I am available in the mornings before school. I happy to help. I give them time at the end of the day to also search out for help.
Social Studies - We are finishing up chapter 4 this week. We are learning about the resources that come from the Northeast Region and learning about Chesapeake Bay and all the seafood that comes from the bay. Kids are learning that fishing is not just a hobby but way of life. They are shocked to think about it but when I talk about seafood restaurants and explain they get it. We will be doing a study guide on Monday, checking it on Tuesday and taking a test on Wednesday of next week! We are moving along quite nicely in Social studies. We will spend some days next week putting more states into our notebooks also!!
Veteran's Day Program - We are hosting a Veteran's Day Program at St. Malachy tomorrow in the gym at 2:00 P.M. Students are asked to wear red, white, and blue to celebrate. Please feel free to attend and please invite any Veteran's that you know to also attend. There is something for everyone there!!
Book it! We has a very successful October for reading minutes! I hope the students keep it up in November! It makes my heart happy to see them reading things they enjoy and finding authors that they enjoy! I have a definite favorite author. Colleen Hoover is my favorite. She writes so many books dealing with so many different things. if you have not read any of her books I recommend them. I keep a blog of the books I read. Here is my link in case you are looking for something to read. I am part of a book club and so the books we read are on here also.
https://msickels0.wixsite.com/mysite
I hope all of you have a great weekend! Thanksgiving is coming very quickly!! Tomorrow is a Spirit Day! Students can wear sweats for $1.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! I have had early morning bus duty this week so I have to be at school by 7:15. I am very happy about it being Thursday because I only have one more day of it! I will not see it again for 7 weeks! I am so not a morning person! This week has been a great week. We are accomplishing a lot every single day. The students are pretty much adjusted to 4th grade. They are getting their organizational skills down, and they know to use their study hall wisely. I am very proud of all of them. We will continue to work on these things throughout the year but they are doing great.
Language Arts - We are reading a story called Me and Uncle Romie. This is a fiction story but it is based on a real live collage artist named Romare Bearden. Is a story that makes you feel good. A boy is going to stay with his aunt and uncle whom he has never meant before because his mother is having twins soon. He will also celebrate his birthday while he is there. He is nervous and scared to go but in the end he has a great time and makes a wonderful connection with Uncle Romie. He even try to create meaningful art like him. We are still working on Verbs this week. We focused on present progressing and past progressive verbs tenses. It all boils down to the helping verb we use that decides present or past. The action verb will be the same in both, and it ends in -ing. If the helping verb is: am, is or are than it is present tense and if it is was or were then it is past tense. This is also what will be on their assessment on Friday. They will be asked to choose the correct tense to place in a sentence. Our vocabulary strategy this week was on figures of speech. Like saying "hang in there", we don't take the words literally. I went over several examples and even had them come up with a few. I made sure to cover all the ones that will show up on their assessment. I do not plan to do a story for Language arts next week. The week is to short and too busy with Mass on our short day. I, in not way, can make a story meaningful by rushing through it. We will share Halloween stories next week, we will have a writing activity and will get started in our Handwriting books. I also will do some read aloud and free reading time for them. Be sure to study vocabulary words and spelling words tonight.
Math - We have started this week learning how to multiply by tens, hundreds, and thousands. We applied that knowledge to estimating products to see if answers are reasonable or not reasonable. We will move onto the Distributive property either Friday or Monday. This is not hard once you understand it. I had a grandfather visit one day during this math lesson. He was surprised at how much this made sense after being taught how it works. He couldn't stop talking about it because he had learned something new and it made complete sense. He has been my inspiration and great reminder that what we are teaching is good stuff. I see a lot of negativity online about the "new" math. This is not new stuff it has been around a very long time. It was just not required for us to teach it so we didn't. We only taught kids one way to do things. Well, are we only going to teach them one way to get out of a burning building? What happens when that way is blocked? How do they use their own problem-solving skills to get out? Same applies to building a house with only a hammer. How does that happen. I am filling their tool belt with strategies and skills that will make them think about other ways in case one way is blocked or just doesn't work for them. I know they may bring it home and you may not be able to help them. I am here by 7:45 every morning they can come in early to get help and I stress to them from 2:30-3:00 every day I am available to them. They have to ask me questions! I try to make my math happen with the least amount of stress and give them time to work on their homework so it doesn't come home.
Social Studies - This week we have learned about Nigara Falls and how important it is to the state of New York. Not only is it beautiful but it supplies New York with most of its electricity. We also learned about 6 mountain ranges and where they are located and for some how they go their names. The last thing was about the difference between the coastline in Maine and in New Jersey. We are working on a map skill dealing with the directions using a compass rose. We learned about how to properly go about reading a Cross-section Diagram. By Friday we will be ready to put our first state into our interactive notebooks. Whew! That was a lot of stuff to pick up on in a week's time. We are truly working hard! They also seem to be enjoying it all as we do it. For some reason Social Studies always becomes a 4th graders favorite topic to study. I think it might be because of my love for it. We also do lots of group work, that also may be it. Our topic of the 50 states seems to help to. We will keep up the hard work.
Book it - Next week is the end of the month. Please be sure to sign your student's book it calendars so they can turn them in. I will not accept them with out a parent signature. I can't wait to see how much some of them have been reading. I have not read as much this month as I normally do. Remember they need to turn it in even if they didn't meet the goal. I will give a prize at end for those who turned in all 6 calendars even though they did not meet the goal. I just want to track their minutes. There is a great poster in the hallway for book fair showing the correlation of reading so many minutes per day and standardized test scores! After reading that, you may want to have more free reading happen in your household. To me it made sense. Check it out.
Server Training - There will be a server training for those Catholic students in 3-4-5 grades on November 3rd and 4th after mass. We are really needing servers at this level so if you have a child that is able please be sure to have them attend one of the training sessions. Thank you.
Conferences - Reminder conferences are next week! Be sure to sign up for a time to meet with me. Last I looked I had many signed up but was still looking for a few more. I will remind your student if you still need to sign up. Thank you! I look forward to meeting with you.
Halloween Activities - We will be painting pumpkins here at school one day. The pumpkins are brought in by Taylor's family. I have painting shirts here all ready so it will protect them from paint on clothing. This will just be a fun "extra" art activity for us to do. On Wednesday, we will have Halloween activities put on by the Civics Club. We will have a small Halloween party in our classroom before with a snack and drinks. It will be an absolute crazy week but we will get through it! I look forward to having fun with the kids.
I hope all of you have a great weekend! I look to have a nice relaxing one. Next week will be crazy with Halloween activities! This is the reason I plan to relax and enjoy the weekend!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! I have had early morning bus duty this week so I have to be at school by 7:15. I am very happy about it being Thursday because I only have one more day of it! I will not see it again for 7 weeks! I am so not a morning person! This week has been a great week. We are accomplishing a lot every single day. The students are pretty much adjusted to 4th grade. They are getting their organizational skills down, and they know to use their study hall wisely. I am very proud of all of them. We will continue to work on these things throughout the year but they are doing great.
Language Arts - We are reading a story called Me and Uncle Romie. This is a fiction story but it is based on a real live collage artist named Romare Bearden. Is a story that makes you feel good. A boy is going to stay with his aunt and uncle whom he has never meant before because his mother is having twins soon. He will also celebrate his birthday while he is there. He is nervous and scared to go but in the end he has a great time and makes a wonderful connection with Uncle Romie. He even try to create meaningful art like him. We are still working on Verbs this week. We focused on present progressing and past progressive verbs tenses. It all boils down to the helping verb we use that decides present or past. The action verb will be the same in both, and it ends in -ing. If the helping verb is: am, is or are than it is present tense and if it is was or were then it is past tense. This is also what will be on their assessment on Friday. They will be asked to choose the correct tense to place in a sentence. Our vocabulary strategy this week was on figures of speech. Like saying "hang in there", we don't take the words literally. I went over several examples and even had them come up with a few. I made sure to cover all the ones that will show up on their assessment. I do not plan to do a story for Language arts next week. The week is to short and too busy with Mass on our short day. I, in not way, can make a story meaningful by rushing through it. We will share Halloween stories next week, we will have a writing activity and will get started in our Handwriting books. I also will do some read aloud and free reading time for them. Be sure to study vocabulary words and spelling words tonight.
Math - We have started this week learning how to multiply by tens, hundreds, and thousands. We applied that knowledge to estimating products to see if answers are reasonable or not reasonable. We will move onto the Distributive property either Friday or Monday. This is not hard once you understand it. I had a grandfather visit one day during this math lesson. He was surprised at how much this made sense after being taught how it works. He couldn't stop talking about it because he had learned something new and it made complete sense. He has been my inspiration and great reminder that what we are teaching is good stuff. I see a lot of negativity online about the "new" math. This is not new stuff it has been around a very long time. It was just not required for us to teach it so we didn't. We only taught kids one way to do things. Well, are we only going to teach them one way to get out of a burning building? What happens when that way is blocked? How do they use their own problem-solving skills to get out? Same applies to building a house with only a hammer. How does that happen. I am filling their tool belt with strategies and skills that will make them think about other ways in case one way is blocked or just doesn't work for them. I know they may bring it home and you may not be able to help them. I am here by 7:45 every morning they can come in early to get help and I stress to them from 2:30-3:00 every day I am available to them. They have to ask me questions! I try to make my math happen with the least amount of stress and give them time to work on their homework so it doesn't come home.
Social Studies - This week we have learned about Nigara Falls and how important it is to the state of New York. Not only is it beautiful but it supplies New York with most of its electricity. We also learned about 6 mountain ranges and where they are located and for some how they go their names. The last thing was about the difference between the coastline in Maine and in New Jersey. We are working on a map skill dealing with the directions using a compass rose. We learned about how to properly go about reading a Cross-section Diagram. By Friday we will be ready to put our first state into our interactive notebooks. Whew! That was a lot of stuff to pick up on in a week's time. We are truly working hard! They also seem to be enjoying it all as we do it. For some reason Social Studies always becomes a 4th graders favorite topic to study. I think it might be because of my love for it. We also do lots of group work, that also may be it. Our topic of the 50 states seems to help to. We will keep up the hard work.
Book it - Next week is the end of the month. Please be sure to sign your student's book it calendars so they can turn them in. I will not accept them with out a parent signature. I can't wait to see how much some of them have been reading. I have not read as much this month as I normally do. Remember they need to turn it in even if they didn't meet the goal. I will give a prize at end for those who turned in all 6 calendars even though they did not meet the goal. I just want to track their minutes. There is a great poster in the hallway for book fair showing the correlation of reading so many minutes per day and standardized test scores! After reading that, you may want to have more free reading happen in your household. To me it made sense. Check it out.
Server Training - There will be a server training for those Catholic students in 3-4-5 grades on November 3rd and 4th after mass. We are really needing servers at this level so if you have a child that is able please be sure to have them attend one of the training sessions. Thank you.
Conferences - Reminder conferences are next week! Be sure to sign up for a time to meet with me. Last I looked I had many signed up but was still looking for a few more. I will remind your student if you still need to sign up. Thank you! I look forward to meeting with you.
Halloween Activities - We will be painting pumpkins here at school one day. The pumpkins are brought in by Taylor's family. I have painting shirts here all ready so it will protect them from paint on clothing. This will just be a fun "extra" art activity for us to do. On Wednesday, we will have Halloween activities put on by the Civics Club. We will have a small Halloween party in our classroom before with a snack and drinks. It will be an absolute crazy week but we will get through it! I look forward to having fun with the kids.
I hope all of you have a great weekend! I look to have a nice relaxing one. Next week will be crazy with Halloween activities! This is the reason I plan to relax and enjoy the weekend!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
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