Dear Parents.
     Happy Thursday!!  What a nice day yesterday and hopefully today.  I hope we keep moving in the direction of warm temps and good weather and not back to snow or cold.  Track season is under way and I only like to attend if it's nice.  I am not a fan of being cold watching a track meet.  Our big week of testing is OVER!!  The students were well behaved and did what they were suppose do.  I hope they did their very best!!  We will find out in May!!

Language Arts -  We didn't do much with this subject this week.  We are in the middle of working on writing project.  We are creating an Author Report.  The students chose an author and we generated some questions.  They tried to locate the answers to at least 10 questions.  We also talked about an introductory paragraph.  They were to play around with a couple introductory paragraphs for today.  Next week we will get back into the textbook and it will be a normal week.

Math -  We are still working in the double-digit multiplication chapter.  We have learned the standard algorithm.  Students even worked on a 3 digit number times a double-digit number.  They have truly done an excellent job of learning the multiplication strategies.  I voiced to the students how proud I was on them because they were doing a great job!!  There is not too much left in this chapter and then we will test over it.  That will show me what they really know.  I also feel like they have come a long ways with basic facts.  

Social Studies - We have focused on projects this week.  I have been making sure we get those in before we do anything else.  It's just the kind of week we have going on with tests and all.  We have done a little book work also.  I love listening to the projects.  Sometimes we get a project that someone put a lot of hard work into because it is what interests them and sometimes we just get the bare minimum because that's what interests them.  I still love them all no matter if they are over the top or not.  I enjoy them sharing their knowledge with others.  I feel we are really promoting leadership when students get up in front of others and display knowledge of a topic and share their interests.

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels

I am sorry, I forgot I was going to announce the top 3 Dollars for Scholars essay winners.  These three students will move on to the next level where they will have a chance of winning $50.  

                                           Halle Evans
                               Briley Hayes
                               Megan Pellman

Congratulations to these three students.  The topic of the essay was "What Education Means To Me".  These three talked about how education was important to their future and important to them.  Great Job!!  We will not now the winner until mid-May.

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!!  What a yucky day!!  I am happy that the High School Track Meet in Osceola was cancelled due to weather.  I was not at all looking forward to watching people run in this weather.  We have had a very good stretch here this week.  Kids seem to be keeping busy and working hard this week.  Next week I hope they continue to do the same!!!

Iowa Assessments - We will be taking these tests all next week.  Testing days will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  If there is anything we haven't finished we will pick it up on Friday morning.  I am hoping to show them a movie on Friday just as a pick-me-up from a full week of testing.  Please, be sure your child gets a full night's sleep, eats a good breakfast, and tries their very best!!  We will be having snacks for "brain food" during the tests provided by the PTO.  It is nice to come to the gym or go outside and take a small break from all the testing.  Just remember to encourage your child to do their very best work!!

Language Arts- This week the students completed the Unit 5 assessment.  We took a small portion of it everyday.   I was hoping by doing that they would put all their effort into it and use all the time.  Some kids did that, others still just flew through it not paying attention to the questions or going back and looking for the answers in the story.  I checked each portion as they did them.  They were to look over what they missed to see if it would help them as they did the next day's testing.  Again, some took advantage and got better and some did not!  I have yet to finish checking today's.  I hope to see some improvement from last unit.  The only other thing we did this week was write the Dollars for Scholars Essays.  I will put on here tomorrow the top 3 essays that will be going on with a chance to win $50.

Math - I am so very happy with this class in Math!!  They learned a new strategy this week.  The strategy you all know and love, the standard algorithm for multiplying!  They caught on and did a great job.  We took our time this week and even had a fun day today with the 30 sided die, where they each roll a number and that becomes their multiplication problem.  I love hearing them argue or discuss whose answer is right and why someone's is wrong.  It is a great learning experience for both kids.  No homework tonight.  I gave them a break.  Tomorrow we will have a lesson on bigger numbers.  A number in the hundreds multiplied by a double-digit.  Woohoo!!

Social Studies -  Projects are getting closer!! I am getting excited!!  We are on lesson 4 in this chapter which means we are finishing up the Midwest.  We will then move onto the Southwest Region.  This region is small and I will move quickly through it so we can get into the West because it covers more states.  Students are doing a great job.  We need to practicing where the states are and really memorizing that States and Capitals song.  We will begin singing it everyday so we get it down.  Those capital tests will be coming.

I will be gone next Wednesday, April 9th.  I will be going with 9 students to the Young Writer's Conference in Lamoni at Graceland College.  I am taking 3 students from each 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.  Halle Evans, Sarah Rhone, and Jacob Zachary are the students attending from this room.  There will be a substitute in the room and life will go on as normal for the students not attending.  It is an early out, with Mass and Lenten Angels so should be a good day.

Have a great weekend!!

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!  Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a great Spring Break!!  Our trip to Dallas, Texas was a great break.  We had a nice time and enjoyed mild weather.  One day it was 80 and we put swimsuits on and lounged by the pool.  It did rain one day and was between 65-70 the others.  We did do a lot of fun things: indoor surfing, indoor skydiving, and Amazing Jake's (laser tag, go-carts, rock climbing, bumper cars and video games!).  It was fun.  Now back in the classroom to work hard for the end of the year!

Language Arts - This weeks story was fun to read.  It called "The Fun They Had" written by Isaac Asimov. It is a fun science-fiction story about the future.  It is set in the future, the year is 2157 and they find a "real book".  They are amazed and the story compares life as a student in 2157 compared to centuries ago.  The story was written in 1951, so for the ideas he had of where technology was going with education  was pretty cool, because we see similarities all ready.  Our spelling words and decoding is focusing on words with a VV (vowel-vowel) pattern.  Our grammar has focused on sentences and punctuation.  This is the last story in Unit 5, so next week will be the BBT (Big Bad Test).  We will also finish up an essay we will start this week and look at our 3rd book report.

Math - We learned the partial product strategy this week!! They caught on more quickly than I thought!!  I am so excited.  We will be able to move forward a little quicker than I expected!!  I am very pleased with all of them.  We will continue to work our way to the standard algorithm.  Once we get that mastered we will be doing great and move on into division!!  Keep working on those facts!  I feel like they are getting better at basic facts too!

Social Studies - We are starting the next chapter over the Midwest.  We will focus on the people in the area.  We always talk about a Native American group and then move on to discuss the settlers who come.  We will learn about the Ojibwa in Michigan and Minnesota.  We will also discuss a land rush that takes place in Iowa.  What a wild way to gain claim to land.  Projects are due in a couple more weeks!!  I am excited as always to see them!!

Dollars for Scholars Essay - We will be putting together an essay for the Dollars for Scholars group for chance to win $50 to help further their education.  One person from our class will win the $50.  They will have one winner in every section of 4th grade throughout the area.  The process we go through is that the students will write the essay based on a standard question.  Each question is different for each grade level.  I will edit and revise the essay.  I will not change words or meanings, I will help with spelling errors, capitalization, and punctuation only. All this work is done at school.  The students names will not be on the finished product. I will give to 3 different teachers in our building to read.  They will pick their top three choices.  The top three will then advance to win the $50.  The top 3 go to the Dollars for Scholars representatives.  They have a group of SWCC professors read them and choose the winning essay.  We will know by next Friday which 3 will advance, but we will not know the winner until in May.  

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!  What a great night Saturday night!!  I have never been to an auction that the generosity was at that level!!!  What an emotional night.  I feel our trunk was a big success!! It brought $1000.  I would like to thank all of you for your donations to make out items a success.  The 5th grade basket was huge success!!  Ms. Surma and I were completely overwhelmed.  We called it the roll-over basket!!  It sold 9 times and brought a total of $4900!! Incredible!!  Great great night for St. Malachy School!!

Math - We have begun chapter 6 on double-digit multiplication.  We are taking the whole thing slowly so that the kids are comfortable on each lesson before moving on.  I want them to have confidence before we hit the "hard" stuff.  I am making these first lessons light and fun to help boost that confidence.  We have talked about multiples of 10, 100, 1000 and estimating products.  We are going to do more with estimating today before we move on.  Next week we may learn partial product before spring break.  I don't plan on getting to the standard algorithm until after spring break.  Have them practice a few problems over break and definitely work on basic facts!!

Language Arts - We are reading a story about sequoia trees this week.  The title is The Ever-Living Tree.  This is a nonfiction story about a coast redwood tree and it's lifespan.  It compares the growing of the tree with other events in history going on at the same time.  The point is to show that this tree is very very old and they can relate because there are events from history that happened long ago.  In grammar we are discussing rules with capitalization and ending punctuation with quotations.  Our spelling list is again about a VCCV or vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel pattern.  This time when putting the words into syllables the split is not between the two consonants but before or after them.  

Social Studies - The students chose their states and projects for the Midwest Region yesterday.  They seemed pretty excited about what they got.  These projects will be due like the first to second week in April.  We have begun this chapter discussing the Great Lakes region.  They know how they were formed, that they are larges group of freshwater lakes in the world and what states touch them and are called Great Lake States.  We now will move to the Great Plains States.  We begin in South Dakota discussing the Badlands.  Please, send photos of vacations that you have taken in the Black Hills if you have been there. Kids love to share and I would love for those who haven't been to see first hand.  I have some from when I was this age, but the photos are bad because of film and cameras back then.

Have a great weekend!!

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels

Dear Parents,
     Well, Happy Thursday!!!  These days seem to roll around quickly anymore.  We are nearing Spring Break all ready.  The cold is back!!  Not sure it is going away quickly either.  Sounds like the weekend could be a snowy one.  Not a ton of accumulation but very fluffy stuff.  That information is from our private weather forecast given by Chris Coanan from channel 5 yesterday.  How right will he be?

Weather Presentation - We had Chris Coanan down from Channel 5 yesterday.  Mrs. Burg does a 5th grade unit on weather with the 5th grade so she plans his visit.  Third and fourth grade get to enjoy his presentation also.  He does an excellent job reporting about weather to the kids.  He also shares a great power point presentation with fun video of clouds and storms. I really feel the kids enjoy this and benefit from his experience.  Thanks Ms. Burg for coordinating it and including us!!

Language Arts-  This week we are reading a fun and interesting Biography.  The story is called: I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Woman The Vote.   It is a great story about a woman who is involved in the Woman's Suffrage Movement.  She actually got the state of Wyoming to give women the right to vote before the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution was added in 1920.  I think all students in the class find this story to be interesting, especially the girls.  Grammar this week is focusing on negative words (no, nobody, nothing, nowhere, none, and never) and also double negatives.  I am glad to see this lesson come up because students don't really know what I am saying when I talk about not using double negatives in a sentence.  

Math-  We took our Chapter 5 test today.  I am hoping to see great scores from this assessment.  If I don't have that, we will need to do some reteaching before we move on.  Chapter 6 is over double-digit multiplication.  I move pretty slowly through this chapter to ensure students are catching on before moving forward.  This is a big concept to grasp.  I really don't foresee any problems with this class understanding it.  It will be difficult at first but once we get going they will run with it!!  I will not stress about basic facts. I will be giving them a multiplication table that they can use.  I want them to understand the process and not allow facts to hold them back.  It would be a great help if you would work on those at home!!

Social Studies - We are testing today over chapter 7.  This ends our study of the Southeast states.  We will now move to the Midwest region.  We will choose states for projects next week.  Iowa is not an option for these states.  The reason is because in 5th grade there is an entire 9 week unit focusing on Iowa History and they will each do a major project during that unit.  We only have two more projects left.  Please be sure your child knows what they can choose to do and what you want them to stay away from.  I always look forward to this region because I feel the kids get excited over it.  We are reading about things they all ready are aware of, and I think they like that.  They like to see in a book things they are familiar with.  I will have project due dates for this around first week in April.  Which means last projects will be due mid May. Yes, we are nearing the end!!

Conferences:  You will be receiving a conference survey today in folder.  This needs to be returned by Tuesday whether it is filled out or not.  This is to give us a better idea of what information you want to know about your student.  It will better help us to prepare for our conferences.  Thank you for taking the time to fill them out. Also, those who have a conference on Tuesday expect a phone call from me to see about setting up a different time.  Molly has an event that Tuesday night I would like to attend.

I hope everyone has a great and safe weekend!!

Reminder:  We DO have school Monday even though public school doesn't.

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!!  Well, what will today bring.  We have had a nice couple of days, as a matter of fact a little teaser to Spring.  Now, I am not sure the meteorologists even know what it's really going to do today.  One channel says 1.3 inches another says 1-3 inches, and the radio this morning said 4-5 inches.  So take your pick.  We will get whatever Mother Nature decides to give us.  I am just thankful we are not in school until June!!  Ms. Surma has a sister-in-law who is looking at June 9th as last day for students.  I am definitely thankful this is not us!!  So keep praying for Spring.

Conferences - Well, these are coming quickly.  As a parent, I am happy to say my 5th grader, Molly, was chosen to participate in honor choir.  As a teacher, I am frustrated because that happens on March 11, which is the Tuesday of conferences.  I will need to make some changes in the schedule.  I will be calling all those who have conferences on Tuesday evening to see if I can accommodate you.  I have some openings on Thursday night, I may be able to do my first few on Tuesday, but I definitely can fill in some Monday or Wednesday.  I just wanted you to know this was coming.  I will work on making those calls next week.

Language Arts - What a crazy week we had last week for language arts.  We finished up week 20 lesson, and took a unit 4 test!!  We were busy.  This week we are back to normal with week 21 lesson.  The story is called  The World According to Humphrey. It is cute story from the point of view of a classroom hamster.  Humphrey goes home with a student every weekend for a visit. Plus, the student must clean the cage Sunday and bring back Monday.  The house Humphrey visits is a family that spends most of their time watching T.V.  There is a definite theme to this story.  The kids were able to pick it out.  Ask them about it.  We are talking about comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs this week for grammar.  This is adding -er or -est to the end of words.  Students are learning when it is appropriate to use -er or when it should be -est.  If those two suffixes don't make sense then they put "more" or "most" in front of the word. Your child can tell you how to tell the difference and which to use.  Spelling this week, we worked on a VCV pattern, which is vowel-consonant-vowel.  We also looked at decoding these patterns and breaking into syllables.

Math- We are finishing up our chapter on single digit multiplication.  We will be taking a test next week, if the weather holds for us.  We will be doing the last lesson in the chapter tomorrow.  On Monday, we will do review, check the review on Tuesday, and test on Wednesday.  Then we will dive right into the double-digit chapter.  This one may be a little more difficult!!  Work those flash cards.

Social Studies - We are on the last lesson in this chapter also.  We will finish it up next week and be taking a test also.  This test will not be til maybe Thursday.  Then Friday we will choose our new states for the next round of projects.  These projects will be due in first week of April.  They are all ready asking when they can choose.  I love it!!  They are very enthusiastic about doing these projects.  There may be a few that don't appreciate them!!  Keep up the excellent work!!

Auction-  Thank you, Thank you, thank you for all the donations towards the scrapbook and the trunk!!  I am so happy with our results!  We finished our scrapbook pages today and they are ready to be placed in the book when it arrives.  Kids did a great job.  It took us a lot longer.  These kids were very creative.

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels