Dear Parents,
      Happy Thursday!! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving.  We had a fabulous relaxing trip to Chicago.  My favorite store again was Macy's!!  Also, I guess Micheal's because we had a craft day and spent all day Saturday doing crafts.  I was the runner and went to Micheal's 4 times that day!!  Last one was 9:30 at night!!  
     We are all excited that Advent is here!!  The students had their first Advent Angel activity.  It was a fun time!  This month will go quickly but we will continue to work hard.  I will admit that i play Christmas music any opportunity I have.  I love the songs and keeps us in the season.  Kids seem to calm down and work quietly while I have it on too.  We have had some illnesses pop up in our room.  Just remember to keep them home so we can limit the spread.  I feel all of you do a good job at this. 

Language Arts -  Last week we had "Cuddle-up and Read" Day.  We moved the desks out of the way and spread our blankets out all over.  They made nests and laid down and read for about 65 minutes.  It was a nice time.  They were busy reading the whole time unless they became drowsy.  I then sent them on a walk for a drink of water, so they could perk up a bit.   I will share pictures at the end of my letter.
     We are reading a nonfiction story this week on Hurricanes.  It is called Hurricanes: Earth's Deadliest Storm.  It has a lot of graphic features, like charts, graphs and diagrams with it to help us understand the story.  That is what we are focusing on this time is Graphic Features.  We discuss their importance to the story and how is enhances the reading and understanding.  We have been working on easily confused words like:  to, two,too, their, there, they're, its and it's.  We have talked about how to decide which to use in sentences.  In spelling they are working on compound words.  Remember to study vocabulary words and spelling words tonight!!  Maybe after the parade!

Math - We have spent some time working on flash cards and multiplication facts the last couple of days!  We will begin a new lesson today.  I am hoping to have Chapter 2 finished up before Christmas break.  I am positive that will happen.  We are getting closer to the students learning the standard algorithm of multiplication which is what you and I learned in school.  We have about 7 lessons left in this chapter.  Should take a couple weeks.  I love this chapter and all that I teach the kids.  All of it consists of great ways to multiply.  We have begun taking times tests over the basic facts of multiplication.  You will see those results on Power School. They are given 100 basic problems and 5 minutes to do them.  Ultimately they are to do them in 2 minutes.  I start them at 5 and as they master that I lower the time limit.  Some kids will be able to do them in at least 3 minutes but maybe not have 100% accuracy.  We will keep working on it!

Social Studies - The students have been assigned their first state and picked their first project!!  I will get them their due dates next week.  They will be due anywhere from January 4-20.  They seem a little excited about doing this.  Most 4th graders love this about 4th grade.  Not all parents love it though.  We are also moving along in Chapter 4.  Students are working on completing vocabulary words, and learning about the Northeast.  So far this week we have talked about Niagara Falls and how it is not just a sight of awe and beauty, but an electrical power source.  It had hydropower plants on the Niagara River that produces the majority of electricity for the state of New York.  We also looked at a cross-section diagram of a power plant to try and understand how it works.  Next week we will look at some specific products from the area and Mountain Ranges in the states.  Did you know there are about 1,000 cranberry bogs in the United States and 500 of them are in the state of Massachusetts?  Just and interesting fact!! There are also a couple in Wisconsin.  These are things we will be talking about!

Mrs. Levine -  I ask that all of you keep her husband Kirk in your prayers.  She is now at home to be with him as his time on Earth comes to an end.  We need to pray for peace from his pain and suffering.  We pray for him every morning here at school.  

Book Report -  I am sharing with you before the kids.  Their book reports will be due January 29th.  I want them to have plenty of time to complete social studies projects and the book report.  Most all students have picked a book suitable for them to read.  We need to help them manage their time wisely so they complete the book and project.  If you lose the papers I sent home to make the cereal box, I can always print more! 

Well... enjoy the photos of our "Cuddle-up and Read" Day!! Have a great weekend!! Is the tree up? We have 2 real trees.  They are up but not decorated.  That will be happening over the weekend. 

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels 

Good Morning!!  It's Monday!!!  I hope you all had a great weekend gearing up for Thanksgiving this week.  This is a short week!  I had something to put in my letter on Thursday and forgot, it is about the calendars that came home in your folders last week.

Religion- In your child's folder is a Random Acts of Kindness calendar. This is an Advent Calendar for them to use during the month of December. I know some of the things probably can't be done, but it's always good to just think about what we can do in this month for others besides the gifts we need to buy for our loved ones. These can make someone's day just a little brighter!  ~ Ms. Surma

Happy Thanksgiving to all you!! I hope you have a fabulous time with family or friends. Oh....also Black Friday shopping!  I will be doing mine in Chicago where Black Friday is not a big deal.  They have sales but people don't go crazy like they do here.  There are not lines for specific items.  Last year my favorite store was Macy's.  There are long check out lines but people aren't fighting for things.

Have a great week!!!
Mrs. Sickels

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!! What a GREAT day!! We got off to a great start with Muffins with Mom.  What a great turn out!  Thank you to all the moms who were able to come and enjoy breakfast with your child.  I think the kids are all ready looking forward to a day with Dad in February!  Tomorrow is the end of the trimester!  That means late slips get wiped away and we start over!!  On Monday everyone will come with a clean slate!  I hope this trimester is better for some!  This also means the report cared will be coming out.  They will be out the week after Thanksgiving.  If you are unsure how to find them on Power School be sure to stop in or contact the office so you get help.  

Language Arts -  This week has been a Unit 2 test week.  We have focused on DEAR time for about 20 minutes a day, then we have spent 30-40 minutes working on a section of the test.  After all students were finished we would share book reports.  We are almost done sharing book reports.  We will definitely finish them tomorrow.  You will see test results for Unit 2 the week after we return from Thanksgiving.
     Book Report #2 - I will be assigning the next report to kids tomorrow.  They will be             given a sheet with instructions then 2 sheets of things they need.  They will be                 putting together a cereal box book report. On the two sheets are the things that go on       the top and sides of the box.  They first need to finish the whole book before they             begin.  I will be talking to them about book size.  We will discuss books that are best        for them.  They will have a couple weeks to choose a book and let me know what it is.      If I feel they need to challenge themselves more, than I will have that discussion with        them.  We don't want them to just do the minimum. This report will not be due until        January.  They will have plenty of time to do the work.  We need to be more helpful        with them managing their time or pacing their reading so it ensures they finish the            book and the box on time.


We will have a "Cuddle Up and Read" Day on Tuesday, Nov. 24th.  This is where the students are allowed to bring blankets, pillows, pillow pets, and stuffed animals to school to cuddle up on the floor and read with.  We will spend our entire language arts class reading to ourselves or I will be reading to them.  It is a day devoted to reading.  All the minutes can be included on the book it calendar too!!  I do not start a story next week, we have a fun week in Language Arts.  

Math - We had a great lesson today.  They learned to multiply using expanded form.  The best part is this strategy pulls together several of the things they have all ready learned and I stressed the importance of learning.  Now, they are seeing the benefits of mastering one skill before we move on to the next.  Chapter 3 will be easy because it just adds to everything we learned in chapter 2!  I had them excited about Math today.  I feel like they got a good grasp on the skill.  We will review it tomorrow, spend some more time on the problems then do the worksheet.  I was even told I was the best teacher ever! (Only because I had them excited and pointing out the things they learned before coming together).  You could see the light bulbs appear about their little heads!  That for me is the best!!!  I love my job!

Social Studies -  We are beginning a whole new unit this week.  We will be studying the Northeast Region of the United States.  There will be a total of 15 vocabulary words for this chapter.  Today we began going over Social Studies projects.  We will finish going over them on Friday and the packets will come home.  Next week they will pick their first state and the project they want to do.  Please go over packet with your child and let them know if there are any you would prefer them to stay away from. (food projects).  The students will be introduced to the States and Capitals song by Macho Nacho next week.  This is free on itunes so everyone can have it at home to memorize.  We will sing it a couple times a week so they memorize the words.  The words ARE the states and capitals of the United States.  There is also a fun couple videos on youtube videos that sing the song and place the states on a map which helps learn location. 

Geography Bee - On Wednesday, Nov. 25th, your student will be participating in the school wide Geography Bee.  This includes 4-8 graders at St. Malachy.  They are divided up into 3 rooms.  There will be students from 4-8 grade in all three rooms.  They will be put through 7 rounds of geography questions.  I will go over a "mock" geography bee with them Tuesday during Social Studies.  From these 7 rounds we will narrow it down to 10 finalists, that will participate in the Geography Bee Finals in December.

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend.  I will be working hard on report cards to have them done by Thanksgiving.  I go to Chicago every year and return on Sunday so I want them done! I want a stress free vacation.  I will say we are not heading downtown Chicago this year.  We do some shopping in the northern suburbs where my family lives.  I want to wish all of you a very happy and safe Thanksgiving Break!!  Enjoy family!

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels

  

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!  I am so glad I was able to visit with all of you last week. I appreciate you taking the time to come in and look at how things are going in 4th grade.  I hope if you have questions or concerns in the future you will reach out via email so we can discuss or set up another time to meet.  
     What a change in the weather!!  Wednesday was definitely interesting day for weather.  I was out of school that day.  I was in Omaha on a college visit with my daughter Jami.  It was a very good visit.  We had a great tour guide and the campus is very compact and beautiful.  Last Friday I went to Iowa State with Josie.  It was also a great day.  Being back on campus was a great feeling even if I am old.  She really loved the campus and all it has to offer.  I have one more visit, this Saturday in Iowa City.  I hope after that Jami will make a decision.  Josie is definitely a Cyclone!!

Language Arts - This week we are reading the last story in Unit 2.  The story is called Jose`! Born to Dance.  It is about a young boy and his years growing up and leading to him becoming a famous dancer.  He made the decision later in life to be a dancer and had to work very hard at it. He didn't start dance at an early age.  We have been learning about pronouns (subject and object), we talked about reflexive and demonstrative pronouns as well. Today's lesson was over pronouns and their antecedents.  The antecedent is the words or words that the pronoun replaces.  We did a lot of sharing of examples.  Tomorrow is our end of the week testing day like normal.  Next week will be a unit 2 test week.  We will not have a spelling test.  I split the test up so we do a little bit of test every day and then we will do other activities. Most likely something to do with writing. I try to make these fun activities for them.

Math - We are working on some basic skills the students will need as we push further into the chapter on multiplication.  I feel like we are all in good place right now and the lessons have not been too grueling.  We are going to embark on some new stuff today or tomorrow.  I think it is fun, it requires them to draw arrays on graph paper.  I also think it shows us an easy way to multiply larger numbers.  We will be using the Distributive Property of Multiplication to do it.  It will take us 2-3 days to get the hang of it.  I am excited about it because I think it is fun to teach.  They will see they can work with bigger numbers and make it easier for them to deal with.  I know this is something that you are not used to doing.  Let them show you how it works.  We will take it slow so everyone understand.

Social Studies -  We finished up chapter 3 and are working on reviewing.  They will have a test on Monday.  The study guide was assigned today, we will check it tomorrow, they will test on Monday, which is great to have the weekend to study.  Please remember to study the vocabulary words in the packet.  Next week we will  begin learning our states and capitals song, talk about studying the regions, a region at a time, and go over projects and how they work.  If at anytime you have questions about projects be sure to ask.  Social Studies is about to get a lot more interesting!!

I would like to thank those families that donated books to the library in my classroom! I love having books in my room for students when they are needing something new to read.  I encourage them to check out library books but sometimes they finish those and need something new.  I have a great selection in the classroom.  Thanks again very very much!

Tomorrow is Spirit Day!!

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!!  We have had a pretty noisy week.  I am not sure I am blaming the moon or Halloween, but the kids have been very busy, with each other!  We are working hard even though they are finding time to visit with each other.  I think things are very routine and they have officially settled in and know what is going to happen, so some of them get ahead.  I am looking forward to next week when I can visit with each of you.  If you haven't been able to sign up for a conference time, let me know.  I sent an email last week that linked you to my conference schedule.  If you are having trouble getting that to work let me know, or if you didn't receive the email, let me know.  My schedule is filling up pretty quickly.

Language Arts - I have fallen behind!!  You will see your child's scores for the last two Friday tests, today.  I forgot to send home the first week.  They were here on my desk but I didn't get them in the "go home" basket.  They are both there today.  This week we have had a more interesting story to read.  It was a realistic fiction story called Me and Uncle Romie.  It is a fun-loving story with some interesting facts filtered in about Harlem long ago and artists.  The story was written with famous collage artist Romare Bearden in mind.  His works can be found in galleries across the Unites States. His works reflect Harlem during the time of Segregation.  In grammar this week we focused on Present, Past and Future Progressive Tense verbs.  I don't ever remember learning these!  It is a quick look at them, but I think they really get it.  Plus this helps show them that when choosing the verb in a sentence it may be more than one word.  Tomorrow is a end of week test day!! Hopefully that goes well with it being our "Halloween"!  Just a reminder next week is conference week so it is a short school week.  Spelling pretest will be Monday with a post test on Thursday instead of Friday.  Also end of week test will be on Thursday instead of Friday.

Math - We have completely finished Chapter 1 and have dug into chapter 2.  We have spent the week talking about multiplication comparison models.  We are just learning to understand multiplication statements and equations.  We are also focusing on drawing a picture of the multiplication problem to show we understand what it is telling us.  We are now moving into lesson 2 which uses the model but in a different way.  We will spend the end of the week focusing on this.  We are not moving very quickly because I am not comfortable moving forward when I feel we don't have a good understanding of the concept.  If I were moving quickly all would be struggling a lot!  We are approaching those concepts that adults struggle with because they were not taught these.  It is not changing how you do it, it is just digging deeper so your child knows exactly why they are doing what they are doing.  I know I would have been a better math student if I would have learned "why's" of math.  Please bear with us and if your child needs help and you can't give it, send them in early to work with me.  I am here by 7:45.  I have morning duty on Wednesdays but all other days I am available for help.

Social Studies -  We are working on Chapter 3!  We have begun filling out the next vocabulary packet. It is yellow, make sure they don't throw this away!!  We have discussed a little about why people were choosing to move westward and what industries were important long ago.  We finished lesson 1 today and will move into lesson 2 tomorrow.  This one will be full of information!!  The students are doing a great job working on vocabulary words and sharing their ideas in class with their peers.  I think all students get more out of learning the vocabulary using this strategy but I also feel that on the last test they didn't review them because they felt they knew them well.  They need to review them the night before so our scores are a little better in this section. 

Halloween!!  Tomorrow the students will be celebrating Halloween.  We will only be doing this in the afternoon.  They need to bring their costumes tomorrow for the parade in the afternoon.  We will begin some activities put on by the Civics Club at 1:20 and back in the room by 2:00.  I then usually have a snack and a drink for the kids to have as kind of a Halloween Party.  I am working on getting someone to supply that.   The parade will begin at 2:30.  All are welcome to join and enjoy the school in costumes!!!

Next week is a short week!!  Thursday the students get out at 11:50. We will not be providing lunch that day.  There is NO school on Friday.  Conferences run from 1-5 and again 6 - 9:30.  We have a lot to accomplish even if it is a short week.  Friday I will be going on our first college visit.  Josie is visiting Iowa State.  She has all ready decided on this college but we hadn't been on a visit there.  The next week I go to UNO (University of Nebraska at Omaha) with Jami and then at the end of the week University of Iowa with Jami.  She also has some interviews at Mercy.  I am not sure I am ready for this part of life, but it is here!!  I will be missing only 1 day Wednesday, November 11th for these visits.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! Enjoy sounds like the weather is going to warm up again.

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels

Dear Parents,

     Happy Thursday!!  What a week have had.  It has been a fun one.  Yesterday was "Back to The Future"Day.  We did some activities yesterday surrounding the movie.  We started with a bullying discussion.  I showed a clip of Classic Bullying by Biff on George McFly.  It had all the components: Bully, bystanders, and followers. It had people or adults that could have stopped the encounter. It showed George respond in a joking manner, and when Biff directed his attention to Marty, George then became a follower.  We discussed everything that was wrong and how things could have been different.  It was a great discussion.  Some kids were just plain appalled at the scene.  We saw a video clip of 11 things Back to the Future gave to us before 2015.  It talked about 11 things in the "movie 2015" that we actually have now. It was interesting.  We also compared the 1950's hair and music to the 1980's and present time.  They enjoyed that.  We visited the "futuristic" room which was full of technology.  Kids played with robots, created their own, played games on ipads and used goggles to view apps on phones.  The virtual reality rooms on goggles was a lot of fun.  You could see kids falling over and spinning around to look at everything.  I did it and had to hang on to something as I looked.  I felt unstable on my feet.  We ended the day by getting into groups or partners and creating Hoverboards, cars, and buildings in a futuristic town.  Those that finished are all ready hanging in the hall.  As the others complete theirs it will be in the hall also.  Some were very detailed and some serious effort was put into them.  Some were simple.  All of them are great.  They did a nice job working together. 

Language Arts -  This week we are reading a story called :Coming Distractions Questioning Movie".  I find this interesting but dry.  It points of part of movies that are very "unreal" things and that we should catch them and wonder "why".  Like in Action Films, women fight or run in high heels, and car accidents that normally people are trapped or very injured and people in movies get out and run away.  It's interesting stuff by story is not presenting it in an interesting manner.  We have spent the week talking about verb tenses in grammar, we worked on fact and opinions, and summarizing.  This story couldn't have come at a better time.  Discussing movies and special effects and having Back to Future Day in the same week really worked out well.  The two complimented each other.

Math - We finished chapter 1!  We spent Monday and Tuesday working on correcting the tests and starting a prior knowledge page on chapter 2.  They worked on multiplication flash cards and played around the world.  We need to start pushing the flash cards at home.  When a person knows their facts with no problem, learning strategies in multiplication is so much easier.  We will be learning several ways to multiply numbers.  They are not strategies you learned as a kid.  They are very good and helpful.  It makes the students understand why they are doing it and why it works. We will take this section at a pace the students can handle. I make sure the students are mastering each lesson before moving on.  This is actually my favorite content area in Math to teach.  Be patient with them and let me know if there are any problems.

Social Studies - We finished reviewing chapter 2 today and will have a test tomorrow.  Please make sure your child is studying the vocabulary on their Peach packet, and their yellow study guide.  They will test first thing in the morning.  If they review their items right before bed and again as soon as they get up, that will help them perform well on their 8:30 test!  We will begin Chapter 3 next week.  It is on the United States Economy.  Full of great things students need to know but the key word is "full", there is a lot.    After Chapter 3 we start discussing each region separately.  That is when social studies becomes a lot of fun.

Tomorrow is Spirit Day.  Remember your child can pay a dollar to wear sweats if they would like with their jersey or team shirt.  The money is used to create baskets for families who go through a tragic time, like when a school has a student die, we send a basket of snacks and water bottles to them for their lounge.  We also made a basket for Ms. McKasson and her family when her father was in the hospital.  We sent one with Mrs. Levine when she was to spend time in the hospital.  If your child doesn't wear sweats and just wants to donate a dollar, we will accept that too.   I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels

Dear Parents,
     Happy Thursday!!  I am very proud of the 4th grade students.  I feel that they are learning to work hard during their study halls  and work time.  I feel like they are finally realizing that working hard gets things done and I don't take as much work home to complete.  This makes our day run so much smoother.   All students seem to be very chatty when they arrive in the morning and it takes a little bit to settle down, but that will come with a little more time. I hope not too much longer. I think they just have so much to tell each other when they arrive they can't seem to get it all in!  Oh the exciting lives kids lead!!

Language Arts -  We are back to a normal week.  We are reading Invasion From Mars this week.  It is a fun story.  It is actually a play, or drama.  This has a funny story of its own.  Back in the 1930's before we had television and everyone listened to the radio for entertainment, Orson Welles had a radio program where they dramatized the book War of the Worlds.  There is a section in this book where an extraterrestrial object land in New Jersey and people are panicking.  This portion of the book aired on October 30, 1938.  People who joined after the program started thought it to be real and were scared.  This actually set about panic because they thought an alien had really arrived.  We read the story and I have shared the actual broadcast of this with them.  They have found it to be very entertaining!  This week we have also worked on action verbs, linking verbs and helping verbs.  We understand what an action verb is but sometimes still struggle picking them out of a sentence.  We have memorized the main linking verbs ( am, is, are, was, were) and we have discussed what a helping verb is, what it does and how it is usually always followed by an action verb. I hope they can remember this and keep them straight for tomorrow's test.  We will review right before the test to help them.

Math -  We are finishing up correcting their review over chapter 1.  They will be taking a test over chapter 1 tomorrow.  They will have the whole class time to complete this test.  We will correct it on Monday and start chapter 2 on Tuesday.  This is a great chapter to review items needed for the rest of the year.  We introduce some of the same concepts but at a higher level.  Kids have been taught how to round numbers by the time they get to me, but I get to teach the skill with larger numbers!  Sometimes we really struggle with this.  This is also a time we review adding and subtracting large numbers.  Remembering to regroup in subtraction can still be a struggle.  You can help your child study for the Math test tonight by looking at the review and giving them similar problems to solve.  This review is set up just like the test they will take, it will just not be the exact same problems, but same concepts. If #4 is a subtraction problem than #4 on the test will be also but with different numbers.  I suggest focusing on rounding numbers, knowing place value, and renaming numbers!!  These are areas of difficulty.

Social Studies - We discussed the three levels of Government and the 3 branches.  I gave the students a chart over it.  They were to study the chart and had quiz over it.  Most did pretty well.  Some mixed up the branches of Government.  We are now moving onto rights and responsibilities of a U. S. Citizen.  We will discuss things that are our rights and then also to talk about what are responsibilities are.   This chapter covers 2 benchmarks that we are required to report on.  One being knowing the 3 branches and that we have 3 levels of Government.  The other is knowing the difference between responsibilities and rights as a citizen.  This is all important stuff for us to know!

Halloween is coming!!  That is an exciting time for us.  We have a fun day on the 30th with Halloween activities put on by the Civics Club and ending the day with our Annual Halloween Parade in the gym at 2:30!  All parents are welcome to attend.  I hope you realize that once Halloween is here the rest of the year flies by!!  After Halloween is conferences, then Thanksgiving, Advent begins, Christmas is here and BOOM the end of the year is here!! We are then halfway done.  Conference schedules are being discussed and will be out sometime soon for you to sign up.  Our website is struggling and is down more than it is up, so we are working on another way to get you signed up for a time.  I will keep you updated and will most likely be sharing a link on my blog to get you signed up.  I will be anxious to meet with each of you about your student.

Have a great weekend!!!

God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels