Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!! What a week this has been! It is hard to believe that we have just one more day to celebrate. I look forward to tomorrow. It is always a great day. Please make sure your child comes in dress clothes for mass and bring snow gear to go outside for recess just in case we have time to go outside. It has been a very good yet crazy week. Thanks for choosing our school for your children.
Language Arts - It has been a long story since our week started last Thursday for it. We will be taking a test over the story tomorrow and a spelling post test. Please be sure they are studying their yellow vocab packets and spelling words tonight.
Our story this week was called The Life and Times of the Ant. It is a fun story. This class actually enjoyed it. On Monday we showed the kids 3-5 It's a Bug's Life. The movie goes along with our story quite well. Plus it is old enough, a lot of the kids had not seen it. This week we worked on Participles and participle phrases. Our vocabulary strategy was over suffixes -able, and -ible. Again it has been stretched out but due to the kind of week we are having it had to be.
Math- We are ready to learn the standard algorithm in math for multiplication. I need to have 2-3 days in a row to be sure we are getting this strategy. I can't start teaching it one day then skip a couple days and pick it up again. That would not benefit the kids whatsoever. We will begin this on Monday. This week we have done a lot of practicing on basic facts. The kids are working on two new programs we are being introduced to. One is Moby Max which has every subject on it not just math and the other is Espark which is a math and reading program. I really like them both. The kids are showing interest and improvement with these. You can see by the certificates I post on Facebook. I know I have Espark for the rest of the year for free so we are trying to take advantage of it to see what other improvements we will see in their work. We came back from the YMCA today and these websites were what they worked on. Not sure if they were tired or what but it was silent.
Social Studies - We have worked on getting some states in the interactive notebook this week. We have also began working on some vocabulary words. This chapter instead of putting words in a blue packet, we will be putting them on notecards so that the kids are making their own flash cards. We will begin digging into the first lesson tomorrow.
Grandparents/ Special Guest Day - Students need to be dressed up for Mass tomorrow. Their morning will be normal. We will load up on the bus and be to the church around 1:00. Please have the grandparents/Special Guest meet us at Holy Spirit Parish. Mass will begin at 1:30. There will be a cookie and punch reception in the basement following mass. Your student may go home after mass with the grandparent/Special Guest as long as you let me know. You can email me to let me know. If you are at the mass, just make sure you see me in the basement to tell me you are taking your child. Thank you.
Thanks again for choosing to send your child to St. Malachy. I am happy to be teaching each and everyone of them. They all bring a little something different to the room, which makes this group unique. I hope all of you have a great weekend!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!!! Well, Winter is definitely here! Would you like some snow? Hope so cause we have some and looks like we will be getting some more. The kids were sure hoping for an early out yesterday. I told them my prediction was, no we would not be getting out early. They quickly forget we have to make those hours up. I will be at school until 11 today due to taking Molly to Des Moines for a wisdom teeth consult. I will see what I think about weather and I may have to cancel. Molly may not like it because her mouth hurts but safety first. Mrs. Bearden will be in the room from 11 on.
Language Arts - Well this week and next will be very crazy when it comes to language arts. We finished last week's story on Tuesday of this week. On Wednesday we took our "areading" portion of the FAST testing. Today we are starting a new story, so it is like a Monday but on Thursday. We will have a spelling pretest today and I will introduce the next story. Since our stories are based on 5 days we will have the posttest and end of week test the following Friday a week later. Since next week is Catholic Schools week we will have language arts on on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So its a bit crazy. Our language arts week will be Thursday, Friday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It will be very spread out.
Math - We have completed the first half of chapter 3. The kids worked on their Mid Chapter Check Point. We will get that checked and then begin learning the standard algorithm of double-digit multiplication. That is the strategy that we all learned when we were young. They will struggle with this in the beginning but it will grow on them. We will end up spending 3-4 days on this strategy. I try very hard to make sure all students have mastered this lesson before I move on. I apologize for all the struggles you will have at home. Remember they can always come in before school for extra help. I am in my room by 7:50 ready to help.
Social Studies- We are finishing a chapter and the Northeast today. We will begin the Southeast next week. We will move a little faster through these chapters. Your student may want to start studying their southeast map. I will get them a practice map in the next couple of weeks. Some of the students learned a valuable lesson of studying when it comes to these maps. They learned that when you study you really can do well. We will also begin putting the Southeast states into the interactive notebooks. That will start tomorrow! In this unit we are also going to do Vocabulary words differently. I will have them make Flash cards. They will put the word on one side and definition on the other side of a notecard that I will provide. We will keep this in their expanded File. I will provide paper clips or rubber bands for them to keep them together. This chapter will be a fun one to go through. So much history in our south. We will only skim the surface of many topics.
Spirit Day - Since we missed our Spirit Day last Friday we get a redo and get to do it this Friday. Bring your dollars and wear those sweats.
Here is all the Catholic Schools Week Events:
Tuesday January 28th Student Appreciation Day - Talent Show
Happy Thursday!!! Well, Winter is definitely here! Would you like some snow? Hope so cause we have some and looks like we will be getting some more. The kids were sure hoping for an early out yesterday. I told them my prediction was, no we would not be getting out early. They quickly forget we have to make those hours up. I will be at school until 11 today due to taking Molly to Des Moines for a wisdom teeth consult. I will see what I think about weather and I may have to cancel. Molly may not like it because her mouth hurts but safety first. Mrs. Bearden will be in the room from 11 on.
Language Arts - Well this week and next will be very crazy when it comes to language arts. We finished last week's story on Tuesday of this week. On Wednesday we took our "areading" portion of the FAST testing. Today we are starting a new story, so it is like a Monday but on Thursday. We will have a spelling pretest today and I will introduce the next story. Since our stories are based on 5 days we will have the posttest and end of week test the following Friday a week later. Since next week is Catholic Schools week we will have language arts on on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So its a bit crazy. Our language arts week will be Thursday, Friday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It will be very spread out.
Math - We have completed the first half of chapter 3. The kids worked on their Mid Chapter Check Point. We will get that checked and then begin learning the standard algorithm of double-digit multiplication. That is the strategy that we all learned when we were young. They will struggle with this in the beginning but it will grow on them. We will end up spending 3-4 days on this strategy. I try very hard to make sure all students have mastered this lesson before I move on. I apologize for all the struggles you will have at home. Remember they can always come in before school for extra help. I am in my room by 7:50 ready to help.
Social Studies- We are finishing a chapter and the Northeast today. We will begin the Southeast next week. We will move a little faster through these chapters. Your student may want to start studying their southeast map. I will get them a practice map in the next couple of weeks. Some of the students learned a valuable lesson of studying when it comes to these maps. They learned that when you study you really can do well. We will also begin putting the Southeast states into the interactive notebooks. That will start tomorrow! In this unit we are also going to do Vocabulary words differently. I will have them make Flash cards. They will put the word on one side and definition on the other side of a notecard that I will provide. We will keep this in their expanded File. I will provide paper clips or rubber bands for them to keep them together. This chapter will be a fun one to go through. So much history in our south. We will only skim the surface of many topics.
Spirit Day - Since we missed our Spirit Day last Friday we get a redo and get to do it this Friday. Bring your dollars and wear those sweats.
Here is all the Catholic Schools Week Events:
Sunday January 26th Opening of Catholic Schools Week
Eucharistic Celebration 9am at Holy Spirit Church
Breakfast in Parish Hall following Mass provided by our PTO
Monday January 27th Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day
11:30-1pm Lunch for faculty and staff provided by PTO
Parent Volunteers please arrive by 11:15
SACK LUNCH (milk is provided) and eat with Angel
Spirit Week Dress: St. Malachy Spirit Day
11:30-1pm Lunch for faculty and staff provided by PTO
Parent Volunteers please arrive by 11:15
SACK LUNCH (milk is provided) and eat with Angel
Spirit Week Dress: St. Malachy Spirit Day
Tuesday January 28th Student Appreciation Day - Talent Show
10am show & 1pm show - we will post a schedule of performances Spirit Week Dress: PJ Day
Wednesday January 29th Community Appreciation Day
Chamber of Commerce Coffee 9am in gym
1st Grade Presentations
8th Grade Presentations
Angels -Make Valentine cards for Servicemen and women
Spirit Week Dress: Era Day - dress from any time period
Thursday January 30th School Appreciation Day - YMCA Day - detailed schedule to come
Students will need swim suits
LUNCH - SACK LUNCH milk not provided
Spirit Week Dress: Workout Day (sweats)
Friday January 31st Grandparents/Special Guest Day
Mass begins at 1:30 pm at Holy Spirit Parish
Cookie and Punch Reception following Mass
Students will dismiss from Holy Spirit
Spirit Day Dress: Dress Up Day
I am looking forward to next week. It is my favorite time of year. We have a lot of fun things planned for the kids to celebrate being in a Catholic School. We begin the week at Mass on Sunday and end the week with Grandparents/Special Guest Mass on Friday in the church. If any questions about any of the dress up days please email me, call or text. I will be happy to help. I love to see everyone participate on those days.
I hope that all of you enjoy your weekend!! We are prom dress shopping on Saturday. My last kid's first prom. To her older sisters this is a big deal! I am just going to sit back and relax and enjoy the show and watch my three girls do their thing. i hope we come find one she wants.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! Well, our weather certainly has changed and threw us into winter. I guess we can not complain, I mean it is winter. We have been kind of lucky so far. We will have to see what tomorrow brings. I am really not confident in any weather forecaster these days. Be sure to send your child with proper winter gear. We are scheduled to go to the Food Pantry tomorrow. We will still go if it is snowing but no if it is raining. We will go if wind chill temp is about 0 degrees F. So hats and mittens are a necessity.
Language Arts - This week (kind of ironic) we are reading a story about Antarctica. The story is a journal written by the author about her personal experience staying in Antarctica for four months. The short story was a factual piece about Antarctica. We learned that it is the driest, coldest, windiest place on earth. It can be -94 degrees there. We talked about last year when we did not have school when it was to be -30/-40 wind chill. The kids were amazed. This was an interesting story about a place we don't learn much about. We have worked on modal auxiliaries in grammar. These are words like may, can, should, would, could, must, and might. They learn the real reason why want them to say "May I use the restroom and not can I". They laugh and think it is funny but everyone has been very good as using "May" this week. We talked about more Latin and Greek word parts for our vocabulary strategy. This week we learned -spect, -struct, -tele, and vis. Please be sure they are studying their yellow vocab packet tonight along with their spelling words.
Math - This week we learned the Area Model strategy of multiplication then moved right into partial product. They really are the same strategy. The difference is the area model has a picture to with it and the other does not. I really like the area box because it is a picture. Some struggle grasping that idea at first but once you get it, it is great. There are also students who were seeing this same strategy in their Dreambox work. Now they know more about what they are doing. We will finish the week with the partial product strategy. Honestly, I have been teaching this strategy for 16-17 years. This is nothing new. I took a class really found this strategy helpful. I knew if I would have learned this process I would have been a better math student so I adopted it long ago. Some might call it common core but it is not new.
You will find the a copy of the score sheet for chapter 2 test. I had 2 who needed to finish it up so that's why it took me a while. The highlighted standards are ones I report on. The two standards are the standards found on the report card, and what I would give your student. The single one by itself is a standard we covered but it is not on the report card. I still gave let you know how your child is doing.
Social Studies - We are working on finishing up the last chapter on the Northeast Region. I have moved them pretty quickly through the last couple of lessons. This is the pace we will begin keeping the rest of the year. We will begin putting Southeast States into our notebooks soon. The last two lessons covered some pretty big topics and only skimmed the surface. I told them that there is tons of information about these topics and we are only covering a little bit of each. I also told them we will build on it next year. I plan to start a study guide tomorrow with them to be checked on Tuesday and then the Test on Wednesday. If by chance we are not hear tomorrow, then everything will bump a day.
Talent Show - Some have asked the Talent Show will be held on Tuesday, January 28th. The show will be divided up into two parts, this way we can include all of the preschool kids. We will begin in the morning and go from 10-11 AM then we will begin again at 1:00 in the afternoon. Your child will only perform at one time. We will have a schedule set to hand out to you so you know which performance your child will be in. We understand some of you are taking off work so we will try and supply you with information as soon as we can.
Spirit Day - Tomorrow is a Spirit Day! Since we are looking at going to Food Pantry it is perfect day for sweats and sweatshirt!! Bring your dollars!!
Server Training- This is the last weekend for server training or retraining. They will be held Saturday night after Mass for 30 minutes, and Sunday 30 minutes before Mass. I have had 2 students in my room attend. I know there are more catholic children out there. Please sign up as a service to our church.
Trivia Night - Trivia night is Saturday night a Crestmoor. We are sold out. All tables are full. If there is a change due to weather, the decision will be made Saturday afternoon and we will put it on Facebook, Twitter, email and text.
NO SCHOOL - We do not have school on Monday, January 20th. It is a teacher professional development day in Des Moines.
I hope we all survive the snownado, snowmagedden, whatever your words are for it this weekend. Stay warm and safe.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! Well, our weather certainly has changed and threw us into winter. I guess we can not complain, I mean it is winter. We have been kind of lucky so far. We will have to see what tomorrow brings. I am really not confident in any weather forecaster these days. Be sure to send your child with proper winter gear. We are scheduled to go to the Food Pantry tomorrow. We will still go if it is snowing but no if it is raining. We will go if wind chill temp is about 0 degrees F. So hats and mittens are a necessity.
Language Arts - This week (kind of ironic) we are reading a story about Antarctica. The story is a journal written by the author about her personal experience staying in Antarctica for four months. The short story was a factual piece about Antarctica. We learned that it is the driest, coldest, windiest place on earth. It can be -94 degrees there. We talked about last year when we did not have school when it was to be -30/-40 wind chill. The kids were amazed. This was an interesting story about a place we don't learn much about. We have worked on modal auxiliaries in grammar. These are words like may, can, should, would, could, must, and might. They learn the real reason why want them to say "May I use the restroom and not can I". They laugh and think it is funny but everyone has been very good as using "May" this week. We talked about more Latin and Greek word parts for our vocabulary strategy. This week we learned -spect, -struct, -tele, and vis. Please be sure they are studying their yellow vocab packet tonight along with their spelling words.
Math - This week we learned the Area Model strategy of multiplication then moved right into partial product. They really are the same strategy. The difference is the area model has a picture to with it and the other does not. I really like the area box because it is a picture. Some struggle grasping that idea at first but once you get it, it is great. There are also students who were seeing this same strategy in their Dreambox work. Now they know more about what they are doing. We will finish the week with the partial product strategy. Honestly, I have been teaching this strategy for 16-17 years. This is nothing new. I took a class really found this strategy helpful. I knew if I would have learned this process I would have been a better math student so I adopted it long ago. Some might call it common core but it is not new.
You will find the a copy of the score sheet for chapter 2 test. I had 2 who needed to finish it up so that's why it took me a while. The highlighted standards are ones I report on. The two standards are the standards found on the report card, and what I would give your student. The single one by itself is a standard we covered but it is not on the report card. I still gave let you know how your child is doing.
Social Studies - We are working on finishing up the last chapter on the Northeast Region. I have moved them pretty quickly through the last couple of lessons. This is the pace we will begin keeping the rest of the year. We will begin putting Southeast States into our notebooks soon. The last two lessons covered some pretty big topics and only skimmed the surface. I told them that there is tons of information about these topics and we are only covering a little bit of each. I also told them we will build on it next year. I plan to start a study guide tomorrow with them to be checked on Tuesday and then the Test on Wednesday. If by chance we are not hear tomorrow, then everything will bump a day.
Talent Show - Some have asked the Talent Show will be held on Tuesday, January 28th. The show will be divided up into two parts, this way we can include all of the preschool kids. We will begin in the morning and go from 10-11 AM then we will begin again at 1:00 in the afternoon. Your child will only perform at one time. We will have a schedule set to hand out to you so you know which performance your child will be in. We understand some of you are taking off work so we will try and supply you with information as soon as we can.
Spirit Day - Tomorrow is a Spirit Day! Since we are looking at going to Food Pantry it is perfect day for sweats and sweatshirt!! Bring your dollars!!
Server Training- This is the last weekend for server training or retraining. They will be held Saturday night after Mass for 30 minutes, and Sunday 30 minutes before Mass. I have had 2 students in my room attend. I know there are more catholic children out there. Please sign up as a service to our church.
Trivia Night - Trivia night is Saturday night a Crestmoor. We are sold out. All tables are full. If there is a change due to weather, the decision will be made Saturday afternoon and we will put it on Facebook, Twitter, email and text.
NO SCHOOL - We do not have school on Monday, January 20th. It is a teacher professional development day in Des Moines.
I hope we all survive the snownado, snowmagedden, whatever your words are for it this weekend. Stay warm and safe.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday and welcome back from Christmas break! It was a very good break for all of us and I am happy to be back with the kids. We will be working very hard over the next 2-3 weeks. The goal is to keep the students moving and progressing. We are halfway done with the year and I need to get cracking to get all the things I need to finish by the end of the year. I know that might seem crazy but I begin thinking about the whole picture this time of year. I will speed some subjects up and keep the pace on others. We have Catholic Schools Week, Spring Break and Iowa Assessments as our next big things in our calendar. We have to work hard so we can enjoy CSW and Spring break but yet do well on our Iowa Assessments.
Language Arts - I feel like it has been forever since we have completed a normal week of language arts. It wasn't too much of a struggle getting them back into the routine of it. This week our story was called The Earth Dragon Awakes. It is kind of a scary story. It would tend to bring our a little anxiety in some. A little bit of fear too. It is about a father and son who are in their apartment building and earthquake happens and their apartment falls. They are trapped in the rubble or buried alive. Isn't that a fear for everyone? It talks about what they did during the earthquake and what they did after to be rescued. This story was Historical fiction because it was based on a real event, the earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco, California. A lot of the description of the damage that was done, is real but the story of the father and son was fiction. Maybe it happened but they would have changed the names of the people. The students worked on singular and plural possessive nouns in grammar. Using apostrophes to show ownership in nouns. We reviewed synonyms for the vocabulary strategy and we read a story about twisters. This was our short story to go along with the main story. We talked about similarities and differences between the two. We talked about the technology used in both and how people make disaster plans for both. It has been a good lesson this week. Be sure to have your student study their vocabulary packet and spelling words for tomorrow.
Math - We are moving along in Chapter 3! We have completed 2 full lessons all ready. We are using strategies to multiply by tens and estimating products. They all informed me estimating was super easy. They liked that lesson a lot. A few have some corrections to make and I will meet with them to do that. We will be starting the next lesson today. This lesson is on area models, which is my absolute favorite lesson. Some of the students have all ready been using this strategy on Dreambox. I will help it make complete sense today. I like this strategy because of the visual it gives us. We can see exactly what we are doing and how it comes together. This is using or distributive property that we learned in chapter 2 and giving us problems that are easy for us to work. If you are unsure of this strategy look at your child's book and see or ask them to show you. Most 4th graders really do like this one. It's a great strategy to have in their tool belt to use.
Social Studies - We are going to be finishing up the Northeast states. We have all of them in our interactive notebooks. We will be taking our 2nd and final map test for this region. If your child chooses not to study and does poorly, they are way behind. They need to learn each region as we go so they can do all 50 states at the end of the year. I will move into the Southeast region next. We will attempt to move more quickly through these 2 chapters. Getting map tests, map skills, and states in the notebook is a lot of work. We may need to double things up. They are in the 2nd half of the year they can handle it. I try hard to not give them too much and I definitely don't give them more than they can handle.
Server training - We are in need of more servers for church and school. These trainings are for Catholic children and will be held after mass this weekend and next. Please check the bulletin or the St. Malachy website for exact times. We are really wanting the 4th graders who are Catholic to be sure they attend one of the trainings. It is a service for the school and church and it is greatly appreciated. Even if you child is a little timid. Maybe being an altar server can help with that.
Talent Show - This year for Catholic Schools week we will be having a talent show. We have not had one in about 3 years. The kids are asked to share a talent they have, if they choose to. They do NOT have to do anything, they can sit back and enjoy the show. For those who are putting together talents, they will need to try out in front of the committee. This is just to ensure the students actually have a routine or something practiced so they don't get up on stage and just stand there. I all ready have had tears in my room from a student being left out. She asked a group to join and was pretty much told no. I talked to the kids that this was not how this was suppose to be and it is excluding students. I do not like when we make people cry so I said maybe no one needs to participate if we are going to leave people out. The situation has been solved. I hope to not have anymore problems. I am also trying to work on students not being mad and holding grudges. They are too young to start this behavior. I just wanted to make you aware and explain this is meant to be a fun event and to not cause problems with students. It takes the fun out of it when people are hurt.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be spending some of my weekend with some classmates from High School. I am so looking forward to it. It's super fun to be nostalgic sometimes! Also be safe in our little snow storm.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday and welcome back from Christmas break! It was a very good break for all of us and I am happy to be back with the kids. We will be working very hard over the next 2-3 weeks. The goal is to keep the students moving and progressing. We are halfway done with the year and I need to get cracking to get all the things I need to finish by the end of the year. I know that might seem crazy but I begin thinking about the whole picture this time of year. I will speed some subjects up and keep the pace on others. We have Catholic Schools Week, Spring Break and Iowa Assessments as our next big things in our calendar. We have to work hard so we can enjoy CSW and Spring break but yet do well on our Iowa Assessments.
Language Arts - I feel like it has been forever since we have completed a normal week of language arts. It wasn't too much of a struggle getting them back into the routine of it. This week our story was called The Earth Dragon Awakes. It is kind of a scary story. It would tend to bring our a little anxiety in some. A little bit of fear too. It is about a father and son who are in their apartment building and earthquake happens and their apartment falls. They are trapped in the rubble or buried alive. Isn't that a fear for everyone? It talks about what they did during the earthquake and what they did after to be rescued. This story was Historical fiction because it was based on a real event, the earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco, California. A lot of the description of the damage that was done, is real but the story of the father and son was fiction. Maybe it happened but they would have changed the names of the people. The students worked on singular and plural possessive nouns in grammar. Using apostrophes to show ownership in nouns. We reviewed synonyms for the vocabulary strategy and we read a story about twisters. This was our short story to go along with the main story. We talked about similarities and differences between the two. We talked about the technology used in both and how people make disaster plans for both. It has been a good lesson this week. Be sure to have your student study their vocabulary packet and spelling words for tomorrow.
Math - We are moving along in Chapter 3! We have completed 2 full lessons all ready. We are using strategies to multiply by tens and estimating products. They all informed me estimating was super easy. They liked that lesson a lot. A few have some corrections to make and I will meet with them to do that. We will be starting the next lesson today. This lesson is on area models, which is my absolute favorite lesson. Some of the students have all ready been using this strategy on Dreambox. I will help it make complete sense today. I like this strategy because of the visual it gives us. We can see exactly what we are doing and how it comes together. This is using or distributive property that we learned in chapter 2 and giving us problems that are easy for us to work. If you are unsure of this strategy look at your child's book and see or ask them to show you. Most 4th graders really do like this one. It's a great strategy to have in their tool belt to use.
Social Studies - We are going to be finishing up the Northeast states. We have all of them in our interactive notebooks. We will be taking our 2nd and final map test for this region. If your child chooses not to study and does poorly, they are way behind. They need to learn each region as we go so they can do all 50 states at the end of the year. I will move into the Southeast region next. We will attempt to move more quickly through these 2 chapters. Getting map tests, map skills, and states in the notebook is a lot of work. We may need to double things up. They are in the 2nd half of the year they can handle it. I try hard to not give them too much and I definitely don't give them more than they can handle.
Server training - We are in need of more servers for church and school. These trainings are for Catholic children and will be held after mass this weekend and next. Please check the bulletin or the St. Malachy website for exact times. We are really wanting the 4th graders who are Catholic to be sure they attend one of the trainings. It is a service for the school and church and it is greatly appreciated. Even if you child is a little timid. Maybe being an altar server can help with that.
Talent Show - This year for Catholic Schools week we will be having a talent show. We have not had one in about 3 years. The kids are asked to share a talent they have, if they choose to. They do NOT have to do anything, they can sit back and enjoy the show. For those who are putting together talents, they will need to try out in front of the committee. This is just to ensure the students actually have a routine or something practiced so they don't get up on stage and just stand there. I all ready have had tears in my room from a student being left out. She asked a group to join and was pretty much told no. I talked to the kids that this was not how this was suppose to be and it is excluding students. I do not like when we make people cry so I said maybe no one needs to participate if we are going to leave people out. The situation has been solved. I hope to not have anymore problems. I am also trying to work on students not being mad and holding grudges. They are too young to start this behavior. I just wanted to make you aware and explain this is meant to be a fun event and to not cause problems with students. It takes the fun out of it when people are hurt.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be spending some of my weekend with some classmates from High School. I am so looking forward to it. It's super fun to be nostalgic sometimes! Also be safe in our little snow storm.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday and Merry Christmas! What a fun week we have had. We have completed some pretty important things this week and also had some fun. I hope all of you have a great Christmas break. I am looking forward to having all of my children under the same roof for a while. Also, I will be attending ISU Graduation ceremonies tomorrow. My daughter Josie will graduate tomorrow with a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences. She has her application in at two places right now. One being Habitat for Humanity where she did her internship and loved it there. The other is a Learning Consultant with Alpha Gamma Delta. She has made it to the 3rd step in the process (whew). She will be flown to Indianapolis, Indiana for a face to face interview. She all ready passed the Skype interview process. This is super exciting. This job would require her to travel. She will be super happy with either position so of course we have been praying about it. So again I will enjoy having all three in my house at once for a while. Kids really do grow up very quickly. Enjoy these days!!
Language Arts - This week the students got into partners, we rolled dice to pick a character, conflict, and setting. They then had to wright a story using these elements. They had some fun doing this. I hope to get to share those stories at some point today. If not we will definitely share the first of the year when we return. We had Cuddle-Up and Read day also. It was successful. I hope they all remembered to add 60 min to their Book It Calendars for that day. It is always refreshing to see the kids just read a good book. I read with them. My book got so good I read right through my prep period. This is my favorite event of the year and most of the students love this day also.
Math - We finished up chapter 2. We did a dress rehearsal on the test. I gave them back with scores. We then went over each problem on the test and how to work it. I talked to them about the need to show their work. They took the test on Tuesday, corrected on Wednesday and they will see their scores today. I will pass out they dress rehearsal and final test so they can compare their scores and we can talk about what they could do differently. In all honestly the dress rehearsal was very beneficial to all of them. I plan to do this again!! We will begin chapter 3 when we get back from break. This will be over double-digit multiplication.
Social Studies - This week they put Maryland into their notebooks and took their first Map test over the Northeast Region. This test was not very good. There were several students that chose not to study. This is very important that they learn the regions one at a time. At the end of the year we will take a test over the entire 50 states and capitals. I try to get them to learn a region at a time to make this process easier for them. This is a required standard that they will be graded over. We will take another Map test when we return. I will give the kids a week to study for it. There were some students that did very well. You will find the test in their folders today. The students also watched the Geography Bee finals in the gym on Wednesday. This is always a fun event. Denton Lane was our winner this year. He will take a test and see if he makes it to the state competition. We have had student in the past make it to the next level which is very exciting.
Christmas Gifts - I am have been overwhelmed with the generosity of the students. They have gotten me such sweet and thoughtful gifts. I love all of them. I give the students a written thank you but not sure the parents always see those. So, thank you so very much for your thoughtful gifts. The smiles on your children's faces when I open the gifts is my favorite part. I received 3 different Harry Potter items this year. I also can't wait to go book shopping at Barnes and Noble. Shopping for a good book is great fun.
Christmas Break - This break starts tomorrow December 20th and ends January 2nd. The students will resume classes on Thursday, January 2, 2020. I look forward to seeing them after the long break. I will miss each and every one of them.
Happy Thursday and Merry Christmas! What a fun week we have had. We have completed some pretty important things this week and also had some fun. I hope all of you have a great Christmas break. I am looking forward to having all of my children under the same roof for a while. Also, I will be attending ISU Graduation ceremonies tomorrow. My daughter Josie will graduate tomorrow with a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences. She has her application in at two places right now. One being Habitat for Humanity where she did her internship and loved it there. The other is a Learning Consultant with Alpha Gamma Delta. She has made it to the 3rd step in the process (whew). She will be flown to Indianapolis, Indiana for a face to face interview. She all ready passed the Skype interview process. This is super exciting. This job would require her to travel. She will be super happy with either position so of course we have been praying about it. So again I will enjoy having all three in my house at once for a while. Kids really do grow up very quickly. Enjoy these days!!
Language Arts - This week the students got into partners, we rolled dice to pick a character, conflict, and setting. They then had to wright a story using these elements. They had some fun doing this. I hope to get to share those stories at some point today. If not we will definitely share the first of the year when we return. We had Cuddle-Up and Read day also. It was successful. I hope they all remembered to add 60 min to their Book It Calendars for that day. It is always refreshing to see the kids just read a good book. I read with them. My book got so good I read right through my prep period. This is my favorite event of the year and most of the students love this day also.
Math - We finished up chapter 2. We did a dress rehearsal on the test. I gave them back with scores. We then went over each problem on the test and how to work it. I talked to them about the need to show their work. They took the test on Tuesday, corrected on Wednesday and they will see their scores today. I will pass out they dress rehearsal and final test so they can compare their scores and we can talk about what they could do differently. In all honestly the dress rehearsal was very beneficial to all of them. I plan to do this again!! We will begin chapter 3 when we get back from break. This will be over double-digit multiplication.
Social Studies - This week they put Maryland into their notebooks and took their first Map test over the Northeast Region. This test was not very good. There were several students that chose not to study. This is very important that they learn the regions one at a time. At the end of the year we will take a test over the entire 50 states and capitals. I try to get them to learn a region at a time to make this process easier for them. This is a required standard that they will be graded over. We will take another Map test when we return. I will give the kids a week to study for it. There were some students that did very well. You will find the test in their folders today. The students also watched the Geography Bee finals in the gym on Wednesday. This is always a fun event. Denton Lane was our winner this year. He will take a test and see if he makes it to the state competition. We have had student in the past make it to the next level which is very exciting.
Christmas Gifts - I am have been overwhelmed with the generosity of the students. They have gotten me such sweet and thoughtful gifts. I love all of them. I give the students a written thank you but not sure the parents always see those. So, thank you so very much for your thoughtful gifts. The smiles on your children's faces when I open the gifts is my favorite part. I received 3 different Harry Potter items this year. I also can't wait to go book shopping at Barnes and Noble. Shopping for a good book is great fun.
Christmas Break - This break starts tomorrow December 20th and ends January 2nd. The students will resume classes on Thursday, January 2, 2020. I look forward to seeing them after the long break. I will miss each and every one of them.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!! We have been working very hard this week. Monday was not a very good day. Kids were very talkative that day. Tuesday morning before class started we talked about how we have to still work hard all day. I talked about even though we are excited about Christmas coming we still have to do our jobs. Since that conversation the kids have been great!! We have had great lessons and have held some very interesting discussions. This all makes me super proud of the kids. I pointed out to the kids that when they are listening we have great lessons and great conversations. They smile pretty wide when I tell them what a great day we are having. Next week will be harder to reign them in. We have so many little extra things that we are doing! There are a lot of things going on next week. Continue reading to find out about all the happenings here at St. Malachy next week!
Language Arts - You will find the results to the Unit 2 test in the folders today. I would like to share that the scores are not fabulous. This class as a whole does not want to give me much effort in taking these tests. They read the story very quickly and then they do not want to go back in the story and reread to locate answers. I require them to highlight answers in the packet I give them but some just highlight the first thing they come to. We have talked about reading the story slower to soak up the information and rereading from the beginning until we find what we are looking for. The students have an unlimited amount of time to do the test. A lot of them are done so quickly there is no way they could have read to understand. They have not seen their actual scores so you can share with them what how they did.
This week we are reading a non fiction story called Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms. It is interesting to some and not to others. It gets pretty technical about how a hurricane forms. What it needs to strengthen it and when it weakens. It has lots of diagrams for the kids to look at. It is definitely full of information. They enjoyed the short story which focused on Hurricane Katrina. It talked about the destruction that happened and how many people were displaced from their homes. They were very interested and when I talked about the schools and I wondered how they were affected then they were very intrigued. This week in grammar we worked on my favorite homonyms: to, too, two, there, their, they're, its, and it's. These are the words you see on Facebook misused by many people. I love teaching these to help the students understand each and what to look for when deciding which one to use. They have done very well on their homework with these. The vocabulary strategy this week was on suffixes: -ful, -less, -ness, and -ment. We talked about how these suffixes change the meaning of the words. Tomorrow will be our end of the week test and spelling post test. Please be sure your child is looking over their yellow packet and studying their spelling words.
Next week I will not be doing a story with the students. It boils down to really only have 3 teaching days for language arts and I do not want to cover a story in just 3 days and have them take a test. On Monday we are going to do a writing activity in partners. So we are going to have a fun reading day on Tuesday. I call it Cuddle-Up and read. See below...
Cuddle-Up and Read - This is a day that I normally have the Tuesday before Thanksgiving but it didn't really work out this year, so I am having it Tuesday, December 17th. This is where the students may bring to school a blanket, pillow, and stuffed animal. They may bring one items or all three items. There is no rules to what you bring. We will spread out around the room, get comfortable and just read. I plan on the students reading for a solid hour. This is one of the kids favorite days in my room. I will model and read for this hour also. Soooo it is one of my favorite days too. I will tell the kids about it tomorrow so they have no idea yet.
Math - We are finishing up Chapter 2. I did something different with the kids this chapter. I had them do a "Dress Rehearsal" on their test. I learned this at the PLC Conference Ms. Surma and I attended this fall. We both are adding this to our classroom. We all know that a dress rehearsal is a "practice" in costume, make-up, ect. I had them take the test instead of doing a review. They could ask questions while taking it. This is a practice run. I have a few that need to finish up today. Tomorrow I intend on going over all the problems on the test with the class. On Monday they will take the test as a test. If we don't make it through all the problems tomorrow we will finish on Monday and take the test on Tuesday. After they are finished with the test next week, I plan on them doing some fun Christmas Math.
Social Studies - This week I introduced the kids to a map of the Northeast. I gave them 4 copies. They were to make an answer key with one and then they had 3 practice maps. This is to help them learn and study the states and capitals of the Northeast Region. By the end of the year they need to be able to label a map of all 50 states/capitals. I help them get there by learning a region at a time. They will have their first map test on Tuesday. This will be over the same map I just gave them to study. Please be sure they are studying. You can copy that map at home on a copier as many times as you want. I told the kids is they wanted more practice maps to just ask me and I would get more for them I really want them to be successful. We have been singing our song daily so they are memorizing it and can use that to learn those capitals. On Wednesday, the kids will be watching the Geography Bee finals in the gym after Mass. We had 3 kids make it to the tie breaker round and almost get to be in the finals. That is super exciting! Next year maybe they will make it in!
Food Pantry - Again, we have been collecting health and beauty items for the pantry. Tomorrow is our last day of collection. The 4th grade will be going to the pantry to unload and will take all the items to the pantry tomorrow afternoon. If you want to help donate please send with your child tomorrow.
Reconciliation - The students will be given the sacrament of Reconciliation on Monday. Father plans to be with 3-5 students from 9:45 - 11:45. We will most likely be towards the end of that. The 3rd grade is going to start then 5th grade will go so we can still have PE. We may need to finish after lunch.
December 19th - This is our last day before break. I am tentatively planning these things at these times. They will have Science as normal from 8:20-8:50. We will come back and do prayer. I hope to show them a Christmas movie or just an old Disney movie off Disney plus this morning. They will still have PE from 10:10-10:40. We will then come back and finish up the movie. At 11:15 they will go to Religion like normal. At 11:40 the kids will pair up with their Advent Angels and have lunch in the gym together. We will have our sing-a-long from 12:5-12:45. Anyone is welcome to come join our sing-a-long. We will then come back to the room and again finish any of the movie that is left. We may do some Christmas Math for a bit and at 1:30 we will start our Christmas Party! Anyone is welcome to join us for our Christmas Party. We will have a snack and drink and them play board games. I love to enjoy everyone's company just playing games for fun. The kids can bring in their favorite games from home if they would like. We do not always play all of them. This is what we did at my house when I was young and so I like to celebrate Christmas this way with the students. Then I will send them home to you all for Christmas Break!
I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend. I have a family Christmas all ready. We have company coming to stay with us tomorrow night. Same family I was with over Thanksgiving! We are looking forward to our time together. Hope everyone's shopping is done!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!! We have been working very hard this week. Monday was not a very good day. Kids were very talkative that day. Tuesday morning before class started we talked about how we have to still work hard all day. I talked about even though we are excited about Christmas coming we still have to do our jobs. Since that conversation the kids have been great!! We have had great lessons and have held some very interesting discussions. This all makes me super proud of the kids. I pointed out to the kids that when they are listening we have great lessons and great conversations. They smile pretty wide when I tell them what a great day we are having. Next week will be harder to reign them in. We have so many little extra things that we are doing! There are a lot of things going on next week. Continue reading to find out about all the happenings here at St. Malachy next week!
Language Arts - You will find the results to the Unit 2 test in the folders today. I would like to share that the scores are not fabulous. This class as a whole does not want to give me much effort in taking these tests. They read the story very quickly and then they do not want to go back in the story and reread to locate answers. I require them to highlight answers in the packet I give them but some just highlight the first thing they come to. We have talked about reading the story slower to soak up the information and rereading from the beginning until we find what we are looking for. The students have an unlimited amount of time to do the test. A lot of them are done so quickly there is no way they could have read to understand. They have not seen their actual scores so you can share with them what how they did.
This week we are reading a non fiction story called Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms. It is interesting to some and not to others. It gets pretty technical about how a hurricane forms. What it needs to strengthen it and when it weakens. It has lots of diagrams for the kids to look at. It is definitely full of information. They enjoyed the short story which focused on Hurricane Katrina. It talked about the destruction that happened and how many people were displaced from their homes. They were very interested and when I talked about the schools and I wondered how they were affected then they were very intrigued. This week in grammar we worked on my favorite homonyms: to, too, two, there, their, they're, its, and it's. These are the words you see on Facebook misused by many people. I love teaching these to help the students understand each and what to look for when deciding which one to use. They have done very well on their homework with these. The vocabulary strategy this week was on suffixes: -ful, -less, -ness, and -ment. We talked about how these suffixes change the meaning of the words. Tomorrow will be our end of the week test and spelling post test. Please be sure your child is looking over their yellow packet and studying their spelling words.
Next week I will not be doing a story with the students. It boils down to really only have 3 teaching days for language arts and I do not want to cover a story in just 3 days and have them take a test. On Monday we are going to do a writing activity in partners. So we are going to have a fun reading day on Tuesday. I call it Cuddle-Up and read. See below...
Cuddle-Up and Read - This is a day that I normally have the Tuesday before Thanksgiving but it didn't really work out this year, so I am having it Tuesday, December 17th. This is where the students may bring to school a blanket, pillow, and stuffed animal. They may bring one items or all three items. There is no rules to what you bring. We will spread out around the room, get comfortable and just read. I plan on the students reading for a solid hour. This is one of the kids favorite days in my room. I will model and read for this hour also. Soooo it is one of my favorite days too. I will tell the kids about it tomorrow so they have no idea yet.
Math - We are finishing up Chapter 2. I did something different with the kids this chapter. I had them do a "Dress Rehearsal" on their test. I learned this at the PLC Conference Ms. Surma and I attended this fall. We both are adding this to our classroom. We all know that a dress rehearsal is a "practice" in costume, make-up, ect. I had them take the test instead of doing a review. They could ask questions while taking it. This is a practice run. I have a few that need to finish up today. Tomorrow I intend on going over all the problems on the test with the class. On Monday they will take the test as a test. If we don't make it through all the problems tomorrow we will finish on Monday and take the test on Tuesday. After they are finished with the test next week, I plan on them doing some fun Christmas Math.
Social Studies - This week I introduced the kids to a map of the Northeast. I gave them 4 copies. They were to make an answer key with one and then they had 3 practice maps. This is to help them learn and study the states and capitals of the Northeast Region. By the end of the year they need to be able to label a map of all 50 states/capitals. I help them get there by learning a region at a time. They will have their first map test on Tuesday. This will be over the same map I just gave them to study. Please be sure they are studying. You can copy that map at home on a copier as many times as you want. I told the kids is they wanted more practice maps to just ask me and I would get more for them I really want them to be successful. We have been singing our song daily so they are memorizing it and can use that to learn those capitals. On Wednesday, the kids will be watching the Geography Bee finals in the gym after Mass. We had 3 kids make it to the tie breaker round and almost get to be in the finals. That is super exciting! Next year maybe they will make it in!
Food Pantry - Again, we have been collecting health and beauty items for the pantry. Tomorrow is our last day of collection. The 4th grade will be going to the pantry to unload and will take all the items to the pantry tomorrow afternoon. If you want to help donate please send with your child tomorrow.
Reconciliation - The students will be given the sacrament of Reconciliation on Monday. Father plans to be with 3-5 students from 9:45 - 11:45. We will most likely be towards the end of that. The 3rd grade is going to start then 5th grade will go so we can still have PE. We may need to finish after lunch.
December 19th - This is our last day before break. I am tentatively planning these things at these times. They will have Science as normal from 8:20-8:50. We will come back and do prayer. I hope to show them a Christmas movie or just an old Disney movie off Disney plus this morning. They will still have PE from 10:10-10:40. We will then come back and finish up the movie. At 11:15 they will go to Religion like normal. At 11:40 the kids will pair up with their Advent Angels and have lunch in the gym together. We will have our sing-a-long from 12:5-12:45. Anyone is welcome to come join our sing-a-long. We will then come back to the room and again finish any of the movie that is left. We may do some Christmas Math for a bit and at 1:30 we will start our Christmas Party! Anyone is welcome to join us for our Christmas Party. We will have a snack and drink and them play board games. I love to enjoy everyone's company just playing games for fun. The kids can bring in their favorite games from home if they would like. We do not always play all of them. This is what we did at my house when I was young and so I like to celebrate Christmas this way with the students. Then I will send them home to you all for Christmas Break!
Please join us in Dress up days next week!
Monday - Wear Red
Tuesday- Wear Green
Wed. Mass day dress up
Thursday - Ugly Sweater Day
I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend. I have a family Christmas all ready. We have company coming to stay with us tomorrow night. Same family I was with over Thanksgiving! We are looking forward to our time together. Hope everyone's shopping is done!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! We are back in the swing of things after a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Mine was spent with family in Chicago! We had a great time and did some fun shopping. We played a lot of games, mainly Bananagrams. We have been working hard when we can this week. The kids had mass this week, their first Advent Angel activity, and the Christmas Program. I think the rest of the week will be pretty calm now! I am not at school today. I am in Des Moines at the State Drill Team Competition. My daughter Molly is on the Peppers Team and they will compete twice. Both are around the noon hour so I had to take a whole day off! I left them in good hands. The day will go along as if I were there. By the way, our kids did a great job at Mass today. I had to leave the room to take the "Body of Christ" to the tabernacle and the Sanctuary singers took charge and went up and began singing when they were suppose to without being told! It was great!!! To me that was huge and showed great maturity. I was super proud and was sure to let them know.
Language Arts - This week we did not read a story. This was a Unit test week. We have been working on it for 2 days and will finish today. They have the editing and revising section yet to complete. I will get those scores out to you next week. I also have not gotten the last story score to you because I have 2 that were gone and we have yet to have the time to make it up. Once they have taken it, I can pull the scores and get the sheets filled out and to you. Please expect those next week also. If you are curious and can't wait, shoot me an email and I can give you a total score for now. I will be assigning the students their next book report on Friday. Please pay attention to whether the last book was a good choice for you child. Help them to know what they might choose better next time. Let me know if the book was too long or too hard for them. I have heard from a couple parents all ready, so I know to guide them differently this time. This book needs to have a strong character in it. They will be doing a Character Sketch so need to good character to work with. This is one of my favorite book reports and I am the only one that does something like this one. This will cause them to be very artistic. I look forward to these each year. These reports will be due February 3, 2020. Please get the instructions out of their folder and put in a safe place, or leave them in the folders if that is a safe place. I would like them to have a book picked and turned in to me by Christmas break. (which is only like 10 more school days away)! Isn't that crazy.
Math - This week we have finished up learning about the standard algorithm in multiplication. It is called the Regrouping Strategy. The kids can multiply 4 digit number times a single digit and do it well. They will work on flash cards and a basic fact test today. Tomorrow I will begin talking to them about equations. Yes, a little dip into algebra for them. They think they are "big" stuff when I say "Algebra" to them. We will spend a couple days on that and then be ready to review. After we take a test, we will do some fun Christmas math and then begin chapter 3, which is double digit multiplication. Things are going to get a bit harder!! I love teaching multiplication to the students. The strategies are so cool and has helped me to better understand the concept of multiplication. They have several strategies in under their belt to choose from to work problems and not just one like we had.
Social Studies - We have begun the 2nd chapter on the Northeast. We have been singing our States and Capitals song. We will get some map work soon, so they can take their first map test of the Northeast! They worked on putting 2 states into their notebooks today. We will be working very hard to get those finished up and move on out of the Northeast into the Southeast. It is super hard to get everything we want to do done in our short class periods. I could use an hour a day with social studies.
Spirit Day - Friday is a Spirit Day!! Kids can wear sweats for $1.00.
Christmas Program - The kids looked AWESOME! They sang fabulously! It was a great night! Super proud of our school and it's kiddos. Now we can relax until Christmas break! Which is approaching fast I might add! (again)
Prayer - I just wanted to share what we have been doing in 4th grade during prayer. For the month of November the students told one thing each day that they were thankful for. Boy, you would be proud of your kids and the things they are thankful for! I didn't have anyone be thankful for anything materialistic! The month of December I have asked them to think of someone they can pray for everyday. So in are petitions each one tells me someone they want to pray for. They can repeat their choice on a daily basis or pick someone new everyday. This is going very well. It is amazing who they think of besides family. I am super happy I have done this. I found out what amazing caring kids they are. If you question that in your child, don't! They got it right!!
If I have forgotten something, I apologize! It is 9:30 and I am tired. I will send you a message if I have left anything out. If you think of something email and remind me. I can be forgetful. Especially this time of year. Have a great weekend. I will see the kids on Friday.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! We are back in the swing of things after a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Mine was spent with family in Chicago! We had a great time and did some fun shopping. We played a lot of games, mainly Bananagrams. We have been working hard when we can this week. The kids had mass this week, their first Advent Angel activity, and the Christmas Program. I think the rest of the week will be pretty calm now! I am not at school today. I am in Des Moines at the State Drill Team Competition. My daughter Molly is on the Peppers Team and they will compete twice. Both are around the noon hour so I had to take a whole day off! I left them in good hands. The day will go along as if I were there. By the way, our kids did a great job at Mass today. I had to leave the room to take the "Body of Christ" to the tabernacle and the Sanctuary singers took charge and went up and began singing when they were suppose to without being told! It was great!!! To me that was huge and showed great maturity. I was super proud and was sure to let them know.
Language Arts - This week we did not read a story. This was a Unit test week. We have been working on it for 2 days and will finish today. They have the editing and revising section yet to complete. I will get those scores out to you next week. I also have not gotten the last story score to you because I have 2 that were gone and we have yet to have the time to make it up. Once they have taken it, I can pull the scores and get the sheets filled out and to you. Please expect those next week also. If you are curious and can't wait, shoot me an email and I can give you a total score for now. I will be assigning the students their next book report on Friday. Please pay attention to whether the last book was a good choice for you child. Help them to know what they might choose better next time. Let me know if the book was too long or too hard for them. I have heard from a couple parents all ready, so I know to guide them differently this time. This book needs to have a strong character in it. They will be doing a Character Sketch so need to good character to work with. This is one of my favorite book reports and I am the only one that does something like this one. This will cause them to be very artistic. I look forward to these each year. These reports will be due February 3, 2020. Please get the instructions out of their folder and put in a safe place, or leave them in the folders if that is a safe place. I would like them to have a book picked and turned in to me by Christmas break. (which is only like 10 more school days away)! Isn't that crazy.
Math - This week we have finished up learning about the standard algorithm in multiplication. It is called the Regrouping Strategy. The kids can multiply 4 digit number times a single digit and do it well. They will work on flash cards and a basic fact test today. Tomorrow I will begin talking to them about equations. Yes, a little dip into algebra for them. They think they are "big" stuff when I say "Algebra" to them. We will spend a couple days on that and then be ready to review. After we take a test, we will do some fun Christmas math and then begin chapter 3, which is double digit multiplication. Things are going to get a bit harder!! I love teaching multiplication to the students. The strategies are so cool and has helped me to better understand the concept of multiplication. They have several strategies in under their belt to choose from to work problems and not just one like we had.
Social Studies - We have begun the 2nd chapter on the Northeast. We have been singing our States and Capitals song. We will get some map work soon, so they can take their first map test of the Northeast! They worked on putting 2 states into their notebooks today. We will be working very hard to get those finished up and move on out of the Northeast into the Southeast. It is super hard to get everything we want to do done in our short class periods. I could use an hour a day with social studies.
Spirit Day - Friday is a Spirit Day!! Kids can wear sweats for $1.00.
Christmas Program - The kids looked AWESOME! They sang fabulously! It was a great night! Super proud of our school and it's kiddos. Now we can relax until Christmas break! Which is approaching fast I might add! (again)
Prayer - I just wanted to share what we have been doing in 4th grade during prayer. For the month of November the students told one thing each day that they were thankful for. Boy, you would be proud of your kids and the things they are thankful for! I didn't have anyone be thankful for anything materialistic! The month of December I have asked them to think of someone they can pray for everyday. So in are petitions each one tells me someone they want to pray for. They can repeat their choice on a daily basis or pick someone new everyday. This is going very well. It is amazing who they think of besides family. I am super happy I have done this. I found out what amazing caring kids they are. If you question that in your child, don't! They got it right!!
If I have forgotten something, I apologize! It is 9:30 and I am tired. I will send you a message if I have left anything out. If you think of something email and remind me. I can be forgetful. Especially this time of year. Have a great weekend. I will see the kids on Friday.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
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