Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!! Well...it is here! Flu has hit our school. We are taking every precaution we can to help prevent the spread of the flu. We are cleaning water fountains after each group use, we are cleaning desks everyday with Clorox wipes, and I am preaching hand washing and use of Germ-X. Influenza A, Influenza B, Strep, and the puking flu is all here. The school nurse has advised us of all these things to try and prevent the spread of disease. We are doing the best we can! You as parents need to join in and help us. You need to do just as your doctor says. Some are saying once testing positive for either strain of influenza that you should be out of school for a week. Some may say different. Our rule of thumb is make sure your child is fever free for a full 24 hours (without meds) before returning to school. Also make sure your child is vomit free for 24 hours and can eat a normal amount of food and are hydrated back up, before returning them to school. It is not only children that can get these illnesses it is also teachers. We need to try and keep our teachers healthy through this time because there is not a long line of subs on our list. We could be in trouble if several teachers were gone at once. We are lucky it hasn't hit us like it has East Union. They have more than 10% of their student population out of school. Let us pray that we can keep this under control and not have a severe problem. One year we had a class of about 14 have only 4 students present one day. That has only happened once in my 19 years of teaching. That made for an interesting day. Please be respectful and follow our wishes.
Language Arts- This week we are reading Riding Freedom, which reminds me of a Mulan story. A female is disguised as male to do a job of driving a stagecoach. This is considered a man only job. She has cut her hair and dresses as a man. She is in an accident and loses the sight in one of her eyes. She works on training herself to drive the stagecoach using other senses, mainly her sense of hearing to help her. So not only is she a woman in a man's job she would also be considered as having a handicap. She proves to them she can do her job very well with only one eye. They never figure out in our story that she is a female. It is a good way to show the girls how certain jobs weren't meant for them. Which will lead right into our viewing of the movie Hidden Figures next week. We learned about adjectives this week in grammar. What they describe and what questions they answer. We also did some discussion and computer searching on figurative language. Personification, metaphor, simile, and idioms were the ones we talked about.
Math- We finished up perimeter this week with a fun activity of going around the school and measuring different things. They measured doors, windows, desks, whiteboard, chalk boards, trophy cabinet, and file cabinets. After measuring in inches they were to find the perimeter. This got them out of the room and moving and physically doing the work instead of looking at a shape that all ready had the measurement done for them. We learned Area yesterday and will do a worksheet today on it and tomorrow we will do the fun activity again where they go measure different things and find the area. This gives them a good grasp of what area and perimeter are and how they are different. This is a fun chapter. I relate this learning to jobs that would have use these skills. We just have a few more lessons in the chapter. It is only 5 lessons long! Then we are off into the deep world of division!
Social Studies - We are covering lesson 2 this week. It is covering some pretty big topics and only skimming the surface of each of them. We talked about the Revolutionary War and immigration. It quickly told them when the revolution was, where the first shot was fired and reasons why the war happened. Immigration is about Ellis Island and where people were immigrating from. We are singing our states and capitals song everyday before Social Studies class. Some all ready have it memorized and some are working on it. Once they can sing this song they can list all 50 states and capitals! Woohoo!
Coin Wars - This week the students have been participating in the Coin Wars. Students were asked to bring in coins to fill a bucket. This money will go towards Veterans and Honor Flights. The class bringing in the most "change" will win a pizza party or a cookie party. Last year 4th grade and 6th grade won a cookie party. So far our class is way behind. Tomorrow is the last day, so if you have any spare change laying around please send with your student to help.
Catholic Schools Week!! Hey, it's that time of year! We have a lot of great activities planned for next week. You will find a sheet with a list of each day and it's activities. This will be in your youngest child's folder. But I will give you a run down here.
Sunday, January 29, this is kick of Mass at Holy Spirit church with a brunch to follow put on by the PTO
Monday, January 30, Faculty and Staff appreciation Day
Students bring a sack lunch this day
Spirit Day Dress: Blue/Gold Day for St. Malachy
Tuesday, January, 31, Student Appreciation Day
Hidden Figures Movie at the Movie Theater (see paper and permission form in today's folder) 8:30-11:15
1:30-3:00 Students vs. Teachers in gym
Spirit Day Dress: Sports Wear (hats and sweats included)
Wednesday, February 1, Community Appreciation Day
Advent Angel Activity making valentine's for servicemen and people in Nursing Homes
Spirit Day Dress: "America" Day or Red White and Blue
Thursday, February 2, School Appreciation Day
Talent Show beginning at 1:00 pm
Spirit Day Dress: Pajama Day
Friday, February 3, Grandparents/Special Guest Day
Mass begins at 1:30 pm and Holy Spirit Reception to follow
Spirit Day Dress: Dress up Day
4th Grade Auction Basket - We met and discussed both the silent auction item and the auction basket. Our silent auction item is a wooden cross. Danielle Steele is in charge of this item and will be doing all the work. Each student will be given a piece of stained wood that they will be writing their favorite bible verse on. All the pieces will come together to make a cross. Please be discussing with your child different verses that they may like and choose to write on their piece of wood. I will also talk about this hear with them. I will let you know when I need the verse. Danielle is coming in during class to have them write then she will put the cross together! I think it will be awesome! Our Auction basket is movie night! Our basket is going to look like a "Redbox". If you search Redbox auction basket you will see what we are doing. You will be getting an email with a sign-up genius for donations to the basket. Kiki Scarberry is in charge of the basket. I appreciate these ladies stepping up and helping. Keep in mind the $5.00 bin at Wal-Mart will be awesome for this basket. We are also looking for "movie Candy". I am contacting the theater for any donation they would like to give! Let me know if you have any questions.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and an even better Catholic Schools Week!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!! What a wild week! The day off Monday and 2 hr. delay Tuesday has me feeling crazy this week and also the kids. We are working hard on items in all subjects though. The talking has been more this week than usual. I am trying to keep that down without taking away recess time cause I feel they need to run and play, but some kids are experiencing a loss of time. I hope all are feeling well. I have been dealing with a little cold this week. I know influenza A and strep throat are going around pretty heavily and it has hit our building. Just a reminder if your child has a fever they need to stay home until they are fever free for 24 hours. So if your child is sent home from school at noon they should not return until noon the next day if they have not had a fever. We are trying to prevent the spread of these illnesses and also keep in mind some kids are effected a lot worse than others. Colds we can handle but fevers need to treated with a "better be safe than sorry" attitude. I know it is an inconvenience when your child is sick but we need to think of others. I, myself, don't want either of these illnesses at my house. I am pushing hand washing and use of germ-X here at school! We are also cleaning off our desks. with clorox wipes. I am trying!
Language Arts - This wee is a Unit test week, It is so nice to have our own computers and not have to share. We are able to take the test whenever we want, and Ms. Surma and I are not trying to share the computers! They are working on their Unit test. We took part of it yesterday, we will do another chunk today and tomorrow we will finish it. They have several stories to read to complete this test. I copy those stories so they have them to refer back to when answering the questions. I feel this is easier than trying to scroll back and forth from story to question of the computer. Tomorrow I will assigning to them a new book report. This is the 2nd one this year and will be due Wednesday, March 1st. They will complete a total of 3 book reports this year. One each trimester. Please be sure to check with your child about what they have chosen to read and maybe let the read to you some. I try to encourage the students to challenge themselves when choosing a book. Try to maybe read something different or a book with more pages than they are used to. Sometimes stepping out of the box may make one discover a whole new world of reading for themselves.
Math - We finished chapter 3 and took the test. WOW! Comparing the pretest to the post test is like night and day!! I had some amazing growth! There were at least 5-6 perfect papers! They really did a great job paying attention and learning this chapter! The next chapter is going to be a fun chapter. It will cover area and perimeter. Most of them have all ready worked with these on their ST Math program. I am hoping for this chapter to be fun and relaxing for them since Multiplication can be so stressful sometimes. Chapter 4 will get us back into hard content. It is Division. I plan to work very hard trying to get them division knowledge before the Iowa Assessments which are the beginning of March this year. They have all ready taken the pretest for Chapter 13 so we are reading to dig in today!
Social Studies - We finished up chapter 5 and began chapter 6 this week. They are working on coloring all the flags of the Northeast States and then we will begin putting together an interactive notebook on the United States, starting with our Northeast States. Next week we will get the lyrics and begin our states and capitals song also. Lots and lots of learning going on here in 4th grade. Another reason we love to have our own computers, is letting them use them in free time to look up information on the states. We are definitely blessed with good people who care to donate to our school. Students look up the flag of the state and color it in. I have all ready copied the flag for them, they just have to look for it to put the color on. We found out a lot of the states in the Northeast have Blue backgrounds. Mainly the New England states. That was interesting! Start working on learning those capitals!!
Auction - I asked for volunteers a couple of weeks ago to put together the 4th grade auction basket. I had one person volunteer. We are gong to meet next Tuesday, January 24th after school at 3:30 to discuss some ideas for the basket and the silent auction item. If any one else would like to join us your are welcome to. The more the merrier! We want our auction items to be great!!!
Catholic Schools Week is Coming!! It starts Sunday, January 30th - Friday, February 3rd. Next week I will give out full details of everything that will be going on that week. Dress up days and activities will all be included, next week!
The Food Pantry is having an open house Saturday, January 21st from 5-7. If you want to see the O'Riley center and food pantry where your children do service stop in. They will be having a soup supper for a free will donation. The upper level of the food pantry is a great room to hold baby showers, bridal showers, large family dinners, or anniversary parties. It has a stage and capabilities of hooking up a computer to a big screen TV. One could also hold business meetings there and use the new sound system.
I hope all of you have a great weekend!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!! What a wild week! The day off Monday and 2 hr. delay Tuesday has me feeling crazy this week and also the kids. We are working hard on items in all subjects though. The talking has been more this week than usual. I am trying to keep that down without taking away recess time cause I feel they need to run and play, but some kids are experiencing a loss of time. I hope all are feeling well. I have been dealing with a little cold this week. I know influenza A and strep throat are going around pretty heavily and it has hit our building. Just a reminder if your child has a fever they need to stay home until they are fever free for 24 hours. So if your child is sent home from school at noon they should not return until noon the next day if they have not had a fever. We are trying to prevent the spread of these illnesses and also keep in mind some kids are effected a lot worse than others. Colds we can handle but fevers need to treated with a "better be safe than sorry" attitude. I know it is an inconvenience when your child is sick but we need to think of others. I, myself, don't want either of these illnesses at my house. I am pushing hand washing and use of germ-X here at school! We are also cleaning off our desks. with clorox wipes. I am trying!
Language Arts - This wee is a Unit test week, It is so nice to have our own computers and not have to share. We are able to take the test whenever we want, and Ms. Surma and I are not trying to share the computers! They are working on their Unit test. We took part of it yesterday, we will do another chunk today and tomorrow we will finish it. They have several stories to read to complete this test. I copy those stories so they have them to refer back to when answering the questions. I feel this is easier than trying to scroll back and forth from story to question of the computer. Tomorrow I will assigning to them a new book report. This is the 2nd one this year and will be due Wednesday, March 1st. They will complete a total of 3 book reports this year. One each trimester. Please be sure to check with your child about what they have chosen to read and maybe let the read to you some. I try to encourage the students to challenge themselves when choosing a book. Try to maybe read something different or a book with more pages than they are used to. Sometimes stepping out of the box may make one discover a whole new world of reading for themselves.
Math - We finished chapter 3 and took the test. WOW! Comparing the pretest to the post test is like night and day!! I had some amazing growth! There were at least 5-6 perfect papers! They really did a great job paying attention and learning this chapter! The next chapter is going to be a fun chapter. It will cover area and perimeter. Most of them have all ready worked with these on their ST Math program. I am hoping for this chapter to be fun and relaxing for them since Multiplication can be so stressful sometimes. Chapter 4 will get us back into hard content. It is Division. I plan to work very hard trying to get them division knowledge before the Iowa Assessments which are the beginning of March this year. They have all ready taken the pretest for Chapter 13 so we are reading to dig in today!
Social Studies - We finished up chapter 5 and began chapter 6 this week. They are working on coloring all the flags of the Northeast States and then we will begin putting together an interactive notebook on the United States, starting with our Northeast States. Next week we will get the lyrics and begin our states and capitals song also. Lots and lots of learning going on here in 4th grade. Another reason we love to have our own computers, is letting them use them in free time to look up information on the states. We are definitely blessed with good people who care to donate to our school. Students look up the flag of the state and color it in. I have all ready copied the flag for them, they just have to look for it to put the color on. We found out a lot of the states in the Northeast have Blue backgrounds. Mainly the New England states. That was interesting! Start working on learning those capitals!!
Auction - I asked for volunteers a couple of weeks ago to put together the 4th grade auction basket. I had one person volunteer. We are gong to meet next Tuesday, January 24th after school at 3:30 to discuss some ideas for the basket and the silent auction item. If any one else would like to join us your are welcome to. The more the merrier! We want our auction items to be great!!!
Catholic Schools Week is Coming!! It starts Sunday, January 30th - Friday, February 3rd. Next week I will give out full details of everything that will be going on that week. Dress up days and activities will all be included, next week!
The Food Pantry is having an open house Saturday, January 21st from 5-7. If you want to see the O'Riley center and food pantry where your children do service stop in. They will be having a soup supper for a free will donation. The upper level of the food pantry is a great room to hold baby showers, bridal showers, large family dinners, or anniversary parties. It has a stage and capabilities of hooking up a computer to a big screen TV. One could also hold business meetings there and use the new sound system.
I hope all of you have a great weekend!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! This has been a whirlwind of a week for me!! I was out of classroom on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. My mother-in-law was taken to Des Moines with a blood clot in her leg and also in each lung. (very scary) I am now back and will be the rest of the week! Things were a little crazy but I spent today getting things back in order! I am all caught up now and have the kids exactly where we need to be. I am very thankful we have reliable substitute teachers that can follow our plans and teach so the kids are not missing a day!
Language Arts - This week we are reading the story Ecology for Kids. This is a story about Earth, it's ecosystems, and protecting our environment. It is Science topics in language arts. It is informational text. Everything they are reading is factual information. The skill they are focusing on is Facts and Main Ideas. We find the main idea and then pay attention to the details below that support our main idea. They are also working on clarifying their reading. Knowing that if they don't understand what they are reading or don't know the meaning of the word, they need to stop and clarify before they move forward. Try to understand before you go any further. I have related this to my own reading in my personal time for them and how I use my dictionary on my kindle, or if I am reading a book, I use my phone or computer to search the meanings of things I am unsure of. In grammar we have been working on verb, Irregular verbs, the BE verb, and helping verbs. Tomorrow is our week 1 assessment. Then next week will be the Unit 3 benchmark test. It will still be taken online, it's just a bigger test looking at all we have learned in Unit 3.
Math - We have finished up chapter 4 this week. We will be starting the chapter 4 test tomorrow. I hope they all get the test finished but this one will require them to take their time so it may take 2 days. We will just see. We went over their review today in class and then I had them get out an extra practice worksheet for them to work on at home so they are practicing for the math test. It is not an assignment that they have to do, but it will help them prepare for tomorrow's test. We will start chapter 13 next which will cover area and perimeter. It is a fun chapter where we do a lot of hands on and it makes a nice transition for the students.
Social Studies- We took chapter 4 test this week! The students have all finished, it has been checked, they have corrected, and now I need to look at their corrections. We will begin chapter 5 which still covers the Northeast region. Some kids struggled on labeling the map this test. Next time they will need to be able to label the map AND know the capital of the state. I will teach them a song to sing this chapter to help with that. They will all have a copy of the lyrics so they can learn it quickly. We will then try to sing the song everyday at the beginning or end of class.
REMINDER: THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY! This is a planned day off with the Diocese of Des Moines. The teachers will be traveling to Des Moines to meet with the other teachers in the diocese for inservice. Sounds pretty lucky we all ready do not have school if the weather does what it is suppose to do. I hope that doesn't happen.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Stay safe!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday! This has been a whirlwind of a week for me!! I was out of classroom on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. My mother-in-law was taken to Des Moines with a blood clot in her leg and also in each lung. (very scary) I am now back and will be the rest of the week! Things were a little crazy but I spent today getting things back in order! I am all caught up now and have the kids exactly where we need to be. I am very thankful we have reliable substitute teachers that can follow our plans and teach so the kids are not missing a day!
Language Arts - This week we are reading the story Ecology for Kids. This is a story about Earth, it's ecosystems, and protecting our environment. It is Science topics in language arts. It is informational text. Everything they are reading is factual information. The skill they are focusing on is Facts and Main Ideas. We find the main idea and then pay attention to the details below that support our main idea. They are also working on clarifying their reading. Knowing that if they don't understand what they are reading or don't know the meaning of the word, they need to stop and clarify before they move forward. Try to understand before you go any further. I have related this to my own reading in my personal time for them and how I use my dictionary on my kindle, or if I am reading a book, I use my phone or computer to search the meanings of things I am unsure of. In grammar we have been working on verb, Irregular verbs, the BE verb, and helping verbs. Tomorrow is our week 1 assessment. Then next week will be the Unit 3 benchmark test. It will still be taken online, it's just a bigger test looking at all we have learned in Unit 3.
Math - We have finished up chapter 4 this week. We will be starting the chapter 4 test tomorrow. I hope they all get the test finished but this one will require them to take their time so it may take 2 days. We will just see. We went over their review today in class and then I had them get out an extra practice worksheet for them to work on at home so they are practicing for the math test. It is not an assignment that they have to do, but it will help them prepare for tomorrow's test. We will start chapter 13 next which will cover area and perimeter. It is a fun chapter where we do a lot of hands on and it makes a nice transition for the students.
Social Studies- We took chapter 4 test this week! The students have all finished, it has been checked, they have corrected, and now I need to look at their corrections. We will begin chapter 5 which still covers the Northeast region. Some kids struggled on labeling the map this test. Next time they will need to be able to label the map AND know the capital of the state. I will teach them a song to sing this chapter to help with that. They will all have a copy of the lyrics so they can learn it quickly. We will then try to sing the song everyday at the beginning or end of class.
REMINDER: THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY! This is a planned day off with the Diocese of Des Moines. The teachers will be traveling to Des Moines to meet with the other teachers in the diocese for inservice. Sounds pretty lucky we all ready do not have school if the weather does what it is suppose to do. I hope that doesn't happen.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Stay safe!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Dear Parents,
Merry Christmas!!! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday! I know I did! I am always sad to see it come to an end! We are all a little tired this week but it will all be fine. Some thought the break was too long and some not enough! We are back in the routine of things. I will say everyone seems very refreshed! We came back from break and found a new student in our room. We have been very welcoming to Josephine Bolinger! We are excited to have a new girl to add to our room!
Thank you! I would like to say thank you to all the students who gave me a Christmas gift. I love everything! I sent notecard thank you's with the kids but I fear you don't see them. I really appreciate all the nice things I received. It was a very Merry Christmas for me!
Language Arts- We jumped right back into a routine this week with a new story. It is called The Life and Times of the Ant. It is informational text about the life of the ant. All the jobs they work, what they dangers are of being an ant, and what their nests look like. It is a fun story cause all the pictures relate ant life to human life. In grammar we are talking about present and past participles and also participle phrases. They have done an excellent job learning a lot in a short period of time. We also read a fable called The Ant and the Dove. It is a cute story with a moral. It focused on being kind and returning kind deeds. Nice thing to talk about as we enter back into a social setting together!
Math - We started learning the regrouping strategy in double digit multiplication. This is the standard algorithm, the one strategy you learned as a kid. It seems to be moving along very well. I think it is moving smoothly due to the strategies we learn prior to this one and due to ST Math. Some of them are all ready passed this section in ST Math. What a great support for our math program this has proved to be. I know the kids don't care for it all that much but I see the benefits as a teacher. After we finish this chapter we will do a chapter on Area and Perimeter which most kids have all ready completed on ST Math. Then we will move into division. I hope to have a round of division in by the time we take our Iowa Assessments the week of March 5th.
Social Studies- Projects start coming due on Monday!! Please make sure your child is aware of their project and due date. We are also getting ready for our first test in the Northeast Region. I gave them maps today to help them study the location of the states. They will be expected to label a map with all the Northeast States. We will begin working the capitals for the next test. I have a song that I will introduce to them that sings all 50 states and capitals. It is a great way to memorize all of them. The students will begin their study guides tomorrow and will test next Tuesday. Please spend some time over the weekend working on studying the maps.
Auction- The St. Malachy Auction is fast approaching! I am just wondering if I have any parents that have any interest in heading up our class basket? If you are interested please let me know. I usually have a hand in the silent auction item. I have all ready started looking for ideas I am also open to any ideas you might have. Thank you in advance for your help.
Cold Weather - The temperatures have dropped and it is very cold outside. Please be sure your student comes to school prepared. Our rule is if the temperature the windchill are about 0 degrees we will be outside. If is it 0 degrees or below we stay inside. Tomorrow we are suppose to walk to the Food Pantry to help them unload the truck of food. If it is even 1 degree we are going. They really need our help. We make life so much easier and faster for them when we are there. It is amazing how much time some of those volunteers put in to keep the food pantry moving successfully. Please remember hats and mittens tomorrow! Thank you!!
It is good to be back in the classroom with the kids. I hope they are all ready to work hard for the next 3 weeks. Then we are blessed with Catholic Schools Week. Yay! So much fun celebrating our school! The teachers are planning a fun-filled week!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Merry Christmas!!! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday! I know I did! I am always sad to see it come to an end! We are all a little tired this week but it will all be fine. Some thought the break was too long and some not enough! We are back in the routine of things. I will say everyone seems very refreshed! We came back from break and found a new student in our room. We have been very welcoming to Josephine Bolinger! We are excited to have a new girl to add to our room!
Thank you! I would like to say thank you to all the students who gave me a Christmas gift. I love everything! I sent notecard thank you's with the kids but I fear you don't see them. I really appreciate all the nice things I received. It was a very Merry Christmas for me!
Language Arts- We jumped right back into a routine this week with a new story. It is called The Life and Times of the Ant. It is informational text about the life of the ant. All the jobs they work, what they dangers are of being an ant, and what their nests look like. It is a fun story cause all the pictures relate ant life to human life. In grammar we are talking about present and past participles and also participle phrases. They have done an excellent job learning a lot in a short period of time. We also read a fable called The Ant and the Dove. It is a cute story with a moral. It focused on being kind and returning kind deeds. Nice thing to talk about as we enter back into a social setting together!
Math - We started learning the regrouping strategy in double digit multiplication. This is the standard algorithm, the one strategy you learned as a kid. It seems to be moving along very well. I think it is moving smoothly due to the strategies we learn prior to this one and due to ST Math. Some of them are all ready passed this section in ST Math. What a great support for our math program this has proved to be. I know the kids don't care for it all that much but I see the benefits as a teacher. After we finish this chapter we will do a chapter on Area and Perimeter which most kids have all ready completed on ST Math. Then we will move into division. I hope to have a round of division in by the time we take our Iowa Assessments the week of March 5th.
Social Studies- Projects start coming due on Monday!! Please make sure your child is aware of their project and due date. We are also getting ready for our first test in the Northeast Region. I gave them maps today to help them study the location of the states. They will be expected to label a map with all the Northeast States. We will begin working the capitals for the next test. I have a song that I will introduce to them that sings all 50 states and capitals. It is a great way to memorize all of them. The students will begin their study guides tomorrow and will test next Tuesday. Please spend some time over the weekend working on studying the maps.
Auction- The St. Malachy Auction is fast approaching! I am just wondering if I have any parents that have any interest in heading up our class basket? If you are interested please let me know. I usually have a hand in the silent auction item. I have all ready started looking for ideas I am also open to any ideas you might have. Thank you in advance for your help.
Cold Weather - The temperatures have dropped and it is very cold outside. Please be sure your student comes to school prepared. Our rule is if the temperature the windchill are about 0 degrees we will be outside. If is it 0 degrees or below we stay inside. Tomorrow we are suppose to walk to the Food Pantry to help them unload the truck of food. If it is even 1 degree we are going. They really need our help. We make life so much easier and faster for them when we are there. It is amazing how much time some of those volunteers put in to keep the food pantry moving successfully. Please remember hats and mittens tomorrow! Thank you!!
It is good to be back in the classroom with the kids. I hope they are all ready to work hard for the next 3 weeks. Then we are blessed with Catholic Schools Week. Yay! So much fun celebrating our school! The teachers are planning a fun-filled week!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!! This is the last Thursday we are in school before Christmas!! Next week your kiddos will be home! I can tell Christmas is coming and it is a full moon!! They are very talkative! We will make it though!! I am looking forward to Christmas Break myself. Both kids are home and I am at work! I will be happy to be home with them! Sounds like a wild weekend of weather! I hope all of you keep warm this weekend!
Language Arts - We have read the story Antarctic Journal this week. It is actually a journal account from a visit to Antarctica. It was very informative and interesting to learn about this continent. It talked about penguins and everyone loves penguins! We have been looking at Modal auxilaries this week for grammar. Which is the proper use of may, might, could should, can, and must. These can be very confusing when looked at properly. The kids will probably mix up may, can and might. We also looked at Latin and Greek word parts that we use today. Word parts such as: spect, tele, vis, and struct. We looked at the meaning of each part and how some of the words we use also reflect these meanings.
Math - We have hit the middle of chapter 3. I have discovered there is no way I could get a test in before our vacation, so we have stopped here at the mid chapter review. After break we will review what we learned so far and then take off on the second half which is only 3 lessons. We will learn the regrouping strategy which is the strategy that we all learned as kids. Right now we are working on some fun math that goes with geometry and a little bit of map skills. It uses a coordinate grid to make a picture. I have all sorts of pictures. We are making Christmas related pictures right now. They all had to make a Christmas tree then they could choose their next picture. This class is doing a great job catching on to the new concepts presented to them!! Kudos to them!
Social Studies - We are working through our chapter on the Northeast. We are in the middle of a lesson right now. When we finish this lesson we are going to learn the States and Capitals song and start some map work. This will help us prepare for the states and capitals portion of our test! Next week for fun I plan to have them color the flags of the Northeast regiion. I have coloring pages and we will look the flags up on the computer and put on whiteboard for them to copy. When we get all the flags done we will put them into our interactive notebooks with a few more facts about the states. Just another fun way for the students to be more engaged in their learning. I apologize now about the states and capitals song because they will be singing it all the time once they learn it. I am sure all of you will also know it.
Wednesday, December 22nd - I want to tell you about what will go on this day! In the morning I plan on finishing up anything we need to so that our subjects all have a proper stopping pioint. Then we will have a Christmas Party. At this time we will have a snack and drink. I am looking for volunteers who would like provide one or the other for the class. If you would like to provide one please email me and let me know. While we enjoy our snack we will also play board games. Sometimes it is just fun to sit and play your favorite games with your friends. So your child may bring in their favorite game that day. It doesn't matter what it is, card game board game ect. My favorite game is Battleship. IF anyone has a working electrtonic Battleship game I request it! I have never played one. Last year someone brought one but it didn't work. Your child will need to bring a sack lunch that day to eat with their Advent Angel. Milk will be provided so NO drinks please. After they eat we will sing Christmas Carols in the gym from 12:30 to 1:00. All are welcome to come join in our singing! This is truly the best time of the day! After caroling, the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades will get together in one room and watch a movie for the afternoon. Then they will be all ready to go home!!! WOW what a busy fun day ! At least I hope it is. What fun to celebrate the holiday with your class.
Again I hope all of you have a great weekend! I have my first family Christmas this weekend! It is always great fun! It starts at my house Friday night then to my in-laws all day Saturday! We really enjoy our time together. Last year I was sick and unable to attend. This year I am looking forward to it.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!! This is the last Thursday we are in school before Christmas!! Next week your kiddos will be home! I can tell Christmas is coming and it is a full moon!! They are very talkative! We will make it though!! I am looking forward to Christmas Break myself. Both kids are home and I am at work! I will be happy to be home with them! Sounds like a wild weekend of weather! I hope all of you keep warm this weekend!
Language Arts - We have read the story Antarctic Journal this week. It is actually a journal account from a visit to Antarctica. It was very informative and interesting to learn about this continent. It talked about penguins and everyone loves penguins! We have been looking at Modal auxilaries this week for grammar. Which is the proper use of may, might, could should, can, and must. These can be very confusing when looked at properly. The kids will probably mix up may, can and might. We also looked at Latin and Greek word parts that we use today. Word parts such as: spect, tele, vis, and struct. We looked at the meaning of each part and how some of the words we use also reflect these meanings.
Math - We have hit the middle of chapter 3. I have discovered there is no way I could get a test in before our vacation, so we have stopped here at the mid chapter review. After break we will review what we learned so far and then take off on the second half which is only 3 lessons. We will learn the regrouping strategy which is the strategy that we all learned as kids. Right now we are working on some fun math that goes with geometry and a little bit of map skills. It uses a coordinate grid to make a picture. I have all sorts of pictures. We are making Christmas related pictures right now. They all had to make a Christmas tree then they could choose their next picture. This class is doing a great job catching on to the new concepts presented to them!! Kudos to them!
Social Studies - We are working through our chapter on the Northeast. We are in the middle of a lesson right now. When we finish this lesson we are going to learn the States and Capitals song and start some map work. This will help us prepare for the states and capitals portion of our test! Next week for fun I plan to have them color the flags of the Northeast regiion. I have coloring pages and we will look the flags up on the computer and put on whiteboard for them to copy. When we get all the flags done we will put them into our interactive notebooks with a few more facts about the states. Just another fun way for the students to be more engaged in their learning. I apologize now about the states and capitals song because they will be singing it all the time once they learn it. I am sure all of you will also know it.
Wednesday, December 22nd - I want to tell you about what will go on this day! In the morning I plan on finishing up anything we need to so that our subjects all have a proper stopping pioint. Then we will have a Christmas Party. At this time we will have a snack and drink. I am looking for volunteers who would like provide one or the other for the class. If you would like to provide one please email me and let me know. While we enjoy our snack we will also play board games. Sometimes it is just fun to sit and play your favorite games with your friends. So your child may bring in their favorite game that day. It doesn't matter what it is, card game board game ect. My favorite game is Battleship. IF anyone has a working electrtonic Battleship game I request it! I have never played one. Last year someone brought one but it didn't work. Your child will need to bring a sack lunch that day to eat with their Advent Angel. Milk will be provided so NO drinks please. After they eat we will sing Christmas Carols in the gym from 12:30 to 1:00. All are welcome to come join in our singing! This is truly the best time of the day! After caroling, the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades will get together in one room and watch a movie for the afternoon. Then they will be all ready to go home!!! WOW what a busy fun day ! At least I hope it is. What fun to celebrate the holiday with your class.
Again I hope all of you have a great weekend! I have my first family Christmas this weekend! It is always great fun! It starts at my house Friday night then to my in-laws all day Saturday! We really enjoy our time together. Last year I was sick and unable to attend. This year I am looking forward to it.
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday!! Wow, I can tell Christmas is coming! This is a very busy time of the year at school and at home. I can see it in the kids in many ways. Mainly I hear all the talking they are doing. They are having a very difficult time holding in their conversations. I know it is the excitement of the time of year and I am trying to be patient. We have lots of things going on these next couple of weeks! I hope we can keep everything straight!
Geography Bee - The finals for the Geography Bee will take place Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 10:30 in the gym. All parents of finalists are invited to watch. All students 3-8 grade will be present to watch and cheer on their classmates.
Spirit Day/Sack Lunch - On Friday, Dec. 16th we have a spirit day. Students can pay their dollar to wear sweats, just like all other Spirit Days. This is also an optional sack lunch day. You can bring your own lunch or eat what is provided by the lunchroom.
Food Pantry - All Food Pantry donations are due on Friday, Dec. 16th. Our class has been asked to bring in shaving cream and Q-tips. Next time you are at the store and think about it pick up an item and bring it in. Dollar Tree is a great place to get these items. Once a month these items are handed out at the Food Pantry for those who need a little extra help. We thank you for all your donations.
Language Arts - This week we are reading a fun story called The Earth Dragon Awakes. This story is historical fiction and is about the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Maybe you could google some pictures and real articles from this earthquake to share with your child. I feel it is an interesting story due to the story line. A family of 2 is in a tenement building that crumbles down floor by floor. This gives it kind of suspenseful tone. We have worked with possessive nouns this week for grammar. Nouns that show ownership. They use apostrophes. We covered singular and plural possessive nouns. We also talked about synonyms. Remember to study for the end of week assessment and the spelling post test!
Math- We covered lesson 3 today which is using Area Box strategy to multiply. They seem to find this strategy fun and caught on to it pretty quickly. I love this strategy because I am a visual learner and I totally understand exactly what I am doing. Yes, this strategy may take a little bit more time but if a student is struggling with a problem sometimes this is the one they go back to because they do understand it best. We are doing a great job working through chapter 3. I am still praying we can finish it and test over it by Christmas break, but I am not sure we will get it done. We are working hard but sometimes things get in the way and we go with the flow. If we hit a strategy they don't get I will also slow down and spend more time on it so they really catch on. So far we haven't had to do that!
Social Studies - We chose states and projects today. The students can begin their research! I will send home due dates next week! The due dates will begin after Christmas Break. If they chose cake, or quarter they will have one of the first due dates. I schedule 2 projects due a day. We share then move on to our work in the book so class is not put completely on hold. This is when our class gets really fun for the kids. It quickly becomes their favorite subject!
I hope all of you have a great weekend! I am shoppping! Pray for me!! I am not a good shopper! I like doing it from home on Amazon! Sometimes you just have to go to the store though!!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday!! Wow, I can tell Christmas is coming! This is a very busy time of the year at school and at home. I can see it in the kids in many ways. Mainly I hear all the talking they are doing. They are having a very difficult time holding in their conversations. I know it is the excitement of the time of year and I am trying to be patient. We have lots of things going on these next couple of weeks! I hope we can keep everything straight!
Geography Bee - The finals for the Geography Bee will take place Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 10:30 in the gym. All parents of finalists are invited to watch. All students 3-8 grade will be present to watch and cheer on their classmates.
Spirit Day/Sack Lunch - On Friday, Dec. 16th we have a spirit day. Students can pay their dollar to wear sweats, just like all other Spirit Days. This is also an optional sack lunch day. You can bring your own lunch or eat what is provided by the lunchroom.
Food Pantry - All Food Pantry donations are due on Friday, Dec. 16th. Our class has been asked to bring in shaving cream and Q-tips. Next time you are at the store and think about it pick up an item and bring it in. Dollar Tree is a great place to get these items. Once a month these items are handed out at the Food Pantry for those who need a little extra help. We thank you for all your donations.
Language Arts - This week we are reading a fun story called The Earth Dragon Awakes. This story is historical fiction and is about the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Maybe you could google some pictures and real articles from this earthquake to share with your child. I feel it is an interesting story due to the story line. A family of 2 is in a tenement building that crumbles down floor by floor. This gives it kind of suspenseful tone. We have worked with possessive nouns this week for grammar. Nouns that show ownership. They use apostrophes. We covered singular and plural possessive nouns. We also talked about synonyms. Remember to study for the end of week assessment and the spelling post test!
Math- We covered lesson 3 today which is using Area Box strategy to multiply. They seem to find this strategy fun and caught on to it pretty quickly. I love this strategy because I am a visual learner and I totally understand exactly what I am doing. Yes, this strategy may take a little bit more time but if a student is struggling with a problem sometimes this is the one they go back to because they do understand it best. We are doing a great job working through chapter 3. I am still praying we can finish it and test over it by Christmas break, but I am not sure we will get it done. We are working hard but sometimes things get in the way and we go with the flow. If we hit a strategy they don't get I will also slow down and spend more time on it so they really catch on. So far we haven't had to do that!
Social Studies - We chose states and projects today. The students can begin their research! I will send home due dates next week! The due dates will begin after Christmas Break. If they chose cake, or quarter they will have one of the first due dates. I schedule 2 projects due a day. We share then move on to our work in the book so class is not put completely on hold. This is when our class gets really fun for the kids. It quickly becomes their favorite subject!
I hope all of you have a great weekend! I am shoppping! Pray for me!! I am not a good shopper! I like doing it from home on Amazon! Sometimes you just have to go to the store though!!!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday and welcome to Advent!! Today being the first day of December gets us all in the mood for Christmas. We are back to having full weeks of school which we have not had for a while. For the students this will be a very long 3 weeks but for the teachers it seems to go quickly. I have goals I want to reach academically by the time Christmas Break gets here and sometimes it is difficult to get those things done due to all of our activities we have going on. I plan to work them hard and have fun this month!
Language Arts - This week we are reading a story called Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms. It is not the most entertaining story to read. It is non fiction and full of information. I have had the kids read it everyday this week just because it is a difficult one. Tuesday and Thursday they read with partners. Monday I read to them. Wednesday they read silently to themselves. On Friday we will read it together and have a discussion as a large group. I am hoping hearing it 5 times will help them with the end of week assessment. In grammar this week we talked about those fun easily confused words that people like to blast each other about on Facebook. Their, there, and they're, to, too, and two, and its and it's. We have spent a day discussing each group. They seem to understand the difference but they don't pay attention in their writing and put the correct one. Spelling words this week were on compound words. These words can be two words joined together into one work like fireplace or classmate, they can be joined with a hyphen like make-believe and twenty-two, and they can be two separate words like all right and alarm clock. Tomorrow they will take a post test so be sure they are studying!!
Math - We finished up chapter 2 took a test. They have completed their chapter 3 pretest online (which was very difficult and some were just plain mad at me for not helping). I kept telling them it is pretest do the best they can. They will see a huge jump when they take the test at the end of the chapter and they learn a ton of new stuff!! Chapter 3 is kind of an extension of chapter 2. It is multiplication but with double digits. Most lessons they will catch on to pretty quickly. Some we may need to spend a couple days on. I hope to have chapter 3 complete by Christmas break since it is only 7 lessons long. It will take some hard work on all our parts to make this happen, but I have faith in us. Keep working on multiplication flash cards at home! It helps tremendously.
Social Studies - We have begun talking about the Northeast Region. We are learning new vocabulary words. Today we talked about Niagara Falls and its beauty. We also talked about how important it is to the state of New York because the hydropower plants at Niagara Falls supplies the state with electricity or hydroelectricity. We will be using a cross cross-cut diagram to learn how a hydropower plant works. I will soon be going over the Social Studies projects with the kids and assigning the first one which will be due after Christmas break. We will also begin putting together an interactive notebook on the Northeast states and learning how to label a map with the states. I will also begin using the song to help them memorize states and capitals. What a busy time we have!!!!
Two important things:
Tomorrow is a Spirit day!! We are trying to raise a little extra money for our adopt-a-family so we are upping the Spirit! You can pay $1.00 to wear sweats and you can pay an extra $1.00 to wear a hat for the day.
The second item is a reminder that tomorrow we walk to the Food Pantry so make sure your child comes prepared for the walk. They will want a coat, hat and mittens. Thank you!
Christmas Tree - I have a Christmas tree on the bulletin board in my room. We want to get into the holiday spirit so if you could send an ornament with your student, we will hang them on the tree and have a class tree. Please do not send breakable ornaments, because if they fall on floor they will break. Otherwise any ornament works. I will send them back home with the kids when they leave for Christmas Break.
Report Cards - They will be coming available soon. I think next week. Nothing on the report card should be a surprise to you. We talked at conferences and if you follow on Power School you can see how your child is doing. Please be sure to take a look at them!!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! My family and I had a great time in Chicago. I got a lot of my shopping taken care of while I was there. It was a fun relaxing weekend. I am thankful we are able to go and the weather cooperated!! I am praying for snow! In my eyes it is not Christmas without snow!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
Happy Thursday and welcome to Advent!! Today being the first day of December gets us all in the mood for Christmas. We are back to having full weeks of school which we have not had for a while. For the students this will be a very long 3 weeks but for the teachers it seems to go quickly. I have goals I want to reach academically by the time Christmas Break gets here and sometimes it is difficult to get those things done due to all of our activities we have going on. I plan to work them hard and have fun this month!
Language Arts - This week we are reading a story called Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms. It is not the most entertaining story to read. It is non fiction and full of information. I have had the kids read it everyday this week just because it is a difficult one. Tuesday and Thursday they read with partners. Monday I read to them. Wednesday they read silently to themselves. On Friday we will read it together and have a discussion as a large group. I am hoping hearing it 5 times will help them with the end of week assessment. In grammar this week we talked about those fun easily confused words that people like to blast each other about on Facebook. Their, there, and they're, to, too, and two, and its and it's. We have spent a day discussing each group. They seem to understand the difference but they don't pay attention in their writing and put the correct one. Spelling words this week were on compound words. These words can be two words joined together into one work like fireplace or classmate, they can be joined with a hyphen like make-believe and twenty-two, and they can be two separate words like all right and alarm clock. Tomorrow they will take a post test so be sure they are studying!!
Math - We finished up chapter 2 took a test. They have completed their chapter 3 pretest online (which was very difficult and some were just plain mad at me for not helping). I kept telling them it is pretest do the best they can. They will see a huge jump when they take the test at the end of the chapter and they learn a ton of new stuff!! Chapter 3 is kind of an extension of chapter 2. It is multiplication but with double digits. Most lessons they will catch on to pretty quickly. Some we may need to spend a couple days on. I hope to have chapter 3 complete by Christmas break since it is only 7 lessons long. It will take some hard work on all our parts to make this happen, but I have faith in us. Keep working on multiplication flash cards at home! It helps tremendously.
Social Studies - We have begun talking about the Northeast Region. We are learning new vocabulary words. Today we talked about Niagara Falls and its beauty. We also talked about how important it is to the state of New York because the hydropower plants at Niagara Falls supplies the state with electricity or hydroelectricity. We will be using a cross cross-cut diagram to learn how a hydropower plant works. I will soon be going over the Social Studies projects with the kids and assigning the first one which will be due after Christmas break. We will also begin putting together an interactive notebook on the Northeast states and learning how to label a map with the states. I will also begin using the song to help them memorize states and capitals. What a busy time we have!!!!
Two important things:
Tomorrow is a Spirit day!! We are trying to raise a little extra money for our adopt-a-family so we are upping the Spirit! You can pay $1.00 to wear sweats and you can pay an extra $1.00 to wear a hat for the day.
The second item is a reminder that tomorrow we walk to the Food Pantry so make sure your child comes prepared for the walk. They will want a coat, hat and mittens. Thank you!
Christmas Tree - I have a Christmas tree on the bulletin board in my room. We want to get into the holiday spirit so if you could send an ornament with your student, we will hang them on the tree and have a class tree. Please do not send breakable ornaments, because if they fall on floor they will break. Otherwise any ornament works. I will send them back home with the kids when they leave for Christmas Break.
Report Cards - They will be coming available soon. I think next week. Nothing on the report card should be a surprise to you. We talked at conferences and if you follow on Power School you can see how your child is doing. Please be sure to take a look at them!!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! My family and I had a great time in Chicago. I got a lot of my shopping taken care of while I was there. It was a fun relaxing weekend. I am thankful we are able to go and the weather cooperated!! I am praying for snow! In my eyes it is not Christmas without snow!
God Bless,
Mrs. Sickels
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