December 16, 2021

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday!! Welcome to my last blog post of 2021!!! This is our last full week of school for 2021. The students have worked hard and accomplished a lot. The early out yesterday made some of them happy and some of them not so happy. I am just relieved everyone got home safely and in a timely manner. I hope the damage in your area was not too significant. I know one family lost their cattle shed. I hope nothing more than that. I think the disappointment was in not having Advent Angels. I think there will be a time to make that up but we need to remember, we are thankful we are having school at all. I am definitely ready for Christmas Break. I am ready for some family time and relaxation.

Language Arts

This week we read a story called "The Earth Dragon Awakes". It is a good story but kind of intense. It is about the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906. It is a historical fiction piece. It has several facts about that specific earthquake. The story is about a father and son that live in a tenement in Chinatown. The tenement collapses. They live on top floor. The building falls in on the floors below and they are trapped in the rubble. That to me is the scary part. The son is rescued and we are left to assume that the father is also, but the story ends. Really kind of a cliffhanger but most assume he was dug out also. It is interesting but scary. We have worked on Singular and Plural Possessive nouns this week. Nouns that show ownership so they have an apostrophe in them. We talked about the rules for how to decide where apostrophe should go. The vocabulary strategy this week was on synonyms which we practice every week! They found that lesson easy. Tomorrow will be a normal Friday with Spelling post test and the end of the week assessment.

Math

We did better than I thought and we actually almost finished topic 3 by Christmas. I was hoping to teach one more multiplication strategy this week, then do Christmas Math next week which involves coordinate pairs and coloring. If you like the game battleship (which I love) then you would like our math. It is a way to teach them how to use coordinate pairs and have fun. I do it every year. Some absolutely love it and some not so much. I am trying to decide if I want to start that today and teach the strategy next week. I will see. Since I am gone tomorrow it is hard for me to start a new lesson and expect a substitute to finish it. So we may have fun today.

Social Studies

Well we took the test on Tuesday. I have several perfect papers! That was great. I have some that need to make corrections. We worked on the Northeast states today to get ready for tomorrow's test. This is the last test of the Northeast. Again, I can not stress to you enough how important it is that your child learn this a region at a time. By the end of the year they have to label all 50 states and capitals on a map. The standard is that they can do this. I plan on introducing the next set of states to them before we go to break. The Southeast is our next Region.

Spirit Day

Tomorrow is a spirit day! You can pay a $1.00 and wear sweats with a favorite Christmas t-shirt or sweatshirt. Enjoy the day in comfort.

Dress Up Days December 20-22

Monday Dress as a Christmas Movie theme or Christmas TV/Movie Character

Tuesday Ugly Sweater Day

Wednesday Dress in your Christmas BEST! The Bishop will be here!

Nursing Home Gifts

If you singed up for a gift to give to a nursing home resident please send those items tomorrow. We would like all bags completed tomorrow for delivery next week. Thank you very much for helping out with this activity. It is such a great service project for our school to participate in. We need to thank Mrs. Clark for such a great activity!

December 22

This is our last day before break. We have mass that day. I have given the kids their parts. The special part is the Bishop will be here to preside over Mass. So exciting!!

We will be doing a craft that day courtesy of Fay Parkins and candy canes from our homeroom moms. We will also have a snack and drink provided by homeroom moms. I may show a movie we may play games, I will see when the day is closer. I will send out emails for any instructions for that day. I just want to enjoy their company, I want them to enjoy each other and have a great day together.

Mrs. Sickels Out

Just a reminder I am not in school tomorrow. My daughter Molly is having shoulder reconstruction in Des Moines. She had her left shoulder done in July of 2017. Now we are getting a matching set. It is an out-patient surgery so I will be home with her to be her nurse. I found out quickly why I am a teacher. I love my job. I will be back on Monday!

I told you the end of the year would come quickly!! It is here! I hope all of you are ready for Christmas because it is just around the corner. I have everything here and wrapped. I was in the basement during the storm last night and finished my wrapping on the things that arrived this week. I am relieved to have it all finished before Molly's surgery. Then I am not stressing about it. I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope that the season is filled with family, friends and maybe some snow. I personally want snow for Christmas. Have a great break, stay safe and healthy! See you all next year!

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels