February 23, 2023

Dear Parents,'

Happy Thursday! I am so happy this last storm system stayed away from us. It was a little close with Orient not having school today. It has been a week of adjustments. We have spent the last two Wednesdays getting our silent auction painting finished up so that it could be sprayed with a clear coat and done. We had our Friday test from last week on Tuesday so now we are filling our time this week with working on book reports and watching Hercules. We will get back into normal business next week. When we are off schedule it almost drives me crazy but the kids handle it so much better. They have done a great job.

Language Arts

Well, last week with a snow day made the story drag over into this week. On Tuesday we had our Friday testing. We began watching the movie Hercules yesterday. Boy those kids who are very "literal" struggle with just watching a movie and enjoying the fantasy of it. They question everything that is happening. Hercules is a Greek myth involving Gods and Goddesses. The point of showing the movie is how different it is from the story we read. I have allowed them time to work on their book reports this week. They are doing a great job working on their pages. Anything that is not finished by the end of the day will have to come home and be finished because it is due tomorrow. I will be gone tomorrow for a funeral. They are going to be doing Monday work tomorrow. I will take a day next week to share book reports so that is why I am starting the story tomorrow. So next week will be a tad different but not much. We will just have Monday' s work complete.

Math

Math has been pushed aside all week. We will finally today got to have a math lesson. We are working on estimating quotients. They are using a multiplication table that I gave them to help with this work. We checked some problems today they had worked, reviewed how to do them, and worked on some word problems to go along with the lesson. They are working on a worksheet today. Tomorrow they will work on their basic facts for addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Next week we will continue on with division.

Social Studies

They began a study guide today for Chapter 7. They will check this study guide tomorrow and will take their test on Monday. We will then begin the Midwest Region. This subject has been pushed around this week also due to donuts and painting and no school on Monday. So main thing is to know TEST on Monday.

Donuts

I forgot to tell you last week that the 4th grader celebrate Fat Tuesday by making donats for the entire school. I actually make the donuts, the kids roll them in sugar and deliver them to the classroom. It is a tradition that started long ago. I think I have been doing it for at least 23 out of my 25 years. This takes the majority of our morning on Tuesday. So we made donuts from 8:30 to 10:20 when I sent them to music. Then I cleaned it all up. This year I made 240 donuts. Usually I make 200 but this year I made more.

Conferences

It looks like most of you are signed up for a conference. Conferences are the week of March 6th. On Monday the 6th they run from 3:40 - 7:00. Tuesday the 7th they are 3:40 - 7:00. Wednesday the 8th they are 3:40 - 5:00 and on Thursday the 9th they are 8:00 to Noon. That gives an abundance of time for everyone to pick a time that is best suited for you. I look forward to meeting with all of you. It's our last one together!!

Spirit Day

Tomorrow is Friday and it is a Spirit Day!! Wear sweats and pay $1.00.

Fish Fry

The Knights of Columbus are having Fish Fry's for Lent. The first one is Tomorrow the 24th at St. Edwards Parish in Afton. The next one is March 3rd at St. Malachy.

I will be out of the building tomorrow. I am attending the funeral for Darwin West. His daughter and I have been friends since the first grade. I would say her friends were the original "Yardbirds". His greeting to me was always "Hello, Massy, how are we!" Yes he didn't call me by my correct name. That was the funny part of it. He did so much and was known by so many. I told my friend, there will be people that know him that you guys don't know. He took many of our students here on bus trips also when we went on school field trips. He always had a story to share. The community lost a good one last week. Please talk to your kids about being respectful to the substitute tomorrow. She has not been in this room before so this class will be new to her. I hope they all handle it well.

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels