February 26, 2026

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday! How about the temperature today and tomorrow. Yet then possibility of snow on Sunday. We are definitely on a roller coaster with the weather. The Gala and Auction are Saturday night. Doors open at 5:00, dinner is at 6:00 with the auction to follow. You can also bid online. Our diamond art is up for auction. They are excited about it. I also got another diamond art for them to work on in the room when their homework is done because they enjoy doing it so much.

Language Arts

We finished up Module 4 this week by finishing Module 4 week 3 story on St. Augustine. They tested yesterday. Today we began the Module 4 test which is like a Unit test. It will cover everything we learned over the course of 3 stories. It focuses on the skills we worked on for reading comprehension and also grammar lessons. We took 2 parts of the test today. We will take the last part tomorrow. I want it done tomorrow due to it being the end of the Trimester. I want the scores on the computer for this report card.

Their book reports are due tomorrow. They should have a 6 page Character Sketch booklet completed tomorrow. Most of them have been working very hard on it here at school.

Math

In Math we have been working on Division. We started learning partial quotient today. It is actually the only strategy we will be working on in this topic. It does not have me teach the standard algorithm. They will learn that in 5th grade. They will also do a lot more with partial quotient in 5th grade. The hope is to be working on Fractions after Spring Break. This group is lucky because they are getting division taught to them before ISASP testing. That usually never happens. Hopefully that will help them to do well on the tests.

Social Studies

We just finished chapter 7 and today began chapter 8. This chapter takes us into the Midwest. The first lesson talks about the Great Lakes. We learn about Chicago and it's locks. I showed pictures and a quick video about how the locks work. I also talked about my experience being on a boat and going through that exact lock. We will also talk about how the Great Lakes were formed. There really is a lot to learn about the area we call home.

Fish Fry

There will be there first Fish Fry of the season at St. Malachy tomorrow February 27th. You can come in the gym and enjoy your meal or they have a drive-up if you want to take it home.

Church

Just a reminder that Saturday night church will begin at 4:00 PM instead of 5:00 due to the Gala and Auction.

Mrs. Sickels Absence

I NEVER go anywhere. I am not a traveler but this year I guess I am. I will be absent from school next Friday, March 6th. My daughter Molly's Godfather is receiving a promotion in the military. He is going from being a Lt. Colonel to Colonel in the South Carolina Air National Guard. He has invited us to the ceremony. We decided to attend. When else would we ever get to attend such an event, never, so here we go. I fly on Friday and arrive at noon that day. The ceremony is Saturday, I will fly home Sunday and be in Des Moines by 11:00 AM. I am praying nothing happens to make me not make it. We are ALL going to pray I am back . I wanted to be up front with you about my travels. I will be in Columbia, South Carolina, which I have never been before. Molly and I meet in Atlanta and fly together from there. I am not sure we will get to do much site-seeing but it will be fun to be there.

I hope everyone has a great weekend whatever your plans. I will attend the Gala. Molly is coming home for a Bridal shower so she gets to attend with me. Sunday I plan to work on report cards. I want to have them completed. I hope to get some reading done this weekend also. I am working at the bookstore tonight from 4-6 if anyone wants to drop in and see me.

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels