February 5, 2026

Dear Parents,

It has been a great week. They have worked hard and quietly this week. I mean quiet. I even said, "This room is so silent." Another teacher peeked in and said, "Jeez it just too loud in here!" (sarcasm) They have done a great job working on their book reports at school. I have tried to give them some extra time to read their books and I have several working on their report too. They are due at the end of the month. Friday the 27th to be exact.

Language Arts

We started Week 2 of Module 4 yesterday. This week had 2 stories but we are only focusing on one of them. We are reading Perseus and the Fall of Medusa. It is a Greek Myth written as a play. It is not too long and I think they will enjoy it because it deals with a beheading. This week's spelling list is on Homophones. These are words that sound the exact same but have different spelling. Examples would be hanger/hangar, pedal/peddle, who's/whose, and steel/steal. They really have to listen to how the word is used in the sentence to make sure they have the correct spelling. In grammar we will also talk about homophones and their uses. Words we will work on are two,to, and too, their, they're, and there, and it's and its. These are words that I see misused all the time on Social Media. I hope to drill into them how to use them properly.

Math

They finished up Topic 4 this week. Today we started learning about Perimeter. I am teaching them to use a formula to find the answer. Perimeter can be found by just adding up all the sides but we are moving them on and teaching them the formula we use to find perimeter of rectangles. This is kind of a good start to get them used to algebra. The formula they need to use is: P= (2 X L ) + (2 X W ). L stands for length and W for width. They are just to plug in the numbers and solve. They are working on a paper of work today. We will do this tomorrow also and then move on to Area.

Social Studies

We are beginning lesson 3 in the last Chapter on the Southeast. We will add the capitals to the Map Key tomorrow and they will take a Map Test on Monday. They will need to label the Map with the state and the capital this time. I had some students not study for the first one. It would be very beneficial for them to study for this one.

Valentine's Day

We will celebrate Valentine's Day on February 13th this year. The students may bring Valentine's to pass out to the class. I request they do not bring them until Friday, the 13th. I have no place to store them. I also have the homeroom moms supply a drink and a snack to have at this time. I do not allow the students to eat any treats from their Valentine bags (which we make at school). That is for the parents to decide not me.

Spirit Day

Tomorrow Friday, February 6th is a Spirit Day, they can pay $1.00 to wear sweats. It is a great day to do just that.

Just a little FYI for those who maybe didn't know. We have a basketball celebrity in our midst. Claire Ide has made it to State in the Elk's Hoop Shoot AND Districts for the Knights of Columbus Hoop Shoot. Glad Creston will benefit from these skills in High School.

What a warm week we have had!! It has been great to have outdoor recess everyday this week. You can tell the kids are liking it too. Maybe this explains why they are so quiet! I hope everyone has a great weekend. I have a wedding shower in Des Moines and then I get to babysit my granddaughter for a while Saturday night. It will be a great weekend.

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels