January 13, 2022

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday!! Welcome to the last half of 4th grade!!! We are back and already working hard. Some students seemed ready to get back into a routine some will have to work their way back in. Last week I tried to ease them back in with some fun activities, this week is back to business. It is hard to think about we are in for a long haul. This is the worst yet best part of the year, depends on how you think about it. It's a long stretch to Spring Break, but it is probably the time they learn the most. It is winter so we fight cold and snow which tends to make them restless. I feel like snow days break that up a little bit. Yes, I am a fan of snow and a few snow days sprinkled in make it better. It messes with planning but it is okay. We find ways to make it work. So if you are wondering I do honestly love the snow, not because of snow days just because I do. I am very much looking forward to tomorrow!

Language Arts

This week we are reading a story called Antarctic Journal. The author actually traveled to Antarctica to stay and wrote a journal while she was there. She stayed a total of 4 months. What a crazy place. I love snow but I don't love ice. Plus I am not a fan of it being too cold. This place seems dangerous. The kids enjoyed the story and learning about a new place. They liked the part about the penguins the most. Oh, also the part where the author decided to eat Krill because many animals in the sea live off of it. She discovered krill has no flavor at all. The only flavor they tasted was anything they added to it like butter and garlic. We have a talked about modal auxilaries this week in grammar. These are words like may, can, might, must, should and could. This is challenging content for 4th graders and some are very hard to keep separate. This is the lesson when the learn the difference in asking, "May I use the restroom' and "Can I use the restroom." They use may a lot more after this lesson. I am not sure how I will go about assessing them since this topic is so hard. I may make a group effort or I may just discuss each question and help them reason out the correct answer. I am not sure it is really fair to test over a difficult topic. I am all about helping kids be successful in any way I can. The vocabulary strategy this week was over Greek and Latin word parts. We looked at "spect", "struct", "tele", and "vis". Knowing their origin and meaning help students better understand the word. Please remember to have your student study the vocab packet and spelling words for tomorrow.

Math

We are really moving in this topic. We had a test today over topic 3. YAY! They know how to multiply using a couple different strategies. We will end the week by correcting the tests and next week we will begin topic 4. This topic is covering double-digit multiplication.

Social Studies

We are diving right into the Southeast and learning about the make-up of the land. The students learned about the Outer and Inner Coastal Plain, Piedmont and the Appalachian Mountains. They learned about the Fall line which is a line of waterfalls that separates the Piedmont from the Coastal Plains. We also talked about wetlands ( bogs, swamps, and marshes). We also worked on some map skills using directions. They had to use a compass rose to figure out which directions to go. We will continue more map skills using directions next week. Our next lesson that we started today focuses on the climate in the area.

Catholic Schools Week

Please find in the youngest students folder an outline of Catholic Schools Week and what to expect. I will add it in my blog the Thursday before Catholic Schools week. This year CSW runs from Sunday, January 30 - Friday, February 4th.

Spirit Day

Tomorrow is Spirit Day! What a perfect day to wear sweat pants! I love my sweatpants on a snowy day. Let's see how many dollars we can bring in this week!! Teachers are even allowed to wear sweats tomorrow due to snow!

I really hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I enjoyed every bit of my break! I hope that all of you did also. I would like to say Thank you to all those who showered me with gifts. It was very thoughtful and the gifts were all perfect!!

Watch out for the weather tomorrow! Enjoy the snow! I know I will!!

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels