March 2, 2023

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday!! I hope this finds everyone doing well this week. Are we all excited? Spring Break is just around the corner. We have accomplished a lot so far this year. They may not like it but they are working hard. Some are still struggling with organization and keeping their areas cleaned up. It is better than it was for sure but they still have some work to do. Late slips started over this week for Trimester 3. YAY! Some students needed it too. I had 3 students not get a single late slip in the 2nd Trimester! I hope their are more than that for the last trimester. I know if April and May when the weather gets nice it tends to be harder remembering to get their work done.

Language Arts

This week we are reading the story Harvesting Hope, which is a story about Cesar Chavez and his fight to get a contract for the migrant workers in California. It is a good story and the kids enjoy that it really happened. In the book series Front Desk that I read to them it talks about the migrant workers. In grammar this week they are learning about independent clauses and dependent clauses. I describe this using the analogy that kids are dependent on their parents they can not live alone without them. Independent people are the parents that give you what you need: shelter, clothing and food. A dependent clause can not live on its own it is not a complete sentence but an independent clause can stand on its own. This seems to really the help the students grasp the idea, even when some students seem to think they can live on their own. (haha). The vocabulary strategy this week was on reference sources. This is a little out dated since not many use actual books for reference sources anymore, examples dictionary, encyclopedia, almanac and Thesaurus. All of the information can be found online which is where most people get it. Tomorrow is a normal Friday. We will be taking a spelling Post Test and our end of the week test. Please be sure your child studies their yellow packet and spelling words.

Math

This week in math we started talking about remainders in division. They are dividing problems that have things left over. They have to decide if the remainder is reasonable by comparing it to the divisor, and whether the remainder is important. If we are talking about a field trip and how many buses we need, if we have kids left over we can't just leave them at home we would need another bus or van to transport them. We will finish the week beginning to learn how to use partial quotients to divide. This is not something you were taught but some of you may automatically use this strategy to help you. If they are struggling they can come in early in morning to ask for help. You do not need to stress about it at home. I try to take it slow so that everyone cathches on. This strategy may or may not slow us down a little bit. The hard part is then we have almost a week and half off and that gives them time to forget what they were doing. So I may have to start over when we return.

Social Studies

We have started the Midwest this week. They have listed all the states in their notebooks and have made their answer key to study for a map test. We begin by talking about the Great Lakes, how they were formed and their importance. Then we will talk about the Badlands in South Dakota. We learn the same thing, how they came about and their importance. I will talk about how South Dakota is a great family summer vacation. Sorry, if you haven't done this trip before long your kids are going to be telling you that they want to go. There is a lot to do there.

Dress Code

Yes, this month starts the kids ability to wear shorts. My statement to them is: Just because you can does not mean you should". When you have to wear a winter coat yet you are in shorts. Not a good option. I told the kids I would help them each day. I will tell them what the temperature will be for the next day so we can decide if shorts are appropriate. The month of February was unseasonably warm and they are saying the month of March is to be below normal temps all month. The students are not allowed to bring sweatpants to put on over their shorts at recess because sweats are not allowed. We also do not allow shorts with running tights underneath because running tights are athletic gear and just like sweats. The kids will not be kept inside for recess because they wore shorts. They need to dress according to the weather.

Fish Fry

Tomorrow is the Fish Fry at school that is put on by the Knights of Columbus. Some of the proceeds to the fish fry come to the school. They have drive up service! I know you get some cookies with your fish because the teachers are making them.

STM Foundation Auction

The St Malachy Foundation Auction is Saturday night March 4th. I hope you have all purchased your tickets to attend. I am unable to attend this year due to having a Bridal Shower for my daughter in Omaha on Saturday. It is always a good time.

We are getting close to Spring Break. We only have 3 days of school next week then they are free. Some are very happy about this and some are not. I hope all of you enjoy break no matter what you do. I am not going anywhere this year and I am very okay with it. I feel like I need time to catch up on things at home and do some Spring Cleaning. Then I can go back to my weekends being free. I will be refreshed and ready to come back to finish out the year.

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels