October 25, 2023

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday! It sure is a dreary one. The thunder was fun. The kids were very surprised when it happened. It was nice to have a good old-fashioned rain come through. I just hope my basement is dry when I get home. In August my basement flooded due to my sump pump deciding it was done working. It has been replaced but I get worried when it rains this much and I am not home. I am sure it is just fine. At lease I am praying that it is. I was gone yesterday afternoon to get a tooth pulled. This morning I was very swollen from it. I felt like I had a bowling ball in my check. The kids were very understanding and I iced it about every 20 min for 20min. The swelling has gotten better as the day has gone on. I hope tomorrow is even better. I hate teeth and all the pain they can cause but we can't live without them. Soup is my best friend right now. Thanks to Willy's for making cheese soup and for my sister who brought it to me.

Language Arts

This week we are reading a play. The play is called Catch Me if You Can. It is the story of Princess Atalanta and her father the King. He wants her to get married and she does not know whether she wants to get married or not. They decide to hold a running race. Whoever beats Atalanta gets to marry her. Ask your student how it ends. We have worked on progressive verb tenses this week. This uses the "be" verb (am, is, are, was, were, and will be). We worked on the sounds /ou/ and schwa /o/. We worked on these sounds on our spelling list and also during decoding in class. We learned the meaning of latin root words vis, aud, and spec. They learned that words that have these roots in them have a certain meaning. Vis is to see, aud is to hear, and spec is to look. We looked at some examples and then came up with some of our own. Tomorrow they will take their spelling post test. We will reread the story again and then they will take their selection test and end of week test.

Math

We have finished our review over topic 2. They will take a test tomorrow. Their books are in their bags so they can go over the review at home again tonight to prepare for tomorrow. We will then begin learning some things about Biztown. Biztown is math that we will do to teach them about how to fill our checks and deposit slips and also how to balance check books. We will be taking a field trip to Biztown in Des Moines on Nov. 21st. There is a note in today's folder about going and needing drivers and helpers to go with us. For the next few weeks in math we will focus solely on the math needed to attend. They will each be given a job and will need to work in a business. They will get a paycheck that they will deposit into the bank and there is a store to spend the money they make. After November 21st we will move into topic 3 on multiplication. We will spend a great amount of time on this topic.

Social Studies

They have just learned the importance of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. They learned what it means to harvest the sea compared to harvesting crops in Iowa. They also learned how pollution affects Chesapeake Bay and what we can do to help. They will be getting read to take a test in this subject next week. They will begin a study guide tomorrow and it will be due on Monday. We will check it on Tuesday and test on Wednesday. Please, keep plugging away at learning the Northeast states and how to label a map. They will take another Map test soon.

Halloween

We will celebrate Halloween on October 31st. Please have your child pack their costumes in a bag to bring with them that day. We will have Halloween activities to participate in put on by the Middle school. We will have birthday treats provided by Norah as a snack for that day. At the end of the day we will have our annual Halloween parade held in the gym. You are welcome to come join in on the fun. It is usually a packed gym. If you plan on taking your child with you after the parade you need to contact the office in advance.

Conferences

Next week is the week! Conferences are here and I have all of you signed up for a time. Thank you! I look forward to seeing all of you next week. Make sure you have your date and time down. I have had parents skip their scheduled time because they have the wrong day. Please double check what you have signed up for.

Red and Black Day / Spirit Day

We are going to celebrate our 9 - 0 Football team on Friday by wearing red and black. It is a spirit day the high is only to be 54 so it is a great day to wear sweats also! We want to support our team as they play in their first play off game. GO PANTHERS!!

October Book It Calendars

The October book it calendar is due November 1st with a parent signature. Please do not forget to turn them in. I will give the students their November calendar next week.

Book Reports

Book reports are due Nov. 8th. This date is slowly sneaking up on us. Please be sure your child has read or is reading their book. When they are finished they need to come to me for the paperwork needed to help them complete their cereal box. I have many that are working on them, two that are down with them, and many that have not picked up the paper work. I would hate for them to have to spend their 4 day weekend hustling to get a book report finished.

I hope all of you have a great weekend. Next week the kids get to enjoy a 4 day weekend. They do not have school on Thursday or Friday Nov. 2nd and 3rd. YAY! So my favorite word has appeared in the forecast. We have a chance of snow Saturday into Sunday. I bet it doesn't amount to much. 26 years ago today we had quite a storm. It began in the middle of the night on the 25th and I woke up to snow and no electricity on the 26th. My twins were just 4 months old, which is how I remember. It was a very wet heavy snow. I doubt we have that kind of a snow. I am more interested in the time change. It is getting harder for me to get up in the dark. I am ready for the sun to be out when I need to get out of bed. I know a lot of people hate daylight savings time but I for one do not.

I plan to relax and read this weekend. With my tooth I think I will continue to take it easy.

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels