October 27, 2022

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday! WOW! It has been a week. OH WAIT I mean next week will be a week! It is only 3 days long. Two and a half if we think about the Halloween activities take up half the day. Conferences take place Monday through Thursday. Thursday is wide open if anyone needs to make a change. It may be a short week but it is a busy one for sure. This blog is super full of information! I do not think I forgot anything!

Language Arts

This week we are reading a very fun realistic fiction story called Uncle Romie and Me. It is one of my favorites from this book. It is about a young boy who lives in North Carolina and is going to stay with his Aunt and Uncle that he has never met in New York City. It talks about his stay and how he gets to know his Aunt and Uncle. The Uncle's character is based on a real artist Romare Bearden. He is a real Collage artist and you can look him up to see he art. It is displayed throughout the United States. In grammar we learned about Present Progressive, Past Progressive and future Progressive tenses. These verbs are made up of 2 -3 verbs, one being a helping verb the other an action verb. The action verb will always end in -ing. The helpiing verb is the one that decides what tense it is. The Vocabulary strategy this week was on Idioms or figurative language. Idioms are saying things that we really don't mean literally. Examples would be good as gold, heart of gold, safe and sound, and head over heels. Tomorrow is Friday so they need to study for a spelling test and the vocab packet (yellow).

Math

This week we have worked on basic facts for addition and subtraction. We also began Topic 3 with learning how to multiply by 10, 100, and 1,000. They caught on to this quickly. I love this being our first lesson because I try to tell them all the lessons are this easy. I try to make this topic as stress free as I can. Yes, they will be learning a strategy that you are not comfortable with but it is a good one and I have been teaching it for years. It did not just come along with the "new" math people talk about. If your student is struggling have them come in early about 7:45 and I can help them. Don't stress at home because you do not understand it.

Social Studies

This week we are finishing up Chapter 4. We checked the study guide today the test will be tomorrow! Next week is so short I will have to be creative with what we do. I will be teaching them the states and capitals song because we will be adding the capitals to the states in this next chapter over the Northeast. We will also begin chapter 5.

October Book It Calendars

The October Calendars are due November 1st with a parent signature. I will accept calendars for the week but after November 5th no Pizza certificate will be awarded. I want all calendars turned in whether they met the goal or not.

Book Report

The 4th grade Cereal Box Book Report is due Monday, November 7th.

Halloween

Halloween is Monday. Our morning will be the same as usual but the afternoon gets a little crazy! We will have a drink and snack provided by out homeroom moms and then we participate in Halloween activities put on by the Middle School. The Annual Halloween Parade will take place at 2:30 in the gym. All are invited! Students are to bring their costumes to school and they will be given time to change prior to parade. Students may also leave with parents when parade is over. Just be sure to come to the room to get your student.

Mass

Next week Mass will be on Tuesday, November 1st to honor All Saints Day. There will not be Mass on Wednesday. I will remind the students on Monday to dress up on Tuesday instead of Wednesday!

Conferences

Conferences are next week! I look forward to meeting with each of you. Everyone is all signed up! Thank you for that! If you need to make any changes just delete the time you are signed up for then sign up in an empty slot.

No School

Due to conferences there will be NO SCHOOL on Thursday, November 3 and Friday November 4! Enjoy your long weekend!

Spirit Day

Tomorrow is another spirit day! It is a great day to wear sweatpants. Bring your dollars in and be comfy and warm all day.

Dress Code

The last day to wear shorts is Monday, October 31! It is a dress code change just like making a clock change.

There was so much information in this blog!! I hope you can keep it all straight. I may need to pull what hair I have out next week. Kids are usually crazy. It is much better when Halloween does not fall during conference week. I hope all of you have a great long weekend! See you all next week.

God Bless,

Mrs Sickels