September 15, 2022

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday! I hope this finds all of you doing well. How about the weather! I have been enjoying it! We have been hard at it this week. A FULL week is very nice. I also enjoy short weeks but it messes with our routine. Balloon Days is this weekend. I hope everyone has the opportunity to get out and enjoy them. Let's pray they get to go up! I gave a few more late slips this week. I figure I will give a few more as the weeks progress. I am really working on some to keep them organized and to know what they need to work on and what is done. Again I don't expect them to have it down pat all ready. I do think by Thanksgiving they will be professionals. They are doing a great job. We need to understand that sometimes they make mistakes and theat is okay! We are all human.

Language Arts

This week we are reading the story called My Camel is a Librarian. It is an interesting story but only the first time we read it. After that I know it gets redundant. this is one of those stories that students really don't like. I totally agree with them. Now, knowing this, do not expect high test scores. I find that when students are not as interested in the text they do not tend to do as well on the end of the week test. In Grammar this week, we focused on quotations. Quotations can be hard at this level. There is a lot of things to keep track of. We talked about split quotations and direct quotations. I will read this section to them on the test tomorrow. I will give them 2 answers to choose from instead of 4. When given four options there is just too much to look at, and even an adult would struggle to find the correct answer. I try to cut it down to a right answer and a wrong answer to give them a better opportunity at a good score. The Vocabulary strategy this week was on Context. Knowing how to use the context of a sentence to figure out the meaning of a word. Tomorrow will be a normal Friday. They need to study their spelling words and the yellow packet of vocabulary words.

Math

We finished up the lessons in topic 1 today. Tomorrow we will begin the review or "dress rehearsal" is what I call it. The way the dress rehearsal works is, the students are assigned the pages in class, and while working on them they can come ask any question they want to me about the problem. Everyone should be asking questions because they can. When everyone is finished with the "dress rehearsal". I will than go over every problem on the board. I will show how to work it and answer any questions they may have. When I give them the actual test they are NOT allowed to ask any questions because the problems are the same as what was on the review just different numbers. So I do everything in my power to prepare them for the test and to be successful. We will spend the next 3-4 days doing this.

Social Studies

We are focusing on Government this week. We have discussed the 3 levels and the 3 branches, which is review from last year. We talked about what each branch looks like at each level. We talked about where the number of Senators comes from and where the number of representatives comes from. We have one more lesson to go before we begin reviewing for a test.

FAST Testing

I have finished the fast testing for 4th graders. We will use these scores to make some decisions on students and interventions. I have a meeting the end of the month for Reading and one the beginning of October for Math. I will be letting you know if that means any changes for your child.

Tomorrow is NOT a Spirit Day. Monday begins the week of Homecoming! We will be having a Pep Rally at the school on Monday. Students could wear their Red/Black Creston gear for it, BUT then we will ask them to wear some again Friday in honor of the Homecoming parade.

I hope all of you have a great weekend! Enjoy the Balloons! I am headed to my daughter, Jami's in Des Moines for the weekend. Friday night I plan to attend the ADM Homecoming game to watch my bestie's son who is a Senior. Saturday I will watch Jami coach Volleyball in a tournament and then we are going to the Candle Bar in Valley Junction. (It's my birthday gift) Sunday will just be a casual day before I come home. I am looking to a fun filled weekend.

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels