September 9, 2021

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday! I am so very happy with how this week is going. The students are doing a great job of adapting. I am just so shocked at what a turn around it is from just last week. Maybe the long weekend was helpful. They are learning what it is like to have homework and use their time wisely. Many of the students learned today that doing your work quickly just to get it done and not doing it well will come back to bite you. The majority of the class received their Social Studies worksheet back to correct. They rushed and didn't make sure their answers actually answered the questions. Plus I gave them a huge hint on one of the answers that is highlighted in their books. So, now they are doing the worksheet for the 2nd time. This happens every year. They will soon figure out they might as well take their time and do it right the first time or they will have to do it again and that wasted precious time and gave them more work in the long run. We will all be amazed by the end of the year how much them have grown as a student. I have faith in all of them!

Language Arts

This week is a short week in language arts. Only 4 days to try and do all important lessons that we normally do in 5 days. The kids have been very good this week. The homework is picking up a little bit which keeps them busy. Again, they have done a good job. Yesterday if they used their time wisely they should have only brought one item home. If they brought more than one item home they did not use their time wisely. I think they all have the vocabulary packet (yellow) figured out. The definitions MUST be taken from the glossary of their Language Arts book, and the antonyms and synonyms are found on powerthesaurus.org. They are to write the top two words given in each category. This will become very routine and easy for them as we keep going. This packet is normally done every Monday for homework unless we have a shortened week.

Math

We have been working on the Successmaker placement test most of the time. Successmaker is a program that goes along with our new math series that will help to fill any gaps in learning that the students have. This replaces Dreambox. This one is aligned to the standards and our series. We had another lesson from the book today. Today was about comparing numbers. We use these symbols to compare numbers; <, >, =. I think this is a fun lesson to teach the kids because it is a simple one. The hardest part for them in naming place values where the numbers are different. Some need to work on getting that place value chart down. Tomorrow we will finish up the lesson and we will do Successmaker during technology time. They are taking a placement test to see where they are and their abilities then it will decide what path to go on for the students. All the kids Successmaker will look different for each kid. It is based on their own learning just like Dreambox.

Social Studies

We finished a lesson on Tuesday and the students worked on a worksheet. As I said above many did not do well. They have that to correct for tomorrow. We started a new lesson today with 9 vocab words to define on note cards. They then had the entire social studies class to complete the note cards. Many did not get them finished but should have had just a few to complete. Again we are learning to use our time wisely. Tomorrow we will begin reading the lesson on government. We will review what the three branches are and how our government works.

Spirit Day

Tomorrow is a Spirit Day. It is our Iowa / Iowa State Day. The students can pay $1.00 to add a hat to their mix. Some asked if they could wear panther jerseys. Yes, they can but no pads with them. I heard a couple talking about wearing their pads. It is up to your child whether they participate in the Iowa / Iowa State day.

I can not express enough how well this week is going. They are much better listeners. Today was a lot! When we have a short week I have to make sure certain things get accomplished. They had lots to work on today. Honestly this is the heaviest it will ever be. They were handling it well, some better than others, but for the most part they were working when they should. I am going to say your child should only have about 2 things to complete at home unless they have a paper to correct also. Again, I apologize for the load today. Tomorrow they will have close to nothing. It is just the way it worked out. I like them to have some good play time over the weekend so I try hard to not give them too much. Most should be completed at school. Please email me with questions or concerns. No one emailed this week so I hope I am getting information to you.

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels