Hello Parents,
I hope you are all staying warm! Winter is here! 

Language Arts- This week we are reading a story called James Forten. It is a biography about an African American who was free during the Revolutionary War. At a young age, he signed up to work on one of the ships during the war. They had to surrender to the British. He was held prisoner for a time. We also learned that he dedicated the rest of his life to working on sails for ships and was quite profitable with it. He also worked on freeing slaves and getting women the right to vote. In grammar we are focusing on using commas and semi-colons. That was something new for me! We used our commas to separate items in a series, to set off a direct address in a sentence, or where an introductory element is being used in a sentence. Next week will be the last story in this unit. They will have a normal week of spelling and a test over the story next Friday. 

Math- We started working on division.  On Monday they worked on drawing me pictures to show what division looks like. On Tuesday we worked on doing some division mentally with the basic facts. On Wednesday and Thursday, they are learning to do estimating through compatible numbers. I am stressing to them to keep their multiplication table handy. I will sometimes rephrase the division problem into a multiplication problem to help them find the quotient. 

Religion- We are finishing up our quizzes!!! We are also working on liturgical calendar and Advent.  They will be going to reconciliation on Thursday.

Geography Bee- The final round will be on Wednesday, Dec. 18 around 10:30. You are welcome to come and watch. This will be held in the gym.

Friday, Dec. 20- This is our last day before break. It is a full day. We do not get out early that day. They will need a sack lunch and drink on that day. They will be eating with their Advent Angels. We will also do some caroling.  In the afternoon, grades 3-5 will watch a movie together. Since this is the last day we are raising money for the Philippines, I want ALL 5th graders to have a water bottle that day. They will be able to have that with them during the movie. We  will also have a treat that day. I would like a parent to volunteer to supply some kind of treat for the 5th graders. The 3rd and 4th will have their own. Please let me know ASAP if you can help out with that! Thanks. Nothing big! 

Classes will resume on January 2 and 3rd. 

Thank you for all the donations we received for the St. Nicholas Project. We collected about 361 items! Woo hoo!  I believe the noisy change collection on Wednesday raised a little over $300! So much giving!!!!!  The students should be so proud of their contributions! 

Program- Way to go, 5th graders, with the Christmas concert! You did a wonderful job! 

TJ and Nate Memorial-- We have extra money from your donations last week. We decided to purchase some of their favorite books in memory of them for our school library because they were such big readers. The remaining money will be used in some way as a memorial here at school for the kids to see. Mrs. Sickels and I have a couple of ideas, but if you have suggestions, please email us. We will consider all ideas. The cost will also play a role in what we choose to do. We aren't going to rush into this just yet. We want some time to think it over. Thank you again! 

The week has felt a little more normal, but we continue to receive sympathy cards. The support has been amazing.  Have a great weekend! God Bless, Miss Surma