Dear Parents, 
I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas break. I had a great time with my siblings and all their kids. I also had a great time over New Years with Mrs. Sickels in Branson, MO. 


Math- This week they have been busy with estimating decimals by rounding or using benchmark numbers. Benchmark numbers are set. They use 0. 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00. So they might change 2.15 to 2.00 or 2.67 to 2.75. They have also begun adding and subtracting with estimation. Today they worked on adding decimals. The only real trick to remember is the decimal in your final answer! They will also be subtracting soon. I think we will be wrapping up this chapter next week. There might be a test towards the end of the week. 

Reading- This week we read a biography on James Forten. He was a free African American during the Revolutionary War. He worked on sails for ships and then got permission to work on one of the ships. His job was to carry the gunpowder from below deck to the upper deck for the cannons.His ship was later captured by the British. His fear was being taken and then sent back to be a slave. He was lucky. That didn't happen to him. He ended up owning the sail business and fighting as an abolitionist. They will test on Friday. Next week will be our last story in this unit. The week of Jan. 21 will be a unit test week. 

In grammar they are working on commas. We are putting them in for direct address and introductory elements. They also put them in for items in a series. They also did a little bit of work with semicolons. 

Book Report- Last week I assigned their next book report. They have all chosen a Newbery winner or Newbery Honor book to read. Their projects are the same as the last time, but they can't repeat a project. For example, if they did the Book in a Bag last time, they will have to choose a new one for this book. I think many of them are really enjoying their books. 

Writing Project- I also assigned last week a short writing project. They were to pick a person from the Revolutionary War and do research on them. I gave them specific questions to answer about their person along with a link to look them up. They were writing a rough draft for me which will be due on Wednesday, January 16. I will edit those and then they are going to type up their final report on their Chromes. I will post those in our hallway once they are done. I think this is good practice for when they do their 3rd book report which will be a biography. 

Religion- We came back and made sympathy cards for Mrs. Meisenheimer and Mrs. Coen last week. This week we are working on a Christmas chapter for a little bit, but then we are getting back into a new chapter. 

Mass Sign up- In your child's folder is a sign up sheet to help with the mass that kicks off Catholic Schools Week. That mass will be on the 27th at Holy Spirit. Please return those by Jan. 16.

Auction- There is a letter in the folder about our auction basket as well. Please check it out and do what you can to help out! The auction is set for March 2. Thanks to the moms on the letter for taking care of it for us! 

I hope you have a great weekend! Don't forget your kids don't have school on Monday!
God Bless,
Miss Surma