Hello Parents! I hope you are having a great week! Colds and illnesses have started to enter our classroom. Me included! I am going to be pushing using hand sanitizer! If you are at the store, the classroom could also use more wipes! I bought a 3 pack on Tuesday. 

 Calendar Dates:

Nov. 17- End of 1st Trimester

Nov. 21 - BizTown Field Trip

Nov. 22-27- No School/Thanksgiving Break

Nov. 28- School Resumes

Nov. 29- 5th grade mass

Reading- This week we are reading a story about the tsunamis that hit Indonesia in 2004! Remember seeing that on the news?? I showed them a little of a video that was taken that day, but it was mostly the aftermath. These stories are definitely harder to read due to the content and vocabulary. It is interesting to see how they predict those earthquakes under the sea. Did you know they measure coral?? They also knew that the island was slowly sinking so the scientists predicted something was going to happen! I had no idea. That is a lot different from predicting tornadoes! Their spelling list this week is compound words! Did you notice that some have spaces in between while others have hyphens? That is always  a fun pretest to give! In grammar they are working on conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. We also are talking about dependent and independent clauses. 

Math- We started chapter 3 this week with multiplication. They had to multiply one and two digit numbers by 10, 100, 1000. They also had to estimate their factors and then mentally multiply to find the product. On Tuesday, they worked on multiplying numbers by a single digit. On Thursday we will begin multiplying  double digits . This should be a review, but I always go slower because I know it takes a minute to remember how to do it. We will use the standard algorithm which means the way you learned to multiply! So, you can always help them at home too. 

Biz Town- The 4th and 5th got together to finish up their work in their businesses on Tuesday. Today, I sat with each business and we filled out their checkbooks and deposit tickets. They also had to enter some information into their bank register so they will be ready to go! We will leave that morning at 8:00 am! Please make sure your child is here by that time! They need to wear mass day attire. They need to have a sack lunch and drink that day. No sodas. We told them not to pack a full course meal because they probably won't have much time to really eat that day.  It is also a "working lunch"! 😉 I will tell the kids that morning what cars they are riding in. They are sooooo excited! They have a countdown going on! 

Religion- We started our new chapter on the Beatitudes. They don't have to memorize them! We spend a lot of time talking about each one and how to live it! Our next mass is on the 29th, the Wednesday we get back from Thanksgiving. I don't know that I will have everything ready for them next week...so they might not get their reading parts until the 28th, but I am going to try!    I told the kids today that Father was back, but wouldn't be at mass because he was sleeping! Guess who surprised us??? It was so good to see his smiling face again! 

Our kickoff to the Read-A-Thon started today with our Advent Angels! It was a lot of fun! Ask your kids!  They can add that 30 minutes of reading to their papers! 

I won't be writing a blog next week! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you are traveling to see family, I will say some prayers for smooth roads and no deer! I plan on heading back to Waterloo to spend it with my brother and his family. 🦃🍽

God Bless, 

Miss Surma