Good Morning!  Spring is finally here!  It is about time.
This has been a very busy week for us (as usual).  We have much news.  We WON the Jump Rope for Heart contest.  Our students will receive an additional PE time at some point in the next month or so.I still have not heard about the WGNA song contest, but I hope to get some information soon.  The book order is due on Tuesday.  There will only be one more order after this one.

Reading:  The children have been working on answering "W" questions on complete sentences based on textual evidence from passages.  I am also requiring correct spelling and mechanics.  We continue to work on developing main ideas, or as they are called now, "central themes".

Math:  We are working on skip counting in the higher numbers.  We are also comparing numbers into the hundreds place and identifying the attributes of solid (3D) shapes.  We had our facts test on Tuesday.  You should've received the results yesterday.  Your child should be answering 80 out of 100 facts correctly in 5 minutes.  I will be starting to keep those students that are behind in at recess time for additional practice to try to raise their scores.

Writing:  We have been continuing to write persuasive letters.  We wrote one lobbying for a stuffed animal day.  The children did persuade me!  Next Friday, April 26, children will be asked to bring their favorite animal for the day.  Behold the power of the pen!  We also wrote letters to the Board of Education urging them to keep the specials as part of the elementary curriculum.  Since much of the aid was restored, there is little chance of this happening but the children were very interested in sharing their opinion on the subject.  We are one of the classes involved in creating commercials for the Litterless Lunch Days (Monday and Tuesday).  Your child will present the info to the fifth grade classes on Friday.

Science:  We have been experimenting with pure types of soil to determine their attributes and have branched into identifying the components of mystery mixes of soil.  This is a very hands-on unit!   In our computer lab time we used an interactive soils site.  I have added the link to the blog.

Thank you for your ready support and interest.  People like you make my job a joy!