Hello! Happy Weekend! It's been a LONG week with a lot of work, but we ended it with a wonderful party! You'll see photos of that at the end, for right now, here's what we've been up to:

Language Arts: We have been working sooo hard on our MSA practices. Reading stories (fiction and nonfiction), articles, menus, directions, pamphlets, and just about everything else, and then answering comprehension questions about them. These questions may be multiple choice or short answer - just like the MSA's. Ask your child about the strategies we've been talking about for these types of tests.

Math: We've just finished a fractions unit and we'll be revisiting some skills as a review for the MSA's. As we have been all year, we continue to practice our BCR's (Brief Constructed Responses) to show that we can explain how we get the answer to any problem. This shows deep understanding of the skills being learned.

Writing: Our writing is really improving! The kids are really finding their "voice" and using "word choice" strategies to make what they write interesting.

Cursive: We're almost finished lower case and upper case letters. Once we've covered all of them, some assignments will be mandatory in cursive!

Science: In our Rocks, Soil, and Fossils Unit we have been taking apart "rocks" to find the "minerals" that make it up. These "rocks" looked surprisingly like clay with different colored beads, but the idea was made! These were measured and weighed with a spring scale.

PLEASE speak with your child about taking the MSA's. The first day of testing is March 8. We'll be doing 2 days of LA and 2 days of Math. They are prepared for this test! They just need to take their time and CHECK THEIR WORK! Also, please be sure your child eats a healthy breakfast each morning and gets plenty of sleep.

Some interesting things going on:
Next week is School Spirit Week if your child wants to participate
March 4 and 5 are the rescheduled days for Donuts for Dad.
Change is still being collected for Haiti.


IMPORTANT: Conferences were cancelled because of loss of instructional time. I am willing to meet/speak with any parent who has concerns. Please call me or email me!

NOW ON TO THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE BLOG - PICTURES!!!!
We had such an awesome Valentine's Party - thanks to Meena Bassan for organizing everything and to Jim McCown for the fun games. Also, thanks to all who sent in the goodies!

Here they are opening their Valentines and goody bags.

Congratulations to Chloe and Brandon for getting the licorice in the fastest!

The rest of the photos are the kids trying to figure out how many hearts were in the jar. Contrats to Kaleb!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Humerick

I'm updating this today (Thursday) since I'm not too sure about tomorrow! (Actually, next week, too!) Hopefully we'll have a great "weekend" snowstorm and be back on Monday!

Anyway, here's an update on the learning going on our class:

Language Arts: Today was our first day of computer lab for Power Point. It was AWESOME! The kids really listened to directions and loved typing their information on slides. I can't wait for them to see the finished product! When this "Reading Science Texts" project is over, we will be doing lots of MSA prep - reading text and answering questions or writing summaries.

Math: We're still working with multiplication and division - we'll also be practicing telling time - this is really something you can work on at home, too.

Writing: We've listened to music, and now artwork to see that everyone uses different voice when communicating. We're going to begin working with this trait, "Voice", and adding "Word Choice" into the mix. The students are really grasping the fact that these traits go hand in hand to make their writing better!

Valentine's Day - thanks to Meena Bassan for pulling all of this together. Also, thanks to Jim McCown for planning games for the party. Students may begin bringing in valentines for everyone on Monday. I'd like to have them all in by Thursday so they can be delivered. Thanks to all who contributed in some way to the party!

That's it for now! Enjoy your weekend -
Mrs. Humerick