Happy Friday!



What a week! It seems like we did a lot of testing - but... the kids really hung in there and did well! The Mock MSA on Wednesday went VERY WELL! The tests themselves aren't graded, we go over them as a class. What I want them to get out of the whole exercise is the test-taking experience. Please ask your child how they think they did.



Next week, although there's no school on Monday, will be a "regular" week!



Language Arts: We will be finishing up Ancillary Texts - places we can go to for information... reference books, web sites, articles, etc.



Math: We'll be taking our 3rd quarter pretest. You'll also be receiving the new list of skills we will be covering this quarter. Be aware - multiplication and division are on the horizon!!! If your child is not proficient in addition or subtraction, this may present a problem. PLEASE practice these facts at home! Along with the pretest we'll be doing some calculator practice and some additional work with problem solving.



Social Studies: We'll be discussing Taxes, who works at City Hall, and Voting. Ask your child to tell you some information we've been talking about in class!



Writing: The class finished a persuasive writing piece about whether to allow dodge ball to be played in schools or not. They did a nice job! Next week we'll continue with our writer's workshop.



Cursive: We're done with all of our lower case letters! So...that means there will be more writing in cursive! Next week we'll be starting with some upper-case.



Word Study: Our focus next week will be words that make the /j/ sound.



I think that's it for now. Our Valentine's Party will be on February 14th. A letter will be coming home soon asking for donations for the party.



Don't forget!! Your child's Cultural Project is due Thursday, January 26.



Have a wonderful weekend - remember there's no school on Monday - it's the end of Term 2 and I'll be working on report cards!



Faith Humerick