The spelling test planned for tomorrow has been moved to Wednesday. There are a number of very difficult words. I had planned to do several classroom activities, but other activities took longer than I expected. We will do the spelling review tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday with the test on Wednesday.
Don’t forget that your child can always practice the words at spellingcity.com!
Dr. Seuss’ birthday is Saturday!
What better way to celebrate the great man’s 109th birthday than wear pajamas to school on Friday?
Your child may also wear slippers in the classroom but should have sneakers for the gym. A favorite book should accompany your child to school as we will be sharing books throughout the day.
The only question now…what will Mrs. Dittman be wearing? Oh, the suspense!
I hope everyone enjoyed their winter break. I spent a great deal of mine resting and reading, recovering from whatever nasty bug had decided to make a winter home with me. I managed to read two novels (a luxury during the school year) and planned many lessons for your children.
Our first week back was busy. We welcomed Miss Holly Atkins, a junior from Cortland who will be spending three weeks with us while completing a field experience. Miss Atkins has jumped right in, quickly learning the names of the children and assisting with lessons.
We finished the last of the science presentations. The posters showed a great deal of thought and creativity. Be sure to take a look at them when you are in the building. Your children keep getting better at presenting with each project we complete. It is a pleasure to see them show their work and answer questions about it.
We finished the story from our reader, Finding the Titanic and will be starting a new novel this week called Stone Fox. It is shorter than Because of Winn-Dixie, so we will complete it in about two weeks. We will then move on to the Lou Gehrig story in our reader. I am sure you have already noticed, but I am working to incorporate both fiction and non-fiction equally in ELA. We are also working each day in Simple Solutions. Your children tell me they think grammar is fun (imagine that!) and that they are good at it (and they are!). I really like this program and hope that you are also seeing the results of constant review of the topics.
We are continuing to study division. It has proven to be more of a struggle than I anticipated. We are going to move to some geometry and then fractions, but there will be continual practice provided in both multiplication and division. Please practice these skills with your children in daily life whenever possible. Seeing that they are skills they will use in the real world does make an impact.
In science, we are discussing force, friction, gravity, inertia, and a myriad of related topics. This will soon lead us to simple machines and our next big project.
I am thoroughly enjoying teaching Social Studies. The third graders are working with the topic of community and celebrations. Fourth graders are continuing their exploration of life in early New York state. (We all decided we are glad we live here now as we are happier with grocery stores, convenient heat, and indoor bathrooms!)
As we continue our journey through the season of Lent, we will be discussing how best to prepare ourselves for Easter. The children have made their own crosses as a reminder to bear their burdens gladly. We have talked about making sacrifices and praying for strength and courage. This coming week we will learn about the history of the pretzel and its ties to Lent as well as an almsgiving project.
As a final bit of news, we are welcoming a new fourth grade boy to our class on Monday. He came to us for a visit before break and is excited to be a part of our classroom family. The following Monday, we will be welcoming a fourth grade girl. She is a returning student who came to kindergarten at ICS. We are very happy about her return!
Spring is just around the corner (if I just keep saying it…)
Enjoy your week!
