Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone had a relaxing break and a wonderful holiday.

Thank you to all of the generous families for the gifts and cards I received for the holidays!  I think of your children as my own, and I feel so honored to be a part of their lives and to feel appreciated by all of you!

4th grade Spelling words (irregular plurals):  cacti, oxen, children, people, geese, sheep, fruit, fish, teeth, mice

Content words:  Constitution, United States, Preamble, liberty, justice

5th grade Spelling words (multi-syllabic words with /oo/):  airproof, afternoon, lagoon, fireproofing, raccoon, doorknob, schooling, balloon, blooming, foolproof

Content words:  simile, metaphor, figurative, language, progress

Math this week will continue what we started before the winter break.  Fourth graders will continue on multi-step word problems and fifth graders will continue our focus on fractions by subtracting fractions with unlike denominators and then simplifying the answer.

Students did an excellent job on their Genius Hour presentations before the break.  Their grades are coming home today.  This Friday, students will begin to research a new topic of their choice for Genius Hour.  Presentations will be due by February 12th.

All students Science Fair projects are due MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5th.  If you have not begun your experiments, it is important to start as soon as possible because you should have multiple (3) trials for the topic that your child chose.

Reading Bags will begin again on Tuesday, January 9th.  I need time to collect the assignments from before the break and get new reading material ready for all groups.  Students are still expected to read and fill in their Weekly Reading Log tonight.

Reminder that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 15th due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.