Where's George?

Erica's mom brought us a $1 bill with a red stamp on it reading http://www.wheresgeorge.com/. (It looked like the one pictured.) We went to the website, entered the dollar's serial number and year, and here's what we found:

1. We were the only people to enter information about this dollar since it was entered into the website, however...

2. This dollar was entered in the website and then spent in Wahpeton, North Dakota on December 16, 2006. Which means...

3. This bill has travelled 354 Miles in 1 year and 74 days. That's an average of 0.81 miles per day. And finally...

4. It's Erica's job to spend it. (Tough job!)

Friday, 2/29 Newsletter Updates

Happy LEAP Day!

Next Week is Lutheran Schools Week. Here's the Schedule:
The first week of March is always Lutheran Schools Week, and we're not waiting until Monday to get started. It starts tomorrow!

Saturday - Celebration Auction. Tickets are still available as I type this, but they are going fast. Last year was a great fun time. (Especially, in my opinion, watching the expressions on people's faces who hadn't heard a "real" auctioneer in action. And that includes myself.)

Sunday - All students attending the 9:00 service at Immanuel are invited to sing at the beginning of worship. We have been practicing Good News at school. The FUNFEST is from 11:00-3:00 in the school gym. (I challenge anyone in the toilet paper toss!)

Monday - Class ID Day. We chose a unique identity so we wouldn't be confused with any other classes. Orange stocking caps (if anyone has an extra, please send it!), hooded sweatshirts, swimsuits (boys) or "over the swimsuit" shorts/skirt (girls), sandals, stuffed animal and/or blanky. Bruce VanNatta will also give a presentation at 2:00.

Tuesday - Classroom switch day. Students will get 4 different lessons from 4 different teachers. The fourth graders will be in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th grade classrooms in the morning.

Wednesday - Dress-Up Day. Talent Show at 2:15. School visitation all day long. Come and see Immanuel in action!

Thursday - The First Ever Great Student/Teacher Quiz Bowl. It's sort of a "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" sort of thing. It's at 10:00.

Friday - School color day - wear your Immanuel clothes or your maroon and gold. David Britton will give a concert at 2:00, and there will also be a pep rally for the basketball teams going to the Tri-State Tournament in Freeport, Illinois.

The Upcoming Week
With next week being Lutheran Schools Week, we may or may not get to all these things. We'll just have to "roll with it." Sometimes activities take longer than expected, sometimes less. But it's worth it to celebrate the great school we have and the great organization of Lutheran Schools we have and the awesome God that makes it all possible.

Memory - At Home: Q3W6 Slips At School: 1. The Lord's Prayer 2. Prayer Before Meals.

Religion - Jesus heals the paralyzed man. Thanks to the whole class for their efforts in leading chapel. Thanks to everyone who was able to attend. If you weren't able to join us, I hope your fourth grader gave you all the details. It was quite memorable.

Reading - Finish Riding Freedom activities. The Kids' Invention Book.

English - Paragraph that classifies, informative composition.

Math - Millimeters, stories about a fraction of a group, Test 13.

Science - Finish our tours of the circulatory and digestive system.

Social Studies - Chapter 11, the Pacific States.

Spelling - Changing y to i with various endings. Unit 22 families, worried, ugliest, funnier, happily, easily, heavier, earlier, tiniest, supplied, luckily, relied EXTRA WORDS: activities, countries, goodies, applied BONUS WORDS: enemies, hurriedly

Chapel Tomorrow!

Everything is ready to go for chapel tomorrow, or at least all the stuff I remembered that needs to be ready! Come and worship with us at 9:00 if you can. Come see a day in the life of Joe Normal and see the loud (the volume kind) events in his day and the loud (the "make a joyful noise" kind) events in his day. Learn a new song. Sing an old one in a new way. See if the kindergarteners and first/second/third graders remember our singing lessons from today.

Everyone has a leading role during the service and in the message, and everyone should be practicing their speaking part for tomorrow. No, students don't need to memorize anything, but be able to read it clearly and fluently.

Maybe we'll see you tomorrow!

Friday, 2/22 Newsletter Updates

Midterms Next Tuesday
This weekend I'll be calculating midterm grades for the third quarter. Midterms will come home on Tuesday. Please sign and return the signature form as soon as possible. Any missing assignments (late and incomplete, not missing from absences) will be figured as zeros, and there are a number of items missing.

Missing Work
All students with missing work received a list today of all missing assignments. These need to be taken care of as soon as possible. What's happening, especially in memory, is that kids are working to get caught up on work but then their current work doesn't get completed causing even more late work. Students need to get caught up and stay caught up.

Parent Contacts
If I haven't spoken to you already, plan on hearing from me in the near future. I'm wondering if you have an questions or concerns about the year so far or where we're going from here or questions about re-enrollment and the upcoming year.

Parking on Monday
If you plan on being her Monday morning, 2/25, machinery will be here to take snow away from parking lots and side streets. Parking will only be permitted on streets farther away from school.

The Upcoming Week
Religion - Chapel planning.

Memory - 1. The 3rd Article Meaning from "In the same way" to "all believers" 2. "On the Last Day" to the end.

Reading - Finish Riding Freedom activities. (Did you read any of the book? If not, you're missing out on a great (short) book and a great opportunity to share your child's excitement for a a great book.

English -Paragraphs that classify.

Math - Similar and congruent figures, Multiplying by multiples of 10, more long division, millimeters.

Science - Tours of the digestive, circulatory, and nervous systems.

Social Studies - Chapter 10, The West, Mountain States.

Spelling - Lesson 21 nonstop, replaced, inactive, refill, incorrect, rethink, nonfat, reread, retell, return, incomplete, repay Extra Words: nonfiction, nonsense, indirect, independent

Look Outside and Look Up

If you happen to get your email soon, look outside at the moon. The eclipse is starting at 7:43 pm Central Time. That's now! And you can totally see it. It should be a glowing red ball by 9:00.

And did anyone get the Christopher Columbus question yet?

This Afternoon and Tonight

Choir at Lenten Worship
This is a just a reminder. A note was sent home last week. Church starts tonight at 4:00. The 3/4 grade choir is singing at the beginning of worship. Students may then go sit with their parents or stay and sit up front. I will be there and so will another teacher. If you are unable to be here to get your child after school, we will be walking over to church directly after school. You can meet us there.

Lunar Eclipse Tonight
Tonight there will be a total lunar eclipse. As best as I can find, the eclipse will start at for us around 9:00. The moon will be completely in the Earth's shadow, but still not completely dark. The first fourth grader to come and tell me how an eclipse just like this one saved Christopher Columbus will receive an engraved plaque and honor and praise above all other fourth graders...or maybe just a few extra credit points in Science.

Friday, 2/15 Newsletter Updates

No School Next Monday
Just a reminder that next Monday is a professional day. Teachers will have a large group meeting, grade level meetings with the principal, and time for collaboration with one another. Enjoy the long weekend!

Classroom Celebration Auction Basket Update
If anyone is still planning on sending in a donation for the basket, that's great. If you're planning on donating in other way, that's fine too. Here's what is in our basket (and a lot of kids said, "I'm telling Mom I want that basket." Just warning you.)
1. Slinky
2. Tiddly Winks
3. Marbles
4. Jacks
5. Pick-Up Sticks
6. A big tub of Lincoln Logs
7. Wooden ABC/123 Blocks (Is this what all the 4th graders wanted?)
8. WWII Spotter Cards (these are a deck of cards that show friendly and enemy aircraft from World War II)

Lutheran Schools Week is Coming
The first week of March is always Lutheran Schools Week. Here at Immanuel we start out with the Celebration Auction and the Spring Fun Fest on Saturday (March 1) and Sunday (March 2). All students are invited to sing at Immanuel worship on Sunday morning, and the rest of the week is filled with fun activities. Keep an eye on the newsletter for more details.

February 27 Chapel Service
Yes, you read the last note correctly. We, the fourth graders of Immanuel Lutheran School, will be leading the school in worship on Wednesday, February 27.

The Upcoming Week
Religion - Chapel planning and preparation.

Memory - At Home: Q3W4 Slips At School: 1. The Third Article 2. The Third Article's Meaning up to "...the true faith" (the first paragraph)

Reading - Riding Freedom. Have you seen your child's book? Did you read any of it? (Caution: Reading two chapters may cause an uncontrollable urge to complete the book.) Have you seen the post-it notes they are working on?

English - Complete Theme 3 - Proper, common, singular, plural, and possessive nouns and pronouns.

Math - Polygons, long division, similar and congruent shapes.

Science - Digestive, Circulatory, and Nervous System. We will be changing our roles in science class next week from "student" to "tour guide." It ought to be interesting.

Social Studies - Finish the Great Plains States. Begin the West.

Spelling - UNIT 20 unused, dislike, unclean, unheard, disagree, disabled, unkind, unfriendly, unable, unhappy, unsafe, disobey Extra Words: uncertain, disappear, undecided, unload Bonus Words: unwittingly, dishonest

Tuesday, 2/12 Newsletter Updates

Riding Freedom
We just started a novel in Reading class called Riding Freedom. We have two main focusses. First, there are 5 different groups, each concentrating on a different topic. The topics are 1. girl stuff 2. boy stuff 3. laws and beliefs 4. grown-up stuff 5. setting. Each group will be able to offer details to the discussion on their area of "expertise."

Second, the students' daily assignments are "What are you thinking?" Post-it notes. As students read, I want them to pay more attention to their conversation with the author, so to speak. As they think about what they read, students are to write what thoughts come to their head and jot it down. Suggestions are listed on their bookmark. All the notes are stuck in the book, used for class discussion, and turned in the next day.

Celebration Auction Fourth Grade Basket
If you haven't sent in a donation for our class Classic Toys basket, and still wish to do so, please do so this week. A donation of $3-5 is requested. If you are donating in other ways, thank you!

Memory
Memory slips are coming home (Q3W3) today. Sorry for the delay. Also, this week's at-school assignments are the meaning of the second article, split in two parts. There are many students with missing memory assignments, and the hole is getting deeper for some, unfortunately. Kids, do you best to stay caught up.

Spelling
This week's spelling list is coming home today as well. Again, sorry for the delay.

The Reading Conference
The reading conference was fantastic. One highlight included meeting John Archambault, the author of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (A told B and B told C I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree!) Other highlights included many of the speakers, but I won't bore you with reading details. One thing I learned is included in how we are doing the Riding Freedom unit.

Valentine's Day
Yes, we are having a Valentine's Day party on Thursday, and yes, we will exchange valentines. The party will be from 1:45-2:45 so Mr. Altis will still have an opportunity for choir at the end of the day.

Chapel Service on February 27
Our class's opportunity to lead chapel is in two weeks! We will lead our school's worhip on Wednesday, February 27. We'll begin planning and practicing shortly. Mark your calendars.

Basketball Schedule

This weather is something! Tonight's basketball games have been cancelled. This affects parents who were scheduled to work the concession stand. No basketball tonight, Monday, 2/4.

Also on Wednesday, 2/6, there will be both girls AND boys practice from 3:45 - 5:00. It is my understanding that the boys' games were to be completed by now, but because games have been rescheduled at later dates, they will continue to practice. (Is this right?)

Have a safe, snowy afternoon! Right now it looks like the U.P. and this is some of that two-inches-per-hour lake effect snow. Wow!

Friday, February 1 Newsletter Updates

Report Cards Today
Envelopes are coming home today, sealed as usual, with report cards. Also included are signature forms to sign and return as soon as possible, the newsletter, memory slips, and a note about the upcoming Celebration Auction. There's tons of information. Thanks for taking the time this weekend to wade through it.

We just got a basketball tournament note from Mr. Voelker too. That should be in everyone's take-home folders.

The Celebration Auction
It's only one month away! Today's note talks about our classroom basket donation. I'll let the note give the details, but in a nutshell, our basket is "Classic Toys" and the suggested donation is $3-5 per fourth grader. Thanks to everyone for your support of this great event.

Planet 10!
We spent some time today creating planets on the computer and launching them into the solar system to survive or meet some grisly end. (Including aliens!) The goal of the lesson was to create a planet with the correct combination of elements to support life. Some were very successful. Others...well...let's just say when the oceans begin to boil life is not headed down the happy yellow brick road, if you know what I mean.

Here's the link if you'd like to see it: http://www.solarsystem.org.uk/planet10/

I'll Be Gone Friday
I will be attending the Wisconsin State Reading Association annual convention next week on Thursday and Friday. Each year is a great opportunity to learn more about teaching reading. This year Mrs. Betts and I will be presenting a sectional to teachers from around that state about the Newbery Committee and the 5 Mile Book Club we've done in past years. It's an honor to be invited, and we are looking forward to it.

I don't think the substitute will be Mr. Kinderschmacker. (Ask the kids about him!)

The Upcoming Week
Memory - At Home: Q3W2 Slips At School: 1. First Article and meaning, "He defends..." to the end. 2. The Second Article of the Apoltle's Creen (no meaning). Some students need to finish the second paragraph of the 1st article's meaning. Due to the snow day and late start I said that could carry over to next week, but that means 3 assignment next week for them.

Religion - Miracles of Jesus

Reading - Finish Theme 3. We will be starting another class novel unit.

English - Nouns. Singular and plural and possessive.

Math - Rate word problems, multiplying 3-digit numbers, estimating.

Science - Finish the solar system.

Social Studies - The Great Plains states.

Spelling - No list. Review lesson.