Mrs. Lynne Meisch

Happy May!!

How did we get here so quickly??
CRCT testing is over.  Thank you so much for more sleep and good breakfasts.  The children appeared ready for the challenge.  I know we would all like to have the results quickly but we usually don't get them until the last week of school.  Hang in there....we'll let you know as soon as we get them.

Happy May birthday to Eddie on the 6th and Remy on the 18th.
Congratulations to Remy!  She is also our April Character Kid!

We are still hard at work while we look to the end of the year and our long awaited summer break.  Here are a few of the things we'll be working on in class this month:

Math - We'll  be collecting data and using it to construct and interpret different kinds of graphs.  We're also going to revisit long division and do more practice with more difficult problems. 

Language Arts - This week we have started the story If I Had A Million (meaning dollars$$$$$).  We'll be creating our own dollar bills and using this story as a springboard for writing what WE would do with a million dollars.  Lots to think about there! 

The following week is the story Ramona and Her Father.  It's part of the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary and we always have fun with her books. 
It will be adverb time on the skills side.  Writing sentences and using those -ly words to modify verbs will be our focus. 

The end of the year always gives us the opportunity to do some poetry. We'll try our hands at Acrostics, Cinquains, and Haikus. 

Health - We're continuing with Nutrition. Mrs. Sears gave us an awesome lesson on diabetes and diet.  She lives with this first hand so she was our expert.  She also did a lesson on calories, fat, and cholesterol in our diet by using the food guides from Mc Donald's (a little scary!).  We are going to tour the Nicholson kitchen as a mini-field trip. 
We'll end the year in Science with recycling and a healthy dose of "GOING GREEN"  and how we can make a difference.

Reminders:  Field Day - May 16th  (this is also our last Spirit Day)
                      Awards Day - May 19th at 8:15

Welcome Back! I hope you enjoyed your Spring Break.  We are back in full swing this week.  We've been practicing for the upcoming CRCT.  In math we have been reviewing basic skills (you can probably tell by the homework).  It would be helpful if you could also review those multiplication facts each night too.
Language Arts:  We have been reviewing skills each day as well as reading Journey Through Space from our reading book.  We'll be doing some mini research with this story too. 
Science:  We have finished our unit on magnets and are putting the final touches on our Magnetic Superhero stories.  We had lots of fun writing these and they are VERY creative!
Social Studies:  Today we read biographies of some important people in history.  Included were people like Paul Revere, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Frederick Douglas, and Susan B. Anthony.  Ask your child who they read about.  The children read in partners and took notes while reading.  They will compile their notes and draw a portrait of their person.  These will be shared in class.
Health: Next week we will be ready to start our unit on Nutrition.  This is always a fun unit.  We'll be discussing healthy eating, healthy choices, and menu planning. 
CRCT:  CRCT testing begins next Wednesday, April 24th and goes through the following Tuesday.  Please be mindful of these dates. 
- Have your child get a good night's sleep before each testing day.
- Remember to eat a good breakfast.  We will test from 8:00-10:00
  which is right through our usual snack time.  It's hard to concentrate
  when you are hungry.
- Be on time each day.  If testing has begun, no child will be permitted
  in the room until the session is complete.  This means they will take
  that portion of the test in a make up session.  It's always better to
  take it with the class.
- Give lots of hugs and encouragement.  We've worked hard all year.
  We want to do our best on each part of the test.
Finally, look for the large manilla envelope that will come home on Wednesday.  This is registration for next year.  Please complete this and return it by Friday.  Thanks!


    

April Birthdays: 

Happy Birthday Hayley- 8th

                      Taylor - 23rd

Our new character star for April is Abraham- Way to go Abraham!!!!!!!

Spring has Sprung!

We are headed into April and our long awaited Spring Break.  I hope you all enjoy your week off. 
We have been working hard in the classroom and have accomplished so much this past month.  Our biography book reports were amazing.  The children all did a wonderful job and we totally enjoyed sharing the reports and the visuals!

Language Arts:
We are rolling along in our spelling units.  We have been working all year on homophones (and how to spell those pesky words!), adding suffixes, and different spellings for the vowels sounds.  Remember that the Words to Learn folders that come home contain the words from each Cloze Test that the children missed.  These are the words that should be practiced at home.  They all show up again on a later test.

We have spent a lot of time on irregular verbs in English.  We are getting closer and closer to mastering them. 
We've spent this week working on Personal Narratives.  These were well written and nicely edited.  Next week we are going to continue working on "Color" Poetry.  This writing ties in with our Book of the Month, I Love You The Purplest.  Our final projects will be displayed on the wall beside the Media Center on the way to the cafeteria.  Come take a look!

Next week and the week after Spring Break will find us doing some final preparation for the CRCT. 
We have almost finished a short unit on Magnets.  We really enjoyed "playing" with the magnets and learning about poles, magnetic fields, and what a magnet will attract.

In Math we are really working on mastering division.  Our slogan: Does McDonald's Sell Cheese Burgers helps keep us using the steps for long division.  Ask your child what that stands for!  Remember not to abandon practice on multiplication facts.  It's tough to divide when those facts don't come easily. 

Upcoming Dates

Here are a few reminders between now and Spring Break:

March 28 -  Spirit Day, Chick-fil-A breakfast day, and Banking Day

April 3 - Performing Arts

April 4 - Arts Enrichment Day

April 7-11 - Spring Break

April 23-29 - CRCT Testing

Remember: Early to bed and a good breakfast!!!!!

March Updates:
Just a reminder that visuals for the biography book reports are due this week.  We are finished with note cards and are working on turning our notes into reports. 

Nicholson has become proactive on the issue of bullying.  The staff is working with Jeff Dess from the county to create a continuing awareness program dealing with this issue.  As part of our kick-off, each child has been asked to create a poster using the information we discussed in class.  These posters will be judged and the winning poster will be enlarged, printed, and displayed in our school.  This assignment is for EVERYONE to complete. 

March is rolling along at record breaking speed.  Despite the snow this past Saturday, spring will soon be here.  Don't forget that Spring Break is the first FULL week of April.  The Friday before our break is our annual Arts Enrichment Day.  This is always an awesome day for everyone. 

If you have not sent in the 2nd payment ($7.50) for Hi Touch, Hi Tech please do so in the next week or two.  The next program is Georgiology.  We have lots of background on this from our Georgia unit in class.

New Math groups and units start this week.  We will be delving into multiplication of two and three digit numbers by one digit numbers.  We will also be getting serious about division!

Our new Science unit is Heat and Energy.  Following that we will do a unit on magnets.  From there we move to Health and Nutrition. 

Happy March Birthday to:  Kaitlyn, Abraham, and Selena!!!!!

Congratulations to Chandini for making it into the 100s Club!  Way to go!

Eddie is our newest character star for this month.  Good job, Eddie!

Thank you to everyone who worked on Mathathon this month.  Mrs. Ciotti is still counting money.  This is for such a good cause, St. Jude's!

What a great job everyone did supporting this past week's Penny Wars!  It was a huge success and we were even the winner of one day!

Science: We are finishing up studying about the five main regions of Georgia.  We have been taking notes and are ready to put our notes together into a study guide booklet.  Ask your child if he or she can name all five regions!

Biographies:  Thanks to all for signing the biography sheet.  We started working on our notecards and will be working next week too.  They will be due on Wednesday.  Everyone is off to a good start!

Don't forget to be thinking about and working on the visual.  Check the guide sheet for due dates.

We've published our persuasive paragraphs and they are hanging outside our room.  If your are in the building, stop by and see if you are persuaded!

Keep working on multiplication facts even if you have made the 100s club.  Remember, you can still get your dog tags if you don't have them.  Next Spirit Day will be here before we know it.

Thank you parents and students for all you did in February to make my month terrific.  Your Valentine treats were awesome!  The PTA teacher appreciation lunch was delicious and beautiful.  I love my card and the Barnes and Noble gift certificate is greatly appreciated.  I will use it to purchase my next book club book!  Thank you for all you do for me!!!!

Penny Wars

PENNY WARS

Today, not a long time ago…In a Nicholson Star Galaxy, not far away…

PENNY WARS

It is a new age for Nicholson Stars…

Nicholson Stars have joined forces with the RallyKids Foundation to raise money and awareness for CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH.

.

THE RULES

Your class wins a PENNY WARS battle scoring the most penny points in a day.

Each penny in your class jug counts as one point. Any other type of money – coin or bill counts subtracts points – by each value.

Examples – a nickel subtracts 5 points

                 a dime subtracts 10 points

                 a dollar subtracts 100 points

                a 50 dollar bill subtracts 5,000 points!

All class jugs will be in the cafeteria. You may drop your coins and bills before school.

.

Results will be announced the following day and the winning class will be rewarded.

.

PENNY WARS lasts 5 days –

February 25 – 29

Every student will receive an offical Penny Wars Bag with the rules and their first penny to play on Friday, Feb. 22nd. Look for it coming home.

.

Good luck,

Nicholson Student Council

Today, not a long time ago…In a Nicholson Star Galaxy, not far away…

PENNY WARS

It is a new age for Nicholson Stars…

Nicholson Stars have joined forces with the RallyKids Foundation to raise money and awareness for CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH.

.

THE RULES

Your class wins a PENNY WARS battle scoring the most penny points in a day.

Each penny in your class jug counts as one point. Any other type of money – coin or bill counts subtracts points – by each value.

Examples – a nickel subtracts 5 points

                 a dime subtracts 10 points

                 a dollar subtracts 100 points

                a 50 dollar bill subtracts 5,000 points!

All class jugs will be in the cafeteria. You may drop your coins and bills before school.

.

Results will be announced the following day and the winning class will be rewarded.

.

PENNY WARS lasts 5 days –

February 25 – 29

Every student will receive an offical Penny Wars Bag with the rules and their first penny to play on Friday, Feb. 22nd. Look for it coming home.

.

Good luck,

Nicholson Student Council

PENNY WARS

Today, not a long time ago…In a Nicholson Star Galaxy, not far away…

PENNY WARS

It is a new age for Nicholson Stars…

Nicholson Stars have joined forces with the RallyKids Foundation to raise money and awareness for CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH.

.

THE RULES

Your class wins a PENNY WARS battle scoring the most penny points in a day.

Each penny in your class jug counts as one point. Any other type of money – coin or bill counts subtracts points – by each value.

Examples – a nickel subtracts 5 points

                 a dime subtracts 10 points

                 a dollar subtracts 100 points

                a 50 dollar bill subtracts 5,000 points!

All class jugs will be in the cafeteria. You may drop your coins and bills before school.

.

Results will be announced the following day and the winning class will be rewarded.

.

PENNY WARS lasts 5 days –

February 25 – 29

Every student will receive an offical Penny Wars Bag with the rules and their first penny to play on Friday, Feb. 22nd. Look for it coming home.

.

Good luck,

Nicholson Student Council