February 22, 2021

First, I would like to thank the St. James staff, students, parents and Mrs. Horak for helping me get started this past week.  The 5th grade class is a great class. They are so polite and helpful. We had to spend a little time organizing this past week, but I think that we are all on the right track now.  

In math class, I introduced a new program for memorizing their math facts.  Students work through the fact levels on the computer. They will receive a certificate for each level they complete.  They are able to see a chart which shows them how they are doing and which facts are a little more difficult for them.  They can then practice these individual facts.   Last week, we were working on multiplying fractions, and we will continue to work on multiplying fractions and multiplying mixed numbers. We will be using our fractions knowledge  to cut recipes in half or to double or triple the recipes.  If you have a favorite recipe that you would like them to use, please feel free to send it with your child, and we will use it as practice in math class.  There will be a math test next week. 

In Reading and Language, we are reading a variety of stories and practicing sequencing the events in the stories.  We are currently on Lesson 21, and we will finish it at the end of this week.  Our Spelling and Reading test will be on Friday this week. They already have the Spelling words for Lesson 21. 

We are starting a new Social Studies unit on Monday.  You will need to wait and ask students about it after school on Monday.  

Students will be bringing home their parent-teacher conference sheets on Monday.  Please return them by Friday, February 26th.  I look forward to meeting the parents of the Class of 2028. Please feel free to contact me at bmatheson@sjknights.org.