"SUPER" Updates

Happy "Big Game" Weekend! Have you been downtown yet? It's rather hard to believe that this amazing city belongs to us! It has truly been transformed and while it IS crowded, it sure is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. While Indianapolis has been busy hosting our guests this week, we've had some "super" learning going on in our class.

Math - This week we spent quite some time working on computation of fractions. We also looked at using percents and fractions to determine whole sets and units. Students should be bringing home a Test Alert for our upcoming unit assessment on Tuesday. They received this yesterday to begin their at-home preparations. We will spend time on Monday working through a complete study guide which they will bring home on Monday afternoon. Please take a few minutes to go over the study guide with your student and allow them to show you the Test Alert review material. If you can verify that they have done every activity on the Test Alert and sign it, your student will receive 5 extra credit points added to their final test grade.

Writing - In our efforts to best prepare for the upcoming ISTEP+ test, this week's focus was on answering short writing prompts and supporting our response with specific examples. We used a strategy called CEIEIO. Yes, it sounds a lot like "Old MacDonald's Farm", but that's the point! It helps the students remember the order to use in their response. We practiced this strategy as a whole class, in small groups, with a partner and finally, today, we did a response on our own. Students will continue to practice this strategy once a week with a prompting question from each week's reading story.

Reading - Using a nonfiction text about a Latin American ballerina, students focused on finding main ideas and details. They also learned quite a bit about the determination, perseverance and various other traits that it takes to reach our goals. We also continued to work on increasing our reading fluency and comprehension.

Social Studies - This week began our study of the American Revolution. When we left last week, we had just read about the French and Indian War. This week, we began looking at and learning about the first taxes that the English Parliament and King George began imposing upon the colonists. We also learned about the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party - two of the key events that led to the Revolution. We will continue with this unit for the next several weeks.

Science - This week's focus was on how rocks and minerals are identified. We took a look at the three types of rocks and learned that scientists use information about how a rock is formed to classify it as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic. We will take a look at the rock cycle next week and wrap up the unit by Wednesday.

A couple of side notes of events taking place next week here at Cardinal . . .

**Recycle Heart & Sole - Clean out your closets and donate your shoes for reuse! Your donation of some old soles will go to some new souls in need. Please have your child bring in gently used shoes next Monday through Friday for Mrs. McMullen's annual service learning project. Their goal is for each student to bring 10 pairs each! All shoes collected will be shipped to a textile recycling company, where the shoes will be sorted and sent to needy adults and children in Third World countries in Africa, South America, and the Middle East.

**Hearts For Riley - The Student Council of Cardinal Elementary is sponsoring an event to raise money for Riley Hospital. Students can bring in a dollar. For every dollar they bring in, the student's name will be written on a heart. Students may donate more than one dollar. These hearts will be displayed on the windows in our school lobby. We want to fill our lobby with love! Students purchasing the first 200 hearts will receive a free sticker tattoo. Student Council members will be in the lobby selling hearts Monday, February 6 through Friday, February 10 from 8:40-9:00. Help them meet their goal of a $630 donation to Riley Hospital by purchasing a heart.

I know it's hard to believe how quickly this school year is flying by, but we have reached our midterm for the third quarter. I will be working diligently over the course of the weekend to wrap up grading of the assignments for this week and have all grades entered into Power School by Sunday evening. If you have not set up your Power School account to send you a periodic update of your student's grades, please be sure to logon and check in early next week. Since returning from winter break, students have done a much better job of utilizing their assignment books to stay organized and get assignments turned in on time. There are still a few that are in "limbo" though! Students know that it is THEIR responsibility to either request an additional copy, check the "no name" papers on the board, or see me for help on getting assignments turned in, however your gentle reminder after checking Power School could be very influential! Thank you all for your continued support and involvement in the success of the students!