Good morning! Two more full weeks and then our final week of mostly half days. It's winding down quickly now. Last week flew by with our special guest speaker in science, Dr. Cheroske, and then our field trip on Thursday. Thank you to all the parents who came out to spend the day with our students! After that crazy long day at the science center, my husband and I went with Rita to her Senior Dinner. It's a lovely evening where the teachers at CPA honor each of the students individually. Rita was invited to give a speech to begin the ceremony, and she killed it!

I just want to give a shout out to Ms. Bettis for instituting the first Friday of May off for the teachers. She started the "grading day" holiday in the second or third year of Archway, and I am so thankful that has remained an annual day off! I had such a relaxing day; my sisters, mom, and daughter, along with her two boys, came over in the morning to hang out in my back yard. Of course I did begin with actually grading, but they came over around 9:00. Then we went to lunch together (thank you to my class parents who contributed to my birthday gift card!), and then I came home and took a nap! A NAP!!! It's so unheard of for me to nap, and it wasn't just a cat nap either...I slept hard for two hours! Amazing! Then at night we went to Rita's softball game; they lost in round one of the playoffs, but it was a good game. That marked one more thing that came to an end in her final year. I was thinking about all of the things that Rita is finishing, like her last game, or on Monday - her last concert, and then I realized that it's going to be the last time that I am witnessing these events for one of my children. Strange how that part of my parenting will be coming to an end. 

Well, life goes on...I hope you cherish these years as much as I have. Let's take a look at this week ahead.

Language Arts:

     Poetry - The students should be on the third stanza now of the "If" poem. Two more weeks until they recite it.

     Literature/Composition - We will read three more chapters of COMB. We will also begin our final 5-paragraph essay. The students will have a choice this quarter to write either about Nathaniel Bowditch and the virtues he displays, or about the firebrands of the American Revolution. 

     Grammar - We'll review for our final grammar test this week, testing on Friday. 

     L&G Roots - It's our last week for new roots. Next week there will be a final comprehensive assessment over all 75 roots that they have leaned. 

Q4 W8 Roots  

Monday  

dia = across, through, between, apart  

di ag on al (n) line between two non-adjacent corners in a figure of four or more sides (gony=knee)  

dia mond (n) the hardest natural substance; a shape with four straight sides of equal length, forming two opposite wide angles and two opposite narrow angles  

di a gram (n) a cross section drawing (graph-write draw)  

di ag no sis (n) thorough knowledge (gnosis-knowledge)  

di a bol i cal (adj) shot through, so evil like the Devil (shot through – to show a quality in a noticeable way all the way through  

  

Tuesday  

discipulus = student, pupil  

dis ci ple (n) someone who believes and helps to spread the doctrine of another  

dis ci pline (v) develop (children's) behavior by instruction and practice  

dis ci pli nar y (adj) enforcing discipline.  

un dis cip lined (adj) lacking in discipline; uncontrolled in behavior  

dis cip lin a ri an (n) a person who believes in firm discipline (ian=one who)  

   

 

Math - We've almost completed every page of the math books! We'll wrap up our unit on volume with a test on Wednesday. That will be the final math test for the quarter, although we will continue with work on word problems, which will include some assignments for the gradebook. 

Science - We only have a few more lessons about the respiratory system, namely, how to maintain good respiratory health, and then our final comprehension check of the year on Thursday. The students will need to label a diagram that shows the path of air through the body as well as write in paragraph form about the functions of the respiratory system. Basically, that means they need to know the structures/organs through which the air flows, and the special features that they have which aid in the processes of cleaning, warming, and moistening the air before it gets to the lungs. We will make flash cards for each of these before the check.

History - We are into the real war times now and will be learning about some key battles of the American Revolution.

I think that's it. I hope you have a fantastic weekend.