Good afternoon, dear families! This is Mrs. Maza again. Looks like we're kind of tag-teaming the blog this quarter. I had an exciting week: on Wednesday I was pulled from a meeting for an emergency phone call. Turns out my daughter broke her collarbone right before a softball game! She was diving for a ball (which she has never done before), caught it, but then tripped somehow and landed on her shoulder. She is the third of my children to break that bone. Guess we have very fragile collarbones! Now she'll just be a full-time cheerleader for the team.

What a lovely day it is! My husband and I woke up and decided to get the yards mowed. He edged and I mowed my mother's, my in-law's, and our own lawn! Then I harvested a huge bowl of tomatoes from my garden. After cleaning the kitchen and doing some laundry, I made a big Costco trip with my daughter and grandson and then spent a couple hours prepping things in the kitchen. I'm making beef jerky, chicken broth, and chicken pot pie. Tonight I'm going to a bridal shower with a bunch of my Tempe Prep girlfriends. Tomorrow, my kids are all coming over and we're having a mixed grill dinner. Haven't been altogether since Easter, so it'll be a fun time for sure. Hope you are able to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful temperatures!

Let's take a look at the week ahead of us. Can you believe only 6 weeks left? We've almost made it through this insane year! Our students are doing so well! They worked so hard on their AzM2 writing test last week! We were so proud of them for their use of their graphic organizer to formulate their ideas before writing the rough draft. Way to go scholars! This week, we'll be testing on Wednesday. Please have them bring their ear buds or headphones for this exam. And, as always, have them get a good night's sleep, eat a good breakfast, arrive on time, and bring a healthy snack. 

Language Arts:

     Poetry - Don't forget that you can come in to hear your class recite Paul Revere on Tuesday. You should have received an email from your child's teacher. The students are working on "George Washington" this week and will recite it with a classmate on Friday.

     Literature - We're learning that the late 1700's was a rough time to live. Unfortunately, there will be more deaths to come. It really is an amazing book of perseverance. We still have two weeks of testing, so no reading groups. 

     Grammar - We'll have a grammar test on Tuesday, just testing all the things we practice every day in class.

Math - We are having a quick quiz tomorrow on area and perimeter plus data analysis (reading graphs and line plots). Then, we'll do some review of older material to make sure they're prepared for Wednesday's state test.

History - We're reading about April 19th, 1775 tomorrow! This chapter has so much in it that we'll take two days to cover it! It was day after Paul Revere's ride. 

Science - We are done looking at the hearts and will move on to learn more about the blood and its components. On Tuesday, the kids will write what they know so far about the cardiovascular system. 

That's about it. Thank you for entrusting us with your children. I spent some time talking to my sister-in-law this morning, and she told me about her experiences teaching 5th grade at a title one school in Tucson. It was mind boggline to say the least! We are certainly blessed to have such amazing families here at Archway! Enjoy your weekend.