Thursday

Words of the Week: Spring Break
One is reminded of the Beach Boy's instrumental, "Let's Go Away For Awhile." Well, that's all fine and good as long as we come back! Read, rest and return safely!

Friday

With the ranks swelling each week, Jack's (Mr. Foote's) Room 17 Math Club continues to hammer away at multiplication facts, long division, and fractions every Wednesday after school. No one ever promised us Math would be easy or come naturally, but it's nice when good extra help is available and so well-received. Thank you, Jack!

Do you know the difference between affect and effect? See if this sentence from our Reading selection this week helps: The actions of people directly affect the environment in many ways. If that isn't enough help, then look it up in the dictionary!

Our Business Letter project is winding up, and now all we can do is wait by the mailbox, anticipating the arrival of information (and other things) from the American Quarterhorse Association. The suspense is nearly unbearable!

Friday

Fourth graders often like Science because they get to manipulate objects and make things, like a gear mechanism shown at left. We just began a unit on electricity, and the students are learning about receivers, transmitters, and sources while building simple circuits to light bulbs and motors.

Soon the time comes to notice the tell-tale signs of Spring. Already the days are getting longer although it's still pretty cold outside! Snowfall during the last few nights reminds that Winter continues for a few more weeks, and March is typically a wet, windy, and cold month. But, try 'listening' for a tell-tale sign of approaching Spring--those noticed through sight are just too easy for fourth graders. We'll make that a challenging bonus question for the next few weeks