Jan 8- Reports Cards Jan 13- ZEPTO Meeting (6:30) Jan 13- LASM Field Trip - Adkins, Deliberto, Hamilton, Williams, Brown Jan 15-LASM Field Trip - Leiva, Weston, Buell, Washing-ton, Cassidy Jan 19 -No School (MLK Holiday)

Jan 22-LASM Field Trip— Potts, Webb, Norris, Wilkiwitz Jan 27-Star Student Breakfast 7:30 Jan 29-Progress Reports

I hope your family enjoyed some special moments

during the Christmas break. As I reflected on some of

the more difficult circumstances some faced, I thought

about the many gifts I received. These were not

packaged with ribbon and bows as some might think.

They were not expensive, but they were priceless to me.

I don’t know about you, but there are a few things that

make a gift special to me. The first is simply the

gesture. Being around so many students, I receive gifts

of all types. When a child comes up to me and says

“Merry Christmas”, it doesn’t matter whether they give

me a hug, hand drawn picture, or a perfectly wrapped

box. They have me at the simple gesture. You can’t

read a newspaper or watch a newscast without being

reminded of selfishness in some form or fashion. So,

just the gesture of giving is a gift in and of itself. The

second thing that makes a gift special is how it touches

my heart. So if you concluded that the first and the

second attributes of a “special gift” (as determined by

me) are really the same, you are correct. I want to tell

you about one special gift. My 6th grade daughter

played The First Noel for me on the violin. I was

overwhelmed. When she picked up the violin a little

over a year ago, her notes sounded like the screeching of

an owl. Her persistence paid off, and this Christmas her

First Noel was a melodious gift. Special gifts are

sometimes the gifts that keep on giving. I was so

excited about her gift of The First Noel, I asked her to

share it with my parents. They had been ill, and I

thought her music would bring some Christmas cheer.

As she played the song in my parents’ home, their small

dog began to howl. Undaunted by the impromptu

accompaniment, she continued until the end. My

parents (ages 90 and 87) laughed and smiled

uncontrollably. As we got into the car, I told my

daughter that she had given her grandparents a great gift.

We talked about how good it was to see them laugh.

Her smile let me know she was beginning to understand

that a “special gift” is not about the price tag. It is about

the heart. I hope you received some “special gifts” this

holiday season!

www.zacharyelementary.org

Andon Mounts Juley Enfinger Roderick Boyd Presley Poor Caleb Barfield Mya Pabon Aaron Bozeman

Hannah Sauls Kirsten Casey Rayelin Holliday

Tyler Statham Christian Hawkins Kiley Phillips

Braxton Allen Candria Perkins Ranesha Butler Paige Coulon Reagan Primus Lauren Capello Cole Madison Leah Johnson

Daniel Sandau Averie Manuel

Fiona Hagan Anderson Seth Oldbear

Bobbi Liner Taylor Landry

Maddie Daniel Chelsie Slaughter

Jaala Thymes

Harmoni Batiste Harrison Broussard Emilee Crumholt Aniya Matthews

Andre Richard Abby Dunford

300 POINT CLUB Maas, Annie

200 POINT CLUB

Langley, Rhen

100 POINT CLUB

Brown, Ella

Chasse, Gabrielle

Godbold, Edward

Heikes, Jack

Iannitelli, William

Legrand, Sydnee

Patrick, Kennedy Thompson, Nehemiah

50 POINT CLUB Bates, Kadra J. Behrnes, Tripp Bozeman, Matthew Brazelton, Paris Browning, John Burson, James Coker, Madden Doiron, Nyla English, Sydney Firven, Maat Fleming, Delana

50 POINT CLUB Funk, Nicholas Gaines, David GRANT, ALEX Gregory, Madison Hankton, Madison Holmes, Gabrielle Howell, Camilla Hull, Brandon Johnson, Amelia Johnson, Taylah Kennedy, Ryleigh Langley, Ambria Mack, Evangelina Major, Madison Marionneaux, Dylan Murphy, Katrina Nwabueze, Eni Richard, Abigail Sandau, Daniel Tabb, Rebecca Thomas, Jaleiyah Valliere, Evan Venable, Claire E. Ward, Ryan Waren, Arun Westbrook, Aaron

25 Point Club Achord, Reece Bankston, Brennan Barrow, Devall Baudouin, Cline E. Beasley, William T. Bentley, Blaire Bergeron, Jayden Blacher, Zadrian Blaine, Jazmyne Blanchard, Jackson Bolding, Brianna Brooks, Broderick Broussard, Chloe Broussard, Leanna Brown, Janiya M. Campbell, Skylar Capello, Lauren Carter, Rashaad Charlet, Magnolia Chavis, Julis Colvin, Anna Daniels, Stane' J. Dayton, Carson 25 De La Cruz, Fabian Detre, Caden Doucet, Brooke Eby, Terrence Elmore, J'Marquise Escher, Carter V. Fields, Paris Fisher, Elijah Franklin, Jayla Gonzales, MJ Greene, Morgan

25 Point Club Harborth, Ava Hayes, Jonas Heard, Charles Hoffpauir, Wren Honore, Taleyah Howard, Briley Howell, Grayson Hughes, Kirstyn Jackson, Taylar Johnson, Dyrion Joseph, Alaishia Lawrence, Sanya Lazard, Tatyanna Ledoux, Skyler Leleu, Isaiah Lowery, Keylea Main, Lathan Martin, Mason Maughan, Ellis Mcpherson, Madilyn Miles, Omorian Moak, Patricia Moree, Dillon Morris, Samara Nabors, Preston Nettles, Lillian Nichols, Ava Norred, Ethan Odell, Alissa R. Parks, Luke Phillips, Kiley Plauche, Eric Poor, Presley Poston, Kye

25 Point Club Rettig, Julia Rigney, Zoe Robins, Chamariah Robinson, Kenzie Rogers, Jaylen Rome, Jacob Roussell, Kameron Sample, Chastity Sanders, Aubrey Selders, Nasia Sheppard, Elijah Silman, Andrew Simon, Miranda Sinclair, Kasen Smith, Jada Smith, Zachary Stewart, Camren Sulcer, Laila Sweats, Khalil Tappy, Natalie Thibodeaux, Miracle Thomas, Tayln Todd, Emma Town, Benjamin Turner, Bryce Turner, Joshua Vandyke, Avery Wallace, Torreon White, Charles White, Chrislynn Williams, Amijah Williamson, Destiny Woodridge, Terrolynn Wright, Jalen

In ELA, we just finished our unit on elections,

during which, the students learned about the

election process. They participated in a variety of

election activities including creating their own

campaign slogans. Our students assumed the role of

an author and wrote to inform, entertain, and

persuade. We are looking forward to our third unit:

friendship. This unit will incorporate a variety of

literary works concerning the topic of friendship

with different genres including nonfiction, fiction,

and poetry. In Language, we will continue working

on the different parts of speech. We will also

engage in test preparation activities in order to

ready our students for the oncoming testing in

March.

Third graders are starting the New Year off with

many engaging, challenging, and fun learning

opportunities. In mathematics, we will continue to

cover multiplication and division concepts and facts

as well as practice problem solving strategies.

(Please have your child practice their X facts as

often as possible). We will then begin our Fractions

Unit. Louisiana Government and our Solar System

will be the topics of study in social studies and

science. Additionally, we will begin practicing

strategies to improve our test taking skills in

preparation for spring testing. Thank you for your

continued support and cooperation.

Below are examples of how you can help your child

use the Distributive Property to help break apart

larger facts using 5 in order to determine products.

Happy New Year! Fourth grade’s New Year’s

resolutions include learning multiplication/division

facts, applying strategies, and completing all of our

homework each day. We will jump start the new

year with fraction equivalence, comparing and

ordering fractions and operations, and using

decimals. We will use multiplication and division

to find equivalent fractions.

In science, we will journey into space to learn

about the moon phases, the planets, and other

objects. As we observe the moon and its phases,

we will discover why it seems to change during

each month. An adventure in Star Lab will also be

included in our study of space. Following the space

unit, we will continue our study of Earth’s

materials.

During our third nine weeks, we will move into

our fourth reading unit. We will focus on skills

such as cause and effect, point of view, and

identifying themes in literature. In addition, we

will review previous skills, as we read narrative

nonfiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and various

other genres. Fourth graders will continue to ana-

lyze text passages and incorporate them into their

writing. They will also cite text evidence as they

practice each day.

Following our exploration unit, we will travel

back in time to the colonial days. As students learn

about the thirteen colonies, they will take a look at

the events that created our nation’s beginning.

Next, we will begin our study of civics and our

government. This will all help us as we become

good citizens of our community.

The fourth grade team would like to thank you

for your cooperation and support. We will partner

with you as we help your child progress.

YEARBOOKS! Order online @

www.zacharyelementary.org Deadline for intro. price is Jan. 15th