| Week of January 5:
Happy New Year! Hopefully we are all ready to jump back into our routine
and studies this week. It should be an uneventful week that allows us to
cover a lot of ground. Our big excitement is finally reaching our
multiplication unit in math. We will begin by understanding what
multiplication is and how we use it. Soon we'll start our timed times
tables tests. We'll begin with the 2 times table (which hopefully everyone
is already familiar with). We'll most likely have one times table test each
week, probably in this order: 2, 5, 9, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8. All tables should be
memorized up to 12 (example: 2 X 12 = 24). These should be AUTOMATIC (no
counting on fingers or skip counting)-- thus the TIMED part of the test.
Each test will be repeated for those who don't receive at least 18/20 until
they do. When the whole class has passed every test (and don't worry, they
always eventually do) we'll celebrate with an ice cream sundae party --
usually after Lent, in case someone has given up sweets. But here's the
hard part for both you and your child: the times tables need to be
CONSTANTLY REVIEWED for the rest of this year, over the summer, and probably
next year, too. That's the only way they can be used efficiently in both
multiplication and division (which we hope to get to before the Terra Nova
testing). Check out the links on this website for online multiplication
games and practice.
On Friday of this week (Jan. 9) we'll have a spelling test. It will include
the 15 words from "Night Letters" (Lesson 13) and the 15 words
from "Symphony of Whales" (Lesson 14). There will be no challenge or review
words on this week's test. Next week we'll return to our usual 20 new words
and 10 review words format.
Thank you for everything.
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Week of December 22:
Thank you to everyone for providing a festive and enjoyable Christmas party
for our third graders. A special thank you goes to Mrs. Steinrock and Mrs.
Czyzewski for coordinating everything. Also, thank you to Mrs. Steinrock
for delivering our specially made lunches to St. Agnes Day Room - in the
sleet and rain!
We have a full day of school tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 22. We're HOPING to
keep things calm and focus on the joys and true meaning of Christmas.
Remember that there is no school for students on Tuesday (Dec. 23).
I wish all of you and your families a wonderful Christmas and a happy New
Year. Thank you for all your generosity, support, kind words, and help in
the past few months. God bless us, every one!
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Week of December 15:
We have confirmed the dates of the St. Agnes lunch project and the Christmas
party. Here is our schedule for this week:
Tuesday, Dec. 16 - In the morning we will make bagged lunches for the St.
Agnes Day Room. Thank you for all your donations to our project and to Mrs.
Czyzewski for delivering the lunches. In the afternoon we will celebrate
the sacrament of Reconciliation in the church at 1:00.
Thursday, Dec. 18 - In the morning we will participate in the dress
rehearsal for the Christmas program. This will give students and teachers
the chance to enjoy the same performance that you'll enjoy on Thursday
evening at 7:00. On Thursday afternoon we'll have our Chapter 4
(subtraction) test in math. We'll be reviewing on Monday and Wednesday.
Please continue to drill the subtraction math facts (for example, 14-8, 17-
9, 16-7). These should be automatic - no fingers!
Friday, Dec. 19 - We'll celebrate our Christmas party in the afternoon from
1:15 until 2:15. Thank you to all for your help, participation, and
contribution of goodies.
Monday, Dec. 22 is a full day of school for students. We will have some
special activites and hope to promote peace and calmness! Tuesday is a
faculty day for teachers.
Thank you for all you do.
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Week of December 8:
These next two weeks of school will be busy ones! We'll be trying to
balance our studies with Advent activities, service projects, preparation
for the Christmas program, and Christmas excitement.
Here are some of the highlights:
Friday, Dec. 12 - School liturgy at 10 AM and "Pushing Up the Sky" spelling
test.
Tuesday, Dec. 16 - Reconciliation in church for grades 2-8.
Thursday, Dec. 18 - School Christmas program at 7 PM in the gym.
Things being worked on but not officially decided yet:
We would like to move the Christmas party to Friday, December 19 from 1:15
to 2:15. Stay tuned for verification of that date. On Tuesday or Wednesday
of that week, we will be making lunches for St. Agnes Day Room. I'm trying
to reach the director of that program to set the date. During that last
full week of school we will also have a subtraction test in math (Chapter
4). After Christmas we'll dive into multiplication. Students should be
working on the 1, 2 and 5X tables.
Because of the Christmas show on Dec. 19, we'll skip the spelling test on
Dec. 20. When we come back from vacation, we'll have a test that Friday
(Jan. 9) on the words from two lessons ("Night Letters" and "A Symphony of
Whales") -- 30 words, no challenge words, and no review words. On Friday,
January 16 we'll return to our regular 20 new words and 10 review words
routine.
Hang in there and please remember to say a prayer for the teachers!
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Weeks of November 17 and November 24:
The end of the marking period is approaching and we are coming to the end of
units and chapters in our school work. The following are assessments that
we will be having in the next two weeks:
Thursday, Nov. 20 - Life Science test - A vocabulary study sheet was sent
home this past Thursday. We will be reviewing on Tuesday and Wednesday for
this test.
Friday, Nov. 21 - Spelling test for "William's House" (including review
words) and a Chapter 3 test on addition. In Chapter 3 in math, we did NOT
cover "guess and check," mental math, or front-end estimation.
Tuesday, Nov. 25 - Unit 2 Benchmark assessment for ILA and Unit 2 assessment
for Religion.
We will be reviewing for these assessments in class. The marking period
ends on November 26, the day before Thanksgiving. When we return from the
Thanksgiving break, we will be in the second trimester of the school year --
hard to believe! Report cards for the first trimester will go home on
December 9.
Looking ahead, I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your
friends and family. Enjoy the break, as I know I will. Thank you for all
that you do.
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Week of November 10:
Tuesday (Nov. 11) -- Faculty Inservice Day at St. Elizabeth's -- No school
for students
Friday (Nov. 14) -- Spelling test
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Week of November 3:
As I promised, it's back to reality this week. We will start our new story
in ILA on Monday (Nov. 3) and have our regular spelling test on Friday (Nov.
7). Don't forget the review words. We are aiming to finish our unit in ILA
by Thanksgiving week, which is the end of the first trimester. In math, we
will be working on addition with regrouping and hope to move quickly. Once
we finish the chapter on subtraction (with regrouping), we can move on to
mulitiplication. Please practice math facts at home! (For example: 8+9,
7+4, 17-8, 16-9, etc.) These should be automatic -- using NO FINGERS!! You
can use flash cards or go on themathworksheetsite.com and create practice
drills. (This site can also be found under "Links" on this site.)
Our lunch-making project for the St. Agnes Dayroom went well. We made about
37 bagged lunches with the goodies you so generously donated. Thank you to
Mrs. Skros and Michael, who delivered them to St. Agnes on Wednesday
morning. We'll make the lunches again in December.
Thank you, too, for all you did to make Halloween such a fun day. We
appreciated the helpers at the walk-a-thon and the party, and also all the
treats, games, and stories that were sent in. A good time was had by all!
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Week of October 20:
We have a full week of school this week and then a slightly (?) crazy week
the week after. Our spelling test this week will be on Wednesday (Oct.
22). We are off our regular Monday-to-Friday schedule because of the Unit
testing. On Friday (Oct. 24) we'll be ready for the Chapter 2 math test and
also a social studies test on government. On Tuesday I'll send home the
required vocabulary for the social studies test. Besides the vocabulary,
students should know the qualities of a good leader, what services taxes are
used for, and what might happen to a community if the people did not pay
their taxes.
Please note that there is a new link on this website for practicing
spelling. Each week I'll add the new spelling words. Click on that week's
story name, and the list will come up. Students can click on "Teach
me," "Test me," or "Play a game." Try them all out and see what best helps
your child.
Next week on Tuesday (Oct. 28) we will make bagged lunches for the St. Agnes
dayroom. Thank you so much for your generous contributions to this
project. This is a hands-on -- and fun -- project that the students can do
themselves. They will be "serving God through serving others" AND spreading
joy, as our October virtue encourages us to do. (And I'm sure the room will
sound very joyful as the lunches are assembled!)
Parent conferences are Wednesday of that week (Oct. 29). Unfortunately, we
have only 15 minutes per conference, and due to so many requests for morning
conferences, I have no "wiggle room" in between conferences. If you feel
you need more time, we will have to reschedule for another day. I look
forward to seeing everyone, even if the time is short.
Thursday of that week we will travel to the Pennsylvania Colonial Plantation
at Ridley Creek State Park for our field trip. Let's hope the weather is
good! And then on Friday -- Halloween -- we'll go to church at 9 AM for the
parade of saints, raise money for the school in our walk-a-thon from 9:50 to
10:50 AM, and celebrate with a Halloween party from 1:15 to 2:15 PM. It
will be back to reality on November 3.
Thank you for all you do.
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Week of October 6:
This will be a fairly "normal" week. We will celebrate a school liturgy on
Tuesday (Oct. 7) at 10:00 AM -- please join us if you can. On Friday (Oct.
10), we'll have our regular spelling test. This week we should be finishing
up our ILA unit and our Religion unit. I plan to review ILA on Monday (Oct.
13) and administer the Benchmark assessment on Tuesday and Wednesday (if
needed). We will review Unit 1 Religion next week and probably have the
test on Friday (Oct. 17). Enjoy the beautiful fall weather.
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Week of September 29:
This will be a short week -- at least for you and your children. Teachers
will attend a staff development day on Friday, October 3. We will step
things up a bit and have our spelling test on Thursday this week. Don't
forget to keep up with the review words. There will be no homework on
Monday, September 29 so that you can attend the Home and School meeting at
7:00. Please see the school calendar and the calendar on this website for
the events coming up in October. The next school liturgy will be on
Tuesday, October 7. You are welcome to join us if you can.
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Week of September 22:
It's hard to believe that we have been in school for only two whole weeks.
We are truly in the routine and have been working hard. This week we will
finish up Chapter 1 in math and have a test on Friday (Sept. 26). We will
have new math lessons on Monday and Tuesday and will review on Wednesday.
(We don't have math class on Thursdays.) Also on Friday we'll have our
regular spelling test with ten review words.
It was wonderful to meet you (or see you again!) on Back-to-School night.
Thank you for all that you do for your children and for me.
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Week of September 8:
Our first few days of school have gone very well. Today was our first full
working day, and the students really "stepped up to the plate." They are
polite, attentive, and enthusiastic.
This week we will begin homework, and we'll have a spelling test on Friday.
Please check the homework book each night and sign it. Thank you for your
promptness in sending back forms and in covering books. And, many, many
thanks for all the tissues and wipes!
On Wednesday (Sept. 10) we will celebrate mass at 10 AM. You are all
welcome to join us. (If you can, please send in one or two canned goods
with your child.) Next Monday (Sept. 15) will be Back-to-School night for
kindergarten through third grade. I look forward to seeing you then and
will give you more information about the workings of our class.
Thank you for the good start. It promises to be a wonderful year!
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