Grade 1-2 News 3-23-15

March Madness in Grade One/Two

March 23-27, 2015

I hope your spring break was lovely, fun, and restful. We had a delightful and love-filled time with our very new baby granddaughter, Emma Grace, who finally arrived on March 13 after a long and arduous journey into the big wide world. God is good!

We are back to work in a big way, needing, not just hoping, to finish our amazing social studies books. We are ready to cover this week after a great and valiant push to complete all writing before spring break! Woohoo!

I have a virtual field trip about dinosaurs scheduled with the Atlanta Center for Puppetry and Arts on April 14, so we need to start the dinosaur unit next week.

In reading/language, we will read stories of long ago (which to these kiddos means when I was born, back in the dark ages J). Firsts will read a delightful book called, The Golly Sisters Go West while seconds read Two Lunches at the Mill. Both give insight into life in times past. I would like the kiddos to begin making simple dioramas as a story response. We will have two weeks to complete this in-class project. I think I am crazy doing this along with covering books, but oh well… It should be fun! Our sounds are ing and es word endings. Seconds also have the nch word chunk. We will talk about pronouns, plurals, and story characters. (Hence the diorama.)

Mrs. O. is out of town visiting family so we will not have her help in math for the next couple of weeks. Firsts will review addition strategies and work hard on subtraction strategies while seconds learn about adding and trading with 3 digit numbers. All will work on geometry, solid shapes in particular.

We continue to learn about the parts of the Mass in religion. We will be singing at the 5:30 PM Mass at St. Laurence on Sunday. Palm Sunday is a big deal and I am hoping for a good number of children to come sing!

Spelling words

move moving go going box boxes

stop stopping

Second grade words: bench benches lunch lunches

crunch crunches

Homework

Monday: spelling sort as usual, neat and readable, please!

Tuesday: Math, geometry

Wednesday: no homework, 2^nd grade parents please come to the important and necessary gathering to discuss First Communion at 6:30 PM at St. Laurence church (upstairs in the body of the church)

Thursday: spelling

School News 3-9-15

THIS WEEK

Tuesday: Basketball After School

Wednesday: Grade Reports go home.

Thursday: MASS 8:30/ Basketball / Mr. Jim’s Pizza Night

Friday: Stations of the Cross 8:30 /Library/ Basketball Game at Harmony 1:30 / Bring Instruments upper grades

ENCHILADA SALE

Thanks to all who worked to make the 2015 Enchilada Sale a success! We have cleared about $19,300 so far. I say so far because we still have some extras that we would like to sell. If you would like some more, please contact the school this week. They are selling for $20 to parents and $25 to the general public. Get them while they last. Thanks also to the folks from Wyotech for their volunteer hours. They all were awesome workers. Thanks to ALSCO and Pepsi for donating for the fundraiser. Thanks for the Fraustos who made the green and red chili that we sold out of at about 10:30.

LENTEN JOURNEYS

We have a few Lenten projects for the students and families for the 40 days of Lent. This is the season for alms giving, prayer, and fasting. As always we sent home the Rice Bowls for Catholic Relief Services in support of poor nations across the world. Some families combine fasting and almsgiving by not going out to eat one day a week or having a simple meal and putting the savings in the Rice Bowl.

The school is also teaming up with the Knights of Columbus on the project of 40 cans for 40 days for Interfaith Good Samaritan. You will see a shopping cart in the entry to the school where you can drop off canned goods, other non-perishable items and personal care products. A complete list of items will be attached to the shopping cart and will be sent home to put on your refrigerator as a reminder to give. Thanks to everyone who has given so far. Let’s fill the cart!

We are encouraging more reading and family time during Lent. As an incentive for more reading, we will be sending home Reading Logs during Lent. We will attempt to “travel” to Australia via the other 4 continents during Lent. Details will be going home from your teacher about the contest to read your way from Laramie to Sydney. We will move our airplanes down the hall a meter (1 meter = 1000 miles) towards Australia for every 20 minutes we read.

Finally, there will be Stations of the Cross for grades 3-6 on Fridays at 8:30 during Lent. They continue this commemoration this Friday at the church.

SURVEY OPPORTUNITY

Chris Grissom, Faith and Olivia’s dad, has asked our help with a project he needs to complete for his college class. His project is a survey that he is asking every family, both mom & dad to complete about parenting styles. It would really help him out, and it may give you some insight to explore your own parenting style. The survey is completely confidential. We ask that you detach the consent page with your signature before turning the survey in to the office. Chris needs the surveys back no later than March 24^th. Thanks for your help.

CLASSROOM NEWS

We are grateful to our terrific volunteers who are helping Mrs. Van Heule with her class. Annie Nelson has been coming in for an hour every morning to work with the reading groups and Mary O’Flannigan comes in to help by teaching a math group. They are a real blessing to the school and to Mrs. Van Heule’s Ones and Twos. The upper grades will begin the PAWS testing this week. Parents, please see that the children get plenty of rest and a good breakfast. (That time change is throwing everyone off.)

BASKETBALL GAME

The Basketball team will be playing a game at the Harmony Gym this Friday afternoon with the game starting at 1:30. All the students in grades 3-6 will be going. Permission slips are going home today. Go Eagles!

FIESTA DATE

There is a last minute change to the date of our Spring Fiesta. Our Auctioneer Zane Burns was unable to make it on May 2^nd. Since he is a big part of the success of previous Fiestas, we are changing the date by one week to Saturday May 9^th.

MR. JIMS PIZZA NIGHT

Mr. Jims has set Wednesday March 11^th as St. Laurence night. A flyer is going home tonight.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

March 11

2^nd Trimester grade reports will be sent home / Mr. Jims Pizza Night

March 16-20

Spring/Winter Break No School

March 26

Class Pictures

March 10-April 1

PAWS Testing grades 3-6

April 3

No School Good Friday

April 5

EASTER

April 6

No School Easter Break

May 9^th Fiesta! (Please note the change in the date.)

Grade 1-2 News 3-9-15

The Luck of the Irish!

Grade One/Two March 9-13, 2015

Greetings! Since we won’t be in school on St. Patrick’s feast day, March 17, we’ll do a bit of celebrating this week! We will learn about this important saint and have a couple of fun activities to remember him.

In reading/language, we will read two more stories about space and the moon. We have bunches of skill lessons this week, including ABC order, making inferences, pronouns and syllables, magic e, and doubling the middle consonant in a word.

We will complete our money unit in math. Thanks for all you do to help your child learn about money. As you have probably seen, it’s really a challenge when counting money to switch from quarters, to dimes, to nickels, to pennies! We are also working on place value. Seconds will add and subtract 3 digits this week.

Writing books is slow and hard and we probably will not have them all bound by the end of this week. Oh well!

Lent and the Mass are two topics in religion. This is the big week to make clothespin crucifixes, a really nifty project! We are learning the parts of the Mass to help enhance that celebration. Knowledge and understanding mean so much. Our trip to the Cathedral and Synagogue was wonderful! We had a great discussion about it on Friday. Based on the children’s responses, I think it was very worthwhile.

Spelling words

rabbit little hammer game same name

2^nd additional words: basket rocket blame flame

Homework

Monday: spelling sort

Tuesday: math

Wednesday: talk about how a Catholic church and a synagogue are the same and different

Thursday: spelling

Have a great week!

Grade 1-2 News 3-2-15

March came in like a lion!

Grade One/Two March 2-6, 2015

Greetings on a snowy and chilly first day of March! Just like the old post office saying, neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will deter us… from learning!

Reading/language finds us first on Monday, celebrating Read Across America Day and the birthday of Dr. Seuss. I have both literacy and math activities to mark the day. Later in the week we will read stories about space exploration. A reading skill this week is finding the main idea of a passage, and our sounds are oo as in moon and oo as in book.

We continue to explore money and place value in math.

Steady albeit slighty slow progress is being made on our book projects in social studies. My hope is to begin making covers on Friday. These are very special, cloth-covered books which your child has worked very hard to complete. I hope they will find a safe place in your home (instead of under the bed or at the bottom of a toy box. J)

In religion we will begin to learn about the Mass in preparation for First Holy Communion. We continue to talk about Lent and ways to observe it as we grow in holiness and relationship with Christ and His Body.

Weather permitting, and hopes for healing of sick parents (my husband and me) we will make our Lenten pilgrimage to Cheyenne on Thursday of this week. I hope you saw and read the note sent home Friday. We have drivers and do not need more, but if you are not driving please send $3 to school by Wednesday to help with fuel costs. Thank you. We will walk the 8 blocks from St. Mary’s Cathedral to Mt. Sinai Synagogue, so while we need to dress appropriately for church visits, we need walking shoes (no dress shoes, please) and warm clothes for outdoor time. Thanks. Please remember not to send a peanut butter sandwich for lunch that day.

Spelling words

moon soon noon book took cook look

looking *2^nd grade additionals: shook spoon

Homework

Monday: spelling sort, neatly

Tuesday: Math

Wednesday: Ask your child to tell you one thing about the Introductory Rite of the Mass and write a bit about it.

Thursday: study spelling, please. No written assignment as we will be returning from our trip

Have a lovely week!

School News 2-23-15

THIS WEEK

Tuesday: Basketball After School

Wednesday: 6:00 Enchilada Set up Potatoes and Peas / Meat Prep

Thursday: MASS 8:30/ NO Basketball / Enchilada Making Meat Cooking

Friday: Stations of the Cross 8:30 /Library/ Spanish in Afternoon / Bring Instruments upper grades / Enchilada Making

ENCHILADA SALE

We made it! At last count there were about 1180 dozen orders turned in and processed. Great job of making that last minute push everyone.

Now comes the work. As a reminder, wear ( or bring ) old clothes including shoes. This is messy work for the most part. We will start Wednesday night prepping the kitchen and getting the potatoes to size and the peas ready. Thursday starts the ground beef cooking and cooling and if time permits we will start rolling enchiladas. Friday all day is a rolling and packaging day. Saturday is pick up and clean up in the morning.

LENTEN JOURNEYS

We have a few Lenten projects for the students and families for the 40 days of Lent. This is the season for alms giving, prayer, and fasting. As always we sent home the Rice Bowls for Catholic Relief Services in support of poor nations across the world. Some families combine fasting and almsgiving by not going out to eat one day a week and putting the savings in the Rice Bowl.

The school will also be teaming up with the Knights of Columbus project of 40 cans for 40 days for Interfaith Good Samaritan. You will see a shopping cart in the entry to the school where you can drop off canned goods, other non-perishable items and personal care products. A complete list of items will be attached to the shopping cart and will be sent home to put on your refrigerator as a reminder to give.

We are encouraging more reading and family time during Lent. As an incentive for more reading, we will be sending home Reading Logs during Lent. We will attempt to “travel” to Australia via the other 4 continents during Lent. Details will be going home from your teacher about the contest to read your way from Laramie to Sydney. We will move our airplanes down the hall a meter (1 meter = 1000 miles ) towards Australia for every 20 minutes we read.

Finally, there will be Stations of the Cross for grades 3-6 on Fridays at 8:30 during Lent. That will start this Friday at the church.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Dr. Suess’s birthday is March 2, which is also Read Across America Day. Some the classes are planning special reading events. 1^st and 2^nd graders have invited guests from the community to come in and read to and with the students. Don’t forget to spend some time reading with your kids every night.

SINGING AT 5:30 MASS

Thanks to the St. Laurence School Singers at Mass yesterday. Thanks to Winter, MaKayla, Donavin, Audra, MacKinzie, Brandalynn, Rita, John Paul, Melody, and Harmony (altar server).

FIESTA DATE

There is a last minute change to the date of our Spring Fiesta. Our Auctioneer Zane Burns cannot make it on May 2. Since he is a big part of the success of previous Fiestas, we are changing the date by one week to Saturday May 9.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

February 25-28

Enchilada Makin’ and Distribution

February 28

End of the trimester

March 4

2^nd Trimester grade reports will be sent home

March 16-20

Spring/Winter Break No School

March 23-April 3

PAWS Testing grades 3-6

May 9^th Fiesta! (Please note the change in the date.)

Grade 1-2 News 2-23-15

Let all around us be peace…

Grade One/Two February 23-27, 2015

Life is eventful lately, isn’t it? Second grade families shared a beautiful penance service on Saturday as our children celebrated the sacrament of reconciliation for the first time. Last week, our Roberto was baptized and Kaden was received into the Catholic Church! We have much to be thankful for. On the flip side of big events, my Dad, who was suffering from a stomach virus last week, was taken to the hospital in Cheyenne Saturday night. So my hope, weather and favorable roads permitting, is to spend most of Monday and Tuesday in the ICU unit in the Cheyenne hospital. Mrs. Mary O’Flannigan, our daily math co-teacher, will be my sub. Prayers for my 88 year old dad, please. Thanks.

In reading we will read about children who are hearing impaired. A skill is drawing conclusions based on text, and sounds are ask and ear.

In math we are learning about money, this week mixing coins. We use pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Please keep playing money games with your child at home, counting purse or pocket change nightly. We are also talking about place value, firsts learning tens and ones, while seconds will move into thousands.

Our book project continues in social studies as each child becomes an “expert” on a place of his/her choice. Writing a book is much work!

In religion we will recap our experience with First Reconciliation and thank the many who helped make that celebration so wonderful! We will quickly move into studying for First Communion and we begin by talking about the Mass.

Hence, our pilgrimage next week (weather permitting) to St. Mary’s Cathedral and Mt. Sinai Synagogue. A pilgrimage is a visit to a holy place, and walking is often part of it. We will walk the eight blocks from St. Mary’s to the Synagogue. Hopefully you have been able to consider driving for this trip; I sent the first notification earlier this month so that arrangements could be made if you can possibly go. Thanks. Permission slips come home this week.

Spelling words

ask mask task ear hear dear tear

near *Second grade additionals: asked clear

Homework

Monday: spelling sort, neatly please

Tuesday: math money

Wednesday: please talk more with your family about Lent and ways we can help others in need, especially ways to help members of our own families!

Thursday: spelling

Grade 5-6 News 2-18-15

This Week in Class:

* Please be on the lookout for our missing history textbook: Harcourt Brace- Social Studies-The World (it is purple and tan)

Spelling: Unit 15 Spelling—the prefix “in”

The prefix “in” is spelled “im” before a base word or a word root beginning with “m” or “p”.

History: Chapter 16: Lesson 2— Democratic Ideas in Latin America

We will be working on vocabulary and review questions from this lesson this week. We will take our Chapter 16 Test next week on Thursday.

Miss James’s Math Group:

We will continue with our division chapter over the next few weeks. Please remember to have your child practice both multiplication and division facts.

We will begin a school wide reading incentive! Your child can use these minutes for Book It as well. Reading logs for the month of February went home last week.

Reminder

Today we are beginning Lent—please remember not to pack meat in your child’s lunch on Fridays during Lent!

Class Supplies Needed!!!

We could still use a few more of those listed below. Thanks in advance for any extra supplies you can send our way!

Current Inventory of Supplies:

· Paper towels (4 spares)

· Clorox Disinfecting Wipes (1 spare)

· Computer paper ( 1 ream)

This Week’s Spelling List

Test 02/19/15 Retest 02/20/15

Unit 15 Vocabulary

1. impolite

2. informal

3. include

4. involve

5. individual

6. improper

7. inquire

8. innocent

9. immediate

10. immigrant

11. immovable

12. indirect

13. infection

14. indent

15. import

16. incomplete

17. instrument

18. inclined

19. immense

20. inactive

21. insist

22. impress

23. improve

24. insult

35. increase

26. imply

27. infer

28. impartial

29. inflexible

30. inadequate

*26-30 are extra credit words

Next Week’s Spelling List

Test 02/26/15 Retest 02/27/15

Unit 16 Vocabulary

1. balance

2. item

3. secure

4. require

5. minus

6. release

7. unite

8. panic

9. stupid

10. vital

11. recent

12. rebel

13. beware

14. relief

15. pirate

16. deserve

17. adopt

18. poison

19. spirit

20. alert

21. credit

22. value

23. remind

24. protect

25. report

26. delete

27. decade

28. flourish

29. vigor

30. crevice

*26-30 are extra credit words

Reading Group Updates:

The Giver: beginning novel at the end of the week—still finishing up projects from Frozen Summer

Dragon of the Lost Sea: beginning novel and answering chapter questions

Dragon Rider: reading novel