Grade 5-6 News 4-8-15

This Week in Class:

Spelling:

Spelling test on Thursday—please make sure your child studies!!!

Unit 19 Spelling: adding “ion” or “ation”. The suffix –ion or –ation can change verbs into nouns. A great spelling strategy is: if the verb ends with e, drop the e before adding –ion or –ation.

History:

We will finish reading Chapter 17 this week and then design our own factory instead of taking a test over this chapter!!

Science:

Our Chemistry lesson on Tuesday, April 7^th was fantastic! Trevor LeValley, a chemical engineer at UW, taught us about chemical reactions. It was incredible! Be sure and ask your child what experiments we did. And ask your child if an “atom” is the smallest particle. You may be surprised at their answer.

Our next K-kids meeting will be Monday, April 13^th at 2:30pm.

School- Wide Reading Incentive

I have attached an airplane decorated by your child in the hallway so look to find it! Your child will travel 100 miles for every 20 minutes they read. Your child can use these minutes for Book It as well. I will send home another reading log today. Please sign your child’s reading log—they must record the book, page numbers and time spent reading first.

Reminder

Please have your child bring back Rice Bowls from Lent

Open House-April 16^th

We will have an Open House on Thursday, April 16^th until 6pm. Please come by to discuss enrollment for next year. Bring anyone who may be interested in enrolling their child next year with you! Hope to see you then!

This Week’s Spelling List

Test 04/09/15 Retest 04/10/15

Unit 19 Vocabulary

1. construct
2. construction
3. connect
4. connection
5. combine
6. combination
7. cooperate
8. cooperation
9. attract
10. attraction
11. admire
12. admiration
13. situate
14. situation
15. examine
16. examination
17. contribute
18. contribution
19. explore
20. exploration
21. inspect
22. inspection
23. locate
24. location
25. excavate
26. excavation
27. insulate
28. insulation

*25-28 are extra credit words

Next Week’s Spelling List

Test 04/16/15 Retest 04/17/15

Unit 20 Vocabulary

1. instruct
2. instruction
3. graduate
4. graduation
5. confuse
6. confusion
7. conclude
8. conclusion
9. oppose
10. opposition
11. explode
12. explosion
13. affect
14. affection
15. suggest
16. suggestion
17. discuss
18. discussion
19. except
20. exception
21. correct
22. correction
23. express
24. expression
25. substitute
26. substitution
27. exclude
28. exclusion

*25-28 are extra credit words

Reading Group Updates:

The Giver: This group did a comparison and analysis of the novel vs the movie and has now begun their final project.

Dragon of the Lost Sea: This group will finish reading the novel by the end of next week.

Dragon Rider: This group is working on their final project.

School News 4-7-15

URGENT! FIESTA HELPERS NEEDED

We need help Wednesday starting at 3:00 with getting the invitations out for Fiesta. We will be meeting in Room 6, so come on down anytime between 3:00 and 5:00 to get these ready for the mail. This will count toward your 4 hours of work for the Fiesta.

THIS WEEK

Tuesday: Music Classes / Science Posse in Ms. James Class

Wednesday: Art and P.E.

Thursday: Mass at 8:30 / Music Classes / Adams Team Starts 3:10

Friday: P.E. and Music Lessons (Bring books and instruments)

ENCHILADAS FOR SALE

We have dropped the price. Now you can purchase the last few dozen of the Enchiladas at $15 per dozen or 3 dozen for $40! Get them while they last. The price will never be lower.

FIRST COMMUNION EVENTS

Second grade parents should know that there will be a retreat for the students coming up on Sunday April 12^th with First Communion happening at the 8:00, 12:30, and 5:30 Masses on Sunday April 26^th. Let’s all pray for those students as they make prepare this month.

Please be aware that there is an error on the April calendar. Students will not be singing at the 5:30 Mass on April 26^th due to First Communion. Sorry.

LENTEN JOURNEYS

We have completed Lent so we are asking you to turn in your Rice Bowls.

Thanks to all who brought them in last week. Thanks to the many of you who contributed to our 40 Cans for 40 Days for Interfaith Campaign. Thanks to our First and Second Graders who used their hard earned class money to buy items for the needy throughout Lent.

OPEN HOUSE

Next Thursday April 16 the school will be holding an Open House. The teachers will be on hand to answer questions and talk about their classroom for next year. Be sure to tell all your friends and neighbors to stop by. We will be here till 6:00 that evening. We would like to increase our enrollment by 20 students for next year. If any of our returning parents want to come by at that time to talk to your child’s future teachers, you are welcome to do that as well. So spread the word about the great things that are happening at St. Laurence School.

FATHER JAMES LEAVING

It occurred to me that some of you might not have heard the news that Father James is leaving us at the end of June. He will be the pastor at Holy Rosary in Lander. The current Pastor in Lander, Fr. David Erickson will be coming to Laramie this July.

TURN IN YOUR INTENT FOR NEXT YEAR FORMS

Take a minute today, if you haven’t already, to return the intent form for the 2015-16 school year (sixth grade parents are exempt). It helps us in planning for next year.

ADAM’S TEAM STARTS UP

This Thursday the school’s running club, Adam’s Team, kicks off the spring season. The club meets every Thursday this spring from 3:10 till 4:30 and is headed up by Mrs. Lyford our music teacher. Bring a water bottle, some running shoes, and your Adam’s Team Shirt (should you have one). She will probably have a permission slip available for those who want to join for the first time this spring. Reminder: Pre-Kindergartners must be accompanied by a parent.

FIESTA SIGN UP

Last month we emailed you a sign-up sheet with the opportunity to help with making the 2015 Fiesta a success. Please print it off and return it to school this week. There are extra copies on the table near the front offices.

You will all receive an invitation to the Fiesta. Additionally, if you know of a family member or a friend who would like to receive an invitation, please let Anita know. This could be a relative who lives out of town, but has shown interest in supporting the school. Additionally, you, or someone you know might have a business or a hobby or service that you would like to offer as a donation to the Fiesta. This is good way to grow a business or increase name recognition. Contact the school for more information.

KINDERGARTEN STEP AHEAD PROGRAM

Albany County School District offers a free summer program to all children who live in Albany County and who will be attending kindergarten next fall. Information letters will be going home with PreK students today. This program is open to all Kindergarten students regardless of what school they attend.

KINDERGARTEN SCREENING

Kindergarten screening for St. Laurence Kindergarten students will be help on Friday, August 7 from 8:00 – 9:15. You must have a scheduled time and fill out the paperwork to attend. We encourage all Kindergarten students to attend. Please see Anita for more information and to schedule a time.

SURVEY

You still have a couple of days to turn in your surveys for Chris’s college class. Don’t forget to sign the consent or he will be unable to use your information. Thanks for helping him out.

DENTAL HEALTH CHECKUPS

Dental screenings will take place next Monday and Tuesday. A letter about the screenings is going home this week with an option for you to opt out of having your children screened.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

April 12

First Communion Retreat in the Gym 1:30 – 3:30

April 16

Open House from 2:00 till 6:00 Invite all your friends and relatives with school-aged children

April 26 First Holy Communion

May 9^th Fiesta! Get those sign up forms in so you can get your choice of jobs.

Grade 1-2 News 4-7-15

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

Grade One/Two April 7-10, 2015

Greetings this Easter week! Easter is such a big deal in the church that we get to celebrate it for a whole week! I hope you had a lovely and faith-filled weekend. The cherubs did two amazing performances of the Holy Week play last Thursday. I was super proud of them!

The time has finally come: we will begin our dinosaur unit in science! We will read non-fiction stories in reading/language this week, the firsts reading Dinosaur Babies and seconds will read Let’s Go Dinosaur Tracking. Our sound is the sounds of e: short e, e with bossy r, and long e spelled ee. We will learn about main idea and the schwa sound (didn’t get to it last week. J)

We will consider slides and flips in our math geometry unit while we learn more about subtraction. Seconds will add money with trading.

As stated above, our dinosaur unit kicks off this week. Next Tuesday we will participate in a virtual field trip with the Atlanta Center for Puppetry and Arts and each child will create a dinosaur puppet during that presentation. I need to ask your help financially for this event; may I ask each child to bring $5 for this exciting event? Thanks so much.

We will begin the dinosaur unit by considering myths and realities about these creatures, realizing that paleontological knowledge is growing by leaps and bounds at this time. Our focus will be the three time periods in which dinosaurs lived, the types of bodies they had, number of legs, and types of teeth.

Our long-awaited book party will take place this Thursday from 2:30-3 PM. You are most welcome to join us as we read these delightful books about places on God’s lovely Earth!

We are thinking much about the Mass and Eucharist in religion as we prepare for our big day on April 26. Our retreat will be this coming Sunday, April 12 @1:30 PM in our school gym. It is most important that all the children join us if at all possible. You are welcome to come, too. It’s lots of fun! If you have not yet selected a Mass on April 26, please do so this week if you can. Again, we will use the 8 AM, 12:30 PM Spanish Mass, and 5:30 Sunday evening Mass on that day. Just select one of those Mass times for your family. Thanks.

Spelling words

egg herd seed weed

need green

Second grade: breed bleed seen teeth

Homework

Tuesday: spelling sort

Wednesday: religion family journal: please discuss and write about how Jesus showed us his love through his death, and more importantly, his resurrection

Thursday: spelling

Grade 5-6 News

This Week in Class:

The kids have had a fantastic time pulling “April Fools” pranks today…be careful!

Spelling:

Unit 19 Spelling: adding “ion” or “ation”. The suffix –ion or –ation can change verbs into nouns. A great spelling strategy is: if the verb ends with e, drop the e before adding –ion or –ation. We will work on this unit Wednesday and Thursday of this week and then Monday-Wednesday of next week. Our Unit 19 Spelling Test will be Thursday, April 9^th.

History:

We are continuing with Chapter 17: The Beginning of the Industrial Age. This chapter examines how industrialization changed the way people lived and worked. Discuss with your child what kind of economy the United States has: traditional economy, command economy or market economy?

Science:

On Tuesday, April 7^th we will have another Science Posse lesson! Trevor LeValley, a chemical engineer at UW, will teach a chemistry lesson on that date.

Our school- wide reading incentive is underway!. Your child will travel 100 miles for every 20 minutes they read. Your child can use these minutes for Book It as well. I will send home another reading log today. Please sign your child’s reading log—they must record the book, page numbers and time spent reading first. I will highlight in yellow the minutes I record so we can keep using the reading log until it is filled up.

Reminder

No School on Friday, April 3^rd or Monday, April 6th

No Class Supplies Needed!!!

NO CLASS SUPPLIES NEEDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!

This Week’s Spelling List

Test 04/09/15 Retest 04/10/15

Unit 19 Vocabulary

1. construct
2. construction
3. connect
4. connection
5. combine
6. combination
7. cooperate
8. cooperation
9. attract
10. attraction
11. admire
12. admiration
13. situate
14. situation
15. examine
16. examination
17. contribute
18. contribution
19. explore
20. exploration
21. inspect
22. inspection
23. locate
24. location
25. excavate
26. excavation
27. insulate
28. insulation

*25-28 are extra credit words

Next Week’s Spelling List

Test 04/09/15 Retest 04/10/15

Unit 19 Vocabulary

1. construct
2. construction
3. connect
4. connection
5. combine
6. combination
7. cooperate
8. cooperation
9. attract
10. attraction
11. admire
12. admiration
13. situate
14. situation
15. examine
16. examination
17. contribute
18. contribution
19. explore
20. exploration
21. inspect
22. inspection
23. locate
24. location
25. excavate
26. excavation
27. insulate
28. insulation

*25-28 are extra credit words

Reading Group Updates:

The Giver: we finished our novel, answered questions and discussed each chapter. Today we will begin watching the movie version of “The Giver”.

Dragon of the Lost Sea: we have read the first sixteen chapters, answered questions, and will be discussing them.

Dragon Rider: we finished the novel and will begin a final project.

School News 3-30-15

St. Laurence Eagle Eye News

FIESTA HAPPENINGS

The St. Laurence Fiesta by the Sea is scheduled for May 9^th in the school gym. Invitations will be going home later in the month. Be sure to fill out and return your committee commitment.

THIS WEEK

Tuesday: MASS at 8:30

Wednesday: Art and P.E.

Thursday: Easter Play by Grades 1 & 2 10:30 and again at 11:00

Friday: Good Friday NO SCHOOL

Monday: NO School

ENCHILADA SALE

Last chance to purchase some more or of the St. Laurence Enchiladas. If you would like some more, please contact the school this week. They are selling for $20.

FIRST COMMUNION EVENTS

Second grade parents should know that there will be a retreat for the students coming up on Sunday April 12^th with First Communion happening at the 8:00, 12:30, and 5:30 Masses on Sunday April 26^th. Let’s all pray for those students as they make prepare this month.

Please be aware that there is an error on the April calendar. Students will not be singing at the 5:30 Mass on April 26^th due to First Communion. Sorry.

LENTEN JOURNEYS

We are in our last week of Lent so we are asking you to turn in your Rice Bowls and bring your non-perishable items for Interfaith.

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 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. Thanks to everyone who has given so far. Let’s fill the cart again!

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 April. We will move our airplanes down the hall a meter (1 meter = 1000 miles) towards Australia for every 20 minutes we read.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Holy Week started with about 10 students participating in the Palm Sunday Mass at St. Laurence Church. Thanks for your ministry in singing and serving. We are renewing our commitment to see “holiness” in everything and everyone as we approach the Pascal Mysteries. We will attend Mass this Tuesday. On Thursday, Mrs. Van Heule’s class will present a short play on the events leading up to Easter. Friday there is no school as the students and teachers get to prepare for the Easter Triduum.

TURN IN YOUR INTENT FOR NEXT YEAR FORMS

Take a minute today to return the intent form for the 2015-16 school year (sixth grade parents are exempt). It helps us in planning for next year.

ALL SCHOOL PICTURES

We added a picture of the entire school when we took class pictures last week. You can purchase that picture with the whole school and all the classroom teachers for an additional $10. Please place the money or check in an envelope write your name and write whole school on the envelope. In order to get your print, we need to have the money by this Wednesday April 1^st.

FIESTA SIGN UP

Last week we emailed you the opportunity to help with making the 2015 Fiesta a success. Please print it off and return it to school this week. If you want to work on the Auction Procurement Committee, the forms need to be in by Wednesday.

You will all receive an invitation to the Fiesta. Additionally, if you know of a family member or a friend who would like to receive an invitation, please let Anita know. This could be a relative who lives out of town, but has shown interest in supporting the school.

KINDERGARTEN STEP AHEAD PROGRAM

Albany County School District offers a free summer program to all children who live in Albany County and who will be attending Kindergarten next fall.  This program is open to all Kindergarten students regardless of what school they attend.

KINDERGARTEN SCREENING

Kindergarten screening for St. Laurence Kindergarten students will be help on Friday, August 7 from 8:00 – 9:15. You must have a scheduled time and fill out the paperwork to attend. We encourage all Kindergarten students to participate. Please see Anita for more information and to schedule a time.

SURVEY

You still have a couple of days to turn in your surveys for Chris’s college class. Don’t forget to sign the consent or he will be unable to use your information. Thanks for helping him out.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

April 3

No School Good Friday

April 5

EASTER

April 6

No School Easter Monday

April 12

First Communion Retreat in the Gym 1:30 – 3:30

April 16

Open House from 2:00 till 6:00 Invite all your friends and relatives with school-aged children

April 26 First Holy Communion

May 9^th Fiesta! Get those sign up forms in so you can get your choice of jobs.

Grade 1-2 News 3-30-15

Grade One/Two March 30-April 2, 2015

Thanks to all who were able to join us at 5:30 PM Palm Sunday Mass as we begin the holiest week of our church year! We carry that theme with us all this week. Last year, the cherubs wrote a play about Holy Week; we will present that play again this year. We plan to present it at 10:30 AM and again at 11 AM Thursday morning in our classroom. It is short but very sweet and significant to the cherubs. Maybe you can join us? J

In reading /language we will continue to read stories of days past as seconds read a Little House adaptation, and firsts complete The Golly Sisters Go West. Our skills are: pronouns, character and setting in a story, and alphabetizing. Sounds are ou as in mouse and out; seconds also have the ou sound as in double.

We continue our geometry unit in math as we consider attributes of solid shapes. We are also adding and subtracting, just as we should be. J

There will be a book party to share our amazing informational books, but not this week. I hope to have that scheduled by the end of this week and will inform you ASAP; my hope is for the first full week of April. I hope you will be able to come and celebrate this magnificent achievement!

Religion focuses on Holy Week and the Liturgy of the Word in Mass.

Spelling words

house mouse blouse out about shout

Second grade words: double trouble tough rough

Homework

Monday: Spelling sort

Tuesday: Math

Wednesday: please discuss ways your family will observe the Triduum (last days of Lent during Holy Week) and Easter and journal about it.

School News 3-23-15

THIS WEEK

Tuesday: Basketball After School / PAWS Testing resumes

Wednesday: MASS The Annunciation of the Lord

Thursday: Class Pictures / Basketball Game with Harmony 1:30 Here

Friday: Stations of the Cross 8:30 /Library/ 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.

SIGN UP NEXT YEAR

Today we are sending home a simple application for enrollment for next year. Please fill out the form and return it to school. Even if you have other plans that do not include St. Laurence, could you write that on the form and return it. The form will help in planning for next year. We will send out the Tuition Contracts in mid April.

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 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. Thanks to everyone who has given so far. Let’s fill the cart again!

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

If you haven’t turned in your survey for Chris Grissom’s class project, please return it ASAP. Remember you need to sign the consent form and turn it in for your answers to count. It would really help him out, and it will help you to explore your own parenting style. The survey is completely confidential. We will detach the consent page with your signature before turning the forms over to Chris. 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 continue the PAWS testing this week. Parents, please see that the children get plenty of rest and a good breakfast. Ms. James’s class has been having regular visits from UW’s Science Posse.

BASKETBALL GAME

We won our game against Harmony on that Friday before the break 33-12. This Thursday there will be a rematch at our gym starting at 1:30. All are invited to attend. Go Eagles!

CLASS PICTURES

Also this Thursday we will be taking class pictures and the opportunity to get individual packets as well. All the information is going home today.

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

March 26

Class Pictures

March 24-April 1

PAWS Testing grades 3-6

April 3

No School Good Friday

April 5

EASTER

April 6

No School Easter Monday

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