St Patricks Elementary School

Hello parents,

Reading- This week we are reading the story Hide Clyde. We will talk about rhyming words. I hope the students are still practicing their sight words every night. Let them show you what they’ve learned. In case you’ve lost your words, they are I, am, one, little, two, three, the, a, have, four, it, is, to, my, we, like, he, she, you, and, five, six, for, red, blue, brown, pink, purple, white, orange, black, gray, green, yellow, and tan. We will also practice reading as a group and individually. Along with reading, the students will also continue to practice writing their own sentences.

Math-This week in math we will continue to work on counting to 100 by 1’s, 5’s, and 10’s. We will also go over how a ruler works, and practice using it.

We will continue to go to the library every Thursday. Please help your child remember to bring his/her book back to school so it is not overdue.

Important dates:

2/12/10- Liturgy at 8:10. Today is also banking day and our make up hat day. The students must wear their uniforms, but they may wear their favorite hat. Today we will also make up our missed prayer service from last week. The service will be at 1:45. Our Valentine’s Day party will follow the prayer service at 2.

2/13/10-Today will be His Day with the Kids. It will start at 9 am. Remember to bring a hammer and extra newspaper if you have it.

Also, I’d like to remind parents that electronic games are not to be brought to school.

Reading/Language Arts: Our reading story for this week is The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin. This is a non-fiction science story. We will have fun studying life cycles for the next few weeks. The spelling words for this story are: put, cook, stood, wood, full, July, shook, push, pull, brook, hook, hood, pudding, cushion, footprint, cookie, understood, wooden, pulley, bulldog.

Math: We will continue with our math facts this week. Most students are learning the fact very well. We have been learning about measurement for the past week. This week, we will continue with inches and yards, and will learn about measuring with gallons, quarts, pints, and cups.

Social Studies: Thank you for helping your child with his or her timeline project. We did not get to start our timelines due to the snow day on Friday. We will work on those this week. I can’t wait to see the finished projects.

Religion: I have tested many children on the Act of Contrition, and will need to finish the testing this week. Thank you for helping your child to learn this prayer.

We will learn about God’s love and mercy and the Sacrament of Reconciliation this week.

Classroom News: Our Valentine’s Party will be this Friday. I hope that you can all make it to the party!

 It’s time for our Valentine’s Day Celebration.  You may help your child to fill out his/her Valentine’s cards for his/her friends and send them in on Friday.  We will be making a mailbag in class to receive cards from our friends.    Here is the list of names:

Jacob, Abigail, Joe, Gracie, Jonathan, Ryanne, Tyler, Allison, Logan, Payton, Michael, Patirck, Blake, Vincent, Rhiannon, Migaira, Tenley, Mrs. Jackson, and Mrs. Bailey

“Be imitators of God.”  This was the theme verse for Catholic Schools Week.  The students had a wonderful time dressing and participating in the events of the week.  They were CRAZY, INSIDE OUT, SPORTS-LOVING third graders!

Language Arts:  Due to the snow day on Friday, we will be taking the spelling and reading tests on Volcanoes on Monday. This week we are reading Wings by Christopher Myers.  We will focus on the following spelling and vocabulary words in this unit.  Spelling and reading tests on Friday.

Spelling Words: wolves, knives, feet, men, children, women, sheep, heroes, scarves, mice, geese, cuffs, elves, banjos, halves, loaves, beliefs, tomatoes, potatoes, tornadoes

Vocabulary Words:  swooping, attention, struggled, drifting, glaring, looping, complained, giggle

GRAMMAR:  We will focus on a review of various grammar skills covered this year.

WRITING:  The students will write a reflective piece on Catholic Schools Week.

FLUENCY READING PRACTICE:  The students will have a fluency reading practice this week entitled Melinda Made a Snowman. Please practice this reading every evening with your child to improve reading fluency.

Math: This week we will continue focusing on fractions.  We will have a test on fractions on Friday. We will also be working on fluency with multiplication facts as well as solving real-world math problems.  Please continue studying facts with your child DAILY.

Science: The students are finishing their penguin projects and will begin a unit on Changes in Earth.

Social Studies:Students will be finishing up their maps and they will have a test on Thursday. A study guide will be sent home on Tuesday.

Religion: Mrs. Thompson is still sick.  Please continue to pray for her.

Classroom News:

Mr. Derico will announce  the new date for the HSA lunch and Hat Day when the schedule has been considered.  (These activities will not take place on Monday, Feb. 8.)

His Day With the Kids has been postponed until next Saturday, February 13.

We will be making Valentine Bags during school this week.  The Valentine’s Party is Friday beginning at 2:00.  I will send home a list of students in the class for valentine cards.

If any parent is interested in Read Aloud, please let me know.

I would like to thank the parents who came to the Parent Training for the netbooks last Thursday.  I truly appreciate your involvement in this program.  If you were unable to attend, please contact me to set up a time to discuss the netbooks.   I am beginning home assignments on Wednesdays for those students whose parents attended the training or made other arrangements with me.  We are so excited about the new possibilities with this program!

Secret Word Phrase:  “Love one another.”

What a fun week we had!  We dressed crazy, wore our clothes inside out, and supported our favorite team.  Thanks you to parents who helped make last week great.

Reading -We will be reading The King in the Kitchen . Test will be on Thursday.

Grammar – Students will be Pronouns and Antecedents.  Test Thursday.

Spelling -Test Friday- chicken, eleven, given, jungle, national, several, natural, needle, single, citizen, threaten, diagonal, paddle, animal, spiral, marble, oval, mumble, tangle, frighten, strengthen, knuckle, individual, cubicle

Math -Students will be working with adding and subtracting money. Then we will be moving to perimeter and area. Quiz on Thursday on adding and subtracting decimals.

Social Studies- Students will be focusing on  their famous West Virginian PowerPoint. We will be using Google Docs to create this presentation. They can then work on their presentation at any computer. We will be presenting these and then beginning the early history of the US.

Science- The students will also be working on writing and video taping a weather forecast.

Religion-

If children do not bring home the ‘church attendance’ and ‘good deed’ slips, parents can sign a piece of paper stating what the child did and sign and date it, that works for an extra sticker.  Catholic children must attend a Catholic Mass to be counted.  I have had some really neat ‘good deeds’  i.e. carrying wood for neighbors, shoveling snow for grandparents, visiting people in a nursing home.  GREAT JOB KIDS! (I really can’t take the child’s word for it, I did have one 3rd grader who forged her mom’s signature, lol)

Mrs. Thompson has tickets to the WVU girls basketball game on Valentines Day (Sunday) against Georgetown.  If any family wants to go, please send a note to school and tell me how many tickets.  These are free, donated to the students from WVU. Limited number available.

Classroom News -

We are in need of tissues. We have used all that we had. Please send some in if you can. Thanks!!

Please have your create a Valentine’s Box for our party this Friday. The party begins at 2.

If anyone would like to send in cleaning supplies for our classroom it would be greatly appreciated. (Clorox Wipes, Lysol Spray, etc.)

Secret Word Phrase: Glue

What a fun week we had!  We dressed crazy, wore our clothes inside out, supported our favorite team, and even went on a field trip.  Thanks you to parents who helped make last week great.

Because of the snow day Friday, we will be taking the spelling test on Monday.  The  students will also be taking the AR test on Freedom Train.  I reminded them on Thursday about their snow packets, so I hope everyone worked on that over the weekend.

READING – The story this week is Stretching Ourselves. The comprehension test will be on Thursday unless we miss a day of school and then it will be on Friday.

SPELLING – Spelling words this week are:  overlook, underline, subway, subset, supermarket, outlet, underground, overboard, undercurrent, superstar, overtime, supersonic, submarine, undercover, overcast, outfield, output, supernatural, subdivision, and subhead.  Challenge words are:  overwhelm, superimpose, underestimate, underpriviledge, and subcommittee.  Test will be Friday.

GRAMMAR – Our grammar lesson this week is on Pronouns and Antecedents. A Pronoun takes the place of a noun or nouns.  An Antecedent is the noun or nouns to which the pronoun refers.  Test will be Friday.

WRITING – This week they will be working on a writing for the Creative Writing Contest.

MATH – The Chapter 28 test will be Tuesday.

SCIENCE – They will finish filling out their worksheet for Chapter 8 on Monday (this worksheet will serve as the test).  Tuesday we will begin Chapter 9.

SOCIAL STUDIES - The students had  4 review pages for the Civil War, these need to be completed when they come to class on Monday. We will review for a test on Wed.

RELIGION – I do not have news at this time for Religion, but please continue praying for Mrs. Thompson as she has shingles and is in a lot of pain.

CLASSROOM NEWS –

Hat Day and the Homeschool Association’s special lunch for the students will be rescheduled.

Valentine’s Party is Friday beginning at 2:00.  We will decorate bags in class for the valentines.

“His Day With The Kids” will be Saturday, Febrary 13.

SECRET PHRASE – “Be an imitator of God”

We had a wonderful  Catholic Schools Week. 

Our trip to Charleston was great.  Thank you to all the parents who went with us. 

While we were in Charleston we visited our state’s Cultural Center. We  did not have enough time to do it justice.  The exhibit is a timeline of West Virginia History and contains many of our state’s artifacts.  It is very interesting and well done.  The  next time you and your family  have some time with nothing to do, go to the Culture Center, it is worth the trip.

Reading: We will finish The Cay and have a final test on Wednesday.  We will also read Into The Ice fom our textbook. We will have a comprehension test for Into The Ice on Friday.

Spelling: We will be studying word with Greek parts, final test on Friday

Grammar: We will be studying Object and Subject pronouns, test on Friday

Writing:  We will finish our Catholic Schools Week essay and start on the essay for the Young Writers Contest.

Math:  We will finish decimals, Chapter 3, and have a test on Thursday

Social Studies–  We will study Central America and our selected country for the 2010 Olympic Games.

Science – Chapter 7 test is Friday.

Religion:  Mrs Thompson is still in great pain, pray for her, we will post her lessons later in the week.

Class News: 

Valentine’s Party is Friday beginning at 2:00.  We are making valentines in class for each member of our class.

“His Day With The Kids” will be Saturday, February 13.

His Day With the Kids has been postponed until next Saturday, February 13.

“His Day with the Kids” activity has been postponed until next Saturday Feb. 13th.”His Day with the Kids”  See you next weekend.

“His Day with the Kids” activity has been postponed until next Saturday Feb. 13th.