First Communion reminders

Reminder: First Communion Meeting Thursday, April 24th 7:15pm

We are working hard, reading about Jesus and his miracles, and preparing our hearts and minds for our special day on Saturday.

While this will be their First Communion, please help your child grow in his/her faith by bringing him/her to church every Sunday to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.

First Communion Practice

*Important Reminder*

First Communion Practice - Thursday, April 24th - 7:15pm in the church

Please attend. (The students and at least one parent- or godparent- should be present. We will be rehearsing for Saturday, and there will be an opportunity to ask Fr. Felipe any questions you may have.)

Three Trees and God's plans

As we near Easter- and also First Communion- we have been focusing on many stories about Jesus' life. Today's story was The Tale of Three Trees.

We started off watching a video that tells a story of three trees with great plans to hold the world's greatest treasure, become a mighty sailing ship, and grow to be the tallest tree to point up to God. Each tree is chopped down... and it is not used for what it originally wanted... God had greater plans in mind. Watch the video to see what happens:

During the video, we stopped it a few times to have pair share discussions about the three trees, their dreams, and what happened. Afterwards, the students completed a graphic organizer with pictures and written responses. (There was even a word search for early finishers!)

Finally, we ended with a stand-up cross activity. They decorated their crosses to explain how they can show others the way to God.

Have a blessed remainder of Holy Week and a lovely Easter!

Reminders:

*No school Friday or Monday - Easter weekend
*First Communion - Saturday, April 26th - 10:00am (still waiting on news about practice!)

Correction - 1st Communion Time

I apologize, but I made a mistake with the time of First Communion!

It is Saturday, April 26th, at 10:00am (not 10:30 as previously noted). I am sorry for any inconvenience.

More details to come about practices and what time your child should be at the church.

Thank you!

Art Project and Special Visitors

We had a fabulous Friday. The second graders were on their best behavior at Mass. They knew all of the answers to the questions Fr. Felipe asked them about First Reconciliation (Saturday at 6:30pm). They sculpted animals out of clay during Art class. Also, they were on their best behavior for our school's guests from the University of Notre Dame.

You can watch a short informational video about the bus tour visits at the link below. Additionally, please enjoy some photos from the art projects:

Have a great weekend. Looking forward to seeing many families on Saturday night!

Phonics Syllables and a Special Visitor

We are back from spring break, and we're working hard in these last few months of school.

In Phonics, we have been reviewing all of our syllable types for single syllable and multi-syllable words:

closed (c) - ex. cat
open (o) - ex. she
magic e (v-e) - ex. make
r-controlled (r) - ex. cart
double vowel (d) - ex. coin

On Wednesday, the students used cereal boxes that were marked up according to their syllables to help generate their own lists of each type. I was proud of how well they worked together and of all the words they listed on their charts!

We are still hoping for spring, but we are enjoying indoor recess as best we can while the rain and the snow keep coming...

Also, please ask your child about our special visitor from today (Thursday)- my twin sister came and enjoyed learning with us! A second Miss Foyle for second grade!

*Please remember*

First Reconciliation - 6:30pm - Saturday, April 5th - at St. Ann church

Spring Break and Recent Learning

With Terra Nova testing finished, we resumed our normal routines this week.

Among many wonderful read aloud stories, we read a magazine about Dr. Seuss! We "celebrated" his birthday about a week late (birthday = March 3rd) with goldfish (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish) and Dr. Seuss erasers.

In Religion, we talked about ways to be peacemakers in our school and in our homes. Our ideas are written on outlines of our hands and are hanging on the door as reminders to us for ways to act like Jesus.

In Science we've been learning about animal habitats. Check out the group posters about the rainforest, forest, desert, and arctic.

We finished our after-lunch read aloud The Tale of Despereaux, and we compared it with the movie- we found some similarities and also quite a few differences. The students were already asking what great book we are going to read next... They'll have to wait and see!

In writing, we finished up our class report about the Statue of Liberty. I was proud of how the students took the chart with notes and transferred it to an outline/paragraphs. They even added some illustrations and made a simple bibliography to cite their sources. After spring break, the students will get a chance to work on their very own research projects about a topic of their choice! (The picture below is the model I made while the students were working on their own papers.)

Please remember:
Next week is spring break (March 17th-21st). I look forward to seeing your children again on March 24th. Enjoy the time off! Please remember to have your child(ren) read every day. It is very important!