Kindergarten-October 31st Class

This week we talked about All Saints Day in class.  The children colored an All Saints Day coloring page when they arrived at class.

We covered chapter 7, We Learn About Ordinary Time, in our textbook.  We talked about how those who shared God's love and did what He wanted them to do became saints.  We discussed the ways that people in our lives show their love for us and God, and we discussed the ways we can share Gods love with those around us.

During circle time we read a story about St. Joseph.  We also read the next installment of the story about St. Therese the Little flower.

We did a Halloween Jack O Lantern craft and finished our class with a little Halloween party when we were surprised with cupcakes.

This week's  homework is to continue praying the Hail Mary each day.

There is no class next week.  We will meet again for class on November 14th.  I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween.  See you in two weeks!

Third Grade -October 28th Class

Sorry it's taken so long to get an update on this past Thursday's class on the blog.  I've been busy with other obligations that prevented me from taking time to blog.

This past Thursday we presented the "Think First and Stay Safe" child lures prevention class.  The students who were present learned about various child lures that people may try to use on them to lead them into a harmful situation.  We discussed ways to avoid getting caught in these lures.

Because we do not meet for class during the month of November a letter was sent home detailing the three lessons you need to review with your child over our break.  Chapters 1, 2 and 4 are the lessons that I would like everyone to review.  A packet with three corresponding worksheets were also sent home.  These puzzles are the homework for the month of November.

A letter was sent home with your child from the Religious Education department regarding food donations for the Thanksgiving food drive.  Because we do not meet for class, please drop off your food donations at the church or the school (during another religious education session).  I teach a class on Sunday at 9AM in room 1A.  Any student who wishes to bring their donation to my Sunday morning class will earn a reward sticker.

Each Thursday I will be posting an extra credit assignment that can be completed for a reward sticker.  Check back each week for this assignment.

Also, confessions will be the second week of December.  Please see that your child remembers the Act of Contrition.

Kindergarten-October 24th Class

This week we covered the Child Safety Lures Prevention lesson during class.  We discussed as a class who are people we can trust.  We talked about some ways in which strangers may try to lure children and how to think first and stay safe.  Everyone was sent home with a coloring page packet that covers the main ideas that were covered in this lesson.

Check your child's folder for the Thanksgiving food collection sheet that was sent out by the religious education office. Starting the week of November 1st, your child may bring in canned goods and non-perishables to help the needy in our community.

This week's homework is to pray the Hail Mary daily.  I'm hoping that everyone will know this prayer by December so we can start learning the Our Father.  If your child says this prayer with you once a day he or she will pick it up very quickly.

Third Grade-October 21st Class

This week we covered chapter 5, We Learn About the Early Church.  In this chapter the students learned that the Apostles led the church.  We discussed how the disciples of Jesus spread the Gospel, or good news.  We also learned about how many early Christians were martyred for their faith.    And we talked about how the saints are our ancestors in faith who provide good examples of holiness.

This week's key words are: Act of the Apostles, Gospel, and martyrs.  Students are responsible for knowing these terms.  They can show up on a pop quiz at any time.  It's also good to know these terms because they will come up in future trivia games.

During our rosary time we talked about the fifth Joyful Mystery, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple.  We talked about how St. Joseph and St. Mary must have felt when they realized that the child Jesus was missing, and how happy they must have been when they found him in the temple.

We learned about the Jesus fish symbol or Ichthus in tonight's lesson and we colored and cut out an Ichthus.

This week's homework is the Chapter 5 project disciple activities on pages 56 and 57.

Next week we will be presenting the Child Lures Prevention class.  A letter regarding this class was sent home a few weeks ago.

See you all next week!

Kindergarten-October 17th Class

This week we covered chapter 4, God Gives Us the Land, in our text book.  We talked about all the wonderful things that fill the earth from flowers and trees to mountains and oceans.

When students arrived at class this week we began working on a craft project that had a nice autumn feel to it.  While the students colored the little wreath that says "God, thank you" we discussed that God likes it when we thank Him for the many blessings he gives us.  I also read the children the story of the Ten Lepers from the book Catholic Bible Stories for Children.  This was the same story from the gospel at Sunday Mass the week before (October 10th).

During circle time we read two stories.  The first was about St. Rose of Lima and the second was the first installment of a story about St. Therese the little flower from The Catholic Children's Treasure Box Series.  We also listened to the story of Flat Father Stanley's adventures with another member of our class.  On his last adventure Flat Fr. got to go to Mass (He was thrilled!), decorated a house for Halloween and even got to play on a playground.  He had a great week and is now off on yet another adventure.  We also prayed the Sign of the Cross and the Hail Mary.  Keep working on those prayers with your children.  They're getting closer to knowing it by heart each week.

Homework this week is the cut and paste activity sheet that you will find on the left hand side of your child's folder.  Also note that a revised calendar is in the folder, as well.

Next week we will be presenting the Child Lures Prevention Class, Think First and Stay Safe during class.  A letter regarding this class was sent home with your child the week of October 3rd.

See you all next week!

Third Grade-October 14th Class

This week we covered chapter 4, The Church Begins, in our text book.  The class learned about the beginnings of the church.  We discussed the Ascension of Jesus and his promise to his Apostles to send the Holy Spirit.  We read a story about Pentecost, the day when disciples received the Holy Spirt.  Since everyone loves a birthday, I pointed out to the class that Pentecost is regarded as the birthday of the Church.

This week five new key words were introduced.  They are: mission, Ascension, Pentecost, Church, Christians.  Students are responsible for knowing the meanings of these words.  It is important that they understand the meanings of these words because they will appear in their religious ed texts year after year.

Tonight I introduced the fourth joyful myestery of the rosary: The presentation of Jesus at the temple.  Students were given a coloring page representing this mystery and asked to tell their families about it.

Fourth Joyful Mystery: The Presentation of Jesus

A sheet of prayers you child is expected to know was sent home tonight.  Three of the prayers your child should already know.  They are the Hail Mary, Our Father and the Glory Be.  If your child does not know these prayers please help him or her to learn them.  We are using them every week in class when we pray a decade of the rosary so it's important that they know them.  This year the students are expected to learn the Apostles' Creed.  Help your child to learn this prayer by having them say it every day.  Once your child has learned this prayer he or she may recite it to me before or after class to earn a sticker for his/her reward card.

Some of you may have noticed that we now have a stop light in the front of the class.  Our first few weeks of class have been filled with a lot of out of turn talking and calling out that has prevented the class from getting to the fun games and activities that I had planned.  Each week everyone will start out on the green light.  Students who break our posted class rules (they're on the front board) will see their clip moved from green to yellow to red.  If your child winds up on the red light you will receive a note telling you why.  Students who make a habit of winding up on red will be referred to the office.    Please remind your son or daughter to make every effort to be considerate of others in class and refrain from talking out of turn.  I'd like our class time to be fun and productive.

This was our first week with the stop light system and I have to say the class was totally different.  We even had enough time to play Saint Search, which is a bingo type of game where the students learn about the saints.

This week's homework: Project Disciple pages 48 and 49.


Have a wonderful weekend!  See you all next week!

Third Grade-October 7th Class

This week we had a pop quiz on the key words from chapters 1 and 2.  The quizzes need to be signed by a parent and returned next Thursday.  If your child did not do well on today's quiz please stress the importance of paying attention during class.  I often ask the class to underline the definition of the key words when we come across them in the text; and I ALWAYS reiterate the meaning of the word and follow up by asking a member of the class to tell me the definition.  The key words are also highlighted in the activities and end of chapter test.  Those who pay attention during class and utilize the study guides that are on the website for our text book should have no problem retaining this information.

We covered chapter 3, Christ Will Come Again,  in our book tonight.  Three new key words were introduced tonight: second coming, Last Judgement and Heaven.  Please see that your child knows the meaning of these key words.  They will likely show up in a pop quiz in the near future.  The first three questions of the chapter 3 test on page 42 would be an excellent study help for learning the definitions of these terms.  We did the chapter test as a class, so everyone should have the correct answers written down in their text book.

Tonight we learned about the third joyful mystery of the rosary, the birth of Jesus.  Everyone was given a coloring page that illustrates this mystery and asked to tell their families about it.

Third Joyful Mystery: The Birth of Jesus

We played Build the Church tonight using key words.  I had wanted to play a fun bingo type of game called Saint Search but the class was too interested in talking in fooling around during lesson time and that ate up the time allocated for our game.


Homework for this week is the Project Disciple portion of the chapter, pages 40 and 41. The activities on these pages correlate to what we learned in class tonight.  

Kindergarten-October 3rd Class

This week we covered chapter 3, God Gives Us Water, in class.  We talked about how water feels, the ways we use it, and where we can find it.  We talked about how water is a wonderful gift from God.

At the start of class we listened to a bible story about Noah and his ark.

During circle time we discussed some of the ways we experience God's gift of water in nature (snow, rain, and the ocean).  We listened to the story and looked at the pictures from Flat Father Stanley's first adventure.  Then we concluded our circle time by saying the Hail Mary.

This week our class merged with the kindergarten class from room 1B so we have more friends which means more fun!

Homework for the next two weeks is to continue learning the Sign of the Cross and Hail Mary.  


Please note that our class does not meet again until October 17th.