K-1st grade continues to practice counting to 100 by 10’s, the question of the day and the calendar. I love starting our class with the “Glory Be” prayer. In addition to all that, in 1st grade we read “Hetty’s 100 (Cien) Hats.” This is a wonderful book that gave us the opportunity to count to 100 (Cien) by ones! We celebrated by making sombreros (hats).

2nd grade is working on animals and reviewing colors. We read “Oso pardo oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí? (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See). We began creating our own libros (books). We are also continuing to work on the Hail Mary.

3rd grade continues to work on the pregunta (question), ¿Te gusta? (Do you like….?), and the two different responses ¿Me gusta? (I like….) ¿No me gusta? (I don’t like…). We created a graph using our fruit vocabulary to see what fruit was our favorite. Cerezas (Cherries) won!

4th grade continues to work on weather vocabulary words. In groups, students are working on a weather song project.

5th graders are finishing up Unit 2 of the VAMOS program. They read a short story in Spanish, translated a short text into Spanish, and acted out a story as they listened to it in Spanish. Students loved playing pin the “cola” on “la vaca Lola”. Looking ahead there will be a test the week of February 26th. Students should know the words:

hace (does/makes), son (are), niños (children), tiene (has).

    Holy and Healthy Habits

March 2024

Family Faith Challenge:

March is dedicated to St. Joseph. Please join us as we pray the Litany of St. Joseph.

Family Fit Challenge:

March continues the solemn and prayerful season of Lent. Please join us as we pray and exercise through the STATIONS OF THE CROSS CHALLENGE.

K-3rd PE Classes:

• Apply the Gospel Values of Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, Compassion, and Teamwork, to spiritual, mental, and physical health while participating in MVPA (Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity) throughout the year.
• Skills will include basketball skills (hand dribble, passing, set shots, offense and defense), directional cues, relevant vocabulary, locomotors, muscle stretching and identification, heart rate zone concepts, emotional recognition and regulation, cooperation, and various types of fitness circuits (HIIT vs endurance/pacing). Your students will be using Pietra Fitness throughout Lent for our PE cool down. You are encouraged to have your students show you what we did in class.
• Pietra Fitness is a Catholic alternative to Yoga. Lent is a perfect opportunity to slow down and reflect that “You are a living cathedral. Becoming the cathedral God created you to be, begins with building a solid foundation—physically, mentally, and spiritually.”
• Mrs. B’s Blessings is well underway and we’ve begun round two! The students have been doing an amazing job, not only for themselves but also sharing in the joy for their peers! I’m truly impressed by their continued commitment to live the Gospel Values as much as possible.

4th-5th PE Classes:

• Apply the Gospel Values of Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, Compassion, and Teamwork, to spiritual, mental, and physical health while participating in MVPA (Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity) throughout the year.
• Skills: The next few weeks will be focusing on the time of Lent.  Students will participate in the Stations of the Cross Fitness Challenge.  As we get into the month of March, students will begin their Racquet/Paddle Sport Unit, which will give students the opportunity to try different racquets or paddles with different types of objects to hit.

May you continue to have a prayerful and reflective Lent.

God bless, Mrs. Brumbaugh & Mr. Farris

Our Kindergarteners are having some fun with Pete The Cat! We were inspired by the book, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, and wanted to show our love by making our own version of Pete. The kids picked their own colors for his face and shirt and are now working on a patterned frame around his picture. We are adding details to his face and most importantly, we will be adding on model magic buttons!  We will be using white model magic and combining two colors to make a third color and turn it into a button and glue it on his shirt!  I can’t wait to see how they turn out!

Our 1st and 2nd Graders are learning about the artist, Pablo Picasso. Near the end of Picasso’s art career, he started painting in a childlike way. He was very much into showing Peace and Love in his work.  Our kids were inspired by his painting, Bouquet of Peace. In the first grade, it was fun to draw our hand and use our fast drying paint sticks to make beautiful flowers that turned into a bouquet.  In the second grade, we used a different approach and drew two hands holding a bouquet of flowers. That was tricky, but the kids did an awesome job! They all signed the bottom of their artwork like Picasso would! 

Our 3rd and 4th Graders just finished making their clay crosses and they turned out beautifully!!! After we finished with clay, we went straight into watercolors. We started talking about the different techniques we use and how we apply them to our painting.  Ask your child about the 3 different watercolor techniques. They should tell you it's…wet on wet, wet on dry, and dry on dry. We are using those techniques to make a Winter Landscape.  The last winter project before Spring arrives!

Our 5th Graders are starting a new project this month. We are diving into the world of 3D and optical illusions.  The students will learn how to draw their own hand in 3D. They will then decide on a color theme that will enhance their art project. Will they decide to use cool colors, warm colors, or complimentary colors?  There are so many choices and I can’t wait to see what they decide to do!

Kindergarten students continue to building on their singing skills and rhythmic skills. We have been performing songs at different tempos and exploring how that affects the movement and the steady beat. We especially love doing this through our musical freeze tag game called "Hill Hill". Students are expanding their knowledge of musical expression by moving in response to music through children's songs like "In the Woods" and classical music "Move It's".

1st Grade students continue to build on their rhythmic skills as we move into call and response singing. Students are practicing singing and playing with dynamics and are exploring how dynamics can help us understand the songs. We are also exploring patterns in music through classical music "Move It's" and listening maps.

2nd Grade students have moved from decoding patterns they hear to reading music written in 6/8 time. As a class we have enjoyed playing these patterns on xylophones and drums and learning how to improvise in 6/8 time using what we know so far. We are exploring children's songs and games that use songs written in 6/8 time. Students continue to practice building their part singing skills through partner singing and simple canons like "Music Alone Shall Live and Quiet"

3rd Grade students are in the process of developing their duet skills. We have practiced melodies, parallel melodies and/or basslines to be played together. We continue to work on beautiful tones on the recorder while we play "Hot Cross Buns", "Closet Key" and "Shosheen Sho". Students are also beginning to read rhythms written in 6/8 time and build their decoding skills using aural and visual sources.

4th Grade students are continuing to excel in their recorder playing! The kids have reviewed several notes and have passed their fourth Recorder Karate Belt. Musicians have learned a song to remember the notes of the treble clef and grow in their musicianship through note reading and rhythm playing. Students are learning about American Composer, Aaron Copland, and are dancing to his famous Hoe-Down from Rodeo. 

5th Grade students are developing their ensemble playing using recorders and xylophones. We are practicing melodies, parallel melodies, basslines and simple chords to play as an ensemble. We continue to expand our decoding skills by learning new songs both in 2/4 time and 6/8 time like "Shosheen Sho" and "Fais Dodo". We are also continue our decoding and improvisation skills in 6/8 time.

Fifth Grade Band students are adding new notes and new songs to their ever-growing repertoire. The kids are working to master their three selections for the upcoming Band Concert on March 6th in the SPX Main Gym. 

 Congrats to last month's Solo and Ensemble contestants! The kids did an incredible job representing Saint Pius X Fine Arts while performing. We are so proud of their courage and hard work! 

The Kindergarteners recently decorated paper Alleluias. We then buried our Alleluias in a large planter box filled with dirt in preparation for the season of Lent. Lent is a season of Preparation for Easter. It is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. One of the ways the Church observes the season of Lent, is by “fasting” from saying or singing Alleluia, which means, “praise the Lord.” In the atrium, we bury our decorated Alleluias as a concrete way to show we are “fasting” from singing Alleluia until it suddenly bursts into glory during the Mass of the Easter Vigil. After Easter, we will joyfully dig up our Alleluias and join the rest of the Church singing our Lord’s praises.

The First Graders recently heard about the Summary of the Law (Matthew 22:34-40). We begin this presentation by reflecting on the three moments of our Fettuccia timeline: Creation, Redemption, Parousia. In thinking about the Creation moment we recall the things that make human beings different from other creatures: a mind to choose between good and bad; a heart to love God; and hands to transform, create and serve. Jesus was born to show us and teach us how we are to love God. 

We talk about times that it can be difficult to follow Jesus’ Law of love, but God sends the Holy Spirit to help us. We also talk about ways that we can show God’s love to others in order to help build the Kingdom of God.  

The Second Graders have been working on learning how to look up scripture verses in the Bible. This work has a collection of Bible verses listed on a card. The children look up each of the verses from various books of the Bible. After they have found the verse, they complete a card listing where the book is found (Old or New Testament), what type of book it is (Prophetic, Gospel, Historical, etc.), the chapter and verse. Then they write out the verse on the card. The children keep track of each verse they have copied and keep their collection of Bible verses on a book ring. This work helps the children become familiar and comfortable with finding things in the Bible.  

The Third Graders have begun a Bible study of selections of the Paschal Narratives in the Bible. Their reflections on these passages help the children prepare for their work on a project involving the Stations of the Cross. The children are working in small groups to illustrate and write prayers for each station. They will be using this work during Holy week to pray the Stations of the Cross in the atrium. 

In Fourth grade religion the students acted out the Fall in the Garden of Eden and The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

In February students will learn about African American Saints in the path to sainthood. They explored the materials for operation Rice Bowl and making a Lenten commitment. Up next we will have Lenten activities and the Theological Virtues.

The Fifth graders have learned the hard words of the creed. Make sure to ask them after Sunday Mass the vocabulary. The students take have been reading scripture and discussing if passages focus on the humanity or divinity of Jesus.

During Catholic School Week we play board games that are theology based.

One time somebody asked Jesus which one was the Greatest Commandment. We read Matthew 22:34-20. Sometimes it’s difficult to love one another. Jesus taught us that the Kingdom of God is open to all people of all times.