Kindergarten and 1st grades have started working on counting to 100 by 10’s. We continue to work on the question of the day and the calendar too.

2nd grade is working on animals and reviewing colors. We are also continuing to work on the Hail Mary.

3rd grade is working on a new pregunta (question), ¿Te gusta? (Do you like….?)

We are working on two different responses¿Me gusta? (I like….) ¿No me gusta? (I don’t like…). We are using this question to practice our new fruit vocabulary.

4th grade continues to work on weather vocabulary words. They are having fun using the vocabulary words in a song. They will be breaking up into groups and coming up with a creative way to perform the song.

5th grade continues to work on Unit 2, Faroles, of the Vamos program. We listened to a famous children’s song, La vaca Lola, and read a story about an unusual crocodile with one eye. Students created their own “animal inusual”(unusual animal) and wrote a paragraph describing it in Spanish. Students took turns sharing their paragraph with their classmates. 

    Holy and Healthy Habits

February 2024

Family Faith Challenge:

February is consecrated to the Holy Family.

Please join us as we pray the Holy Family Novena.

Family Fit Challenge:

February brings us the end of Ordinary Time and into a solemn and prayerful season of Lent. It 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.” Your students will be using Pietra Fitness throughout Lent in PE. You are encouraged to have your students show you what we did in class or use the following prayer and stretches. 

Lent Meditation: Pray: Grant me grace, O merciful God, To desire all that is pleasing to you, To examine it prudently, To acknowledge it truthfully, And to accomplish it perfectly, For the praise and glory of you. (Teachmama.com) 

Exercises: Hamstring, Butterfly, Tricep, Bicep

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 striking with hands and arms to move a ball over a net (volleyball), tracking the ball, directional cues, Pietra Fitness (stretching, strengthening, and Catholic meditations), 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).
• Mrs. B’s Blessings is well underway! The students have been doing an amazing job, not only for themselves but sharing in the joy for their peers! They are truly embracing the Gospel Values and healthy strategies as a way to live, in and out of school! Thank you for the opportunity to teach your students and be part of their faith and fitness journey!

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: We are starting our bowling unit.  Students will work on proper rolling techniques and the approach.  Students will work together to accomplish different individual and team goals, while playing together at their respective lanes.

May you celebrate the end of Ordinary Time and make room for time with Our Lord, as Lent begins this month.

God bless, Mrs. Brumbaugh & Mr. Farris

Our Kindergarteners have just started working on a new project that is inspired by the artist, Keith Haring. Keith Haring was known for his graffiti like drawings with bright colors and no features on the body, including the face. We practiced how to draw people the Keith Haring way and then practiced different poses. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass us by to move our bodies, too! The kids tried different poses and then took those ideas and started sketching. We will be getting on good paper next class and using markers and neon paints to make our project come to life!

Our 1st and 2nd graders are learning about a new artist, Gustav Klimt. He liked quilts – blankets made of lots of different pieces of fabric. He put lots of patterns inside of his paintings to mimic the look of quilts. We started our super fun project by drawing out patterned sections that resemble a quilt. The “quilt” is laying on top of a person or an animal that is sleeping. Then, we will use crayons to finish out our patterns and wrap it up by using watercolors and paint right over the crayon sections. Ask your kids if they remember what happens when watercolor paint goes over our waxy crayons!

Our 3rd and 4th graders are finally getting to do a clay project! We will be making a clay cross. We haven’t done this project for a few years and it was definitely time to bring it back! This is a great lesson to teach the kids how to do the coiling technique. Coiling the clay can be very tricky, but the kids have been doing a great job and using the skills of past projects to help them. It’s also been awesome to see students helping each other out when someone might be falling behind or having a

hard time. I can’t wait to see them glazed and completed!

Our 5th graders are just getting into another project. We are talking about one of our favorite artists, Georgia O’Keefe. We do many different projects with Georgia O’Keefe because she did many different styles of paintings. She seemed to adapt her paintings to her surroundings, but she was always consistent with her paintings being BIG! The students will be taking a small piece of watercolor paper and they will be making a very large flower. The watercolor techniques will be very important in this project because the piece is not that big, so they must take their time and paint carefully. The

small details in the flower will be seen if they do the technique correctly. This is one of my very favorite projects!

Kindergarten students are performing songs and dances with different tempos and exploring tempo terms used in music. We continue to practice using our singing voices, moving and dancing to music and playing a steady beat to accompany tunes.

1st Grade classes are exploring ways to be expressive in music. We are currently learning how to perform music with dynamics (volume) and are practicing using the Italian music terms. We continue to developing our singing voices, expressively moving with music and playing simple accompaniments for tunes on xylophones and small percussion instruments.

2nd Grade students are exploring simple 6/8 time rhythms using songs and simple patterns. We are expanding our decoding skills to include 6/8 time and developing our singing skills to include part singing using both partner songs and rounds. Students are exploring double circle folk dances.

3rd Grade students continue to practice recorder songs. Many of our songs have been learned by rote but soon students will begin reading music on the staff. They are also exploring simple rhythms and songs in 6/8 time and part playing on wind and percussion instruments.

4th Grade Music Class has begun recorders! We even had our fourth grade teachers guest conduct their classes. The students are reviewing the Treble Clef and passing challenges to earn their Recorder Karate Belts. They have already earned their White, Yellow, and Orange belts! Students are also learning about Franz Joseph Haydn and his Surprise Symphony. 

5th Grade students are beginning part playing on wind and percussion instruments as they learn how to accompany melodies with bass lines and secondary melodies. They are also expanding both vocal range and range of recorder pitches as they perform various rounds and melodies.

Fifth Grade students are playing lots of fun and exciting music this January! The kids received a page with over 15 music lines of popular songs including Smoke on the Water, Seven Nation Army, and Eye of the Tiger. The kids have introduced eighth notes into their musical playing. The kids played percussion instruments to introduce these new rhythms. Students are completing their January Practice Bingo Board and just passed their Blue Band Karate Belt! 

The kindergarteners are busy in the Atrium pondering the Kingdom of God. There are five Kingdom parable presentations that the children receive. The Precious Pearl (Mt. 13:45-46), The Mustard Seed (Mt. 13:31-32), The Leaven (Mt. 13:33), The Hidden Treasure (Mt. 13:44), and The Growing Seed (Mk 4:26-29). The Mustard Seed, Leaven and Growing Seed parables lift up the mystery of the Kingdom of God as the mystery of life itself, a mystery of growth and transformation, with a continuous movement from lesser to more life. The Precious Pearl and the Hidden Treasure parables invite us to contemplate the Kingdom of God as the most beautiful and valuable thing there is, a gift from God that is intended for our greatest joy.  

The first graders finished the Christmas season with the Flight to Egypt (Mt. 2:13-15, 19-23) presentation. In this presentation we focus on Joseph and Mary’s unconditional obedience and faith, as seen when they fled to another land at the prompting of an angel. Their trip would have been extremely difficult without the benefit of conveniences that we enjoy today. We also reflected on the ways that God guides and protects His people. As well as how Joseph and Mary needed to trust in God since they would have no way of knowing what their future would hold in a foreign land.

The second graders were invited to sign the Book of Enrollment to indicate their desire to continue their preparation to receive their first Holy Communion. The children gathered in the atrium for a prayer service and opened with the song Taste and See. Then they listened to a reading of Mark 10:13-16 when Jesus said. “Let the little children come to me…” Then each child was called by name, just as Jesus the Good Shepherd calls each of His sheep by name, to come forward and sign the Book of Enrollment. After everyone signed the book we ended with the prayer to the right.  

Note: At all Masses this weekend – Saturday, January 27th and Sunday, January 28th the children will be called forward by Father Bill or Father Augustine for a special blessing as the Book of Enrollment is presented to the whole parish.  

The third graders were introduced to the work The Holy Bible and the Sacraments. In this work the children talk about what a sacrament is – an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. A Sacrament is an efficacious and visible symbol of an invisible grace. The sacrament actually brings about what it symbolizes. The sacraments affect grace by their very operation. (CCC 772-774, 1127, 1116). We then break down the definition even further. What is a sign? What is grace? Who gave us the sacraments? Jesus is the source of all grace. It was through His suffering and death that made it possible that we could receive grace to sanctify our souls. When we receive grace, we receive the life of Christ within us. We then go on to talk about how many sacraments there are and the different types of sacraments.

4th graders have been busy reading and learning about the 7 day creation story. Next week they will go share their stories with the 1st graders. Up next Adam and Eve.

5th grade religion has begun their unit on the Person of Christ. We have discussed the Holy Trinity and the symbols of the trinity. We will be discussing and comparing the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. Make sure to ask your 5th grader how Saint Nicolas played a part.

 Blessed are you, Lord God, our Father, for you form us in your image and restore us in Jesus Christ. In Baptism you named us when we were buried with Christ and rose to new life in him. As these children prepare to receive the most sacred gift of the Eucharist, bless them and be with them. Help them to learn your truth, live in your love, and ready themselves to receive your Son Jesus in Holy Communion. Bless their families, too, as they help prepare these children for this source and summit of our Catholic faith. We ask all these things through Christ our Lord. Amen.