From the Principal’s Desk
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Christina Clem, under Principal's Desk.
During December, we experience the season of Advent, which is a time of preparation. Not only are we preparing for our family celebrations of Christmas, but as individuals, we make our hearts ready for the coming of our Lord. Simple customs such as lighting an Advent Wreath in our homes can help our children understand the true meaning of the season.
Already, December has started out to be an exciting month and is flying by! Among other things, we have the following events going on in December:
- The Destination Book Fair
- the 8th grade trip to The Pines
- the Fall Sports Pep Rally
- the 1st Grade Field Trip to the Arboretum
- the PK, K, 2nd, 3rd , & 4th Grade Visits to Nursing Homes
- the Annual School Christmas Program
- the Jesse Tree Celebration
- the Christmas Parties.
This year’s Christmas vacation will be from December 21 – January 1 with a NOON DISMISSAL on Friday, December 18th. Classes will resume on Monday, January 4th.
Please be sure to attend our school Christmas program on Thursday, December 17th, at 7:00 pm. Your children along with Mrs. Kuterbach have been preparing diligently to provide you with an experience sure to get you into the holiday spirit!
In case of inclement weather, you will be notified by phone through our new parent notification system, School Reach. Postings will also be listed on the following:
- the school website (www.stelizabethofh.org and www.saintspride.com)
- Channel 8 TV
- Channel 5 TV
Hopefully, inclement weather will not be an issue this year, God willing.
On behalf of the entire school community, I wish to thank Mr. David Cardoza who has planted rye grass on the area surrounding our newly landscaped baseball field! He has also graciously offered to donate 9 yards of dirt to replace that which has eroded around that area. Please be sure to tell him “Thank You!” when you see him!
Many thanks to all of our parent volunteers for your tireless dedication & commitment this year in helping the teachers in their efforts to educate your children! All of your work in assisting with the fundraising efforts of the school has truly been TERRIFIC!!! We continue to look forward to Catholic Schools Week, the Spring Book Fairs, the World’s Finest Candy Sale, the Spring Silent Auction, Young Authors’ Day, the Spring Arts Fest, and the other events that not only help the school but also do so much to build God’s kingdom here at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School!
In closing, I want to wish all of you a blessed Advent and a very holy holiday season! May the Christ Child of love and peace enter your hearts! God bless!
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Important Dates in December and January
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Admin, under Events.
- December 7-11 – Book Fair
- December 10 – Monthly Faculty Meeting – NO Tutorials
- December 11 – 2nd & 4th Grade Field Trip to St. Joseph
- December 14 – Kinder & 3rd Grade Field Trip to Williamsburg Village
- December 14 – Fall Athletics Pep Rally @ 2 pm
- December 16 – 1st Grade Field Trip to the Arboretum
- December 17 – Buck A Jean Day (any St. Elizabeth shirt and BLUE jeans)
- December 17 – 8th Grade Snack Sale
- December 17 – Christmas Program 7:00 pm, see details!
- Students in grades PreK-Kinder-1-2-3-4-5, guitar students, and 8th grade
- Students are to report to their homerooms at 6:30 pm unless instructed otherwise.
- Dress: Sunday best- no jeans, t-shirts or flip-flops
- December 18 – Jesse Tree @ 9:40 am
- December 18 – Class Christmas Parties @ 10:30 am
- December 18 – Noon Dismissal (students are released at 12:00 noon)
- December 18 – Junior High Dance @ 7-10 pm
- December 21 – January 3 – Christmas Break, NO SCHOOL
- January 4 – Classes resume
- January 5 – Advisory Council Mtg. @ 6:30 pm
- January 7 – Faculty Mtg. @ 3:30 pm, NO TUTORIALS
- January 7 – Booster Club Mtg. @ 6:30 pm
- January 8 – Christian Witness Awards after the 8 am Mass
- January 12 – 7th Grade Parent Night @ 7 pm
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From Beth Belcher, Director of Religious Education
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Beth Belcher, under Religious Education.
As we prepare for Christmas and await the birth of Our Lord, and His Second Coming, I wish you all a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! Last Friday, Fr. Ben blessed candy canes for the school in honor of St Nicholas Day this week. All of the students were delighted to have the holiday treats.
Please pray for the 8th graders as they are participating in their Confirmation/Team Building retreat at the Pines Wednesday, Dec 9 – Friday, Dec 11.
The fifth grade will lead the entire school in a Jesse Tree celebration on Friday, Dec. 18 at 9:00 am. The first grade will be acting out the Gospel at the 7 pm Mass on Christmas Eve at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church. There are so many other wonderful activities planned at this time of the year, and all of the students are involved in one way or another.
Please don’t forget the Giving Tree which has a deadline of this Friday, Dec. 11. Please bring in a new or gently used toy to the 8 am Mass and bring it up to the altar at the Presentation of the Gifts. These will be collected and given to needy families in the area.
Again, let me wish you a safe and holy Holiday Season.
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School Development
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Elizabeth Belew, under School Development.
By now, most of you should have received your pledge cards and brochure for this year’s Roof Fund Drive. As of December 8th, we have $840.00 in pledges from 4 families out of 218 (2%).
If you have been a donor in the past, we offer you many thanks for your generosity and we are counting on your continued support. If you are new to the school or have not contributed in past drives, please consider becoming a part of this very worthwhile project.
Be sure to review the 2009 List of Companies with Matching Gift Programs that was included with your brochure and pledge card. Please look to see if your employer is on the list. What a great way to DOUBLE your gift to St. Elizabeth! If your employer is listed, simply contact your human resources department to obtain a matching gift form, fill it out completely and send it to the school according to your employer’s guidelines.
Those of you looking for a little help on your 2009 taxes, keep in mind that every dollar you donate to the drive is 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE. We need to receive your donation before the end of the year for you to receive a Charitable Gift Acknowledgement letter for your 2009 taxes. Also, those of you needing additional tax deductions may want to consider a charitable donation of stock to St. Elizabeth School. If you transfer stock before December 31, you can claim the tax deduction on your tax return – of course, you should always check with your own tax advisor before making a gift of stock or securities. Please contact Elizabeth Belew at (214) 331-5139 Ext 24 or ebelew@saintspride.com if you are interested in making a gift of stock to the school.
Thank you to the following families who have already made their donations or pledges, your generosity is greatly appreciated: Belew Family, Hale Family, Walkley Family, and West Family.
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Mrs. Strunk and Ms. Martinez – Pre-kindergarten
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Kathy Strunk, under Pre-kindergarten.
PRE-K is all excited about the Holidays. We are doing many Activities this month in preparing for the Christmas Season.
Religion
We are learning what Advent means and that Christmas time is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We will be learning about Christmas Traditions around the world and our own Christmas Traditions. We are also working on the Christmas Program.
Math
We have been using a bar graph. We have graphed our favorite colors, eye color, and shapes. We continue to work with numbers 1 – 10, sequencing and one-to-one correspondence.
Language Arts
We are still working on our Unit “Helping Hands.” Learning what a community helper is.
Important Dates
- December 17, 2009 Christmas Program at 7:00pm
- December 16, 2009 Christmas Breakfast at 9:00am to 10:00am
Making Gingerbread Houses 10:00am
Noon Dismissal
Ms. Martinez and Mrs. Strunk want to wish you a very blessed Christmas and may the joy of Christmas be with you always.
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Mrs. Guerrero and Mrs. Burns – Kindergarten
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Melissa Guerrero, under Kindergarten.
December is always a fun and busy month.
Important Dates to Remember
- November 29 Advent begins
- December 7-11 Book Fair
- December 6 Feast of St. Nicholas
- December 7 Please send 1 white t shirt or turtleneck, we will be making a cute Christmas shirt for the party
- December 11 Field trip permission form and $ due; items for nursing home due; costumes due
- December 14 Field trip to Williamsburg Village Nursing Center 9:30 a.m.
- December 16 1 Hershey bar and item for gingerbread house due
- December 17 Christmas Program at 7:00 p.m. in Church, please have your child in their classroom at 6:30 p.m.
***Kindergarten students will participate. They will present the nativity story and sing “Away in a Manger.” Unlike upper grades, kindergarten students must be picked up immediately after their performance from their classroom. If they have an older sibling you may bring them back in the Church to sit with you for the remainder of the performance. - December 18 Christmas breakfast 9 -10 a.m.; gingerbread houses 10 a.m.–12 p.m.; all parents are welcome; NOON Dismissal
In Religion, we discuss and coordinate activities related to Advent and the birth of Jesus. We also study Christmas around the world which gives students an opportunity to learn how other nationalities celebrate during this special time of year.
In Language Arts, we continue with emergent reading skills such as: segmenting, blending, and decoding. Please watch for decodable readers in your child’s daily folder. Please note we will use these readers every day in the classroom, so be sure to send their book back to school every day. Be sure your child reads the book at home every night, as repetition is extremely important in building excellent reading skills. We will also continue to write in our journals, and work in our handwriting book to develop letter writing skills.
Since many families will be traveling this holiday season, we would like to use this information for Social Studies. If you will be traveling, or someone will be coming to visit you, please get a picture or a postcard from the destination and we will track this on our U.S. map. We will discuss other states, climates and items included in the picture or postcard. We will be sure to return these to you as soon as we are finished.
In Math, we will continue identifying numerals 0-20. We are also working on shapes, patterns, problem solving, graphing, and addition problems.
In Science, we will make a frost experiment and graph our weather!
Merry Christmas! God bless you all!
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Mrs. Fabian and Mrs. Patton – First Grade
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Betty Fabian, under First Grade.
Math
We will cover Chapter 4 this month. It will consist of data and graphs. Graphs will be comprised of Venn diagrams, tally charts, real graphs, picture graphs, pictographs, and bar graphs. We will conduct simple surveys then organize and interpret the results of a survey. Then using sets of data, we will find and use the range, mode, and median. We will have a test over Chapter 4 on Thursday, December 17th.
Religion
We will study about the Advent Season. This will include discussing that Jesus is our Savior, Adam and Eve, the Holy Family, the story of Jesus’ birth, our families and parish families. We finish the month performing the Nativity Story at the 7:00 Children’s Mass on Christmas Eve.
Social Studies
We will finish Unit 5 before the Christmas break. We will talk about holidays we celebrate, Abraham Lincoln, choosing our country’s leaders, and Eleanor Roosevelt. After the break, we will review Unit 5 and have a test on Thursday, January 7th.
Science
The field trip has been rescheduled for December 16, 2009. For the month the topic will be water and how it changes, how we need to conserve water, how we use water, and soil. Unit test will be on December 15th, 2009.
Health/Guidance – Empathy will be covered for this month.
Language Arts
Phonics- sound of /y/ and long /a/. Grammar – continue with sentences, nouns, verbs, verbs with /ed/ endings, and pronouns. Word families of /og/ and /un/. Read with you child every night for at least 20 minutes.
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Mrs. Clack – Second Grade
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Bea Clack, under Second Grade.
Religion
During the month of December we will continue to discuss Advent which means coming. We will continue to discuss the Corporal Works of Mercy. We will make our annual trip to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home to carol and bring them gifts for the holidays.
Math
We will continue to work on their addition and subtracting. We are moving into adding 2 and 3 digit numbers without and with regrouping. All second graders are expected to know their addition and subtraction facts by heart.
Language Arts
We will continue to work on Shurley Method. We are working on adverbs & propositions. Remember to read every night. All students should read at least 20 minutes every night.
Social Studies
Second graders will be working on community service. Here we will use this time to help prepare for our visit to the nursing home.
Science
We will begin to move into our new booklet. We will discuss rocks and categorizing as well as begin to describe the physical properties of the rocks they are observing.
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Mrs. Bright and Mrs. Price – Third Grade
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Thelma Bright, under Third Grade.
Happy Holidays!
This past month we learned a great deal about the lives of many new saints and got to revisit with some old ones, too. This month we will concentrate on the life of Mary, the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus and the Celebration of Advent.
In English we have been reviewing many previously learned concepts (nouns/verbs), learning to diagram sentences and putting all these grammar tools to use daily. This month we will concentrate on a lot of creative writing in anticipation of writing our individual books during the month of January. We finished our third class novel, Molly’s Pilgrim, in reading and have worked on a lot of different concepts regarding comprehension (inference, compare/contrast, vocabulary). We started our next class novel this month, Stone Fox, and we also will be reading mystery books, in lieu of a Reading Counts book. We will be doing a book report for our mystery books, too.
In Math, we finished our unit on Addition, and have now started with Subtraction. The students are really progressing with their addition and subtraction by using Math Score, so please have them keep using this as often as possible at home.
We completed our unit through the Solar System with our study of Astronomy and have begun our study of Chemistry, and we are learning what elements, compounds and atoms are.
We have been discussing Celebrations in Social Studies and will continue with this study up to the holiday break.
On Monday, December 14 we will be going to the Williamsburg Nursing Center in DeSoto to spread Christmas cheer along with the Kindergartners. This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to practice the corporal works of mercy. Thanks to all of our generous parents for donating the money (from the left over Halloween monies and for those who sent in items) for our gift donations.
Special thanks to Michelle Mills and Barbara Richardson, for organizing our gift donations. We are sure the residents will be thrilled with the bounty. Thank you, also to M G for the donation of the plastic handled bags that the goodies will go in; the students created a special holiday “card” to go on them that will surely cheer up each resident. So again, many thanks to all and have a safe and blessed holiday!
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Mrs. McClure – Fourth Grade
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
ELA
We will continue to read Esperanza Rising. We will review when we come back from break. We will then pick up and continue to read the story. We will be working on vocabulary, comprehension, setting, and characters. In English we will continue to work on helping verbs as well as our recently learned direct and indirect objects. Our work will be both out of our English books as well as from the Shurley Method.
Social Studies
We are currently working on Colonization in Texas. We will have a quiz over sections 3 and 4 this Thursday and a chapter test over sections 1, 2, 3, & 4 on Thursday, December 17th, 2009. Please make sure that your students are studying nightly over ALL sections of their lap book. As you know, this is a nightly assignment and helps them bring the information into their long term memory. When we return in January we will begin discussing the Texas Revolution.
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Mrs. Schmitz – Fourth Grade
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Maria Schmitz, under Fourth Grade.
Religion
We just completed Unit 2 in our workbooks. This unit covered many topics like the Ten Commandments and why we honor Mary. We will now take a closer look at each of the commandments to ensure that we have an understanding of each of them and make sure we understand how to follow the commandments in our daily lives.
Math
Wow what about these students! They are doing an awesome job with double digit multiplication. We have just begun our unit on division but will continue to work on double digit multiplication. Students will be required to do the check steps on all division work to ensure they have calculated correctly.
Science
Students will begin selecting their science fair projects in class. When we return from the holiday’s students will focus all of their attention on completing their Science Fair projects in class. There will be several due dates for the students to meet to ensure that we complete the projects on time.
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Ms. Vercillo – Fifth Grade
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Beth Vercillo, under Fifth Grade.
Happy Holidays!
December is always an exciting month with several fun events!
Please be sure to join us for the Christmas Concert on December 17, and the fifth grade’s presentation of the Jesse Tree December 18th at 9:00 am in the gym.
Religion
This month our focus is on Advent, and the birth of Jesus. We made a class Advent wreath and an individual one for your family to enjoy at home.
Math
The multiplication facts are really coming along! We are working hard on fractions. Students will have math homework more frequently to assist in their learning, so be sure to check the web site!
ELA
Students are working hard on their 3-dimensional Book Reports on the novel, Loser. Their writing has improved so much! We look forward to beginning our Student Treasure Books of poetry next month. Thank you to the Rosa Family for the donation of colored dry erase markers, we use them for color pencil editing!
We welcome any parent to volunteer to assist in the classroom. Let me know if you are interested.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
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Mrs. Shelton – Fifth and Sixth Grades
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Anne Shelton, under Fifth Grade, Sixth Grade.
Fifth Grade
In Science, the fifth graders will conclude the chapter on Exploring the Oceans. Our next Unit is to Infinity and beyond! AKA Learning all about our Solar System and Beyond!
In Social Studies the fifth graders will conclude the Unit: The Land and Early People. We will make the smooth transition into Exploration and settlement! Please have your student study the names and locations of the 50 United States along with each State’s Capital.
Sixth Grade
In 6th grade Science we have succeeded learning the metric system ways of measurement along with the Scientific Method. All students were given a package with all of the Science Fair Project information. If you have any questions, please e-mail or call me with any and all questions. The 6th graders will also learn and master the General Properties of Matter.
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Mrs. Belcher – Middle School Religion
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Beth Belcher, under Middle School Notes.
All of Middle School has a Current Event due Wednesday, Dec. 16 and a major vocabulary test on Thursday, Dec 17. This will also include the St Gertrude the Great prayer.
6th Grade
The students have been learning about ‘sin stories’ and how sin entered the world, thanks to Adam and Eve. We will move on after Christmas to studying about Abraham, and Jacob.
7th Grade
Seventh graders have been working on the difference between the Gospel of Matthew’s account of the Nativity and the Gospel of Luke’s account. There really is a difference! We will move on to The Mission of Jesus and the learning about the Apostles after we come back from Christmas break.
8th Grade
We have been working hard on the Faith Sharing pages and the very last one is due Thursday, January 8, 2010. I am very sure that they will feel that a huge weight is lifted from their shoulders once they have completed this last page. By the time Confirmation rolls around, they will be ready! We have focused on the Models of the Church and once we are back from Christmas break we will look at Prayer and Service – St Augustine’s Prayer to the Holy Spirit and the Beatitudes.
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Mrs. Borth – Middle School Literature and English
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Jennifer Borth, under Middle School Notes.
7th Grade ELA/Literature
We are currently still working on our research paper. Students have turned in their outlines and are now working on their rough drafts. These must be submitted to www.turnitin.com by December 16th. I will return these January 4th in order for students to make corrections. The rough draft and the work cited page will both be completed during class time.
We are working on a newspaper project in literature class right now. Students needed a Sunday addition of the Dallas Morning News. Students will dissect this paper by locating specific articles and sections of the paper and answering many questions while creating their own articles for certain sections. We will continue on this project until Christmas break. Upon return, students will need to the novel Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.
8th Grade Literature
We just finished Murder on the Orient Express and will be testing over this novel on December 15th. Students will need the play A Raisin in the Sun when we return on January 4th.
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Mrs. Robb – Middle School Science
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Rachel Robb, under Middle School Notes.
WANTED
Volunteers to judge the Science Fair on Wednesday, February 3, 2010. Please notify me via email if you are interested.
The science article originally scheduled to be turned in on December 17 has been moved to January 14. The bonus article is due as well on January 14. The articles may be turned in early. Science fair is Wednesday, February 3. The lab write up form is due on January 20, 2010. The completed project is due Friday January 29, 2010.
7th Grade
Students are continuing their studies of Genetics. The concepts will continue as we explore modern genetics. The unit on Bacteria and Viruses will follow.
8th Grade
Students have finished their studies of the respiratory and excretory system. Next, the endocrine and reproductive system will be covered. This will finish up the study of the human body. Students will receive a new textbook in which we will study animals.
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Mrs. Powell – Middle School Social Studies
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Tai Powell, under Middle School Notes.
6th Grade Social Studies
We will begin Unit 4. Unit 4 consists of four chapters, Chapter 10-13. In Unit 4, students will learn about civilizations that developed in the regions of North Africa and Southwest Asia, sub Saharan Africa, South Asia, East Asia, and the Americas. Beginning with Chapter 10, they will learn about the rise of the Byzantine Empire and its institutions and legacy. They will also learn about the characteristics and spread of Islamic civilizations. In Chapter 11, the focus shifts to sub-Saharan Africa. Students will learn about the West African kingdoms of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai, and the East African kingdoms of Ethiopia and Aksum. Chapter 12 covers early civilizations of the Americas, including the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas. Chapter 13 concludes the unit with a study of civilizations that thrived in China, Japan, and India. In addition, we will be working on our books for publication. Every Friday after Christmas break, we will be writing an historical factual book dealing with Greek Mythology. I will allow them to research on Fridays; however, due to our strenuous schedules they will need to do some writing outside of class as well as illustrations.
7th Grade Social Studies
Texas Revolution video projects are due December 11. We will begin Unit 4. Unit 4 consists of four chapters, chapters 9-12. In Unit 4, students will be studying Texas after gaining independence from Mexico, Texas establishes its own government before becoming part of the United States in 1845. Statehood brought an increase in the population until disagreements over slavery led Texas to join the Confederacy.
8th Grade Social Studies
8th grade is in the process of studying the United States Constitution. We are discussing the Bill of Rights. After that, we will begin Unit 3. Unit 3 consists of 3 chapters, 9-11. The unit overview is as a young republic, the United States was immediately confronted with a wide range of responsibilities, problems, and opportunities in the late 1700s and early 1800s. This unit examines the presidential administrations of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. It also discusses the major political, economic, and foreign policy issues that confronted the United States between 1789 and 1825.
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Mrs. Johnson – Middle School English and Literature
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Susan Johnson, under Middle School Notes.
6th Gade English
We wrap up our study of adjectives which include proper, possessive, demonstrative, comparative, superlative, numeral, and interrogative. The test is scheduled for December 9. We will begin a unit on verbs which will conclude in January. A quiz on helping verbs will be December 16. Spelling for December includes lessons 15, 16, and 17.
6th Grade Literature
The sixth grade has finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The essay over the novel is due December 7 and the test is scheduled for December 8. We will then watch the movie. A unit on short stories will be briefly started and then finished in January. With the short stories, students will work on comprehension questions, vocabulary, and plot diagrams.
8th Grade English
The graded rough draft was returned November 30; the typed final copy packet is due December 16. In class we continue the study of nouns which include the nominative case (subject, complement, direct address, appositive), the possessive case, the objective case (direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, adverbial objective, cognate), and joint nouns. The test is scheduled for December 15. Spelling for December includes lessons 15 and 16.
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Mr. Dettmer – Middle School Math
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Ted Dettmer, under Middle School Notes.
Sixth grade is working on positive and negative integers. Seventh grade is doing all operations with fractions and mixed. Algebra will be factoring polynomials. The other Algebra class will be working with functions.
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Art Department
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Admin, under Art.
Right now a moment of time is passing by! We must become that moment.
Artist of the month Paul Cezanne
PK & Kinder – Mrs. Barrientos
It is almost Christmas in the art class for Pre-K and Kinder – I hope that you are enjoying our little projects as much as I am. As you have noticed we are concentrating on seasonal projects. We will be working on a snow man made out of paper plates and cotton balls.
3rd & 4th Grade – Mrs. Connelly
Students were introduced to still life. Students explored lighting, shadowing, perspective, texture, shapes, color, and size. Charcoal was the medium used in students’ still life drawings.
1st, 2nd, 5th–8th Grade – Mrs. Shelton
The students will be making Christmas cards, and working with pony beads to make candy canes and wreaths.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your Art teachers!
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Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Rosa Barrientos, under Spanish.
Feliz Navidad! As part of our culture unit teachings, grades Pre-K to 5th have been making Mexican ornaments to decorate the hall and the door. Our room, hall and door are very festive and colorful with simple hand made decorations. We will also be watching a short movie on the legend of the Christmas Flower (poinsettia).
Pre-K: We have finished our colors and have made the transition to numbers.
Kindergarten: We are now on our letter “K” in phonics and they are doing great sounding out the letters of our mini-book pictures.
1st Grade: We are learning about body parts, so we know that pie is for (foot) not for (yummy pie). We are working hard sounding each letter out and breaking into syllables to read them out and they are doing a fantastic job.
2nd Grade: Feelings! Oh, we can certainly express our feelings in Spanish. We are reading sentences and trying to translate them from Spanish to English.
3rd Grade: We have been concentrating on the Lord’s Prayer and they sound great! We are also developing descriptive sentences with each insect, which is no easy task when you have to remember the gender and number before determining the adjectives.
4th Grade: Studying the different forms of the verb IR = to go (voy, vas and va). We have finished the workbook exercises and most of us are ready for a test next week.
5th Grade: Studying AR verbs and using them in answering the questions pertaining to what we do in each class.
6th Grade: Using adjectives correctly in describing in a sentence and paragraph form.
7th Grade: Learning the difference between the verbs SER and ESTAR (to be), the rules on how to use them as well as when to use them.
8th Grade: Reviewing the verbs SER and ESTAR and writing a paragraph using both forms of the verb as well as verbs in present progressive form. We are pretending that it is Christmas and describing where we are and what we are doing as well as each member of our families.
Y MUY FELIZ ANO NUEVO!
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Mrs. Kuterbach – Music
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Mary Kuterbach, under Music.
DECEMBER 17, 2009 is fast approaching! The St. Elizabeth Christmas program is here at last! The students have been working very hard to present you with an evening of Christmas songs. All pre-K, kinder, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students need to be in their homerooms by 6:30 p.m. on the night of the program. Eighth grade, Jr. High Choir members and guitar students need to report to the Chapel. Students should wear their “Sunday best.” No blue jeans, T-shirts, or flip-flops please.
Our performance will begin at 7:00 pm. The preparation and presentation of the Christmas program is a major part of each student’s grade for the second quarter. Please invite your families to join us for an enjoyable evening. Information can be found on my webpage. Students can find a link to a file containing the words to their songs plus you can see a voki about the upcoming program.
As always, please join us at our weekly masses. Thank you for all your support of the fine arts program at St. Elizabeth.
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Mrs. Connelly – Pre-k and Kindergarten Computer
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Monica Connelly, under Computer.
PK and Kinder students have been successful logging on and off three different computer programs as well as surfing approved Internet educational sites. Students have mastered mouse techniques as well as perfecting computer posture. Christmas online activities are featured apples4theteacher, crayola.com, and starfall.com. 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students have created a folder on the desktop to save and retrieve original holiday stories and pictures. Keyboarding will be the focus after the holidays. Students are encouraged to practice their computer skills over the break.
As the year comes to an end, I am thankful for many things, but most of all, for the opportunity to teach your children. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Mrs. Stepniewski – 4-8 Grade Computer
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.
I hope you have a Blessed Christmas and a wonderful holiday vacation.
During this 2nd Quarter, we are focusing on skill drills in all classes.
4th and 5th Grade students devote one class per week to Mathscore: http://elizabeth.tx.mathscore.com; All other classes have been working in the site for short periods of time. They are welcome to visit the site at home.
4th Grade continues to learn programming using Microsoft Windows LOGO.
5th Grade will be reviewing LOGO and continuing programming in MIT’s Scratch.
6th Grade is continuing Computer History studies.
7th Grade is working on a unit about Computer Crime and Abuse
8th Grade is finalizing their project on Building a Computer.
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Internet Safety
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.
Over the holiday vacation, you may want to visit some sites to help you decide what your child/children can do online. Some good sites are:
- www.netsmartz.org
- www.pbsparents.org
- www.safekids.com
- http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/11_16/control/im.aspx
- www.fbi.gov/kids/k5th/safety2.htm
- www.microsoft.com/protect/parents/childsafety/age.aspx (tips for 2-10 year-old children)
- http://www.webwisekids.org/
The “thinkuknow” website originates in the United Kingdom and aside from using words like “mates” and “whilst” which our students don’t often see, the site has some good information/activities for adults and kids, tweens and teens.
Have a Blessed Christmas and a wonderful holiday!
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Mrs. Connelly – Library
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Monica Connelly, under Library.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. This month, library activities and studies will revolve around Advent and Christmas.
Thanks to all the faithful and dedicated volunteers, parents, grandparents and students, who have given of their time and talents to the Destination Book Fair. The Fair is underway as this newsletter publishes today. A full report will be given in the January Newsletter.
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Environmental Club
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Melissa Guerrero, under Environmental Club.
The Environment & Tech Club met on Tuesday, December 8th and had a great time at their Christmas Party. We will have another sale of recycled crayons during the week of December 14th. You will receive a Renweb with more details.
It’s not too late to turn in your recycled ornament. The deadline to turn in your recycled ornament is Monday, December 14!
Our next meetings will be on Tuesday, January 12 and Tuesday January 26. Have a Merry Christmas!
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NJHS
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Monica Connelly, under NJHS.
NJHS members sponsored the annual Turkey Feather contest. For one week members sold feathers for 25 cents to students during lunch and recess. The teacher with the most bought feathers would win the honor of “Turkey for a Day.” This year’s winner was Mrs. Shelton.
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Grocery Store Fundraiser
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Monica Connelly, under Fundraisers.
Did you know that Tom Thumb donates a portion of your purchases to St. Elizabeth School? Tom Thumb has community programs to donate 1% of every dollar you spend at their store back to St. Elizabeth School.
But, they do not donate to St. Elizabeth unless you sign up for their program and designate St. Elizabeth as your beneficiary.
To participate in:
Tom Thumb – St. Elizabeth’s number is #648. Turn in a completed application at your Tom Thumb store; they will give you a Reward Card, present that card to the cashier during your transaction. To change or verify the designated beneficiary of your current Reward Card, ask the cashier during your transaction.
The more people that designate St. Elizabeth as their beneficiary school the more dollars St. Elizabeth earns to help defray the costs of tuition.
Thank you for participating in this fundraiser.
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