Archive for September, 2009

From the Principal’s Desk

Posted on September 23, 2009, by Christina Clem, under Principal's Desk.

Welcome to St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School!  We would like to especially welcome all of our new families to our St. Elizabeth family this year.  We have had a terrific beginning to the school year.  The Boosterthon Fun Run generated a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement and reinforced the character values that we teach here at St. Elizabeth School!  I’d like to thank Mrs. Belew for coordinating this very awesome event as well as everyone who contributed to its success!

I am sure that by now you have seen the outstanding work done by our Grounds and Facilities committee to make improvements to our field.  A number of families including Josh Choate, Russell Jones, Sandy & David Walkley, and Coach Clack have contributed to this effort under the direction of Susan and Dennis Vrana and Jacinto and Pati Reyes who contributed both the time and the cost to make this a reality.  I would also like to thank Phil and MJ Barrilleaux who donated the “Field of Dreams” sign for this project.  There are many more projects planned for our “field of dreams” and we know that many more of you will want to become involved in this very worthwhile endeavor to make St. Elizabeth School’s environment as well as athletic facilities state of the art!!!

The Family Volunteer Organization has been hard at work planning this year’s Halloween Carnival.  This is always an exciting event that everyone looks forward to and enjoys.  This year it will be held on Saturday, October 31.  Please be on the look-out for flyers sent through the communication envelope and through Renweb emails for more information.

Our faculty and staff have embraced the new Diocesan curriculum with great enthusiasm and expertise!!!  We are even being invited to share our success with other Diocesan schools in an effort to share our resources and talents with others.  We are developing communities of learning amongst the teachers here at St. Elizabeth School as well as with other schools within the Diocese.  A number of our faculty attended the Thinkfinity Workshop and Diocesan Teacher Tech camp this summer and have brought back many resources to share and ideas to implement in the classrooms.  I would like to thank Michele Green for all the work she has done to develop an Art instructional program for our students.  She will be sending out information in the near future inviting students to join an after-school Art Club.  We will also be participating in the Dallas Museum of Art Go Van Gogh School Outreach Program.  We plan to have them come out to work with the K-8 students twice during this school year, hopefully once in the fall semester and once in the spring.

Our students in grades 1-8 will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) the week of October 12.  This standards-based test will provide a snapshot of the type of learner each student is as well as how students perform academically at the beginning of the school year.  It is a diagnostic instrument that will help our teachers make decisions as they plan for instruction throughout the school year.  It is a norm referenced test, not a criterion referenced test such as the TAKS test.  The ITBS is not a test that we can “teach to.”  Rather it is a test designed to measure overall knowledge and higher order thinking skills.  The teachers will be able to share information with you when they visit with you during the Parent Teacher Conference Day on November 13.  Please arrange for your child to be present at school and on time during the testing week in October unless s/he is ill.  Also, please make sure that your child gets a good night sleep the night before and eats a nutritious breakfast each morning.

Again, I would like to thank all of our faculty and staff, students, and parents for everything you do each day to make St. Elizabeth’s such an outstanding school.  Let us please continue to pray for one another and for the needs of our community

God bless.

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Important Dates in October

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Sandy Walkley, under Events.

• September 29 – 8^th Grade Snack Sale
• October 1 – 8^th Grade Visit Ursuline/Jesuit
• October 2 – Noon Dismissal for Fair Day
• October 5 – 8^th grade visit to Bishop Lynch
• October 6 – 2^nd grade Parent Night
• October 8 – Faculty meeting, no tutoring
• October 12 – 16, Achievement Testing
• October 13 – Advisory Council Meeting
• October 19 – 23, Red Ribbon Week and Teen Read Week
• October 23 – Diocesan Teachers In-Service No School
• October 23 – First Quarter Ends
• October 29 – Buck a Jean Day
• October 29 – Report Cards
• October 31 – Halloween Carnival

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September Student Birthdays

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Admin, under Student Birthdays.

The following students will be celebrating a birthday in the month of September. Happy Birthday to:

Robert Elizondo
Georgine Guerrero
Mia Hernandez
Lilyana Rodriguez
David Salazar
Madison Haynes
Mairia Paredes
Tray Gamble
Faustina Ostrowski
Evelyn Santos
Oscar Zarate
Brichelle Anderson
Katy Price
Alyson Cruz
Alessandro Alfaro
Justin Mills
Anthony Fischer
Krystal Garcia
Joey Belcher

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School Development

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Elizabeth Belew, under School Development.

Your donations to the Parent Annual Giving Drive of $38,877.70, with an unbelievable 83 families and one Employer with Matching Funds participating, helped St. Elizabeth School to make a big dent in the money we are still raising for our roof project.  The $33,726.00 in grants received from The John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation, St. Elizabeth’s Educational Endowment and the Ed Haggar Family Foundation helped to provide tuition assistance for deserving students. Thank you for your commitment to St. Elizabeth School and for your overwhelming generosity.

Boosterthon Fun Run
St. Elizabeth School’s Boosterthon Fun Run was a huge success. The projected fundraising goal of $15,000.00 was exceeded, as over $20,000.00 will be our profit if we are able to collect 100% of the funds pledged. Parents, please make every effort to contact your donors and have them send their contributions as soon as possible. The Fun Run profits will go toward instructional enhancements such as: New Spelling books for all students, classroom supplies, new text books, consumables, online subscriptions for Accelerated Reader and MathScore, Handwriting Without Tears for Kinder through 5th Grade, and Online Staff Development Courses.

Many thanks to everyone who made this event such an enormous success — our wonderful students, parents, teachers and staff!

Magazine Drive News
The annual St Elizabeth QSP Magazine Drive is being held in a passive way this year due to the tremendous success of the Boosterthon fund raiser. You can help raise funds for the school by calling QSP Customer service 1-800-678-2673 or by logging on to QSP.com, and input St. Elizabeth’s account number 710333281 and shop away! St. E will earn up to 50% of the purchase price for anything you order. You may buy new magazines, renew current subscriptions, purchase music, books or gifts.

We are grateful for the immeasurable support of the parents and other family members to our school and look forward to another great year!

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Religious Education

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Beth Belcher, under Religious Education.

Hello, all, and a hearty 2009-2010 welcome to you all!!  We look forward to a wonderful year with all of your children.

I would first like to offer my aid to anyone who may be in need of clarifications or questions answered about our Religious Education here at St Elizabeth.  Our goal is for your child to feel welcome and to know the love of Jesus Christ each day here at St. E’s.  Please let me know if you have questions or constructive comments to share.  I can be reached by email: bbelcher@saintspride.com.

Each Friday, at Mass, our classes offer prayers and petitions to be included with the gifts which are brought to the altar.  We would like to open this opportunity to all families by placing an Intentions basket on the round table outside of the office.  On that table you will also find a pad of paper that you may use to write your own petitions to be offered at Mass.  No one will read these petitions, they are from your heart and that will be respected.  God knows what you desire and how ardently you pray, so we would like to offer our prayers with yours for the good of all our St Elizabeth students, parents, faculty and staff.

Lastly, in honor of Respect Life Month, please begin sending in pictures of your families, any service men and women, grandparents, babies, etc.  We are constructing a ‘tree of life’ made from the pictures of the people in our lives, along with the handprints of all of our school children and staff.  Feel free to send in handprints from anyone in your family who does not already go to St E’s.  We will be constructing this tree next week, for the month of October, when the Hike for Life will take place.  Just send your pictures with your name, child’s grade and put it in an envelope marked:  Mrs Belcher, Tree of Life.  I look forward to seeing as many pictures as possible of our families so that we are all united for Life!

Below, please find the Mass schedule for the year.  This is subject to change since sometimes issues arise that are out of our control.  Please be sure to check with your child’s teacher to confirm Mass dates for your child.

• September 4^th – 8B; 11^th – 4A; 18^th – 4B; 25^th – 7A
• October 2^nd – 8A; 9^th – 5A; 16^th – 6A; 30^th – 6B
• November 6^th – 3A; 20^th – 3B
• December 4^th – 8A; 8^th (Tues) – 8B; 11^th – 4A; 18^th – 4B
• January 8^th – 7A; 15^th – 7B; 22^nd – 2B; 29^th – 6A
• February 5^th – 6B; 12^th – 3A; 17^th (Wed) – 5A; 19^th – 3B; 26^th – 7B
• March 5^th – 8A; 12^th – 1A; 25^th – 1B
• April 9^th – 2B; 16^th – 8B; 23^rd – 7A; 30^th – 7B
• May 7^th – 1A; 14^th – 1B; 21^st – KA; 28^th – Faculty

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Fundraisers

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Elizabeth Belew, under Fundraisers.

Grocery Store 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.

Campbell Labels & General Mills
Don’t forget to send in your labels. A box is in the front of the school for your children to drop off any labels. Also a flyer will be sent out with all the labels that we can collect.

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Mrs. Strunk and Ms. Martinez – Pre-kindergarten

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Kathy Strunk, under Pre-kindergarten.

Welcome new parents to Saint Elizabeth School.

PRE-K had a great time doing the Boosterthon Fun Run!! It was a great way of starting off the school year with Saints Pride.

During Religion time we are learning how to be friends of Jesus and that God made each and every one of us special. We have also learned about the creation story.

We have been having a great time during Language Arts. We have been reading books, singing songs and learning finger plays.

We have been working hard with shapes and counting one to five at Math class. We are also sorting objects.

In Social Studies we are learning about manners and when to use them. We have also practiced our class procedures, cafeteria procedures, how to line up procedures.

The primary colors are our focus in Science.

Exercise is what we do in PE besides play games.

The children have also been busy going to their specials. It seems everyone likes to go to their specials, Spanish, Library and Computers.

The best was Teddy Bear Day! We had a great time and the picnic was lovely.

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Mrs. Guerrero & Mrs. Burns – Kindergarten

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Melissa Guerrero, under Kindergarten.

Kindergarten is off to a great start! Please remember to look at the weekly newsletters for more detailed information. This is what we are doing this month:

Religion
We will discuss Creation and make a book about the story of Creation. We are also learning stories from the Old Testament – Cain and Abel and how to be our brother’s keeper. The last week of September, we will learn the prayer, My Guardian Angel and learn about the three angels mentioned in the Bible: Angel Gabriel, Angel Raphael, and Angel Michael.

Language Arts
Our first unit in our Open Court program is SCHOOL. The kids will engage in a variety of listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. The goals of this unit are to: have children see books as a valuable source for learning about school, offer children an opportunity to learn about the literary features of a narrative (audience, reader, writer), and to learn how to create literary works themselves. Each day we will work on phonemic awareness, letter and print recognition, comprehension, vocabulary, writing, listening, and speaking.

Math
This month, we are working on identifying numerals 0 – 5, rote counting, showing fingers to represent numerals 1 – 5, number line to 5, tallies numerals 1 – 5, sorting objects by color, recognizing shapes – circle, square, and triangle and identifying ten frame models to 5. Although many children already know the names of these numerals, the children will develop a deeper understanding and learn different representational models for the numerals.

Science
We will explore our 5 senses through various science experiments!

Social Studies
We will learn the Pledge of Allegiance and “God Bless America.” We will also learn about the rules of the classroom and how to treat one another.

We hope you have a great month!

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Mrs. Fabian and Mrs. Patton – First Grade

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Betty Fabian, under First Grade.

Wow, we have been in school for 7 weeks already. The students have enjoyed meeting all their new classmates and teachers. The following is what we will be covering over the month of October:

Math
Continue addition problems with sums to 12. Also, adding 3 addends together (3+2+1=6). Watch for Chapter 2 test review in the upcoming weeks. Subtraction will follow.

Social Studies
“In My Community” will be the next unit. We will learn about buildings, diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions of people of our neighborhoods. We will discuss differences and similarities between life in city, town, and farm communities. Lastly, we will finish the month with maps and map keys.

Religion
October is the Month of the Rosary, so we will be making rosaries in the classroom. This includes the prayers and parts of the Rosary. K-3rd grade will be having a Living Rosary on October 7th at 2:00pm in the church. Please come and join us.

Science/Health
We will start a new unit on plants. Students will learn what a plant needs to live and identify parts. Students will finish the month learning about trees and shrubs, leaves and parts.

Health
October is Fire Safety Month. We will talk about fire and make an exit plan to get out of your home safely if you have a fire. We will have a special guest on November 2 who will visit the school to talk about Fire Safety.

English
What is a telling/question sentence, what is a noun, and what is a verb, will be covered for the month. This unit comes from the Shurley Method English System. Students will also learn to label a sentence.

Language Arts
We will start off the month with the following sounds; /r/, /u/, /g/, /k/, /f/, /e/, and end with blending /sh/. Short vowel sounds will be reviewed throughout the month. Remember to read all decodable books and keep at home. We will tell you what test will be given at the end of the week. In writing, students continue writing in their Daily Journals and we are learning the writing process in the classroom.

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Mrs. Clack – Second Grade

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Bea Clack, under Second Grade.

English
We will continue to practice Shurley Method jingles. We have mastered the subject, noun, verb, and adjective. We will now begin to learn the adverbs and pronouns. The students will be taking home their jingle folders. Please continue to help them study and send back these folders everyday. We are making books that show how well they have learned the nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Your child should have a library book to read at least twenty minutes every day. Some have their readers to practice the story for the week. The more they read the better for their reading fluency.

Math
We are beginning to enter into the place value/house value that each number is placed. We will talk about how much each of these numbers is worth. We have just exited the portion of the book that works on basic addition and subtraction. Please continue to work on these facts, as well as their family members (5+4=9; 4+5=9; 9-4=5; 9-5=4). These should be memorized by now. \We also are beginning to practice counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. We are doing this to prepare to begin counting by 3,s, 4,s, etc. which is part of the goal for the year. We will continue to work on word problems, finding clue/cue words in the story to answer the problem as well as write the word form of a number.

Religion
We will continue to work on our seven sacraments. We have discussed baptism and reconciliation in detail. We will discuss this again in February just before our reconciliation.

Science
We are discussing the physical properties of solids by looking at other characteristics. We will begin to discuss buoyancy, flexibility, and hardness. We will discuss mass, followed by our first test review for the year in science. Look for further information to come out as we prepare for our first test.

Social Studies
The students will be discussing the “friendly” state of Texas and completing a state book of Texas. Here we will discuss our capital, state bird, tree, motto, and much more. Don’t forget our visit to St Joseph’s home in December.We will be looking for drivers. Please make sure that you get all in line with your “SAFE ENVIRONMENT.” Please contact Mrs. Campos for more information. More information will follow in November.

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Mrs. Bright & Mrs. Price – Third Grade

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Thelma Bright, under Third Grade.

Happy autumn!

The school year began with a flurry of activity, but we’ve settled into our routines quite nicely. We continue to be blessed with a wonderful group of kids and terrific, supportive parents again this year. We began some new topics this month including prepositions, conjunctions and pronouns in English. In Reading we have been using some Readers’ Theater books to develop a sense of reading in communion with others. We will be performing these stories (w/ props) in class for one another. In Spelling we have been reviewing the short and long vowel sounds. In Math we have almost finished our unit on place value (important for addition, subtraction and stepping stones for multiplication and division). In Science we have been studying the Solar System and have almost finished our study of the Sun, Earth and the Moon. In Social Studies we have been reviewing atlas skills and the continents and oceans of the Earth. In Religion we have been reviewing that our God is a loving God, that He cares for us like a loving parent, and that people who follow and do God’s good works are called Saints.

Coming up in the next month we will be learning about Mary, the rosary and more about the saints in preparation for our annual Saints Game. In Social Studies we will be studying the United States, the capitals and important facts about each state; this will lead us to a project about the states. We will finish the month with a study of Native Americans. In Science we will continue to explore the solar system in Astronomy with a study of the planets. We will be having a test next week over the first portion of the Astronomy unit. Moving on in Math, we will begin a unit on addition! We have also begun using a computer program called Math Score! The students love this approach to learning math. We will be sending home information so the kids can use this at home, too. In Spelling we will be reviewing what we have learned so far, and moving on to the /oi, ou, and aw/o/ sounds. In Reading we will be finishing our story Charlotte’s Web, and will be reading Bunnicula in honor of Halloween. We have also begun using the SRA Reading Kit (ask your child; they’re enjoying it, too). In English we will continue using our Daily Grammar books to reinforce our grammar skills. We will be learning how to make plurals with words ending in /f/ (wife, wives), work more on verbs and continue to sing our preposition, helping verb and pronouns song.

We will be Lexile testing again this week (9/24) and will be having our Sight Words quizzes on Sept. 24, Oct. 8 and 22nd. Our next Reading Counts test taking date will be October 2.

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Mrs. McClure – Fourth Grade

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.

Social Studies
We are closing out of our first chapter of the year!!! We have been discussing elevation, sea level, continents, landforms, plants and animals of Texas. For the month of October, we will begin to discuss People of Texas. We will read and learn about political region, population and look at line graphs, as well as economy, agriculture and land use. Following this chapter we will move on to the Earliest Texans beginning with Texas Indian Myths and legends.

English
We are currently wrapping up our re-cap session of basic grammar skills. We have reviewed the following: subject nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, object of the prepositions, prepositional phrases, possessive nouns, possessive pronouns, subject pronouns, synonyms, antonyms, correcting punctuation and capitalization, and beginning subject verb agreement. We will push on and begin to add in new pieces this month including the 3-point paragraph. WOOHOOO, we are ROCKING the Shurley Method out!

Reading
Ramona’s World has just been completed. What a great book to begin our 4th grade year. The children have seemed to love this classic. We will have a test over this class novel next Tuesday, September 29, 2009. We will do a review in class to help the students prepare for the test, which will be based on past chapter questions and vocabulary.Thank you to those who have sent a personal dictionary with your student; however there are still some students who have not done so. This is very important as the dictionaries I have do not always have the words that we are in search of. Remember ALL 4th grade students should be reading nightly. This is very important in keeping up their reading levels as well as their comprehension. Reading logs are due to me every other Friday. Your student’s next reading log will be due on October 2, 2009. We will begin our next class novel beginning next week. WOOOOHOOOOO!!!

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Mrs. Schmitz – Fourth Grade

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Maria Schmitz, under Fourth Grade.

Religion
We have finished up with Unit One in our Religion workbooks. One of the skills we have acquired from this unit is saying the Act of Faith. We have learned this prayer and we say it frequently in class. This is a good prayer to have in our memory banks as it reminds us of what we truly believe as Catholics. The next several chapters discuss how God strengthens us to Be Holy.

Math
We are still in the review stages in Math. We have recently covered properties or addition and quick tips for addition. Currently we are reviewing subtraction as well as doing a mixed review of the materials covered so far this year. We work many word problems together as a class to ensure that the students can find and understand the key words in the word problems. If the students only remember one thing this year in math, I would like for them to remember the math problem solving method: Read, Plan, Solve, and Check. If they follow this process they should be successful math problem solvers.

Science
Wow! What great science projects the students in fourth grade prepared. I was very impressed! We have now finished the Nancy Larson lesson booklets and are beginning to work in our text books. We will be discussing animal adaptation. Students will find out ways in which animals adapt to their surroundings and reasons why they have to make these changes.

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Ms. Vercillo – Fifth Grade

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Beth Vercillo, under Fifth Grade.

It’s hard to believe we are already heading into the month of October! I want to thank everyone who donated an exercise ball to the classroom. The kids love them and they are a great incentive for good behavior. Please remember to check your child’s red folder and check the website every night.

Math
We successfully completed our unit on place value. We have begun our unit on double and triple digit multiplication. Many of the kids are struggling with their facts. I can’t stress enough how important it is for the kids to know these facts COLD. I have gone light on written math homework so the kids will have time studying math facts. Remember Mad Minute tests are every Friday and do count as a grade.

Religion
We began the year reviewing the Sacrament of reconciliation. The students went to reconciliation as a class this past week. Fifth grade will be hosting mass on October 9th. The kids always do a beautiful job. Please come join us at the school 8:00 mass if you can.

Reading
We are finishing our class novel No Talking, by Andrew Clements. Students will work on a book review project in class. The final project will be due in mid October. Watch the website for due dates. We will be working on comprehension passages over the next few weeks. These passages will give students an opportunity to improve reading skills such as: main idea, context clues, identifying details, and vocabulary. Our next class novel will be A Wrinkle in Time. I know the kids will enjoy this novel. Please keep signing Reading Counts reading logs.

English
We have been working diligently on The Shurley Method, and it shows! The kids are doing really well. We have also spent time journaling. The kids have produced some amazing creative writing pieces! I am so proud of them. Stop by the classroom anytime, we have these pieces hanging up.

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Mrs. Belcher – Middle School Religion

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Beth Belcher, under Middle School Notes.

6th Grade
We have learned the Old Testament songs and can sing them at a moment’s notice!! Pretty good stuff! We have looked at Hebrew (Old Testament) Scripture and will continue to do so as we make our way through Salvation History up to the time of Joshua and entering into the Promised Land. This will take us a good portion of the year, but we will continue to learn, at this point, about Scripture and how important it is – it is the Word of God, and how Scripture is TRUE but not necessarily FACTUAL. We then understand that spiritual truths are where we can learn the most and apply them to our daily living.

7th Grade
I am proud of your students as we have gotten off to a great start this year, singing the New Testament songs. We have looked at the impact of Christ in our lives, and we will move on to how His Church is accessible to us, through Scripture and Tradition. Christian Scripture (the New Testament) takes a huge roll this year, as we come to learn about the Evangelists and their impact on our lives today. We will also cover how the Gospels came to be written, why is Acts of the Apostles so important, and how truth is contained in Scripture even though all of Scripture may not be factual.

8th Grade
We have started off on a wonderfully great foot this year. I am so proud of your children and the work that they have done thus far. We will continue with our study of the Images of the Church, and move on to Respect Life Month, in October with the Hike for Life. Your children do receive 6 hours of Service for this event! They will also help to construct the Tree of Life that will be down the hall outside of the Social Studies, Library and Religion rooms. We will make Trinity rolls, to show how leaven grows and spreads, then we will move on to our roots of Christianity, deeply steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures, and reviewing Abraham, our Father in Faith.

Please feel free to contact me with questions or constructive comments at bbelcher@saintspride.com Looking forward to hearing from you!

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Mrs. Powell – Middle School Social Studies

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Tai Powell, under Middle School Notes.

6th Grade
We are currently on Unit 2 which will cover chapters 3-5. Chapter 3 introduces the Civilizations of Ancient Egypt and Nubia. Chapter 4 introduces geography and civilizations of ancient India. Chapter 5 will introduce them to the history of ancient China.

7th Grade
In October the students will be on Unit 3 which deals with the Mexican government attempted to persuade Americans to settle in Texas and live as Mexican citizens. These settlers soon rebelled against Mexico’s authority. Chapter 5 discusses the settlement of Texas under the Empresario system. Chapter 6 examines the breakdown of relations between the Texas settlers and the Mexican government. Chapter 7 describes the events that took place during the first months of the Texas Revolution. Chapter 8 explains how Texas achieved its independence form Mexico.

8th Grade
In October the Students will be on Unit 2 which deals with the revolutionary era of the United States. Chapter 5 deals with Crisis of the Colonies, chapter 6 The American Revolution, chapter 7 Creating a Republic and The Constitution of the United States, and chapter 8 Government, Citizenship, and the Constitution.

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Mrs. Robb – Middle School Science

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Rachel Robb, under Middle School Notes.

Science Articles are due October 1st and October 15th. Bonus article is due on October 15th. Science Binders are due Tuesday, October 20.

We will discuss science fair topics during the month of October.

7th Grade
Students are studying plant and animal cells. Their edible cell project is due next week. Next we will be studying cell processes and energy. Students will select science fair topics and begin researching their topic. 7th grade will write a science research paper in English with Mrs. Borth. This paper will coincide with their science fair project.

8th Grade
Students will finish up Bones, Muscles and Skin. They did a great job creating a song which incorporated the bones of the body. Next, we will study digestions. Students will be required to keep a food journal in which they record everything they eat. They will then complete an analysis of their eating habits and make recommendations on how they could improve their eating habits. Students will select their science fair topics during the month of October as well.

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Mr. Dettmer – Middle School Math

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Ted Dettmer, under Middle School Notes.

Both Algebra classes will be problem solving. Sixth will be multiplying, dividing whole numbers and decimals, and orders of operations. Seventh grade will be doing operations with positive and negative numbers

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Mrs. Johnson – Middle School English/Literature

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Susan Johnson, under Middle School Notes.

6th Grade English
We have just started a unit on nouns. It will include identifying, compound, proper, common, abstract, concrete, singular/plural, gender, nominative case (subject, complement, direct address, appositive), and possessive case. The test is scheduled for October 20. We will then begin a unit on pronouns. Spelling for October includes lessons 7, 8. 9. and 10. Achievement testing is the week of October 12 so no tests or projects will be due that week.

6th Grade Literature
We just finished our first class novel, Walk Two Moons and thoroughly enjoyed it. We are now into a Fiction/Non-Fiction unit from the text book. We will read the stories in class and have comprehension and vocabulary with each story. The students will also learn the two ways to design a plot diagram. The Fiction/Non-Fiction test is scheduled for October 21. We will then begin our second class novel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Assignments will include comprehension questions, vocabulary, pop quizzes, and we will thoroughly discuss the Christian symbolism in the novel. Achievement test is the week of October 12 so no tests or projects will be due that week.

8th Grade English
We have begun taking notes on the research paper. Some of the due dates are:

• sources, October 6
• bibliography cards, October 7
• thesis statement, October 8
• typed outline, October 19

Spelling for the month of October includes lessons 7, 8, 9, and 10. Achievement testing is the week of October 12 so no tests or projects will be due that week.

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Mrs. Borth – Middle School English/Literature

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Jennifer Borth, under Middle School Notes.

7th Grade
We are currently reading Ten Little Indians also known as And Then There Were None. This is an Agatha Christie murder mystery which the students really seem to enjoy. Students are also given twenty different vocabulary words every two weeks. These words can be found on my web page. We study these words together in class each day, and students are required to take an on-line quiz over these words – www.vocabtest.com. The test dates for these are also found on my web site.

This year I am combining an ELA research paper with their science project research paper. This paper will take six weeks to write, so students need to be thinking of exactly what they want to do as an experiment. They may still work with a partner, but they will write their papers individually. They will receive a grade in both Science and English for this paper.

8th Grade
We are finishing The Giver. Please check my website or your child’s planner for test dates. We will also have a writing assignment that will be assigned after the novel is finished. Just as a reminder, students still need to take their on-line quizzes this year. They can be found at www.vocabtest.com. We have vocabulary quizzes every two weeks.

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Art

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Anne Shelton, under Art.

It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.

Leonardo da Vinci (artist of the month)

Welcome to St. Elizabeth’s Art Program.  We are looking forward to another successful year of exciting children’s art created by your talented students and engaging classes taught by Rosa Barrientos (PK and Kinder), Monica Connelly (3^rd and 4^th), and Anne Shelton (1^st, 2^nd, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th).

Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten
We are busy in ART CLASS – We have learned all the wonderful things about lines and what they do. Lines can be straight, curvy or zig-zag and lines define shapes. I hope you have enjoyed looking at our lines project with water colors. We will be focusing on shapes and a city collage for the remainder of the quarter. We are having fun!

3^rd and 4^th grade students are off to a fantastic start. The students started by designing their own personal portfolios to house all their wonderful art projects, and they look awesome! Students started reviewing the basic elements of art – line, shape, form. Focus for September is ancient coins Students have designed from research and created ancient coins, using modeling clay and learned techniques. We are off to a great start in Art and we’re really looking forward to future projects.

The 1^st and 2^nd graders will be introduced to the technique of creating Molas.

The 5^th and 6^th graders are learning the art of making Tessellations.

The 7^th and 8^th graders are learning the art of stained glass and will be creating their own stained glass creation.

We are excited about the opportunity to get to know you, and we’re looking forward to a happy and productive school year. Again, we sincerely thank all of you for your help and support in creating a successful art program at St. Elizabeth.

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Computer – Pre-kindergarten to Third Grade

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Monica Connelly, under Humanities Notes.

Welcome to the PK-3 Grade Technology Program!  I’m once again looking forward to teaching your children and working with parents to make our technology program exciting and productive.

We’re off to a great start!  This first quarter will be dedicated to reviewing computer terminology and improving keyboarding skills.  Proper hand placement and computer posture will be emphasized.  PK and Kinder students will investigate the keyboard and recognize the letters of their names.  1^st grade will practice basic keyboard recognition and improve mouse techniques.  Grades 2^nd and 3^rd will begin an original story, incorporate pictures using PAINT, and print their stories.

This is a reminder that Grades PK-3 are expected to follow the computer lab rules as well as general school rules in the downstairs lab.

Thank you to those who help keep our school’s technology program going.  Your continued support is greatly appreciated.

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Computer – Fourth to Eighth Grade

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.

Fourth Grade
4th grade is diligently practicing touch typing and doing well. It is a slow process at first and that is when many just quit. If they persevere at typing slowly, but correctly from home row, their speed will pick up dramatically. They have begun Mathscore, a math drill program, and seem to enjoy it.

Fifth Grade
5th grade is also practicing touch typing, but concentrating on using the various toolbars in Microsoft’s Suite of programs. They are creating a publishable Word document about the Prayer to St. Isidore. This class did so well last year with Mathscore, and they are continuing the program in 5th grade.

Sixth Grade
6th grade is concentrating on spreadsheet charts and formulas for the next two weeks or so, and will begin computer history and create a timeline as their next project.

Seventh Grade
7th grade is using Microsoft Access to study some of the influential people in the history of computing.

Eighth Grade
8th grade is finishing their autobiographical, “High Profile” project and will begin building a computer – virtually.

All Middle School classes are also using Mathscore to improve their basic math skills, as well as learning about Internet Safety.

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Library

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Monica Connelly, under Library.

The new 2009-2010 school year has started really well.  The students all seem excited and ready to explore new library activities.  September is especially busy.  Many fun-filled activities and events are planned for this year. Fall activities include:

• Birthday Book Club (parents may honor their child’s birthday with a book donation)
• Teen Read Week – October 19-23
• Scholastic Fall Book Fair – December 6-13

The first library classes have been spent welcoming back old students and getting to know new students, along with reviewing library procedures and expectations.  This month PK and Kinder students enjoy storytelling and learning the parts of a book from cover to cover.  1^st grade is learning the proper care of library books as they prepare to check out books to read in their classrooms.  2^nd and 3^rd grade students will investigate fiction, non-fiction and biography books.

Please check the library website for library information, upcoming activities, and reference information. My web page also includes links to homework help, reference and educational games links.  All overdue library notices will be sent via RenWeb.

Welcome back to library volunteers Debbie Gleason, Gary Cervenka, Priscilla Romero, and Amy Solis, as well as to our new library volunteer, Veronica Mendoza. The school library is a success because of these wonderful, dedicated volunteers.  If anyone is interested in helping achieve our goals in the library, have some free time, and love working with children and books, come on in and volunteer.  If reading to children is your talent, we could use you as well.  Library work is a fun way to earn volunteer hours.  Parents can contact me through my e-mail address: mconnelly@saintspride.com.

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Mrs. Kuterbach – Music

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Mary Kuterbach, under Music.

Welcome back to another musical year at St. Elizabeth. Get your voices warmed up and ready to sing!

Kindergarten through fourth grade are exploring steady beat in music. The fifth and sixth grade classes are reviewing the basic elements of music with a focus on beat and rhythm. The seventh grade will review rhythm symbols and the musical staff. Eighth grade is trying desperately to get to the hand bells! We will also begin preparing for our Christmas Program, (date announced soon) which will be here before we know it!

All music classes have been listening to music from Johann Sebastian Bach. We have heard the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and the Badinerie from an Orchestral Suite by Bach.

Please remember to join us for our weekly student Masses where our students help lead the songs. I appreciate your continued support of the fine arts program at St. Elizabeth.

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Physical Education

Posted on September 24, 2009, by William Cervenka, under Physical Education.

We are currently working on the beginning stages of fitness with all grades, this will include basic stretching and some beginning exercises. We will continue these and other exercises throughout the school year with the middle school students progressing toward strength building exercises. The middle school students will have their first fitness evaluation within the next two weeks and will continue to play volleyball.

It is very important that all students, grades 3-8, have their PE uniform for class, as that accounts for 30% of their grade. The PE uniform consists of solid black or blue shorts, any St. Elizabeth T-shirt, and a pair of athletic shoes. Girls may wear their uniform shoes if they are the soft “Keds” type, but not the hard soled saddle shoes.

Looking forward to a great school year, GO SAINTS!!!

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Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Rosa Barrientos, under Spanish.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who came to the Jamaica to see our children dance.  They were awesome!

Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten
We will be concentrating on our Spanish basics:  ABC’s by name and sound, colors, days of the week, and numbers for the remainder of this quarter.  All of this is done with body movement and songs.  Kinder will start to work on mini-phonic ABC books, which will help with sounding out and reading words.

1^st Grade
Have you seen our new books?  I would like for these books to go home and for the children to study what we worked on that particular day for ten minutes.

2^nd Grade
We will start to review sentence structure in Spanish: article, noun, verb and adjectives.  We need to know these in order to start with our AR verbs.

3^rd Grade
Sentence structure review using animals as well as colors, numbers, and a few other adjectives.

4^th Grade
We have new books and we are in lesson one, which has to do with school supplies, classes and what we do in each class as well as asking the questions, “Where are you going?” and “What are you doing?”

5^th Grade
We did great on greetings as well as in our personal introductions.  We will continue reviewing lesson 3 and 4, so that we can move on to our next lesson.

6^th Grade
We finished lesson one which has to do with determining gender and the article in the nouns.  We are now in lesson two, family names and making sentences and nouns plural making all the necessary changes.

7^th Grade
We have been reviewing gender, articles, verbs and adjectives as well as the preposition A.  We will start with lesson 4 in our books, which has to do with describing.

8^th Grade
We are reviewing all the grammar that makes Spanish so fun.  We have been writing introductions, sentences, taking dictation and translating sentences, and so far we are doing great!

Please have them all study for at least 10 minutes every night; they have plenty to study.

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Environmental Club

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Kathy Strunk, under Environmental Club.

Our first Environmental Club meeting for this year will be on Tuesday, September 29th from 3:30 – 4:00 in Mrs. Strunk’s Pre-K room. Grades Pre-K thru 8th grade are invited. We look forward to seeing you!

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National Junior Honor Society

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Rachel Robb, under NJHS.

The St. Elizabeth Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society held its first meeting September and elected the following officers for 2009-2010:

• President – Dallas Swayzer
• Vice President – Cody Robb
• Secretary – Kayla Feaster
• Treasurer –
• Parliamentarian –

NJHS members include: Rakel Barrientos, Michael Benjamin, Christina Brieno, Jeffrey Cervenka, Harrison Cruz, Ryan Dooley, Cole Gentry, Claire Hawkins, Hannah Johnson, Caroline Robb, Cody Robb, Orion Salters, and Dallas Swayzer.

On the agenda were upcoming events, fundraisers and service projects.  The students will host a Book/Bake Sale October 13.  Look for the NJHS booth at the Halloween Carnival, October 31.  Our next meeting will be Wednesday, September 30.

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Internet Safety

Posted on September 24, 2009, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.

Did you know…

If your child types PIR or POS in an instant message, they may be telling their friend that there is a “parent in the room” or there is a “parent over their shoulder.” Do you know how to take care of your child online? You may want to tell them to follow the 4R’s:

Recognize, Refuse, Respond, Report
According to iSafe online, there are six stages that you need to recognize.

• “In Stage 1 of the grooming process, Internet predators typically collect information from your profile or chat, disguise their own identity, and pretend to have common interests with you.
• In Stage 2, they typically support your point of view in online conflicts or offline arguments that you tell them about, pretend to be the only person who understands you, and become your IM or chat buddy.
• In Stage 3, they typically ask you to keep the friendship a secret, exchange email addresses and phone numbers with you, and use more adult-oriented language and materials.”

If you want to know all six stages visit iSafe, an Internet Safety Project endorsed by the Diocese of Dallas, or read our next, “Did You Know…”

Just reading some of this can send chills up our spines, I know. Be aware and know what your child is doing online and on their cell phone, but also have faith. Sometimes PIR just means “pizza in the refrigerator.”

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• Welcome Saints

  

  Welcome to the parents' online newsletter for St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School. Published monthly from September to June, this is the place to read all the updates from our teachers, school administrators, and organizations.

• Mission Statement

  Our mission at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School is to serve God through our ministry of educational excellence and to develop the spiritual lives of our youth within the framework of the Gospel and the tradition of the Catholic Church.

• Philosophy

  Our fundamental task is the education of the whole child, combining learning with faith, Catholic doctrines and moral teachings. We strive to instill in our students a lifelong commitment to learning, to Christian values and citizenship, and like our patroness, to community service. We are dedicated to achieving these goals within a supportive and diverse Christian community and to living our faith daily with the understanding that education is a process that never ends.