Archive for 'Humanities Notes'

Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish

Posted on April 12, 2012, by Rosa Barrientos, under Spanish.

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Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish

April and May are very exciting months in Spanish class because we do many different activities that involve food.  We do restaurants, skits and much more.  The best thing is we get to eat, have fun and learn!  I will be asking for donations to make this activity possible.

Pre K 3 and 4: We will be learning the names of some fruits and cereal, milk, bread, eggs and vegetables.  I will be asking for some assistance in providing some fresh fruit as we learn and taste.   I will combine the verb me gusta (I like) as well as no me gusta (I do not like)  to express in Spanish what we like and what we do not like, along with other words such as sweet, sour, delicious.

Kinder:  Same as Pre K but will extend our verb (gustar) to ask the question: Do you like …..?

1^st grade: We will be learning some table utensils names and will do oral practice of setting a table as we name each utensil, and  learning the verb (comer) to eat, gustar (to like) and (usar) to use

2^nd grade:  We will be learning table utensils and setting up as we name them orally.  We will be practicing in Spanish to make all the necessary changes to the nouns and adjectives as we describe singulars and plurals and  using the verbs (gustar) to like, (tener) to have as we say and describe the fruits, and (comer) to eat as we say what we are eating.

3^rd grade: We will learn table utensils, kitchen appliances, breakfast foods, lunch foods and dinner foods.  We will use the question (Donde esta?) to ask where certain foods are in the kitchen as other students answer in complete sentences.  We will also be using the verb (gustar) to say what we like and what we do not like and why?

4^th grade: We will cover the same material as 3^rd grade but will also be learning the present progressive forms of certain verbs and add them to the food activities to say what we are doing.

5^th grade: As we enjoy our wonderful restaurant, we will be using food stores’ advertising to learn to practice arithmetic and money to ask questions regarding prices.

6^th grade:  We will also be practicing how to use money and  food store advertising to ask and answer questions regarding money.  We will also combine the present progressive of some verbs, and the verb gustar, usar, desear, comprar, pagar, comer and many more.

7^th grade: We will also be practicing money and using food store advertising to ask and answer questions regarding money and will also combine the present progressive of some verbs, and the verb gustar, usar, desear, comprar, pagar, comer and many more.

8^th grade:  Students will be composing skits using all the food and other learned vocabulary and will act out orally.

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Mrs. Stepniewski – Pre K through 8th Grade Computer

Posted on April 12, 2012, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.

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cybersmart.gov.au

http://cybersmartcurriculum.org/assets/files/activitysheets/4-5/Safe_Talking_In_Cyberspace.pdf

                       

Pre-K through 3^rd Grade students are continuing work on basic computer skills while reinforcing classroom lessons. We are incorporating seasonal and religiously-themed websites. Part of our lessons emphasize being “cybersmart”.  I encourage everyone to visit safekids.com and cybersmart.com for ways to protect our children from internet predators and cyberbullying.

Fourth Grade students are continuing LOGO programming. The aim of these lessons is to foster confidence with STEM subjects while making the lessons fun and interesting.

Fifth Grade continues computer programming by creating procedures in MSWLOGO. We are working on recursion and simple programming concepts.  The students have created many interesting and intricate ‘drawings’ while beginning to understand variables in programming code. We are working on recursion and simple programming concepts.

Sixth Grade boys are working with our Lego Mindstorm Robotics program. The boys have established a problem that the robot needs to solve. We will have a contest to showcase and test the skills learned with this program.

Sixth Grade girls are helping create a graduation movie for our PreKB class. They are interviewing the younger students and creating a presentation that will be incorporated in a class presentation.

Seventh Grade students are creating sprites in Scratch, a language developed by MIT for elementary students. We will have a contest to see which program is the best. Several categories are available: most original concept; best programming; funniest, and …well, we’ll see what develops. We will also be creating a brochure to enhance next year’s Sacrament of Confirmation.

Eighth Grade students are in the final stages of their Business Project and continue coding in HTML. They have coded links, images, a calendar and ordered and unordered lists. Some of the students have made simple forms and really understand markup language.

 

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Mrs. Connelly – Library

Posted on April 12, 2012, by Monica Connelly, under Library.

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April is:

• School Library Media Month
• National Library Week – April 8-14
• National D.E.A.R. Day (Drop Everything and Read Day) – April 12

Library classes will celebrate remaining April events by checking out books, reading quietly in the library, listening to Easter stories and taking part in The Legend of the Bluebonnet activities.

Mark Your Calendars:  Hawaiian Luau Book Fair is coming April 16-19.  Fair hours will be 7:30-5:00.  Activities such as daily door prizes, raffles, storytelling and games are just part of the upcoming fun.  Book Fairs are successful because of St, Elizabeth’s “great” bunch of students, parents, volunteers, and teachers coming together as a team to support the Fair.  Once again, we’re asking for volunteers.  If you can help, please email mconnelly@saintspride.com.

May is once again a very busy month.  PK and Kinder students will enjoy “guest” storytellers reading book favorites.  1^st and 2^nd grade students take part in some fun activities when we read “Officer Buckle and Gloria”.  3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade students will share their reading experiences and reveal their favorite book and author with their respective classes.  Weather permitting, all library students will visit the school courtyard for quiet reading.

As the end of the year fast approaches, the library is accepting donations of any AR, Reading Counts or Blue Bonnet books that your student has finished reading.  We welcome books in good condition and appreciate all titles.

Important Dates to remember:

May 14 – end-of-year inventory begins

May 18 – all library books must be returned

May 22 – all overdue late fines must be paid

 

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Coach Cervenka – K – Eighth Grade Physical Education

Posted on April 12, 2012, by William Cervenka, under Physical Education.

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The soccer, baseball/softball, and track season are still in progress.  All classes have picked teams and are playing against each other. We play each sport for 2-3 weeks and go on to the next sport.  Soccer is finishing up with the PE season and we are starting on wiffle ball for the next 2-3 weeks.  We will play kickball after wiffle ball until the end of the school year.  The kids are enjoying picking teams and playing against each other to see which team gets more tally marks on the board.

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Mrs. Kuterbach – Music

Posted on April 12, 2012, by Mary Kuterbach, under Music.

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It is hard to believe that we are closing in on the end of the year! We have covered so much in our exploration of music. The 8^th grade has been busy learning hand bell pieces for a final performance to be held on our Young Authors Day / Spring Art Fest. Performance times yet to be determined.

 

After our unit on folk and square dance, the kindergarten through fifth grade classes will be exploring tone color. This includes vocal and instrumental tone color. That means our annual Instrument Show and Tell  is coming up! This year it will be the week of May 14-18. Here are the rules:

1. If you have an instrument you would like to bring to class to show, make sure your name is on it. You do not have to be able to play the instrument. We love seeing the “real” thing even if it doesn’t work.
2. If you play the piano or take piano lessons we invite you to play for your class BUT you must bring written music with you that you will play. Even if you have the music memorized please bring your sheet music with you.

We will only do this one week so don’t forget!

During the month of April we are listening to many different composers starting off the month with one of my favorites, Aaron Copland. We followed with the Russian composer, Sergei Rachmanioff, listening to his Italian Polka for piano duet.

Be sure to attend our weekly Masses. Our students prepare each week for Mass and the student leaders work hard to help us celebrate the Mass.

As always, thank you for your continued support of the fine arts programs at St. Elizabeth School.

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Mrs. Green – PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th Grade Art

Posted on April 12, 2012, by Michelle Green, under Art.

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“The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects.”

Lesson 6 in 10 Lessons the Arts Teach by the NAEA

All classes are in the process of creating their silent auction projects.  Most of the classes will be painting.  Each child will get to participate in painting their classes canvas.  Make sure you attend on April 28th to view and bid on your child’s artwork.  Here is the list of what each class will be doing.

PK is creating a heart painting similar to the artist Jim Dine.

Kindergarten is making two paintings, one is an abstract with bright colors and the other is a monochromatic abstract.

1st grade is making a drip painting similar to artist, Jackson Pollock, and the other will be reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh’s, Starry Night.

2nd grade is creating their version of Leonardo da Vinci’s, The Last Supper, as well as a fun abstract painting.

4th grade is making a floral painting very much like van Gogh’s, Twelve Sunflowers.

6th grade boys are painting a beautiful seascape, and the girls are still deciding.

7th grade is painting a cross inspired by Georgia O”Keeffe.

8th grade boys are making a series of paintings similar to artist, Andy Warhol and the girls are making a Georgia O”Keeffe inspired stained glass.

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Mrs. Connelly – Third & Fifth Grade Art

Posted on April 12, 2012, by Monica Connelly, under Art.

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“The smallest event can become a story if you tell it in the right way.” David Hockney, Photographer

During the 4^th and final quarter of the school year, there are many art projects planned.

• Students are doing an outstanding job completing their Pop Art projects.
• Students are beginning acrylic painting on canvas for the upcoming Silent Auction.
• Students will experience clay building techniques as they create hand-built coil sculptures and clay pots.

These final art projects will join all student art “masterpieces” for the 3^rd Annual Art Fest.  School hallways and stairways as well as the cafeteria will proudly display students’ artwork.  Throughout the year St. E’s talented artists have been working very hard to produce all the wonderful, fantastic works of art that will be presented.

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Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish

Posted on March 8, 2012, by Rosa Barrientos, under Spanish.

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PreK-3:  We are having fun learning new songs to learn body parts. I have also introduced some clothing articles.  We love dressing and naming the clothing articles on our dolls.

Pre K-4:  We have also been singing away to body parts and clothing.  We will be spending more time on both doing more identifying and matching with the new vocabulary.

K-A:- We are almost done with the alphabet phonics mini-books.  The students are sounding out each word in the book and reading it.  This is awesome! We are also learning clothing articles and reviewing body parts with songs and body movements.

1^st Grade: We have been concentrating on clothing and body parts as well.  We love to practice writing the names of clothing articles and body parts in our workbooks as well as singing away. We will be moving on to school supplies and learning some adjectives.

2^nd Grade: We are also learning about body parts and the verb (tener) to HAVE as well as adjectives to describe some of our body parts.  It is so much fun to have an enthusiastic class that loves to sing away and learn. We will be using adjectives to describe some of our body parts as well as clothing articles, and  making sure that our sentence structure is correct.

3^rd Grade: We are excited to be able to conjugate some AR and ER verbs and combine them with body parts and clothing.  We have used the verbs USAR (to use) with clothing articles to say what we are wearing and TENER (to have) used with body parts to say what we have.  We are also reading little clues and filling the blanks on body parts and writing sentences using either verb and a clothing or body part. The students will be learning more noun vocabulary about the names of the things around us.

4^th Grade: We just started to work on a written review over lesson 1-3.  So far we have learned how to write the numbers 1-30 and by 10’s to 100., Classroom objects and school supplies, gender of nouns, rules to make things plural, how to ask and answer a question in complete sentence, definite and indefinite articles, colors, shapes, different animals, describing nouns, and how to use adjectives.  This review will count as a test grade; it is an open book review.

5^th Grade:  We are moving very slowly since we only come to Spanish once a week, but we are mastering the numbers 1-100, counting by 100’s to 1,000 and arithmetic signs.  We will be learning the vocabulary to do math problems using arithmetic signs and reading them out loud.

6^th Grade: We just wrapped up learning to conjugate AR verbs in the present tense and making all the necessary changes to a sentence that is changed from singular to plural; and, asking and answering questions using AR verbs.  We also know how to make statements and questions and make negative or affirmative questions as well as answers.  We are now into ER verb conjugations in the present.  We will be moving on to clothing articles.

7^th Grade: We have been learning and identifying the different rooms in the house, the furniture, and possessive adjectives.  We will be writing and translating sentences as well as learning new vocabulary.  We will learn how to change sentences using possessive adjectives from plural to singular and vice versa.

8^th Grade: The students are learning an extensive vocabulary of animals and will be writing all types of sentences using different things that we have learned: (verbs, adjectives, affirmative, negative). They will also be using the verb decir (to say) which is an irregular verb.  We will be moving on to learn about different nationalities.

 

 

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Mrs. Stepniewski – Pre K through Eighth Grade Computer

Posted on March 8, 2012, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.

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Pre-K through 3^rd Grade students are continuing studies as outlined below.  We have taken a detour into the world of robotics with our newest humanoid robot nicknamed “Alfie”.  Pre-K students especially like his warm-up exercises before he ambulates.  We are very grateful to Mrs. Strunk for helping the school acquire Alfie.

(Pre-K and Kindergarten students continue working on basic skills using educational websites such as Starfall, Sheppard Software, Julia’s Rainbow, Abcya, and Kidport,  to name a few.

First Grade students are working on their typing skills while studying spelling words in Spellingcity and in Microsoft Word.

Second Grade students are practicing typing and math using different websites.  One example is ‘Fruitshoot’ addition through Sheppard Software.

Third Grade students created a times table in Excel using simple formulas.  They have begun their difficult unit involving covers over the keyboards.  The program “TypingMaster” used in school is designed to allow students to view the screen, which indicates finger placement, in order to avoid excessive ‘keyboard checking’.  This method promotes accurate and speedy typing.)

Fourth Grade students are beginning  LOGO programming.  “The goal of  [LOGO] was to create a math land where kids could play with words and sentences” while creating geometric shapes.      ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language)

Fifth Grade is delving into computer programming by creating procedures in MSWLOGO.   The students have created many interesting and intricate ‘drawings’ while beginning to understand variables in programming code.

Sixth Grade students are creating an algorithm and flowchart based on everyday activities.  It is surprising how many steps actually go into eating a bowl of cereal!  Students get an idea of the scale and complexity of creating an actual computer program and why copyright laws are important in safeguarding the work of professionals.

Seventh Grade students have completed their Access Database Unit and have completed a brief review of LOGO programming.  They are now creating sprites in Scratch, a language developed by MIT for elementary students.

Eighth Grade students are in the final stages of their Business Project.  They are currently coding in HTML.

 

 

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Mrs. Connelly – Library

Posted on March 8, 2012, by Monica Connelly, under Library.

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Congratulations to students who successfully read 6 hours for Six Flags tickets.  The reading logs have been mailed and tickets should arrive sometime in May in time for summer fun.

Another busy month is promised in the library during the month of March.  Students will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and Women’s History Month.  The primary grades wish Dr. Seuss “Happy Birthday” by reading his books and engaging in SmartBoard learning activities when visiting Seussville.com.  In celebration of Women’s History Month all students will explore the accomplishments of famous women in history.

Important dates to remember for March are:

• Teen Tech Week – March 4-10
• Returned Borrowed Books Week – March 1-7
• National March into Literacy Month
• National Women’s History Month
• Irish American Heritage Month

The library is once again hosting Teen Tech Week March 4-10 sponsored by the American Library Association.  This year’s theme is Be a Geek @the library.  Teen Tech Week is a national initiative aimed at students, teens, their parents, educators and other concerned adults.  4^th-8^th grade students are invited to a Pre TTW party complete with refreshments and registration for the various activities and events to be held in celebration of Teen Tech Week.  Fun activities include a Wii Dance Contest, taste test, cookie challenge, and electronic games.  Prizes, ribbons and certificates will be awarded at the closing of the week.

Important dates to remember for April are:

• School Library Media Month
• National D.E.A.R. Day (Drop Everything and Read) - April 12
• National Library Week – April 8-14
• National Poetry Month
• School Library Media Month,
• International Children’s Book Day – April 2
• Scholastic Book Fair – April 15-20

PK-1^st grade students will enjoy The Legend of the Bluebonnet and Easter stories.   2^nd grade will participate in fun activities based on The Day Jimmie’s Boa Ate the Wash.  3^rd & 4^th grade students will continue their study of Non-Fiction and the Dewey Decimal classifications.  5^th grade students will start an in-depth study of research sources available in the library.  Weather permitting all students will enjoy reading in the school’s courtyard.

The Scholastic Spring Book Fair is coming to St. Elizabeth!  Mark your calendars for the week of April 16-20.  Fair hours will be M-F 7:30-5:30.  As with all our book fairs, excitement is quickly building.  Activities such as daily door prizes, raffles, storytelling, and games are just part of the fun.  Look for Book Fair info in your student’s Thursday folders.  Book fairs are successful because of St. Elizabeth’s “Great” bunch of students, parents, volunteers, and teachers pulling together as a team.  Once again we will be asking for your help.

I wish all of you a wonderful Spring Break and a Blessed Easter!

 

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Coach Cervenka – K – 8th Grade Physical Education

Posted on March 8, 2012, by William Cervenka, under Physical Education.

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The PE basketball season has come to an end. The kids had a great and exciting time competing with their classmates. After Spring Break we will begin a variety of things. We have baseball/softball season, soccer, and track all starting up for in-season sports. We will combine all of them together working on each one individually. The classes are picking teams as well as team names. Their wins will be tracked on the scoreboard made by the teacher. In addition to working on baseball/softball, track, and soccer, we are working on fitness again to keep the kids in shape since Spring Break is in March, and we are off for several days.

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Mrs. Kuterbach- Music

Posted on March 8, 2012, by Mary Kuterbach, under Music.

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Mrs. Green – PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th Grade Art

Posted on March 8, 2012, by Michelle Green, under Art.

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“The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know.”

Lesson 5 in 10 Lessons the Arts Teach by the NAEA

It seems like the year is flying by so quickly in the art room.  All of the classes have been doing so well.  I am changing things up for the students this next month because we will be working together on our artwork.  Each class will create their very own Silent Auction art  project.  Some will be painting, while others will be making  mosaics, and a few will be making sculptures.

PK & Kindergarten have just finished up their Elmer the Elephant pieces.  They had a great time creating these, and they look FABULOUS.

1st grade are still my busy bees.  I feel like we go through so many art projects.  We just started working on a sculpture that I’m sure they will be talking to you about.  We are making trees like the ones from Dr. Suess’, The Lorax.  I can’t wait to finish these.

2nd grade finally finished their birch tree project. YEA!!!!  They look INCREDIBLE!  The kids got a ton of painting time in for this project.  I’d say they are all master painters now.

4th grade is working on paper mache masks.  We will be painting and putting the final touches on these within the next few weeks.

6th grade learned about optical illusion artwork.  They created their own using markers and colored pencils.  It took forever to color in everything, but it was well worth the time and effort.  They look GREAT!

7th grade just finished their pantyhose sculptures.  They are totally AWESOME!  I think the students really enjoyed this project.

8th grade girls made packing tape hand sculptures.  They are so COOL!  If you get a chance, please come look at them.  The 8th grade boys have been working on an artist research project.  They have been doing a great job learning about their artist.

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Mrs. Connelly – 3rd & 5th Grade Art

Posted on March 8, 2012, by Monica Connelly, under Art.

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“The smallest event can become a story if you tell it in the right way.” David Hockney, Photographer

During Black History Month, students studied paintings by black artists, Molly Ringgold, Jacob Lawrence, and Romare Bearden.

We have been so very busy being creative in Art class!  The students have enjoyed learning about Pop Art and the history of pottery and working with clay.  All student art projects incorporate what they have learned when designing, sketching and creating their own art.  Students are going to be creating their own original art work based on the talent of Pop Artists such as Andy Warhol and Dominic Keyes.  Some of upcoming big projects that students will be working on include making clay pinch pots, self portraits and preparing for the end-of-the-year Art Fest.

Thanks for your continued support of our Fine Arts Department and for letting me share my love of ART with your children.

Have a wonderful, fun-filled, restful Spring Break and a very Blessed Easter.

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Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish

Posted on January 27, 2012, by Rosa Barrientos, under Spanish.

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PreK-3:  This quarter we will be concentrating on body parts and clothing, learning new songs to help us identify body parts.  We will continue to practice our basics of ABC’s,  phonics, vowels, numbers, days of the week, and colors.

PreK-4: We are doing great on our basics and sounding out small words in Spanish from our mini phonic books. We have started the body parts unit

1^st:  We have started this quarter with new vocabulary of all the nouns that make up a house.  This will be broken down into each room in the house and the furniture or appliances that it contains. Students are sounding out each word and reading.   It is awesome!

2^nd: We have started on the clothing unit.  We will be dressing up dolls and cowboys, as we name each clothing article.  I will combine the item of clothing with identifying the article for each noun.

3^rd. We did great on our first quiz on clothing.  We will be building small sentences with each clothing word.   We will identify the articles, nouns and adjectives.

4^th. Lesson 3 covers reading a calendar and naming all the places that we visit, emphasizing questions and answering in complete sentence.  Students will also be using today, tomorrow, this week and next week.  We will also learn about the preposition “TO” and the verb (to go) in the present. We are learning much grammar in this chapter, so please make sure your child studies what we cover in class!

5^th. It seems that 5A will be missing Spanish since they will be attending the dance class at that time.  5B will be moving on to lesson 7 which has to do with the verb TENER (to have) and feelings.  We will be asking  and answering each other in complete sentences.  We will be conjugating the verb with all the pronouns.  We will also learn about the difference of USTED and TU in Spanish as well as identifying who has what using the verb TENER. I will also combine body parts with the verb tener.

6^th. During this quarter we will learn about AR, ER and IR verbs and its conjugations in the present and all regular verbs.   We will also be identifying and writing negative and affirmative sentences, using personal names instead of personal pronouns to conjugate.  Most important, they will be expanding their vocabulary, reading and translating as we read.

7^th. We have drill through AR, ER and IR verbs, so it is time to concentrate on some irregular verbs. Lesson 14 offers us the verb HACER (To do or make), weather expressions and seasons. We will be using the verb hacer to express the weather in each season.  We will be asking questions and answering in complete sentence. We will be conjugating the verb, hacer, in the present tense.

8^th. This quarter we will be concentrating on irregular verbs, learning the conjugations and applying them correctly with our vocabulary.  Our new vocabulary will include clothes, body parts, countries, nationalities, languages, and animals.  We will also learn about the demonstrative adjectives and more possessive adjectives.

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Mrs. Stepniewski – Pre K through Eighth Grade Computer

Posted on January 27, 2012, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.

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Pre-K and Kindergarten students continue working on basic skills using educational websites such as starfall, sheppard software, julia’s rainbow, abcya, and kidport,  to name a few.

First Grade students are working on their typing skills while studying spelling words in spellingcity and in Microsoft Word.

Second Grade students are practicing typing and math using different websites.  One example is ‘fruitshoot’ addition through sheppardsoftware.

Third Grade students created a times table in Excel using simple formulas.  They have begun their difficult unit involving covers over the keyboards.  The program “TypingMaster” used in school is designed to allow students to view the screen, which indicates finger placement, in order to avoid excessive ‘keyboard checking’.  This method promotes accurate and speedy typing.

Fourth Grade students are continuing their earlier studies using the covered keyboard method.  Students are encouraged to view the screen (which indicates finger placement) rather than constantly checking the keyboard for letter placement.  It is a challenging study, but many students have already mastered the skill.

Fifth Grade has detoured from the regular computer curriculum to work on Science Fair graphs and charts in Excel and Word.  As long as students have their ‘data’, beautiful charts and graphs can be easily created.  Fifth grade is also practicing typing using covered keyboards.

Sixth Grade students have been working on Men and Women of Computing as part of their Computer History unit.  They are also practicing typing with covered keyboards.

Seventh Grade students have begun their Access Database Unit by creating fields and entering statistics for their favorite sports teams.

Eighth Grade students have completed their Excel employee and inventory spreadsheet assignments.  They are working in Publisher to create a business newsletter and in Word to “draw” a company check.

 

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Mrs. Connelly – Library

Posted on January 27, 2012, by Monica Connelly, under Library.

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Happy New Year, and welcome back to all!   I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas.  Many thanks for all the wonderful gifts, cards, and well wishes during the holidays.   Thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity.

Thanks to all volunteers and shoppers who made our December Book Fair such a huge success.

Our school library will be very busy this month preparing for Catholic Schools Week. New books, including 100 newly purchased books from the recent Book Fair, are being processed and will be placed on the shelves this month for our students’ reading pleasure.

With the Science Fair coming up, students are reminded that the library is an excellent source for student’s research, including internet access for student use before school, during recess, and after school.  Please encourage your student to make use of the library’s numerous books, reference materials and project ideas for students to use when setting up their science projects.

February is a short month but extremely busy.  The library celebrates Groundhog Day, President’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Black History Month.  Library activities will revolve around fairy tales, legends, fables, and tall tales.  February, also known as Library Lovers Book Month, will feature the book display “Ice Cream for Books”. Students will add one ice cream scoop for each book read, creating the largest ice cream cone.

Students in Kindergarten and 1st grade will take their library books home to read.  They will share their reading experience with other students in their class during library time.  2nd & 3rd grade students will study fairy tales, legends, fables, and tall tales.  4th & 5th grade students will keep a reading log when we start reading Ramona’s World by Beverly Cleary and Hoot by Carl Hiaason together in the library.

Coming Soon:   Six Flags and Weekly Reader are once again pleased to offer the Read-to-Succeed Six Hour Reading Program for 2011-12. The goal of the program is to support efforts to educate students and to inspire kids to read on their own.  The reward for participating students is a free admission ticket to any Six Flags Park. This a great opportunity to earn a free student Six Flags ticket – 6 hours of recreational reading is the only requirement. More information, including reading logs and Program important dates to remember will follow in the Thursday folders.

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Mrs. Green – PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th Grade Art

Posted on January 27, 2012, by Michelle Green, under Art.

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“The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity.”

Lesson 4 in 10 Lessons the Arts Teach by the NAEA

We are continuing to learn and create in the art room.  All of the classes will participate in the Catholic School’s Week Poster Contest during the last few weeks of January.  Then in February we will move onto something special for Valentines.  We are studying the art element, space, and the principle of design, emphasis.  Our artist of the month for February is Frida Kahlo.

PK is moving right along in art.  They have been working on winter trees, snowflakes, and snowmen.  We will be working on their scissors skills with our next project, Valentines.

Kindergarten just learned about printmaking and created some of the most beautiful leaf prints.  They also made some of the cutest trees.  They will be learning about 3 dimensional artwork next as we create something special for Valentines.

             

1st grade became professional embroiderers. I am so proud of them! We are learning to draw snowmen now and will be working with foil next to create something special for Valentines day.

2nd grade just finished up the most beautiful stained glass crosses.  They are currently working on a leaf collage.  We were not able to get to our birch trees so we will be working on those next.

     

4th grade has finally finished their pot holders!  YEA!!!  We will be learning about sculptures next and will create one of our own.

6th grade just finished up their death masks.  The boys worked with clay while the girls worked with copper foil.  They both turned out fabulous.

     

7th grade learned how to sew and completed their textile art project.  It took quite a while and we had some pricked fingers but everyone survived and their artwork looks amazing.  They will be making abstract sculptures next.

     

8th grade just completed the hardest project of the year, their self portrait.  I’m sure they are all tired of drawing now so we will move onto 3D artwork.

    

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Mrs. Connelly – 3rd & 5th Grade Art

Posted on January 27, 2012, by Monica Connelly, under Art.

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“A sculpture is just a painting cut up and stood up somewhere”.  Frank Stella

Many thanks for all the wonderful gifts, cards and well wishes during the holidays.  Thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity.

Art classes have completed a study of Impressionism.  The students produced some awesome watercolor paintings in the style of Henri Matisse and Vincent Van Gogh. Paintings are hanging in the downstairs art gallery.

For the month of January, art classes will be making posters for Catholic School’s Week.  The posters will be judged in the Catholic Schools Week Art Poster Contest.  The winning art will be announced during the Awards Assembly on the Friday of Catholic Schools Week.  The posters will also be displayed in the school cafeteria during the Family Appreciation Spaghetti Dinner on Monday, January 30th.

Upcoming art projects: 3^rd & 5^th grade students will get a chance to work with clay, offering students the opportunity to be messy.

 

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Coach Cervenka – K – Eighth Grade Physical Education

Posted on January 27, 2012, by William Cervenka, under Physical Education.

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All the students have done wonderfully coming back from the Christmas break and showing that they have stayed in shape. The first few weeks we did fitness exercises getting into shape as well as practiced for the fitness gram. Basketball season has started with the DPL.   And as we did with volleyball, we are having our own PE basketball season. It has been going very well, and the students are enjoying being on teams and learning the game of basketball.

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Mary Kuterbach, Music

Posted on January 27, 2012, by Mary Kuterbach, under Music.

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Congratulations to our students for a beautiful Christmas presentation! A job well done! Thank you to our parents for your support of the performing arts. It is so important that our students have the opportunity to share their talents through a live performance. I would also like to thank everyone for your generous Christmas gifts, and I hope everyone had a relaxing winter break.

The St. Elizabeth Ensemble that sang the beautiful carols at the Christmas program, will be cantoring the Catholic Schools Week Mass at 10 a.m. on Sunday, January 29th.  These young ladies have been an enormous help to our students with the new mass parts.

Our return to classes in January finds the music class discussing music that tells a story or paints a picture. We have heard a musical sleigh ride and a story about a dog that has an adventure at a store. We will discover ballads and perhaps create our own sound story. February brings games and folk dances and a look at jazz. The 4th grade has a special field trip coming up to the opera! Be on the lookout for more information.

Parents and students, always remember to check out my wikispace that can be accessed through www.saintspride.com  or follow this link for the St E Music wiki. Here you can find the music calendar and links to some great music sites. The school altar server schedule can be found here also. As always, please come and join us at Mass every Friday. Our student cantors are wonderful song leaders, and our guitar players are superb!   Thank you for your continued support of the fine arts program at St. Elizabeth.

 

 

 

 

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Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish

Posted on November 30, 2011, by Rosa Barrientos, under Spanish.

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Pre K3/K4 – It is always a delight to have this bunch.  K3 is working hard on colors, numbers, days of the week and our new song about chocolate.  They love to sing and move around.  Our next unit will be about the body parts so we will be learning a new song which names all the body parts as we move and dance. Our next unit is family.  We will be learning family names, identifying and drawing our families. I will incorporate Thanksgiving with family. In December we will be learning about Christmas in Mexico, and we will have hot chocolate with Mexican bread.

K4 – Wow! if you have not heard them introduce themselves, please ask them. Your child will tell you his/her name, age, gender and a good bye.   The children sound beautiful and love doing it. They also love to do the ABC’s and of course the vowels.  Our next unit is family.  We will be learning family names, identifying and drawing our families. I will incorporate Thanksgiving with family. In December we will be learning about Christmas in Mexico, and we will have hot chocolate with Mexican bread.

1^st. Grade – We are in the school unit.  We have been learning about gender, articles, school supplies, people in the school and places around in the school. This is a long unit so we will be in this unit all the way to December.

2^nd. Grade – They have been working hard on the verb ESTAR (to be – used as temporary condition or location). The verb ESTAR was used with all the personal pronouns.  We have also learned feelings – they had a lot of fun with acting and a guessing game.   After having so much fun with this; I then combined the verb ESTAR with the feelings.  They love it and so do I! We are now learning about professions and this will be combined with the verb SER (to be) used as a permanent characteristic.  In December we will be learning new vocabulary as we celebrate Christmas in Mexico with hot chocolate and Mexican bread.

3^rd. Grade – We have been learning about GENDER and sentence structure.  Article, noun, adjective and how the adjectives have to agree with the noun in number and in gender. We are learning the names of farm animals and developing simple sentences using adjectives. For December we will talk and watch a movie on Celebrating Christmas in Hispanic Countries.

4^th. Grade – Asking and answering questions using animal’s names, shapes and adjectives; answering affirmatively as well as negative.  We will move on to lesson 3, which has to do with mastering the days of the week, talking about going places using the verb IR (to go) in the present, and what you do in different days of the week by reading a calendar.

5^th. Grade – We just finished lesson 6 and learned to read dates, learned to conjugate the verb GUSTAR (to like), weather nouns and weather adjectives.  It is nice when we can put it all together to have a little conversation.  We also reviewed AR verbs conjugations. We will be moving on to talking about feelings, expressing them and asking using tu and usted. We will also be studying the verb TENER (to have) and its conjugations.

6^th , 7^th and 8^th grade will also be researching  Christmas in Hispanic Countries.

6^th. Grade – We finished learning about the difference of two articles indefinite and indefinite and when to use each, reading and translating a story as well as each exercise we do.  The next lesson has to do with AR verbs, and it will be a review since we know how to do it.  We will be learning new vocabulary as we learn more AR verbs.

7^th Grade – We are working on lesson 10, IR verbs in the present (regular as well as irregulars). We will be working on this unit since it has been a bit challenging to most of the students.  We will be writing, reading, and translating with IR verbs.

8^th. Grade – Numbers, numbers and more numbers!  Learning the hundreds, thousands and millions.  Constructing problems, reading them and writing them.  We are now working with the verb IR (to go), learning new vocabulary and using the verb to go in the present.  We are reading and translating as well as doing comprehension questions about the story.  We will be studying one or two verbs at a time and using them in different ways to learn the meanings, conjugations and when and how to use them.

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Mrs. Stepniewski – Pre K through Eighth Grade Computer

Posted on November 30, 2011, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.

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Pre-KA and Pre-KB students are working on  mouse usage by popping virtual bubble-wrap.  Smart Technologies’  Airliner slate proves to be very handy in helping students manipulate the mouse on the SmartBoard.    Students are continuing to practice letter and number order using various websites.  They are also coloring seasonal graphics online.

Kindergarten students continue to practice letter and number recognition while visiting many educational websites.

First Grade students are learning Home Row keys on the QWERTY keyboard.  They have finished all the letters of the left and  right-hand keyboard letters.

Second Grade students have completed formatting their “Hail Mary” Word document and continue typing practice.

Third Grade students are continuing their TypingMaster keyboard lessons and have completed the “St. Isidore Prayer” in Word.   They are working in PowerPoint learning how to add slides,  set up their layouts, manipulate text and graphics, and learn more about the topic: The Holy Rosary. They are also continuing math practice using the program Mathscore.  The website for this program is http://elizabeth.tx.mathscore.com

Fourth Grade students are using Excel to locate the saints-game countries and create a Batchgeo map showing where our saints lived. They are continuing math  practice and hopefully using the times table they created in Excel.  They will also be practicing their typing skills in TypingMaster and various online typing programs.

Fifth Grade students are continuing work with Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 creating a presentation about the Holy Rosary.  We are taking time for typing and math practice, but will begin programming lessons using LOGO shortly.

Sixth Grade students are continuing their PowerPoint Unit.  They are also getting a glimpse of memory sizes from bit to yottabyte by adding a table to their final slide in this presentation.  We will be studying pioneering men and women of computing later in November since we have taken a detour toward Batchgeo and the Saints Game.  In December we will learn more about “the Woz” and Steve Jobs as well as other pioneering men and women of computing.

Seventh Grade students completed their PowerPoint Unit and have been working with Excel creating and formatting times tables and a geographical map.  They will begin programming in LOGO,  Scratch and other programs.

Eighth Grade students have completed their business cards and letterhead and are working on Excel employee and inventory spreadsheet assignments.  They will be using Publisher to create a business newsletter and create a mail merge with Access and Word.

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Mrs. Connelly – Library

Posted on November 30, 2011, by Monica Connelly, under Library.

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A special thanks to parents who dropped by the library during the recent Parent-Teacher Conference day!  I enjoyed meeting and talking with both new and veteran parents. 

Library activities and studies during December will revolve around Advent and Christmas.  PK and Kinder students will enjoy Christmas and holiday storytelling.  4^th and 5^th grade class activities and library studies will revolve around Christmas traditions and festivities from around the world.  As we celebrate this season of Advent and prepare for the Birth of Jesus, the students will research how Christmas joy takes many forms around the world.  

January will be a busy month in the library.  As the library prepares for Catholic Schools Week and Open House, new books will be processed and will be placed on the shelves for students’ reading pleasure.  Students in Kinder and 1^st grade will be able to take their library books home for the first time.  They will share their reading experience with other students when they give a brief book review on the book they took home for the first time.  2^nd and 3^rd grade students will study fairy tales, legends and tall tales.  4^th & 5^th grades will learn the fundamentals of the Dewey Decimal System. 

January is also Science Fair time.  A friendly reminder:  the library has numerous books, reference materials and project ideas for students to use when setting up their science projects. The library is an excellent source for research, including internet access and is open for their extended use before school, during recess, and after school.  Please encourage your student to make use of the library and its resources.

BOOK FAIR NEWS

To the Book Fair and Beyond: Reading is Out of This World!  Prepare to Blast Off – attend the library’s Annual Fall Book Fair, December 2-9.    Exciting and fun activities such as door prizes, raffles, contests, guessing games, and book scavenger hunts are planned.  The fair is a great opportunity for the library to add to its collection, grant teacher’s book wishes and serves as the major fundraiser for our library.

It’s about children, it’s about books and it’s about having fun.  From award winners and bestsellers to picture books and favorite series, the Book Fair is filled with hundreds of books that will take your student on adventures they will never forget.  Shop the fair for Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers. 

If interested in volunteering your time and energy, we’d love to have you join in on the fun!  It’s a great fun way to earn those volunteer hours and get a 10% discount on your purchases.  Please e-mail Monica Connelly at mconnelly@saintspride.com to volunteer for the Book Fair.  The children would love to have you!

See you at the Book Fair!!

Thanks for your continued support and for letting me share my love of reading with your children. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.

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Coach Cervenka – K – Eighth Grade Physical Education

Posted on November 29, 2011, by William Cervenka, under Physical Education.

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 The students did an awesome job on their volleyball tests, and I was proud of  how well they did as a whole for their first PE sports test. During the down time between volleyball and basketball, the students have done fitness days to get them prepared for the fitness gram that will be administered at the end of January. The sport that we are working on and will continue to work on is basketball which is the next in season sport. As we had a volleyball season in PE, we will have our basketball season in PE as well which will be followed by a test over the basic rules. Once again there will be plenty of notice for the test and the review will be posted on my wiki-space page.

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Mrs. Kuterbach, M.Ed, K- Eighth Grade Music/Instructional Specialist

Posted on November 30, 2011, by Mary Kuterbach, under Music.

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DECEMBER 15, 2011 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 PK, kinder, 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade students need to be in their homerooms by 6:30 PM on the night of the program. Eighth grade handbell choir, guitar students, and the Christmas Choir should report to the Chapel. Students are expected to 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.

In preparation for their field trip to the House of Blues, the sixth grade has been exploring blues music. Our field trip went well and we learned how blues music has been influenced by American history. They will continue exploring the blues and begin writing our own blues song.

Seventh grade is continuing their studies of music theory focusing on the construction of a major scale. This will be followed by chords and then toward a development of a melody.

Our listening studies this year have included college football music, Marian music, and music for Veterans Day. We will be listening to selections from the Nutcracker in December.

During the month of January our music classes will concentrate on the musical element of expression in music by exploring program music, music that tells a story or paints a musical picture.

Thank you for your support of the fine arts programs at St. Elizabeth Catholic School.

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Mrs. Green – PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th Grade Art

Posted on November 30, 2011, by Michelle Green, under Art.

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“The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.”

Lesson 3 in 10 Lessons the Arts Teach by the NAEA

We will be focusing on the art element, texture and the principle of design,variety with our next projects.  Our artist of the month is Leonardo da Vinci.  Hopefully your children have talked to you about him.  He is one of my all time favorite artists.

PK just finished up their fall leaves.  They each picked their own leaf from outside, drew the contour of the leaf, then colored it in with oil pastels and watercolor paint.  They turned out beautiful.  Traditional hand turkeys will be going home for Thanksgiving and we will be working on something special for Christmas.

     

Kinder has been learning about the primary and secondary colors.  Some even already knew them.  Thank you Mrs. Strunk, Mrs. Guerrero, and Ms. Lane!!  We made a dot painting using the colors and learned how to properly mix colors.  This was lots of FUN! Next we will be working on something special for Christmas.

1st grade is doing so well in art. They finished up there Van Gogh Sunflowers which turned out great and they just completed some of the cutest turkey’s I’ve ever seen. They will learn to weave in our next project as we learn about texture.  Wish us luck!

     

2nd grade has finally finished their self-portraits.  YEA!!! Next, we will be working on a tempera painting of winter trees.  We will focus on the texture of the tree’s trunk.

         

4th grade was not able to get to their weaving project just yet because our other project took much longer than expected.  However, it was well worth the wait because they are breathtaking.  We took a little breather from such intense drawing with a fun project that included writing in cursive.  We call this artwork, Name Aliens.  They all wrote their names in cursive and then created an imaginary alien from the lines of their name.  Here are a few that really turned out well.  See if you can figure out whose they are.  We will making something for Christmas and will finally get to our weaving project.

         

6th grade just finished up there folk art paintings.  The boys painted with mud, really sand and the girls painted with glitter and colored sand.  They had a lot of fun making these and I had a lot of fun teaching them.  Our next project will be interdisciplinary and relate to something they are learning about right now in Social Studies, the Egyptians.  We will be making death masks out of clay for the hens they are mummifying.

          

7th grade just finished up their coil baskets.  They look fantastic!  Next we will create a stained glass themed piece of art using fabric and felt.

8th grade just finished their hand charcoal drawing.  This was very difficult for some of them but they all turned out really good! We are working on watercolor leaves right now and will be drawing self-portraits next.  Thank you for letting me borrow those photos.

           

A very special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Goza, Madison Goza’s (2A) parent’s, who donated supplies to the art room.  I feel very blessed to be able to teach here at St. Elizabeth.  If anyone has any OLD nuts, bolts, screws, or keys lying around I could use them for a new project.

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Mrs. Connelly – Third & Fifth Grade Art

Posted on November 30, 2011, by Monica Connelly, under Art.

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“Great art picks up where nature ends.” – Marc Chagall

All 3^rd and 5^th grade students have concluded their unit on Line, Color, Shape and Form.  Students have completed Fall and Thanksgiving projects.  Art classes used both balance and symmetry in their designs of Day-of-the-Dead skulls, Harvest trees, Thanksgiving grids, Fall leaves and turkeys.  We have done a lot of painting using oil pastels, chalk pastels and watercolors.  Students also learned how colors can depict different emotions.   All projects utilized the elements of art we have previously studied and did an awesome job incorporating them into all our projects.

For December, students will put art basics they’ve learned to replicate work by other artists.  Classes will be learning about artists.  3^rd grade will study techniques and styles of Vincent Van Gogh and Marc Chagall.  5^th grade will focus on Henri Matisse.

For the month of January, classes will be looking at movement in works of art.  Each class will be showing movement in their work in different ways.  Later in the month, classes will be making posters for Catholic School’s Week that is later in the month.  Some of the posters will be entered into the Diocesan poster contest.

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 – 4th – 8th Grade Computer

Posted on October 21, 2011, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.

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Pre-K3 students are visiting websites that reinforce their teachers’ lessons about shapes, numbers, the alphabet and colors.

Pre-K4 students are practicing letter and number order using various websites.

Kindergarten students continue to practice letter and number recognition.

First Grade students are learning Home Row keys on the QWERTY keyboard.  They have finished the letters of the left hand and are beginning the right-hand keyboard letters.

Second Grade students are working on a Word document about the Hail Mary.  They have learned “center” justification and how to add a border and picture to their document.  We will continue work in typing through November.

Third Grade students are continuing their TypingMaster keyboard lessons and have been working on the “St. Isidore Prayer” in Word.  They are also continuing math practice using the program Mathscore.  The website for this program is http://elizabeth.tx.mathscore.com

Fourth Grade students have been working in Microsoft Excel.  They have used the ‘average’ formula and have learned how to re-size columns and rows as well as add highlighting and graphics to cells.  We will be using “batchgeo” to study the saints in November and map their native countries.

Fifth Grade students are working with Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 creating a presentation about the Holy Rosary in honor of the month of Mary. They are using the ribbon to add new slides, format backgrounds, select layouts and manipulate graphics and text.  We will begin programing lessons using LOGO in November.

Sixth Grade students are continuing their Computer History Unit.  They completed a question and answer series on early computing and have begun a PowerPoint about Computer Generations. They are also getting a glimpse of memory sizes from bit to yottabyte by adding a table to their final slide in this presentation.  We will be studying pioneering men and women of computing through November.

Seventh Grade students completed their flowcharts (the programmer’s version of thinking maps) and will create a PowerPoint and Publisher brochure about the Mysteries of the Rosary.

Eighth Grade students have completed their autobiographical “High Profile” document which is posted in the hallway near Mrs. Clem’s office.  They are now working on a ‘Business Project’.  All work is completed in class.

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Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish

Posted on October 21, 2011, by Rosa Barrientos, under Spanish.

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Spanish – Mrs. Barrientos

¿Qué está pasando en Español? What is happening in Spanish?

PreK- 3 and 4: Learning through songs and body movements.  We learn the ABC’s names and sounds of each letter, colors, numbers, and days of the week.  We love to dance the chicken dance and chocolate song.

Kinder:  We also enjoy the songs and much needed body movements, but we also concentrate on the ABC phonics.  We work on mini-books that provide words that start with a specific letter and we repeat and learn the names of the pictures.  We also concentrate on practicing writing the color names, clapping to break them into syllables, and more oral practice.  We can also introduce ourselves with a greeting, our name, our age and a good bye. It is wonderful to hear them!

1^st. grade:    We have been working hard on mastering the colors and our most challenged calendar with the new concept of today, tomorrow, and yesterday.    I have to say that after a little frustration, we loved it and wanted to keep solving the question of “If today is Lunes, what day will it be tomorrow?” We have also covered shapes, which will be part of our everyday review on basics as well as “today, tomorrow and yesterday.”  We are now learning family names. The students are drawing their immediate families and writing their family names. It is nice to see their love for their families. We are concentrating on learning to read small words in Spanish.

2^nd. Grade:  They are learning about gender and the definite articles.  We are mastering personal pronouns and will be reading and translating simple sentences using all kinds of verbs. I will reinforce the verbs, along with the meaning and conjugation, but our focus will remain on the personal pronouns.  We will continue to study verbs and personal pronouns up until December.

3^rd. Grade:  3^rd. grade is working hard on mastering to read the calendar by asking and answering in complete sentences, all in Spanish.  They are also mastering the concept of “today, tomorrow and yesterday.”   We are also learning animal names and forming simple sentences using adjectives and some ar verbs from our conjugation charts in the back on the book.

4^th. Grade:  4^th grade is learning new vocabulary about school supplies and people in the school by asking and answering in complete sentences.  They are also learning the difference between definite and indefinite articles, and reviewing the use of the verb tener (to have) to ask questions using school and classroom vocabulary.  They are also mastering the rules to make nouns plural.

5^th. Grade:  5^th grade has been reviewing vocabulary, articles, nouns, rules to make nouns plural and sentence structure.  We are now in lesson 5, which has to do with weather.  Students are learning about seasons and the different kinds of weather.  They will be using the verb GUSTAR (to like) and the correct conjugations as well as descriptive words to express what types of weather they like and what they do not like.

6^th. Grade:  6th grade had some awesome family projects!  Thank you parents for your support!  In this lesson, we did not only master family names but also sentence structure, conjugating correctly, making the necessary changes for plurals and writing descriptive sentences.  We will be spending some more time on describing and making sure that our nouns go hand in hand with our adjectives in gender, as well as in number.

7^th Grade:  This grade has been learning about the verb “To Be” (SER and ESTAR). We have finished the verb SER and will continue what we have started on the verb ESTAR.  We will than focus on exercises in which we have to differentiate between which of the two to use.   It is a little challenging but not impossible, so please make sure that your children are studying at least 10 minutes per day.

8^th Grade:  We had fun describing what things are around the outside of our homes by writing a paragraph about it using common prepositions.  I am happy with the students’ compositions and their reading in Spanish.  It is always reviewing time in Spanish when we come to something that needs to be reviewed.  We will continue to write and translate as much as we can by using different verbs and learning new vocabulary.

During the month of November, we will be learning about “The Day of the Dead” in Hispanic countries by watching and reading documentaries and doing a variety of activities.

 

 

 

 

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Mrs. Green – PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th Grade Art

Posted on October 21, 2011, by Michelle Green, under Art.

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“The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer. “

Lesson 2 in 10 Lessons the Arts Teach by the NAEA

We are moving right along learning about the elements of art and principles of design.  This month we even learned about our first Artist of the Month, Vincent van Gogh.  The students are doing very well, and I am so proud of them.  I love that they are so interested in art!

PK 4 has been doing so well.  We have covered our second art element shape and made a shape ice cream cone. We learned about colors and made a primary and secondary painting.  We just started learning about form and they made their first sculpture, a clay snake.  We will be making something spooky for Halloween and thankful for Thanksgiving.

    

Kindergarten has been working on shape and is creating a shape ice cream cone too.  We will be moving on to form and color next.  They will also be making something spooky for Halloween and thankful for Thanksgiving.

1st grade has been cranking out the artwork.  I think I have more projects for 1st grade than any other grade.  We finished up our Shape City and moved onto a Favorite Food Collage.  We also learned about colors and created an abstract color painting.  Now they are learning about Vincent van Gogh and are creating their version of his painting, 12 Sunflowers.  They will be using oil pastels and watercolor to complete their painting.

    

     

2nd grade just finished their Kuna Molas.  They really turned out great.  Now they are learning about self-portraits’.  They will be using shape and color to create their own self- portraits. These self-portraits will be a mixed media composition, consisting of pencil, oil pastel, and watercolor.

              

4th grade is learning about the famous American women painter, Georgia O’Keefe.  They will be using the art elements, shape and color, to create an O’Keefe inspired chalk pastel drawing.  Here are a few that have already finished.  We will move into textile art next with a weaving project.

         

6th grade has been making piñatas. We are donating these to a new booth for the Halloween carnival. The students not only learned how to make piñatas, but they also learned about the history of the piñata, which is very interesting.  We will be moving into folk art next and creating our own piece of folk art.  Towards the middle of November, 6th grade will go on a field trip to The House of Blues, which houses and extensive collection of folk art.

7th grade has been learning about form and value.  They just completed their Charcoal Still-life.  Some of these were absolutely beautiful.  They will move onto sculpture next and make a functional reed basket.

    

    

8th grade has been learning about form, value, and color.  They just completed their monochromatic squash painting.  This involved a lot of color mixing and blending.  It was definitely an exercise in trial and error for them.  We will be moving into a Day of the Dead project as well as silk screening.

 

 

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Mrs. Connelly – 3rd & 5th Grade Art

Posted on October 21, 2011, by Monica Connelly, under Art.

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“Sometimes I have resisted painting something that seemed to me so ordinary, hardly worth doing.  But when I do it and it’s done, it’s different from what other people see. It’s ordinary to me, but not to you.”  Georgia O’Keefe

Art classes are moving right along learning the Elements of Art.  We have completed LINE, COLOR and beginning SHAPE and TEXTURE.  Although our main focus was color (primary, secondary, warm/cool/complementary) many other elements were incorporated e.g. students experimented with how color can suggest certain emotions.

October Fun

3^rd Grade – Fall and Halloween projects.  Students will start using paint.

5^th Grade – Fall Harvest Tree.  Students will start using watercolor paint.

November

Classes study perspective, the art of Paul Cezanne and Henri Matisse and will have several projects to complete using these themes.

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Mrs. Kuterbach- Music

Posted on October 21, 2011, by Mary Kuterbach, under Music.

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Mark your calendars! IMPORTANT!!! The annual St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School Christmas Program will be December 15, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. This is a very important part of the music program here at St. Elizabeth. It provides your children with the opportunity to present their hard work in a live performance and is an essential element of the music curriculum. Further information will follow in future newsletters. Information can also be found on my web page that can be accessed through the St. Elizabeth website www.saintspride.com  or by going to http://stemusic.wikispaces.com/

Acoustic Guitar classes started on October 18th. Anyone who is still interested should contact me for information or check the St E Music wiki. All students should check the calendar on the St E Music wiki for dates, times and any changes that may occur.

Amid the scary songs for Halloween, the music classes, kindergarten through the fifth grade, have been working on the Christmas program music. Our eighth grade has already been hard at work on their handbell pieces and will present these also at the Christmas program. Even though the sixth and seventh grade classes are not a part of the program they still have an opportunity to be involved. Any middle school student (6th-8th) who is interested may join a Christmas Choir. This group will provide musical interludes throughout the program. We will practice once a week at 7:30 am, rotating the days each week. Practice will begin on Monday, October 24th at 7:30 am. Please see the music calendar on the St E Music wiki for future dates.

As always, please come and join us at Mass every Friday. Our student cantors are wonderful song leaders and play an important part of our liturgies.

Thank you for your continued support of the fine arts programs at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School.

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Mrs. Connelly – Library

Posted on October 21, 2011, by Monica Connelly, under Library.

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Library activities and events for October are:

• Birthday Book Club – celebrate your child’s birthday by donating a book to the library.  Enjoy a cupcake, a balloon, picture taking and fun.  September and October birthdays celebration and book presentations will be held Monday October 31 in the library 8:00am-8:20am.
• Teen Read Week – October 16-21 – Picture It @ Your Library
• October 17 – Library Read-a-Thon – students in grades 3-8 are invited to the library from 3:30-5:00 for the annual read-a-thon.  Students may bring a pillow, slippers, snacks, and of course, a book.  Those who participate will be awarded a reading certificate and ribbon.
• October 19 – NJHS Book and Bake Sale – buy books and baked goodies in the cafeteria 3:00-4:15.  Reasonable prices – 50 cents and under.
• October is Mystery Month – trick or treat in the library – students’ good behavior is rewarded with a library treat October 24-31.

Library activities and events for November are:

• November 1 – All Saints Day – biographies of saints will be featured
• November 2 – Dia de los Muertos
• November 4 – Parent-Teacher Conferences – the Humanities teachers will meet in the library
• November 11 – Veterans Day
• November 24 – Thanksgiving Day
• November 28 – Birthday Book Club honors November birthdays.
• ALL Month – preparations underway for the Fall Book Fair ( December 2-9).  Activities such as daily door prizes, raffles, contests, guessing games, and book scavenger hunts promise fun for all.  The fair is a great opportunity for the library to add to its collection, to grant teacher’s classroom book wishes and serves as a fundraiser for our school and library.  This is a wonderful opportunity for children, families, and teachers to come together.

If anyone is interested in helping achieve our goals in the library whether weekly or with the upcoming Book Fair in December, and, if you have some free time and love working with children and books, come on in and volunteer. You can contact me via my email address  mconnelly@saintspride.com  The Children would like to have you!!!

 

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Coach Cervenka – K – 8th Grade Physical Education

Posted on October 21, 2011, by William Cervenka, under Physical Education.

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We have been working very hard on our volleyball skills, and all of the students have improved so much since they first touched a volleyball. I am pleased to see the students having a lot of fun while learning the game of volleyball. The students have been on teams chosen by two captains. They have been competing against each other to see which teams get the most tallies, which I am keeping up with on a board in the gym so the students can see the updated standings. We are closing our PE volleyball season with a written test over the game and rules of volleyball.

We are starting up the fitness once again for the fitness gram. There will be a pre-test coming up before Christmas break. The students will work on all the exercises according to the fitness gram test as well as other fitness exercises to get everyone in great shape and health. We are also incorporating many of the exercises that the cross country team works on as well for their meets.

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Mrs. Barrientos – Spanish

Posted on September 19, 2011, by Rosa Barrientos, under Spanish.

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Bienvenidos! Welcome to another year of fun learning at St. Elizabeth Catholic School.

Pre K – 3^rd. grade have been concentrating on greetings and goodbyes as well as practicing our cultural dance which we performed at the Church’s Jamaica on Sat. Sept. 17 at 6:16 p.m.  This was a fun way of introducing a bit of the Hispanic culture with dances, food and fun!  Thanks for coming to support the Guadalupanas in this event.

4^th grade:  We are concentrating on formal introductions and reviewing our past lessons, so that we are  able to make connections with past learned material and that which is new to come.

5^th grade:  We will continue to review until we are able to retrieve the information.  It just takes re-enforcement and practice.  We will be using the same text and workbook as last year.

6^th grade: We did a quick review, and we will be moving a little slow to give the students some time to catch their breath with all the new information and routines.  We have done our first lesson together in our new books.

7^th grade: We are still reviewing but doing beautifully.  We will be looking at specific verbs, one at a time with the correct conjugation and using in combination with other verbs.

8^th grade: is taking a three to four sentence dictation in Spanish and translating it into English every time they come to Spanish.    I have been very satisfied with their work.  We had a really fast review, and it seems like the students have retained the information and with flying colors. We are now ready to pick up where we left off last year and hopefully move faster to our second book.

 

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Mrs. Stepniewski – 4th – 8th Grade Computer

Posted on September 19, 2011, by Maureen Stepniewski, under Computer.

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All Classes have been learning and reviewing procedures for the computer lab.

2nd through 8th grade students have been taking a reading lexile using the Scholastic Program, SRI.

Pre-K3 students began classes in the lab this month and have been listening to alphabet songs.

Pre-K4 students are progressing rapidly in mouse usage and order of the alphabet  by using various educational websites.

Kindergarten students have been reviewing mouse usage while practicing letter, recognition.

First Grade students are learning Home Row keys on the QWERTY keyboard.

Second Grade students have been diligently practicing home row and  the “Drill”  keys:  azaq sxsw dcde  fvfr gbgt hnhy jmju k,ki l.lo ;/;p

Third Grade students have been reviewing home row keys in anticipation of their first TypingMaster keyboard lessons.  They are also beginning math practice using the program Mathscore.  More information about this program will follow.

Fourth Grade students have been reviewing correct fingering on the keyboard while using TypingMaster.  They are beginning lessons in  Microsoft Word 2010 and practicing math facts in Mathscore.

Fifth Grade students are working with  Microsoft Word 2010 and will be exploring graphic manipulation and formatting.  They have completed a technology assessment online.  They have been practicing math skills in Mathscore.

Sixth Grade  students have begun their Computer History Unit.  They are also  working with  Microsoft Word 2010 and will be exploring graphic manipulation and formatting.  They have completed a technology assessment online and  have been practicing math skills in Mathscore.

Seventh Grade students are continuing algorithm and flowchart lessons as well reviewing ASCII and binary code.  They are working in Word 2010  and will shortly begin their unit in Microsoft Access Database using data from a PowerPoint presentation created last year in sixth grade.

Eighth Grade students have nearly completed their autobiographical “High Profile” document which will be posted shortly.  They will begin the “Building a Computer” project which will review word processing, spreadsheet, database, desktop publishing and web design using Office 2010.

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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.