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Posted April 24, 2008
Physical Education
Spring has finally sprung!! The weather seems to be warming up for our outdoor activities. Physical Education classes will be moving outside to enjoy the weather and the space provided. The activities the student's will be involved in are throwing/catching skills, striking/kicking skills and tagging and team games. All activities will be modified for appropriate skill levels. Cardiovascular strength, flexibility, muscular strength and agility will be incorporated into the lessons to continue to improve the student's fitness levels. These four components will help teach the students the importance of a health lifestyle through exercise.
The students have been working hard in class the past two quarter's participating in bowling, badminton, basketball, rope jumping, pickleball, tagging games, team games, juggling, moving to music, tumbling and yoga. I enjoy watching all the progress the students make in mastering the activities. I continually express to the students the importance of effort and participation even though they may not "be good" at the activity.
I wish you and your family health and happiness as the school year winds down and we move into summer. Always remember to add activity into your daily routine to help maintain a healthy lifestyle.
If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me at school.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Sutherland
Music
Wednesday, May 7th is St. Paul's Share Day. It is a 50's/early 60's theme. It is called "Rock N Roll Forever". The students will need to wear some special clothing.
* Students in K - 5th grade wear 50's (sock hop style) clothing.
* 6th and 7th grade wear 60's style clothing.
* 8th grade wear beach style wear, but of course, appropriate clothing.
The program will start around 1:00pm
Thank-you for your cooperation,
Nancy Bezak
Computers
We have had a great couple of months in the Computer Lab. Here is just a sample of projects we have done and those that are ongoing:
Grade K: Still working on our Alphabet Book using KidPix
Grade 1: We are currently writing about ourselves using Kidspiration Getting ready to diagram about Animal Habitats also using Kidspiration During March we wrote and drew about Leprechauns using the website ArtPad
Grade 2: We are currently working with the Weather Channel website to keep track of data on an April Weather Calendar. We will be graphing this data using Excel at the end of April. We researched and took notes about dinosaurs using Zoom Dinosaurs during March We wrote about Leprechauns and drew Easter eggs in March using ArtPad
Grade 3: We are working with MS Word and have written about Flat Stanley, copied and pasted pictures from the website. We are practicing using the Picture Toolbar in MS Word and will be making a chart at the end of April. We used ArtPad to write about Leprechauns in March.
Grade 4-8: We worked with Photo Story and digital photos to create a Photo Story of the students using 5 edited photos. the students incorporated Music into this presentation. We finally showed them to the class. We are currently working on finding photos to write about the different counties in Wisconsin.
Grade 6-7: We did research on the Top Stories of 2007 using Reuters, CNN, Time Magazine and National Geographic. Students chose 3 that they thought were most important and interesting and wrote about them.
Grade 8: Students are currently researching Going Green from a variety of websites. They are posting their ideas for Green Living at home, work and school on our Class Blog...check them out. http://stpaul.edublogs.org/ We have also worked with Print Shop to make Valentines; logged onto the Papal Visit website and practiced our keyboarding skills....just to name a few. Fourth Quarter will be dedicated to Power Point in grades 4-8; as well as keyboarding proficiency. I have seen students grow in many areas this year. At the end of each year I ask students to reflect on their year in the computer lab and assess their skills. I use these evaluations to help me plan for the next year and see what area I need to emphasize more. Based on last year's evaluations, I have put more emphasis this year on working with pictures. All students have made great progress and they have done wonderful work. As always I enjoy working with them… I always learn a lot… I know they do too. Keep checking on our class website for updates on our curriculum. http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/psteiner/
Patty Steiner
Posted March 20, 2008
5th Grade
HAPPY EASTER FROM THE FIFTH GRADE
Excellent work. The students have just finished their Constitution
Day Web Quest. Many tasks were involved. They enjoyed their time
travel adventure. Come check out their work in the hallway.
April is near. This next month brings the final touches to the state unit
A luncheon is scheduled for April 4. The students are looking forward
to sharing a great state meal with you.
Simple machines and compound machines. This Science unit included
the building of a contraption. We studied Rube Goldberg's
contraptions and have invented our own. Next we will study energy.
We will learn just how much energy we have.
Thank you to the parents who joined us for the stations. You made the
Way of the Cross very special. Thank you to those who were able to visit
Avalon Square with us. It was enlightening to see our children
interact with the residents. They really did a great job! We have been
asked to go back and play Bingo. That would be fun!
Easter means family time for you. Take some of that time to enjoy each
other and rejoice in the Resurrection of Our Lord.
Reading finds the students finishing their Literature Circle groups.
They have certainly enjoyed reading and doing the tasks together.
Next quarter the students will be reading a class novel
6th Grade
We are working at keeping our Lenten promises, part of which is collecting money for Guatemala and collecting baby items. We had a simple meal of rice and beans, milk, and an apple last Friday to remind us of the daily meal served to the school children in Guatemala (they would not have milk or an apple). Hopefully we will be more appreciative of the plentiful variety of food choices we have available everyday. The focus in our religion text is that, at times, we all need a message of hope like the Israelites in exile needed from the prophets. We will be prophets of hope by sending cards or letters to someone we know who needs a message of cheer. Also, since this is Holy Week, we will take a closer look in the Gospels to read the Passion of Christ.
In math we are finishing a chapter on ratios, proportions, and percents. We have learned to set up proportions to solve problems of map and model scale and will use this knowledge to find out just how high the flag pole is outside (without climbing it!).
In reading we are continuing in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. We are having some interesting discussions because of some historical references that come up in the reading, such as prohibition, plantations, and segregation. In writing we will talk about idioms and figurative language and try to incorporate this writing device in our own writing to make it even stronger.
7th Grade
Lent is over and the Easter Season is here. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate. Lent gave us all a chance to change and become more faithful. Hopefully we carried our crosses without too much complaining.
The fighting of the Civil War has come to an end, but the eighth grade is realizing that a second civil war; reuniting the South with the North might have been just as deadly. Struggles of white supremacy continue to surface throughout history.
As we end the third quarter and begin our final period sixth grade probes into the ancient empires of Greece and Rome. Here they discover how many notable accomplishments were passed throughout the world.
The dynasties of China and their variety of religions: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism fascinate the seventh graders.
The Middle School students have finished their speeches on a special American landmark. It was intriguing listening to the stories about famous landmarks such as: the Liberty Bell, St. Louis Arch, Brice Canyon, Statue of Liberty, Milton House, Niagara Falls, USS Arizona, or Mount Rushmore. Their poise and expressive voice were remarkable.
Fourth quarter will be spent creating a variety of poems.
Middle School Science
All Middle School scientists have been preparing for Science Fair which is due April 16. All parents and friends are invited to visit our Science Fair on Thursday, April 17 between 6:30 and 7:30 PM in the cafeteria. Here is a sampling of what you'll learn about:
Do "green" cleaners work as well as regular cleaners?
Does road salt melt ice the fastest?
What fertilizer will make plants grow the most?
How does solar energy work?
What effect does rapid temperature change have on water vapor in a soda can?
Is a dog's mouth really cleaner than a human's?
What is the effect of caffeine on teen blood pressure and heart rate?
What soda (carbonation) lasts the longest?
Besides that we studied thermal energy in Grade 6 and looked at our own home heating systems. Mr. Clarence took us on a tour of the building heating systems. Chief Jezak of the Wales Genesee Fire Department let us look through the town's thermal imaging cameras.
Seventh grade has been studying the atmosphere. Ask one of them the composition of the air we breathe in the troposphere.
Eighth grade continues to study animals; earthworms were dissected last week. It's surprising who enjoys this study!
In Religion, we are spending a lot of time getting ready to present the Passion Play to our school and visitors.
In writing we just completed a photography/writing project about snow. In conjunction with Science, each scientist had to create/discover a new species, describe it using the scientific classification system, and provide a picture.
Math
Seventh Grade Math - We have just completed work on proportions and percents. We learned to solve percent problems by using proportions and equations. We solved problems involving discount, markup, tips, and interest. Our next chapter is on geometry concepts.
Eighth Grade Math - We are reviewing geometry concepts of different types of angles (vertical, adjacent, interior, exterior, corresponding), triangles, quadrilaterals, and other polygons. We will learn how to write congruency rules for triangles, transformations on the coordinate plane, and similarity and dilations.
Kindergarten
During the month of March our Kindergarten angels continue to experience growth spurts of learning. Many concepts we have been working on all year long suddenly seem to "click" in the springtime.
For our reading readiness area we will continue to explore "sounding out" our words, writing simple sentences and learning about color, number and rhyme words.
In math we will focus on counting by 2's, 5's and 10's along with early addition families. The lion's lambs and leprechauns we create help to make our days "spring" ahead.
1st Grade
Easter is fast approaching and this is the first year in my memory that St. Patrick's Day and Easter fall in the same week. Our Easter bunnies will have to wear green hats and carry baskets of gold instead of colored eggs.
Each week of Lent we have been saying a decade of the rosary with our fifth grade buddies. I think this is a valuable learning experience for both grades especially during Lent, which is a time set aside for prayer and good works.
We have been learning about the Holy Spirit in religion class. We talked about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit; kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control, love, joy and peace and how these gifts can guide us to make good choices.
We are reading a class book entitled Henry and Mudge Puddle Trouble. It is a short chapter book telling about the adventures of Henry and his dog Mudge on a rainy spring day.
For writing, the students chose a magazine picture and are writing all the nouns, adjectives and verbs that they see in the picture and then they will write a paragraph about the picture. This helps to create ideas about what to write about.
In social studies we are starting a unit on the world of work. We will learn about goods and services and the importance of saving money for something in the future.
2nd Grade
When those long dreary days of February hit each year, we all look for something to spice up the month. Anyone coming to St. Paul School would have been a witness to many interesting developments.
Second grade's menu was complete and filling. Here are a few of the specialties from this past month.
The Language Arts area showed that we are cooking now. Our reading skills are getting better each day. We are like a bowl of alphabet soup using our phonics skills when we meet new vocabulary, put letters together to spell longer list words and learn strategies to help insure lifelong correct spelling, and increase our knowledge of spelling patterns and word families. In Reading we completed our fourth theme and started our fifth theme called Families. Can you remember studying parts of speech in grade school? We have learned about verbs and know they are action words or verbs of being. Just put in an added ingredient of a noun as a subject and "BAM" you have a complete sentence thought. We are still using the Writing Traits of Voice, Word Choice, Presentation, Ideas and Conventions to help us mix up letters, words, story maps, rough drafts and final copies to produce tasty pieces of writing. We especially did a great job on our color thought poems.
If Second Grade ate forty-two chicken nuggets on Monday and thirty-nine chicken smiles on Thursday, how many pieces of chicken did they eat in all? We could tell you the answer since we have been working with two digit addition. It is great to see the eagerness and lip-smacking enthusiasm the students have shown so far. Next, we will be delving into subtraction.
During Religion we discussed Reconciliation and how God knows our sorrow and forgives us. We learned our lessons to have our discussions and be able to refresh Mom and Dad when they questioned us. During Lent, we have been praying our homemade rosaries with our sixth grade buddies before celebrating the weekly Stations of the Cross. Some of us are seriously straining our piggy banks to answer the call to help foreign friends in Guatemala and local communities of families who need baby items.
Science and Social Studies classed centered on completing Weather and People At Work in our textbooks. We had our assessments for these units which made us feel like whirling, swirls of valentine chocolate mixed into creamy, vanilla ice cream.
Yes, February's menu was quite full. We turned a long, cold, sunless month into spicy days. Now we will look forward to March living through the spring transition month of longer and lighter days with (hopefully above freezing days and snow less nights).
3rd Grade
March is nearly halfway over! It's so hard to believe! We have been busy taking our Iowa Basic Tests. It has been fun, but also very tiring for all of us. The students have truly done a wonderful job following directions and giving their best effort. We will be happy when testing is finished so we can get back to our science labs, literature circles, and math games!
April is in sight! As it approaches we will continue to work on our cursive handwriting, try to figure out the mystery of our read-aloud book… . From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and become familiar with our new math concepts… .Time and Temperature, Customary Measurement and Metric Measurement. Do you know how many ounces are in 1 pound??? 16 ounces of course!
Really trying our best! Our unit on division is coming to an end and I am so proud of all the efforts the students have made. They picked up on the concept quicker than I could have hoped for! We have come a long way since beginning of the year and we will continue learn and grow!
Can you believe that Lent will be shortly coming to an end? Hopefully we have used these past weeks to renew ourselves mentally, physically and spiritually for Easter. It is important that we have also used this time to recall the many sacrifices that Jesus has made for us. May we welcome the risen Christ into our lives with open arms and an open heart!
Have you ever met Flat Stanley? This month the 3rd grade class read the book Flat Stanley. Stanley has many adventures in the book… including his father stuffing him in an envelope and mailing him to California to visit his friend. Stanley's dad claims it cost too much to buy him an airplane ticket! The 3rd grade created their own Flat Stanley's and sent them off to have adventures with relatives and friends in numerous different states. We sent Stanleys to AZ, CA, FL, IN, WY, and many other states. We can't wait to get them back with photos and stories of their adventures!
4th Grade
It's hard to know where to start. Our writing skills are growing as quickly as we are growing tall.
This month the 4th graders have written persuasive essays and their arguments were quite convincing. Watch out Moms and Dads. We have also been working on our Cinderella spin off plays from original stories, to scripts, stage directions, props, costumes, and scenery, this incredible journey has taught us so many things. We are getting anxious to perform now and are hoping to get them all done before Easter break. Break a leg, 4th grade.
FORTUNATELY we did not have Iowa Basics to take this year, UNFORTUNATELY the month is going by way to quickly and we have so many more wonderful things to accomplish, including a waterfall book of fortunate and unfortunate things that could happen to an Easter bunny on his travels Easter morning or a leprechaun guarding his pot of gold!
Finally, we will be working on our fine motor skills as illustrators of Kindergarten picture books for our buddies. This project will start after Easter break. We will be interviewing our buddies and then perusing lots of Caldecott winners for ideas and techniques in making our stories real page turners.
In reading we continue working on our strategies, helping characters face their challenges in the stories in our basal. Then, fact or fiction? Facts are being collected for our reports on a famous woman being celebrated in the month of March.
The fourth grade is also presenting Mrs. Berner's preschool story time this month.
Friction, Force, Gravity, Compound machines! Patent writers get ready for the 4th grade because I am sure there are going to be a few inventors whose machines will make our lives a whole lot easier. The next couple months will have us building. We will use many of the simple machines and forms of energy that we have been studying in Science.
Wisconsin is our focus in Social Studies as we get ready to visit Madison and the Wisconsin Historical Museum. We will be learning about Maple syrup making from Mrs. Lopina, as we tap our Maple, just outside our door and begin collecting sap. YUM! YUM!
Measuring… how far we've come and what we have yet to go in Math is the hot topic for now, with Fractions to follow.
We continue to work on our Lenten promises and to understand the sacrifices Jesus made for us. We too make sacrifices for our Guatemala project and layette program. How many children will 4th grade help to feed this year? We'll keep you posted.
Three folds in the cloth,
Yet there is but the one cloth.
Three joints in a finger,
Yet there is but the one finger.
Three leaves in the shamrock,
Yet there is but one shamrock.
Frost, snow, and ice…
Yet the three are only water.
Three persons in God likewise,
But there is the one God.
And how FORTUNATE we are to be able to celebrate Him in our classrooms each and every day! We are blessed by our dedicated families, our hardworking children and our devoted school and parish community.
Posted February 24, 2008
5th Grade
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER? - That is our favorite question these days. Some of the students are able to answer the questions presented on that show. It's a great challenge for the students. Keep watching!
The challenges keep coming in fifth grade. They are working very hard at challenging themselves to be the best they can be. Our Discovery 2 simulation game is well under way. For the last week the colonists have traveled by sea to come to the new world. One colony has all ready lost a ship at sea. They will be faces many more hardships in the weeks to come. Our chapter in the text explores the set up of our government. The Constitution Day web quest helps the students learn facts about the Revolutionary War, Branches of Government, Symbols of the United States and patriotic songs. They have found this site very interesting.
In Science, they are learning about simple and compound machines. A challenge for them will be to build a contraption with a partner just like Rube Goldberg.
In Math the students will test their skills at multiplying and dividing fractions. Yes, again fraction work. Oh Boy!
The next Religion chapter will be the study of the Eucharist. Watch for parent pages.
Literature circles continue to challenge the students to work in a cooperative group, assign themselves tasks and a completion time. It is working well so far.
DARE is in it's third week. Peer pressure, how to say no and role playing is the focus.
As usual the students are always busy learning new skills.
Catholic Schools Week was awesome. Skating at Skate land was great. I even managed to put on some skates. Believe or not I did not fall down.
Thanks you for all your continued support and efforts to may your child's education great.
6th Grade
We are reminded of the Lenten promises we have made every time we see the purple slips of paper that we nailed to the wooden cross. We have thought about ways to increase our prayer, sacrifice, and almsgiving during this Lenten season. The alms that we give will pay for the meal that the school children eat at our sister parish in Guatemala. In our religion text we have learned that some rituals and practices that we use today had their beginnings with the ancient Hebrews, such as the continual light that shone in the Temple is similar in idea to our light in the tabernacle.
The book we are reading as a class is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. It is a Newbery Medal winning story about a black family living in Mississippi in the 1930's struggling to hold onto their land. The author writes about many of the indignities blacks suffered with pride and strength. It is a great story with a lot of food for thought!
The students in the Middle School are working on their final drafts of their Civic Oration speeches. The topic is: A Great American Landmark. The variety of topics is amazing! In writers' workshop we are learning to recognize some poetry devices, such as alliteration and simile, and we will work to incorporate these devices into our writing.
In math we are working on multiplying and dividing fractions. Also in our work we will learn how we can use fraction operations to change customary units of mass, length, and capacity.
7th Grade
Lent - On our journey this season, it is important that we pause, rest and get our bearings. Getting our bearings is one of the purposes of Lent. The forty days of Lent is an opportunity to examine our lives as Catholics and ask ourselves where have we come from and where are we going. We can do this through the practices of almsgiving, prayer and sacrifice.
Writing - What is your favorite landmark in America? The students have done the research and are now compiling speeches to present to a panel of judges in March. Besides the speeches they have been busy composing business letters to send to various companies. Even though writing class is noisy and seems disorganized, work is getting done.
Reading - After finishing a class book The Applewhites we have broken into groups of three, reading and discussing a different book but being asked to complete the same assignments.
Science
8th grade Life scientists were enamored with their study of live planaria! These flatworms were viewed with the naked eye, the stereoscopic microscope, and with magnifying glasses. Oooh and aaahing was heard throughout the lab as well as "Hello, little guy" and various planaria were named (Suarez, Juan, Henrietta, Harold, Fredrick, Armando, Cecelia, Dudesie Jr. and Dudesie, Sr.). Then, when the eighth graders learned they had to cut them in half to watch them regenerate, it was difficult since the emotional bond had already occurred! We also studied sponges. (Ask an 8th grader what you call a sponge that is not able to move as most animals do, they had better tell you they are sessile.)
7th grade Earth scientists studied fossils. We have many actual fossils in Science class to study. To help remember the difference between a mold and a cast, I made Jell-O, brought it in and flipped it out of the Jell-O MOLD and were left with the Jell-O (example of a CAST) to eat. We are currently studying the history of the earth using the geologic time scale. Do you know which geologic time period you live in? (Ask a 7th grader, they had better tell you Cenozoic.)
6th grade Physical scientists reviewed simple machines (always covered really well in 5th grade!). We talked about "work" being done. If you are standing in the gym holding 175 lbs of weight over your head, do you think you are doing work? (Ask a 6th grader, they had better tell you that you are NOT!) Oh, and yesterday, we watched ice cubes melt! (Thermal energy)
Math
In 7th grade math we are learning about ratios, rates, and unit rates. We will use these concepts to solve proportions with scale drawings- such as floor plans and maps. We will also be introduced to the concept of slope of a line.
In 8th grade math we have reviewed concepts of ratio and proportion. We will solve percent problems both by writing proportions and using the percent equation. We will review changing fractions to decimals to percents and use this knowledge to help solve problems involving, discount, mark up, commission, and interest.
Social Studies
The year is 1860 and Civil War is inevitable. Can the Union be saved? At what cost will we be able to save her? The eighth graders are viewing the issues through two very different viewpoints that of the people of the South and that of the people of the North.
Sixth Grade is shopping in the tourist areas of South America, working in the coffee and banana plantations, and discovering the wonders of the rain forests.
Seventh Grade has been studying the areas of Southeast Asia; the most populated country of India and also the poorest. Can the United States help their economy or does their culture prohibit this? Does religion play a role in their economic success?
Posted February 14, 2008
Kindergarten
Welcome to February, a month filled with hearts and valentines. During this busy month we are ready for counting with larger numbers and learning our "number" words.
In the area of reading readiness, we have learned our letters and sounds and now use our power to "sound out" our words!
We also enjoyed hearing all about "Groundhog Day" and look forward to our Valentines Day party!
1st Grade
It's official; we have passed the half way mark for this school year! First grade celebrated by having a 100th Day of school party this past Friday. We made 100 Day trail mix, counted our 100 collections, made a 100 Day booklet of 100 things and had an ice cream treat. We all had a lot of fun celebrating 100 days of learning.
We finished up our study of rocks for science by creating crystals from borax, Epsom salts and regular table salt. All were amazed at the crystals they grew. Thanks to the Sundheims for coming in and sharing their time and talent.
The first grade entertained the Seniors at the January luncheon by singing a song, making placemats and snowman table decorations. Several moms also provided a delicious dessert. Thanks again!
We finished a unit in math on fractions. We studied halves, fourths and thirds. We will now work on 2 digit numbers and adding tens.
Thanks to all families who contributed goodies to our gift baskets for our maintenance workers to celebrate community during Catholic Schools Week. Mr. Al, Mr. Clarence and Mr. Gary were very pleased with our thoughtfulness.
This past Friday, first grade worked with their fifth grade buddies and made heart shaped butterflies to decorate our hallway. They look very festive "flying" on the walls.
All students made a Lenten commitment and nailed it to the cross that is carried in at our all-school Masses. We will observe Lent by praying the Stations each week, praying a decade of the rosary with our Buddies and collecting money for Guatemala.
Thanks for all your support!
2nd Grade
God's Winter Wonderland - God created the rain and snow, the warm temperatures, the extreme cold. Then God created the second semester of second grade's school year.
We are always striving to do the best work of this year and starting to get ready for third grade. The expectations of quality work and behavior have increased based on the level of maturity I should be seeing at this time of year.
Our focus in Religion is turning to the preparation of Reconciliation. We have used our textbook and will be starting our special penance book also. During last Saturday's gathering, the students and I practiced the correct procedure to receive communion, sang songs and shared treats with their classmates and the religious education students from other schools. We put our faith into action by helping St. Paul provide fresh fruit for the supper at St. Bens.Thanks to all those who helped support the cause. We now have Lenten projects especially bringing money to help our Guatemala friends.
Language Arts skills and readings developed around a theme called Amazing Animals. We experienced fiction and non-fiction stories about God's creatures. We're continuing to grow in our spelling skills and have also been learning about pronouns and possessive pronouns and nouns.
During math classes we focused on geometry. We've added math vocabulary to our knowledge like plane shapes, angles, turn-slide-flip, congruency and symmetry. These have been discussed, practiced, reviewed and even worked on during an art lesson I have always called "Geometry Is Fun".
Social Studies lessons have been on people as producers and consumers, prices, incomes, goods and services, needs and wants.
Science news centered around a chapter on natural resources, weathering, pollution, weathering, and recycling. Hope you notice our display you could label as "One Man's Trash Is Another One's Treasure". Check it out! We also discussed earth's changing times and landforms by viewing videos about earthquakes and dinosaurs.
Yes, God created the elements but left the nicest gift of all to be last- people. All of us (students and faculty alike) appreciated Catholic Schools' Week activities and fun developed by our wonderful Home and School, Student Council, and Ms. Cooney. It was a super ending to our month!
3rd Grade
F Friends and Friendships continue to be the main focus in our classroom… . Treating people as we would like to be treated, asking people that we would not normally ask to be our partner for activities, and sticking up for those who can not stick up for themselves are just a few of the things we can do.
E Enjoying every moment of third grade… . We are learning so many great things in all subject areas. In math we have just begun our unit on division. Do you know what 49 divided by 7 is?? Our religion focus this week is… Jesus teaches how to love and care by giving us the Great Commandment. Do you know what the Great Commandment is? It is to love God above all things and also to love our neighbors as ourselves… how appropriate! Science class has taught us about how force makes an object move and how friction affects a moving object.
B Beginning of the Lenten season… . On Tuesday, Feb. 5th we celebrated Fat Tuesday. That was so much fun for all of us. I was able to participate in the Fat Tuesday Basketball Game against the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades and the students were able to cheer for the teachers, parents, and their fellow schoolmates!
R Returning small sacrifices… . During the Lenten season we are to renew ourselves, mentally, physically and spiritually for Easter. The third grade class made their Lenten promises and nailed them to the cross as a symbol of their faith and devotion to Jesus Christ.
U Unforgettable skits… .Our character trait this month is HONESTY. The 3rd graders did an amazing job creating skits about honesty and also performing them in front of the entire school. We have some talented actors and actresses in the 3rd grade!
A Always showing love for the senior members of St. Paul's Community. We will be hosting the senior lunch this month on Feb 14th. The 3rd grade has created beautiful weaved placemats that the seniors will surely enjoy!
R Reflection with the rosary. During Lent we will be making our own rosaries. We will use them for daily prayer and meditation. We will also be joining our 7th grade buddies to pray the rosary together.
Y You are truly amazing… .Thank you to all the 3rd graders who have been kind and Christian to their neighbors. Please continue to Shine Your Light!
4th Grade
FRIENDSHIP IN FEBRUARY - This month the 4th grade will be focusing on the Gift of the Holy Spirit, and God's Greatest Commandment, "Love One Another As I have Loved YOU!". The Holy Spirit helps us to make hard decisions about many things, especially about what we do in our friendships. And so during this month of hearts and flowers we have been talking about friendship. What is important in choosing a friend, how to be a friend, how do we treat friends and how do we problem solve when friendships are troubled. This week during prayer time we are sharing the prayers of gratitude we wrote about the friends in our lives and so I would like to share a composite of them with you, with the hope that you will think about your friendships and reach out to those who we often times take for granted.
Dear God,
Thank-you for friends who are truthful, who I can tell secrets to, who will stand up for me and who will stay by me. Thank-you for friends that help me and listen to me, who are kind to me and who I have fun with.
Thank-you for friends who forgive me when I am grumpy, and who accept me for who I am.
Thank-you for the friend who teaches me how to swim, and who roasts marshmallows with me, and who comes to my parties.
Thank-you for friends that LOVE GOD and who are faith filled.
But most of all God, Thank-YOU for being all these things and much, much more. For YOU, GOD are my best friend!
These are your children's words not mine. These are the friends your children have found at St. Paul school. Aren't you proud, I know I am!
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY FROM THE 4TH GRADE!
Posted November 20, 2007
5th Grade
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER? What a great question! This first quarter has challenged the students to become a better person through their learning. The conferences went well. I enjoyed sharing the good news about your child. They will try to stick to the goal they chose.
This second quarter will bring new and exciting challenges. The students have just begun Reading cooperative learning groups. The books to be read are Zia, Island of the Blue Dolphin, A dog's Life, and Tuck Everlasting. Each group will have a packet to complete.
In Science, the students just completed an animal web quest. They chose an animal to research, and then went to an ani-mall to shop for items so the animal could survive. Their presentations were excellent and their shopping bags were full.
Religion chapters continue to focus on the sacraments. Please watch for assigned parent pages.
Writer's workshop will emphasize a How-to Article and a descriptive paragraph. We met our deadline for printing of If I Lived in the Sea. It should be here in about three weeks. We are all very excited.
Students have gone from explorers to colonial life in Social Studies. I hope you had a chance to see the ships and portraits of the explorers. The students worked very hard on that project.
Math is challenging with two digit divisors in division. The challenge next will be the study of fractions. Oh! No! It's really not that bad.
As you can see, the students continue to challenge themselves through all of the fantastic, fun-filled activities going on in the fifth grade.
6th Grade
In religion we are continuing in our study of the Old Testament. We have learned how God saved the Hebrew people from slavery. We correlate this to the New Testament in which Jesus saves us from our own slavery of selfishness through his suffering and death. We are learning what it means to be a covenantal people.
In Writers' Workshop we will be working on different genres. We will be writing (and reading) poetry, working on a report of an invention, writing a personal narrative, and deciding certain elements we want to include in a realistic fiction.
In reading we are finishing our first book in Literature Circles. The class is doing great work in various roles- discussion director, illustrator, connector, word wizard, and summarizer. The next book we will read will be Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. It is a story of survival by a boy in the Canadian wilderness.
In math we are working on decimal operations. We have successfully reviewed addition and subtraction and are now working on multiplication and division.
7th Grade
We have seen first hand what our role is as baptized Catholics. As the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas approach we have the ever present opportunity to give of ourselves to those in need. We have been donating to the food drive, African mission, and the annual Giving Tree. I am always blown away by the generosity of our students.
We have been diligently reading the classics of Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Black Beauty, 2000 Leagues Under the Sea, Tom Sawyer and Sherlock Holmes in our literature circles.
Writing for different purposes is definitely the focus for Writer's Workshop. Our second quarter finds us deep in thought for personal letters, sending Christmas cards to the military, a realistic fiction Christmas Story and a personal narrative.
Eighth graders have finished the Constitution and are currently learning about our beginning leaders and their wives. They are busy looking up and researching the lives of the First Ladies.
The Sixth grade finished a broad look at the United States economy, culture, and geography. They will be moving into Canada and then into Central and South America.
The Seventh grade has been in the far reaches of Africa studying their diverse culture, religion and geographic features.
May this season of giving enlighten you to reach out to those in need.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Barb Romanello
8th Grade
October is a month in the church dedicated to Mary. We prayed the rosary several times during the month. We prayed different mysteries depending upon the day, we dedicated each rosary to a particular intention. We also talked about the names of Mary such as Mystic Rose, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Queen of Apostles, Morning Star, Refuge of Sinners.
We have just begun a new Literature book, Code Orange, which is about a boy who finds smallpox scabs while doing a report for his high school science class. As he does the research, he begins to worry that he has developed the disease and exposed his beloved New York City to it.
We have two service projects in the works. The first is collecting and sorting food for the food drive. It's great for them to see the generosity of our parish/school family. The second involves switching last year's Breaking Bread song books for the new ones - something Mrs. Kolonko really appreciates us doing! Physically working on something to help others is a good lesson for our students - it serves the command at the end of each liturgy: go in peace to love and serve the world.
7th Grade Math
We will use the fraction concepts learned in the previous chapter to help us with the chapter we are working in now- fraction operations. We will add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions and mixed numbers. We will also learn to convert customary units.
8th Grade Math
We are working on a chapter on factors, fractions, and exponents. We will study factoring, including monomials, multiply and divide expressions with exponents, and simplify expressions with negative exponents. We will also work on scientific notation.
Science
Physical Science, grade 6, has been studying physical and chemical changes as well as physical and chemical properties. We spent a day testing substances for acids and bases. We have just moved to motion and will be calculating average speed from our "walking" lab from Friday.
Earth Science, grade 7, has been studying wind, glaciers, and mass movements. We are currently looking at the erosion of water; it has a lot of power.
Life Science, grade 8, has been studying heredity and genetics. We've looked at the physical traits (like tongue roll, attached/free ear lobes) that we have in common with our family members.
Posted November 18, 2007
Kindergarten
For the month of November we present a harvest of learning that we will share with you. We hope to learn all about our special letters of the week, (IJK), color words, counting and recognizing numbers zero to thirty! WOW!
Did you hear about the Kindergarten "hero parade"? We all dressed up like our real hero's. We dressed as firefighters, nurses, soldiers and doctors. We were a grand sight to behold. Our country would have been proud.
We will enjoy our autumn harvest art and craft projects that help us remember and celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
Most of all, we say a special prayer for all those who help to keep our country safe and we thank God for all our families and blessings.
Mrs. Comeau
1st Grade
It was great talking to everyone at conferences on Thursday, November 8th. It's fun to get to know the whole family.
We are beginning a unit on health in science. We talked about how to call 911 in an emergency. We practiced calling on some old phones. I stressed the importance of not calling 911 when there is no real emergency.
In religion class we have been learning about Baptism and how it is a sacrament of welcome into God's family. We will begin a chapter on God's presence everywhere and how God made us to be good and holy.
We are continued to study different strategies to learn how to add numbers up to 12. We learned we can count up, draw pictures and use a number line. We will begin to memorize math facts using flash cards.
The children received their second reading book. They are all excited about reading harder stories, especially the ones that give information on really cool animals.
Your response to the Angel Gift and the food drive has been great. Keep up the good work. Thanks also the mom who have come in each week to read with the children. The students really enjoy it.
Have a relaxing Thanksgiving and enjoy all the good food and conversation with friends and family.
Thanks for your continuing interest in your child's education.
Mrs. Sherfinski
2nd Grade
The second graders and I are thankful for this first quarter we have spent together. We have witnessed positive behavioral changes and increased educational growth. Here are this month's updates and reasons to be grateful.
Language Arts We say thanks for having completed the second theme in our textbook which shared the genre of realistic fiction. We also liked the class book we read together called Adventures of the Buried Treasure. It was a great mystery to solve! We are happy to be able to be part of the Scholastic Reader program. We can complete the reading and take a computerized test as a unique form of a book report. We further increased our writing skills by challenging our word choice to fit the syllabic rules for a Halloween Haiku poem. Displayed during conferences, we diligently authored and illustrated our class books called The Thirteen Nights of Halloween.
Math We are grateful to have passed our addition and subtraction tests. Now we have delved into the world of graphs, surveys, and charts. Who knew there could be so many to learn about? We have had a chance to tally, chart, make bar graphs, line graphs and pictographs to plot and retrieve information. We even had Halloween fun with pumpkin seed tallies and estimations!
Religion We will give thanks to God for all of His creation! Our class discussed prayers of thanks and praise this past month. Volunteers also wrote their own praise prayers for our first turn at leading the morning prayer and pledge. We are looking forward to our first mass this week. Its theme is having an attitude of gratitude. Hope you can join us on Friday. During the upcoming week we will be setting class goals for our November school projects. Earning money to purchase food for the needy and buy presents for our two Giving Tree Angels will be two ways we can show God how much we appreciate all we have by sharing our blessings with others-truly showing faith in action.
Science How many animal adaptations can you list in fifteen seconds? Second graders studied and had a hands-on presentation from Retzer Nature Center. Some of those creations of God that we are thankful to see or read about have backbones while others do not. Could you name some of each?
Social Studies "For the beauty of the earth… " are words sung in churches throughout our great land. We can appreciate all the magnificent landforms and regions the United States has. These are subjects we have learned this month. We even discussed Wisconsin's great landforms of kettles and moraines brought to us by the mighty glaciers.
As you can tell, our knowledge and daily experiences have helped us grow in body, mind and spirit. We are thankful for all we are fortunate to live through. Let us be grateful for all the members of our second grade students and families. Together may we work to continually develop our attitudes of gratitude!
Miss Mickel
3rd Grade
October flew in and out in the blink of an eye! 3rd grade participated in many exciting events this past month. We invited the mothers to a mother/daughter luncheon. Together we shared food, laughs and our thoughts on friendship. We read the story The Rainbow Fish and made fish of our own. The scales on our fish had words that would describe a good friend… .honest, caring, nice, helpful, considerate, and many others. We continue to work on being kind to others and acting as Jesus would act… .both in the classroom and outside on the playground because we are called to be Christ's Light!
At the end of October we participated in Pumpkin Day activities. Students were involved in three center activities… .pumpkin carving, pumpkin graphing (using the weights of our pumpkins), and muffin baking. It was a great opportunity for the students to be actively involved in their learning. We wouldn't have been able to pull it off without the help of all our moms!
As the holiday season approaches, we reflect on all the wonderful gifts God has blessed us with. We continue to treat others as we would like to be treated, grow in our Christian faith, and follow in the LIGHT OF CHRIST!
4th Grade
The sun shines, the air is warm then cold, the rain comes down in buckets, snow threatens, leaves shake and blanket the ground wondering, "what's next?!" And I bet so are you. What's up next in fourth grade?
Native Americans nurtured our land and taught us how to live. Now we will learn how to learn about them! Those people who came before us and lived in the East, West, South or Midwestern region of the United States.
Opening our hearts and hands and see the face of God on those in need. Christmas Angels and the Thanksgiving food drive help us to help others.
Very powerful words make very powerful writing.We are collectors of words to help our readers visualize.
Every child will have an opportunity to teach us how to make a Christmas craft for our public speaking part of language.
Making connections, visualizing, summarizing, asking questions, working cooperatively in Literature circles.
Backbones or no backbones, how are animals classified? Ecosystems and habitats and adaptations teach us how to help our animal friends.
Each quarter new goals are set to help us to be better students and better friends.
Remembering to live like Jesus, to think WWJD, and to be the Best 4th Graders We Can Be!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND GOD BLESS!
Posted October 16, 2007
5th Grade
The fabulous, fantastic, fun fifth grade is off to a great start. The students have adjusted to the challenges due to come their way this year.
The students have just finished a class novel by Andrew Clements called Lunch Money. It was about a young boy named Greg who found many ways to make money the involved some school activities. The next novel by the same well liked author is called School Story. This is about a young girl author who writes a book that gets published. The fifth graders will be publishing a book through a company called National Learning Inc. Look for more information to follow.
What are the traits of life is the question in Science. Ask your child about the mealworm lab. The study of cells is the next chapter.
Explorer web quest is well underway. Notes have been taken and now the artistry begins. Check the walls of the hall soon for explorers and their ships.
The saints will come alive at the All Saints Day mass. Please join us on that day.
Our visit to Holy Hill is always a wonderful experience. At each station of the cross, the students reflected on their lives through the traditional reading at each station. Attending the Mass in such a large church is also a thrilling experience. Thank you to all the parents that joined us.
The six traits of writing is starting to show in some of their journal writings. The students have some very good ideas about what they like to write. Check out their journals.
The fabulous , fantastic, fun fifth graders are working very hard and looking forward to many more challenging adventures.
6th Grade
The 6th graders have adjusted well to the Middle School routine! Lockers, class switches, and more teachers have increased their organizational skills!
The Old Testament is the concentration of 6th grade study in religion. We have read about some ancestors of our faith, such as Abraham and Joseph. We study their story and heritage because they are so closely linked to our own. Learning about these first believers is a good way to understand the foundations of our own faith.
We have just finished reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It is a Newbery Award winning book about a Jewish family's escape to freedom with the help of the Danish Resistance during WWII. It is a story of great courage and friendship.
We are really getting into the swing of Writers' Workshop. We have spent a lot of time thinking of literate moments in our lives and often make connections to other people's experiences that help to give us story ideas. This quarter we are mainly concentrating on getting procedures down to the workshop approach to writing. One writing skill we are concentrating on is thinking of the right verb when we use dialogue in our writing.
In math we have reviewed number operations and worked on algebraic thinking with variable expressions. We have finished working on measurement and statistic concepts of customary and metric units and perimeter, area, and graphs. Our next work will be with decimals.
7th & 8th Math
In 7th grade math we have finished a concentrated unit on decimals. We reviewed decimal operations, conversions in the metric system and were introduced to scientific notation. We are now working on a chapter on graphing and statistics.
In 8th grade math we have worked on a chapter that involved finding surface area and volume of 3 dimensional objects and a chapter that involved algebraic concepts of variable expressions, powers, and equations. We are now working on a review of integer operations and will learn the importance of several math properties in evaluating expressions and equations.
7th Grade
Welcome to Seventh Grade Homeroom and Middle School Social Studies
I am always happy to begin school and being with the students gives me such a rush of joy.
Seventh grade has begun their year reacquainting themselves with Jesus and understanding the sacraments. We have made promises that we renew frequently and we have responsibilities to carry these out as baptized Christians.
We continue the writers' workshop that Ms. Pohlen so successfully implements and we are currently interviewing men and women of the armed forces for Veteran's Day.
Our reading has taken us to the world of Max and Kevin in the book Freak the Mighty. Each of the main characters possesses different personalities and characteristics that set them apart from the "normal" world of seventh and eighth graders. They find a unique friendship that captured our hearts
Seventh graders will be traveling to the Middle East, Africa and the land down under. As for the sixth graders they have begun the year with the concepts of social studies and themes of geography so they may better understand how we study each country.
"E Pluribus Unum"- out of many one; the roots of our country's government is the focus for eighth grade.
We are called to be the light of Christ as we once again journey together this year.
Barb Romanello
8th Grade
The 8th grade is trying to remember not to be judgmental and that we are ALL created in the image and likeness of God. This applies to the "goth" kid we might see at the mall or the "different" tastes we have in music or clothes or even folders! All those "different" people are loved by someone and are created in the image and likeness of God. We try to be the light of Christ by remembering this and being good role models. At the end of the month, this class will be going to Timber-lee Christian Center for a day of teambuilding and high ropes. Last week we cleaned Hwy D from Hwy E to Hwy G/C for a service project.
In Religion this year we are studying the history of the Catholic Church. We've just finished talking about holy, catholic, and apostolic. We are currently reading She Said Yes. It is the story of Cassie Bernall who was killed at Columbine H.S. when asked if she believed in God. She was not afraid to show her faith, just like the early Christians who suffered persecution. But Cassie was not always a Christian and her attitudes and actions before accepting Christ are eye opening for the 8th graders.
Science
Physical scientists in grade 6 have been studying the periodic table, atoms, compounds and homogeneous mixtures (Cheerios) and heterogeneous mixtures (Chex Mix). We have moved on to the states of matter.
Earth scientists in grade 7 have finished Rocks and Minerals. We are moving on to Weathering and Erosion.
Life scientists in 8th grade have been studying cells: they can tell you all the cell parts (remember cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi bodies?). We are moving through cell processes (osmosis) and on to reproduction (mitosis).
Posted October 11, 2007
Kindergarten
Welcome to the beginning of a new year of Kindergarten. We have 19 angels ready to look, listen and learn! During the first few days of school, it was important to learn the safety rules for the classroom, school and playground.
Now we are ready to learn about shapes, colors and recognizing our letters and numbers. But, most of all, we are ready to learn about ourselves, our friends and our God.
We look forward to our field trips during the month of October. We are going to the Wales Fire Department and Cozy Nook Pumpkin Farm. We can hardly wait!
Hang onto your hats. We're off to a great year in Kindergarten.
Love and Hugs,
Mrs. Comeau
1st Grade
Mrs. Lupina, the Butterfly Lady, came to school on Wednesday to tell us all about the life cycle of monarch butterflies because we are studying insects in science. She brought butterflies, tiny eggs, caterpillars and a chrysalis for us to see and touch. She explained how a caterpillar forms the chrysalis and how the butterfly backs out of the chrysalis when it hatches.
We spent all week getting ready for Spirit Day by making up a cheer to perform at our assembly.
Next week will be busy because we have the Fire Department coming to school on Tuesday so they can show us their trucks and equipment. They will talk about all the safety rules we need to know to be safe. Then on Thursday, Retzer Nature Center will be bringing live animals for us to watch and to touch. The naturalist will be talking about the ways animals adapt to their surroundings.
Next week we should have our first all-school Mass in the new church. I hope you can join us for the Liturgy that is prepared by the fourth grade.
For science we were learning about the Scientific Method. Scientists use this to do experiments. We wondered if very old bean and pumpkin seeds would still sprout. We wrapped the seeds in a damp paper towel and put them in a plastic bag. We are waiting to see if they will start to grow. We predicted that they would grow. This is our hypothesis. Hopefully we will have the results we want.
Thanks for all you do for our school.
Mrs. Sherfinski
2nd Grade
September Recipes
St. Paul's second grade purple room opened for business with 13 fresh faces and one seasoned educator September 4. We've had a month to get to know each other, learn my expectations, personal responsibilities, and classroom procedures. The children have had challenging days sprinkled with fun times. Here are a few examples of the subject recipes we've sampled.
Language Arts - We have been improving our penmanship, learning new spelling words, and using the first of the Six Traits of Writing (Ideas).Following the reading of an Amelia Bedelia book to the children, the students worked in pairs to create our own booklet about more of Amelia's silly adventures. We wrote themes/poems about Autumn and illustrated them. Hope you've seen them hanging in the hall! Currently, we are all finishing the creation of a silly story which is a follow-up to our first reading theme. We sampled sentences and sentence parts, naming words (nouns) and action words (verbs).
Reading - Our first theme was "Silly Stories" which tickled our funny bones while teaching about fantasy and realistic fiction in a humorous vein. We read library books daily, visited Mrs. Berner in the library once a week, and gave weekly book sharing in class. We have begun our Scholastic Reader program and will read a book from its list and then take a computer quiz on it at the end of the month. Please keep reading at home with your child daily! We are still polishing our phonics skills which some have forgotten over the summer. It will help to have your student oral read to you or with you.
Math - Ah, the days of studying basic facts. Do you remember them? We reviewed and practiced addition using learning strategies, played review games, learned about number comparisons(ask your child who Elmo or Henry are), and even began to add three numbers to find the total sum. Now, we will begin to nibble subtraction.
Social Studies - This subject served up lessons on map skills and a unit called People and Places. We sampled knowledge about neighborhoods, communities, urban, suburban, and rural areas. Our first major test was handed to all after Unit 1. It was a delicious surprise to learn that we can pass multi-paged tests if we listen and study hard.
Science - The students and I reviewed Scientific Methods by using elements such as observation and classification. Our first topic was plants. With the seasonal changes coming, it has been a perfect time to discuss and gather hands-on projects which covered parts of plants, seeds and seed scattering, reasons for colored leaves and falling leaves. Additionally, Mrs. Marion Lopina was a guest speaker who covered life cycles of moths and butterflies with live and mounted specimens. We have two potential monarch butterflies cooking up a transformation in our classroom.
Religion - Blest Are We is the name of our textbook. Its title names the world God created and tells us how lucky we are to have the Son's love for us. We learned about how Mary and the saints can be treats for us because they give us examples we can follow to be holy. Father Bob visited our classroom and teaches us each week at mass. We are anxiously awaiting our first mass in the new church; Father said he would take us on a tour. In two weeks, it will be our honor to lead prayer and pledge. We are focusing on good behavior which benefits everyone and doing small acts of kindness as well.
Hope you enjoyed the taste of September!
Miss Mickel
3rd Grade
Time Flies When You Are Having Fun in 3rd Grade!!!
I can't believe that we have been in school a month already! Time has been flying and we have been doing some exciting things in our classroom.
MATH - We have tackled place-value through the hundred thousands, comparing/rounding numbers, and money. Working at our centers has been fun, yet challenging!
SCIENCE - Science has kept us very busy. Learning how plants live/grow and also how animals grow and change can be very fascinating! We have had the opportunity to learn from 2 hands-on experiments in class…. Exploring Eggs and Observing Fruits, Vegetables and Seeds. There is no doubt that the students love science labs!
READING - In reading we have started two new books… Muggie Maggie and The Terrible Truth About Third Grade and we will continue to read stories and do activities from our reading book. Can third grade really be that bad??
This year there are many new things that we will be learning. I am looking forward to teaching numerous concepts to the students. I am especially looking forward to the lessons that deal with fractions, units of measure, the solar system/space, and Jesus' mission. I am certain that we will have a successful year. We will continue to grow, become independent learners, challenge ourselves daily, set high expectations for ourselves and follow in Christ's light!
4th Grade
We Are Called To Be The Light Of Christ!
This week a year ago my oldest daughter left guided by Christ's light on a new job adventure and this week, 47 states later she's returned once again safe and sound, with tales that will last a lifetime. She is ready to be home at least for a while, thank goodness! However, her wondrous, on the road, stories made me think of the excitement and enthusiasm of this year's new fourth graders and reminded me again that we are life long learners on our journey, with Christ's light to guide us from within.
This year as we try to remember how to write in cursive, our addition and subtraction facts, and how sentences begin and end we will let our light shine.
This year as we transition between the comfort of what we learned in third grade and the added responsibilities of 4th grade: being Angels to the kindergarteners, keeping our playground safe, filling in assignment notebooks, those dreaded late slips, and oh yes, grades, letter grades we will let our light shine.
This year as we look forward to all the new things we will be learning, reading strategies, writing traits, science and social studies concepts to explore, from animal behavior to a galaxy far, far away, and geographical terms to make our way around the world, we will let our light shine.
This year, as we take risks, work through challenges, and learn to trust ourselves as well as our classmates we will let our light shine.
For it is God's beacon we look towards, always present no matter how dim or diffused, when we are confused or radiant and brilliant when the bulbs above our heads finally turns on. It is God who gave us Jesus, our teacher, who grew and learned, shared and taught, died and rose just as we hope to some day. It is with his help and the help of those who are willing to cozy up with all our newness that will make us stronger, wiser, more confident and able to shine brighter.
I have learned a lot from my daughters about turning on new lights, so get ready because these 4th graders and their teacher have their high beams on and are ready to shine!
Posted May 2, 2007
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