SACRED HEART
NEWSLETTER
JANUARY
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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3, 10, 24, and 31……..…….…………………………………………………………..….TLC
5, 11, 19, and 25……..…….………….…….taping “Words from the Heart” at WTNS
6 and 20..…………..…………….……..…………...………………..……….BOOKMOBILE
6, 20 and 27……...…...………………………………………….……Mass of Attendance
7……………………………Ridgewood and RiverView early dismissal (no p.m. busses)
7, 14, 21, and 28….....….”Words from the Heart” broadcast on WTNS at 7:08 a.m.
(Jan. 7—6th grade, Jan. 14 and 21—3rd grade, Jan. 28—5th grade)
12………………………………..…………………..………………………..…Parish Council
13 ……………..……..…..……...….....…...Class Mass—1st graders and kindergarteners
………………………………..…………………..………….……School Advisory Board
14…….…..………………….…1:00 EARLY DISMISSAL….…..…………………………..
*********End of the 2nd grading period*********
……………...…....……...……………………………………CAN DAY…….………...…....
17………………………………..…………… NO SCHOOL—Martin Luther King Day
19………………………………..……………Development Committee Meeting at noon
20………………………………..…………….………Sacred Heart School Science Fair
……………...…....……...………………………………………………………………PTO
21………………………………..…………………..…………………Grade Cards go home
22………………………………..…………….………Crusaders Club Dinner at the Elks
28…………….…..…………….………Countywide Science Fair (snow date is Feb. 11)
31-Feb. 4…………………………………………………..CATHOLIC SCHOOLS’ WEEK
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
CLASSROOM NEWS
PRESCHOOL
If anyone knows where December went could you please send it back our way! It
seems the month flew away from us!!! Preschool had a very exciting month, even though
we were a few days short due to delays and school cancellations. We were able to make
our families some really cool glitter cards for Christmas and also ornaments. We had a
“Polar Express” day where everyone wore their pajamas (the teacher’s favorite!!) and
drank hot chocolate. For the first time in many years, the preschool students participated in the school Christmas program! We opened the play with a couple of prelude
songs. The students did a FANTASTIC job….Mrs. B and Mrs. Stewart were very proud
of them! More importantly than all of the wonderful projects, parties, and exciting
times we had in preschool, we celebrated with a special cake for Jesus’ birthday…it is
important that even the smallest of people remember the true meaning of Christmas!
From All of the preschool students and teachers, we hope you had a very Merry
Christmas!
KINDERGARTEN
Happy New Year! It is hard to believe we are beginning our fifth month of school!
There will be a few changes to our daily routine…no naps and homework. Don’t worry,
the students are ready for both! As a rule, kindergarten homework should not take
more that 10 minutes to complete. Your child should not need much support, as the
homework will be practice to reinforce what we have learned in class. I will try to make
homework assignments that will be due at the end of the week. In other words, in your
child’s red folder there will be a sheet of assigned homework with handouts and/or page
numbers to complete and turned in on Friday. We will continue with baggy books and AR
books that should be read nightly. We will be doing a Jan Brett author study during
January with a focus book and extension projects each week. She has many wonderful
stories, and I will be choosing those that correspond with a winter theme. We will be
working on the vowel combination sounds of ow, oo, and ou, along with beginning, middle,
and ending sounds. We will begin the month reviewing addition and moving on to subtraction in math. In science, we will do some experiments involving hot and cold. In
social studies, we have a wealth of material to have fun with! We have President’s Day,
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Catholic Schools’ Week! Catholic Schools’ Week is a
fun time as we will have Special Friends’ Mass as well as our first Kindergarten/First
Grade mass. The children will do the readings and petitions, be the gift bearers, and
sing the alleluia. All family members and “special” friends are welcome! More information will come home during January.
FIRST GRADE
3+2=5
2+3=5
All the wonderful things that come with the Christmas season make our
schedules filled to the brim. If the first graders were a teacup, I would compare us to
a teacup needing a saucer because we are full and overflowing. We have been celebrating this season by learning about the family history of Christ. For several members of
Christ’s family we have made an ornament for our Christmas tree to remind us of His
history. We’ve been placing them on our Jesse (Christmas) tree in the hall.
We are working on reading words that have a long vowel sound. We have learned
about the sneaky “e”, which is silent and helps the vowel that comes right before it say
its long vowel sound. The other rule we have learned is “when two vowels go walking the
first does the talking.” We need to really work on this and will be having some practice
reading sent home over Christmas break. I promise it won’t be too much.
Also, in reading class we have been learning about the suffixes, -s,
-ed, and –ing. We also have been learning about using the apostrophe in contractions and
showing ownership. We have not mastered these concepts but are making good
progress.
In Math class, we have been subtracting and learning about the subtraction facts
for numbers 1 through 10. I am pleased with their progress with this concept.
We completed a unit on the Gingerbread Man. We have been talking about what is
real and what is fantasy. We concluded our unit by decorating and eating sugar cookies
that were gingerbread men.
In conclusion, I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year. I’ve got great plans for the New Year. We will be accomplishing a lot
so dig out your educational skis and hold on tight. I am ready. Your kids are ready. It
will be lots of fun and learning.
SECOND GRADE
The second graders are beginning to learn to tell time in math. A perfect
addition to their Christmas list is a watch. As I have introduced the concepts of time
to the hour, half hour and 5 minute increments, the holidays would be a great time to
practice. Have them keep an eye on the time to let you know when it is time to leave or
how long you have been somewhere. After Christmas break I will want the students to
wear their watches everyday to school. The more they use them, the better they will be
at telling time. Maybe it will even help some of us who are always late to have a little
reminder of the time! I would also like the students to continue to count money over
the break, that is if there is any left!
We have finished the science unit on habitats and each student built a land habitat of their own. They are all on display in our stairway. Come by and take a look. They
did a great job.
The students are also doing a good job with their AR reading for the most part.
Please remember to have them read regularly over the break.
Thank you to all who came to our first class Mass. They all did a great job with
their parts. It is not easy to get up in front of all those people to read. Thanks for
helping them practice!
On snow days and delays, please remember that the students will greatly benefit
from practicing flashcards, telling time, counting money and reading! This is also a good
opportunity to catch up for some of the students who may be struggling with certain
concepts. If you would like specific ideas, let me know!
THIRD GRADE
The third grade is a beehive of activity, working independently in their school
work while one or two sew their own quilt with Mrs. Hathaway. Begun as an offshoot of
the story on traditions, The Keeping Quilt in reading, the interest is high and workers
are willing to sew by machine and by hand! Everyone is doing a wonderful job with their
quilted wall hangings and will bring them home before Christmas.
In religion, a homemade Christmas card accompanied the monthly letter to our
prayer persons. Daily we are learning about Advent through the school Advent gathering
as we await the birth of Jesus.
In math, the use of Holey Cards to practice subtraction math facts has helped to
increase both speed and accuracy in subtracting numbers with up to 4 places. This is
wonderful! Adding to check the work also helps the students find errors so I don’t find
them!
In science, we are learning about what animals need in order to grow and how
their body parts serve and protect them. We continue to observe our acorns planted in
October. We’ve learned that not every seed will grow, and that not all seeds that begin
to grow will necessarily continue to grow as two acorns planted for our little oak tree
forest have shown.
In social studies, we are gaining map skills as we learn about hemispheres, relative
location, continents and the equator. We find out where our clothes and other things we
use are made and locate those countries. It is amazing to see how many things come
from areas in and around China.
May you enjoy the seasonal holidays with loved ones, but don’t forget to READ,
READ, READ! There are lots of books for our holidays that enhance the season. Check
them out!
SOCIAL STUDIES AND RELIGION
We would like to wish all the members of our Sacred Heart community a very
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The sixth grade class has been leading our Advent ceremony that we have in the
school gym on days we do not have Mass. To begin, one of the sixth grade students lit
the advent candle(s) on our Advent wreath in the center of the gym. We divided the
students into five groups representing each of the graded and led by the sixth graders.
The service began with prayer, then the sixth graders lead their group by reading a
passage that begins with a Scripture verse and concluded with a short rhyming prayer.
The sixth graders then discussed with their group the messages that they just presented by asking thoughtful questions. We concluded our prayer session with joyful
songs.
In sixth grade religion we identified the qualities of friendship, such as
loyalty, and their relationship with God. We learned about Joseph of the Old
Testament and his devotion and trust in God. The students discovered how Joseph of
the New Testament trusted in God. We practiced praying prayers of praise to God and
pray in the words of Mary in her canticle known as the ‘Magnificat’. The fifth graders
identi-fied people who are Christian role models. They learned about the members of
the Communion of Saints. The students realized that prayers, devotions, and
sacramentals help to encounter God in our lives. We read about three saints that can
inspire us to live holy lives. We prayed a litany of the saints adding some of our
favorite saints to our prayer. The Commandments and God’s Covenant were the themes
for the fourth grade. Students discussed the importance of keeping our promises. We
learned the Ten Commandments. We discovered that the first three Commandments
were about our relationship with God and how to love God. The other Commandments
were to help us to love our neighbor as ourselves. We read the story of Saint Teresa
and how impor-tant prayer is in our lives. The students prayed a litany of Saint Joseph.
In world history the sixth grade has been studying the change that occurred in
the food supply of the early people. We analyzed the effects of the shift from food
collecting to food production. We identified plants and animals that early societies
domesticated. The sixth grade retrieved information from parallel time lines. We explored early settlements like the effects of trading in Jericho, specialization of skills
and resources in Catal Huyuk and the rise of the early city-states in Mesopotamia.
Fifth grade has been learning about our free market economy. The students learned
how business works. We also saw the United States has a diverse economy that has
changed over time. We learned that the people, not the government, own the resources that businesses need. The resources are called the ‘factors of production.’ We
realized the United States takes part in the global economy. Lastly, we learned the
steps to make an economic choice by identifying the trade-offs and opportunity costs in
a personal choice. Fourth grade analyzed the difference between primary and seconddary sources, and we practiced determining whether sources were primary or seconddary. We were identifying the Historic Native Americans of Ohio, and described the
ways of life for each of the early Native American groups. We focused on the Iroquois,
Mingo and the Wyandot tribes.
SCIENCE AND MATH
Welcome Back and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and
relaxing holiday with their friends and family. The Science Fair is fast approaching- –
only 3 more weeks. Hopefully everyone used the time off to work on their project.
Remember to use the rubrics to guide you as you complete them.
In class, the fourth grade continues to study and explore the forces that shape
our Earth including erosion, glaciers and mountain building. The fifth grade will soon be
concluding our unit on energy and electricity while the sixth grade concludes a study of
how energy is produced.
In math, the fourth grade is beginning to work with division of greater numbers.
Here’s where those multiplication facts come in handy! The fifth grade continues to
work with fractions and the sixth grade will be completing fractions and moving into
using units of measurement.
I was very pleased with our students’ math and science scores on the Terra Nova
test. Good job everyone!
LANGUAGE ARTS
verbs
January is here! It’s cold and it’s snowy. It must be a good time to read! At this
time, many of the students are doing well on their AR goals. The days when it is too
cold to go out and play are great to stay in and curl up with a good book! Keep working
on those AR books. Remember, non-fiction books are to be read as every third book.
The sixth graders finished reading A Christmas Carol and did a great job of
getting through and understanding the book. It is a tough one to read, but they did not
have misanthropic ways about the challenge. After finishing the story, we enjoyed
some plum pudding and wassail while watching the movie version of the classic tale.
This month, the sixth graders will continue working with their Latin and Greek
root word vocabulary and will explore verbs. They will also begin a unit on ancient
cultures in reading. Some stories in the unit include learning about the Aztecs, the
Great Wall of China, and the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay.
The fifth graders finished their unit called “Give it all you’ve got” and will begin
one about poetry. They will continue to build upon their poetry knowledge and write
some of their own focusing on winter and the wintry months. Fifth grade will also begin
their unit in English on capitalization and punctuation.
Finally, the fourth graders have finished their unit on pour quoi tales. After
reading and exploring several different tales, the students wrote their own tales
explaining other things found in nature such as why a dog has spots and why trees lose
their leaves. They will now begin exploring a unit about heroes in reading. Fourth grade
will also begin a unit on capitalization and punctuation in English.
Thank you to Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Jacobs for our awesome Christmas party!
I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and New Year!
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The first half of the year has been busy in physical education! We started off
outside learning the skills of kicking and punting. Each student practiced with a soccer
ball the tap-dribble, kicking from a stationary position, and how to punt. We learned the
rules of soccer and kickball and played both. While the weather was warm, we also
practiced throwing a Frisbee and played a four-hole course of Frisbee golf.
I tested each student in the National Youth physical fitness program sponsored
by the United States Marines. Each student was tested for sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups
(how many could be done in 2 minutes), the 300 yard shuttle run, and the standing long
jump. I will again test each student in the winter and spring to look for improvement.
As the weather turned colder, we moved indoors and practiced volleying skills,
first with a balloon and then with a volleyball. The 3rd through 6th grades learned the
rules of playing volleyball and played in the gym. With the net still up, we then moved on
to learn striking with rackets using badminton rackets and shuttlecocks.
We also have practiced jumping and landing correctly and are applying these skills
in the various sports we are learning, including volleyball, basketball, and football.
Another activity in which this skill is important is gymnastics, which we will be focusing
on in January.
Everyone have a very Merry Christmas and remember to keep active!
CAN DAY:
**** Please, Please, Please make sure that there is nothing else in the bags of
cans that you bring to the school. Please make sure that we receive only bags of
aluminum beverage cans! Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. SAVE THOSE
CANS!!!! The next CAN DAY will be held on Jan. 14. Future CAN DAYS are: Mar. 11
and May 13.
SAVE, SAVE, SAVE:
Thank you to all of you who save Campbell’s Soup labels and the General Mills “Box
Top for Education” coupons. Your support is greatly appreciated! Some reminders:
Please do not send in the entire label. The company will not accept them anymore.
Campbell’s will only accept the UPC code (include the scholar holding the pencil, also).
General Mills will accept only those box tops that have been cut on the dotted line.
Your help with this matter will be greatly appreciated, since this is a monumental task
when we receive the volume of labels and box tops that we do. Please drop them off in
the school office or in the box at the back of the church. Here is an example of what
we need:
PTO
We need your help!!!!
The next PTO meeting will be held on Thursday, January 20 at 7:00 p.m. Please
come!
The Prayer to Sacred Heart
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
fountain of eternal life,
Your Heart glows with complete love.
You are my refuge and my hope.
Most adorable and loving Savior,
consume my heart with the fire
of Your love.
Pour down on my soul those graces
that flow from Your loving heart.
Let my heart be united with Yours.
Let my will be conformed to Yours
in all things.
May Your will be the rule
of all my desires and actions.
Amen
Sacred Heart School provides an education founded in the Catholic Faith.
The entire school community strives to educate the whole child, developing
caring, responsible, and contributing members of the church and society.