Hello 4A Families,
Happy first week of Advent! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was a pleasure to meet with you all during conferences last week! It is easy to see why I have such wonderful students—-they have wonderful families! Be your child completes and returns their goal sheet (received at their conference) by Friday, December 2nd. If you have misplaced the sheet you can access one to print here.
The signs of the Advent season are beginning to appear. As we prepare we are asked to look for ways we can serve others. Every year we engage in an Advent service project to assist students with developing their understanding of Catholic Social Teachings and the obligation we have as Catholics to be of service to others.
This year we have two school-wide projects going on and families are encouraged to participate as you feel comfortable and are able.
For the preschool – grades 6, we will be collecting diapers, pull-ups, wipes, and new or gently used coats and kids clothing for
Westside Baby and other local organizations that support families in our Seattle Community. The junior high will also be collecting adult coats and a few other items to support outreach ministries at St. James Cathedral.
The tree lot is open! Be sure and stop by to shop for a tree or wreath and support HRS.
We are in need of jam/jelly jars for a special project. Preferably the jars are less than 5 inches tall with no labels. We will need them by December 7th if possible. No worries if you do not have any. Thank you!
Reading: We are continuing with Charlotte’s Web this week. Students observe the plot structure as the rising action builds. As we build comprehension through inference and drawing conclusions, students learn how characters change and evolve as the story develops.
Language Arts: The students will begin a creative writing project called “The True Story of Santa’s Reindeer” this week. This project will reinforce paragraph skills, perspective/point of view, strong leads and conclusions, along with descriptive word choice. This week the students will be researching some real facts about reindeer they will include in their stories.
Spelling: This week’s spelling words all have final “le” The spelling test will be Friday, December 2nd.
Religion: Our religion classes are focusing on the Corporal Works of Mercy. The students will need to have the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy 
memorized for a test this Friday, December 2nd. Along with our lessons on the Works of Mercy we will also focus on the Season of Advent, with Bible readings and activities to support this special time of year.
Social Studies: The students did well on the NE/SE combination map. The next map test, on December 9th, covers the Midwest States and 4 of the Great Lakes. Our class work this week will focus on the Coastal and Plateau People of Washington State.
Science: We are starting the Waves of Sound Unit 2! Lesson 1 focuses on Sound, Vibration, and Engineering. Students will learn about the connection between sounds and vibration in the activity called “Paper Cup Telephone.” The students will be making telephones using cups, string, and paper clips. They will have a chance to modify their design of a telephone using different types of supplies to see if they can improve the sound quality.
Math: This week, we will continue with chapter four; understanding multiplication and practicing the algorithm for multi-digit multiplication. Please make sure your child is continuing to practice their basic multiplication facts (0-12) through XtraMath, flash cards, playing cards, or any other methods! Thank you for checking over your child’s homework for accuracy. Look for homework each night this week.-
May your first week of Advent be filled with HOPE!
