First Week of Advent

advent-1stDear 4A Families,

Happy first week of December and Advent! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was such a pleasure meeting with you all last week during conferences. I am inspired and excited for the new trimester to begin. The signs of the season are all around us. As we prepare for Christmas we are asked to look for ways we can serve others. As a school we are asked to participate in several outreach/service opportunities.

untitledThank you all for your contributions to the Lunches of Love. If you have not had a chance to send in your lunch, please do so by December 10th. All this week, Dec. 1-5, is our $1 on one for Uganda. I am hoping that each student will bring in $1 this week to support our Ugandan students: Brenda, Elizabeth, Judith, Sam and Rose. Thank you so much for your generosity.

All Holy Rosary School classes are asked to select organizations to support during Advent, Catholic Schools Week and Lent. Canned food, specific items of need and monetary donations will be collected to help those less fortunate.

untitledGrade 4 will be working to support the St. Vincent de Paul Society all year. Later in the year our 4th Grade Bake Sale proceeds will go to this very worthy organization. Right now, Advent monetary donations are being collected for St. Vincent de Paul. All students are also asked to bring in canned food for St. Vincent de Paul. Finally, we will be collecting gloves/mittens and socks to support St. James soup kitchen ministry.

I am encouraging the students to look for ways they can personally contribute to these causes. Perhaps they can do extra chores and earn some money to purchase canned food, socks or gloves, or just to add to the donation jar. These giving opportunities help us to live the Works of Mercy in our lives right now! Thank you so much.

“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.

We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”

Mother Teresa

untitledThis Friday, the 5th, from 6:00-8:00 pm stop by the Tree Lot for a blessing of the trees and fun activities, yummy food and treats to support of the Tree Lot.  There will even be an organized snowball fight—Check out the brochure here.

untitledTuesday, the students will receive the name of their Faith Family Prayer Partners. Each student is asked to pray for his or her partner each day and make a special card for him or her. Directions for this project will be on the sheet of paper with the name of the prayer partner. Nice construction paper will also be provided to make the card. Our hope it that the cards will be “from the heart” showing some real thought and time. This not only includes a nicely decorated/illustrated card, but a personal note and prayer of some type. The cards should be brought to school on Wednesday the 17th to make sure we have them all for our card exchange. If students misplace the name of their prayer partner they should ask their Faith Family teacher. Thank you for helping remind your child to add their prayer partner to their Advent prayers!

Next Monday the 8th we will celebrate the Mass of the Immaculate Conception at 8:45. Students need to come in perfect uniform. This includes a red sweatshirt, vest or sweater.

lit yearReligion: Advent marks the beginning of the new Liturgical Year. Our Advent Wreaths will be blessed at this Friday’s prayer service. In religion classes these next two weeks we will be learning about the Seasons of our Church, important feast days, and how to read a liturgical calendar. On Monday the students will fill out two study sheets for their Liturgical Year test that will take place Thursday, December 11th . All students will have this study sheet in their filer Monday.  Extra copies will be available on the website later in the week. Don’t wait until the last minute to prepare! This is a two-part test in which the students will answer questions about the liturgical year as well as fill in and correctly color a liturgical calendar. We will review in class and use our texts to further our understanding of the Church Year. You should quiz your child at home on both the calendar and related questions.

The students will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Advent. We will be reviewing this Sacrament in class and praying the Act of Contrition regularly. The students will be required to have this prayer memorized (most know it already) before the day of the reconciliation. Each student will have a copy in their filer and you can also access a copy on our website. Thank you for reviewing with your child at home.

Math: Thank you for your continued support in practicing the multiplication/division facts for speed recall and accuracy! Our class lessons will focus on multiplication of larger numbers and problem solving.

untitledReading/Language Arts: This week the students will bring home a large paper and directions for the Charlotte’s Web Quote Poster project. Perfect spelling and punctuation is expected, and of course neat penmanship! Students should take their time and do a very nice job on this project. If the students do two quotes a night (Mon-Thurs) they will have no trouble finishing this project by the final due date of December 16th. If you do not have a copy of Charlotte’s Web at home to use for this project, I have found an online version that can be used to locate quotes. The students should have selected many of their favorite quotes in class already.   Posters may be turned in early if completed.

Social Studies: Friday the 5th the students will be taking the combination NE/SE/Midwest State test. The Western State test will take place on December 16th.

There are several homework tasks that require review and quizzing. Parents can help by using the study sheets with your child to ask questions/quiz them on the topics. This includes the Liturgical Year Test, map test, spelling perhaps flash cards. 5-10 minutes nightly should be more than enough time. Remember, short—but consistent practice is the best way to learn new information. We will be reviewing spelling and the Liturgical Year at school as well. Thank you!

Homework: Nightly review of math facts is expected if facts are not memorized.

  • untitledWe are in need of small, empty jam jars (about 4-5 in. tall) for a little project we will be working on. Please make sure there are no labels on them. We would like the jars in by December 10th. If you have more than one to send, that would be great too. Thanks!

No baby food jars please.

Have a nice first week of Advent.