Week of October 19th

Dear 4A Families,

I hope everyone had a nice weekend, and that the students enjoyed the day off on Friday.  If you have yet signed up for one the the All Saints’ Day Masses please do so right away. Here is a repeat of the information we have sent regarding the Saint Masses and project.

4th grade students are encouraged to participate in an All-School Mass dressed as their Saint, either on Wednesday, October 28th, or Wednesday November 4th.  Twenty-two students (and their families) will attend each mass.  Here is a link to the Sign-Up Genius to select the Mass you wish to attend. Please make your selection by October 19th.  Thank you!

  • We will also ask for some 4th grade saint participation at the 10:30 Sunday Mass on November 1st.  This will include a separate sign up and more information will come later.

  • Students will be selected to do readings at each Mass.

Even you are unable to attend either of the Masses,  the 4th grade students will still need a saint costume, and we would also ask you to take pictures of your child in his or her costume.

  • One portrait (head and shoulders)

  • One full body (include the symbol if you have one)

  • One action shot—this could be imitating the saint for something he/she is known for: writing, teaching, helping the poor, praying etc.

  • We ask that these pictures be sent to us by October 22nd, so we can create the slideshow in time for the first mass on October 28th.

Yuen Lui will be taking our school pictures this year on Saturday, October 24th and Tuesday, October 27th. These are the pictures that will be used in the yearbook, so we hope everyone is able to schedule an appointment. All students will need to schedule a photo session on either Saturday or Tuesday. If a student misses class to have their photo taken, it will be considered part of the school day and not an absence. To schedule your photo session, click HERE and select your date and time.  Click HERE to order picture packages! 

*Due to Covid-19 retakes may not be possible.* 

Mid-trimester reports will be sent home via email on Friday, October 30th.

Touching Safety Program: Holy Rosary School, along with all the schools in the Archdiocese, will continue teaching the sexual abuse prevention program called Touching Safety. This program is provided to us by the Archdiocese of Seattle and is part of our ongoing effort to help create and maintain a safe environment for children and protect all children from sexual abuse. We will be teaching two lessons again this year. The first will be this month (October), the second in March. For more information check the information on this page. The topic of the October lesson is Boundaries: Students learn about personal boundaries and how identifying and honoring those boundaries can give a child or young person the self assurance needed to speak up when someone tries to step over the line.   If you do not wish your child to take part in these lessons you will need to fill out this opt-out-form- and return it via email by Tuesday, October 20th.  Thank you.

Materials Pick-Up Days: This week is the next pick-up for student materials. Each 4th grade student will receive materials labeled for each subject area and possible miscellaneous items. The pick-up days are Friday, October 23rd, 12:00-4:00 and Saturday, October 24th, 9:00-12:00. Prior to pick-up day, please help your child organize their filer and materials. This includes removing completed papers that have been submitted and neatly putting them in the red “Completed Work” folder. We will also have time during class to organize. After receiving materials, please assist your child with carefully filing packets and organizing the new materials. Students should not take apart the papers yet. We will do that together in class. We would love to have some more student work hanging in our school! Please drop off your child’s Ballot Box project with their writing “Why Every Vote Counts” and their completed Math Do Now Packet (#1-#19). Thank you for your support

Religion: By the end of the week the speaking parts for the All Saint’s Day Mass will be selected.  Even though all students will not be able to have individual speaking parts on the microphone, they will each play an integral part in the Mass as a representative of their Saint.  The students will be reciting the Prayer of St. Francis during the Mass.

This Wednesday during our All-School Zoom Mass we will be praying the rosary. I will be going over the process of praying the rosary in religion class on Tuesday. If students have a rosary, they should have it available on Tuesday.  If not, no worries, the activity will work with or without a rosary.  If you have a printer at home, I would ask that you please print out this  Rosary pdf  to use during our lesson Tuesday. Thank you!

Continue to practice the Prayer of St. Francis.  It is a great bedtime prayer, and practicing right before you go to sleep helps with retention!  All students need to be able to recite the prayer from memory by October 26th. The options for reciting are live in front of the class on Zoom, individually with me, or you can film your child reciting the prayer on Seesaw.  Thank you!

Spelling/LA: Our spelling words this week all contain the long “a” sound.  Unit 3 long a.  Lists are available in the above tabs, in Google Classroom and in the most recent pick up. The test will be on Friday, October 23rd.  The students are hard at work on their saint reports and we will also be creating a Halloween Haiku this week.

Reading: We are continuing our journey in Charlotte’s Web. Our target skills while reading include vocabulary acquisition, character traits, themes, and oral reading fluency (expression, pacing and volume). We will also continue our work with figurative language and poetic devices, which are abundant in this novel. Ask your child about our vocabulary words from chapters 1, 2, and 3: runt, injustice, blissful, manure, enchanted, perspiration, and reconsider.

Math: Students will take their Chapter 2 Math Assessment this week. Without homework, students are not getting as much practice as they usually do. Please practice adding and subtracting large numbers with your child. There are many extra pages in the Math Meeting book to choose from. Practice is essential to mastering these skills. Chapter 3 will focus on understanding multiplication and division.

Social Studies: The students will be tested on the NE State locations and abbreviations on Tuesday, October 20th.  We did not get to the latitude and longitude work last week, so we will continue this week.  The next set of states the students will focus on will be the SE States.  The SE test will take place on November 5th.

Science: Last week, we finished up our senses stations. I hope you were able to find some time to set up your own taste and smell stations. If you did, I’d love to see any pictures or hear how it went! This week, we are reflecting on the senses by doing some creative writing. Then, we will dive into memory!

MAP Testing:  We are proud of the hard work the students are putting in to their MAP testing.  We will complete the fall testing this Thursday, October 22nd when we take the Language Arts portion of the test.

We are nearing the end of the Magazine Sale. Thank you all for your support of this important fundraiser.  The last day to see is October 26th at 9:00 pm.

Have a great week everyone!