PERKINS PRESS

December 19, 2008

A New Year’s Prayer

May God make your year a happy one!
Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most, and by making you anxious to be there to help.
God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

Star Student - Eliana was our Star Student this week.  She told us that her favorite food is rice, her favorite animal is a wildcat (as in the mascot for East High in High School Musical), and she is good at soccer.  Eliana admires her family, wishes she could go to Disneyland, and read us her favorite book, Silly Sally.  

Birthdays - This week Maddie celebrated her 7th birthday.  Ashley will turn 7 on the 27th, and Kristen will turn 6 1/2 on the 27th.  Happy birthdays, girls!

 DIOCESAN CURRICULUM

Religion -An Advent Candle ceremony in the courtyard started our week with attention focused on the story of Christmas.  We listened to a few books about the first Christmas, and read the sections in our religion books about Christmas.  We also did some activities and sang songs related to the upcoming holiday.

Math - We compared numbers to each other using greater than, less than, and equal to.  We estimated numbers based on groups of tens, and we solved story problems.  We completed Chapter 8 with some exercises with probability, and will review the skills from the chapter in January before we take the chapter test.

Language Arts - We reviewed the phonics and spelling sounds we have had so far this year.  The list of all of the spelling words the class should be able to read and spell is at the end of the December 12 newsletter.  It was also sent home as a hard copy.  We practiced reading the poems and songs for our class Christmas program, and presented them to our families on Thursday. 

Literature Projects – Beginning in January, the class will do a special literature project at home each month.  Directions for the assignments will be sent home at the beginning of the month, and they will be due at the end of the month.  The assignments are easy, but should be looked at in several ways:  the children will begin to learn how to pace themselves for long-term assignments (in January, it will be selecting a poem after reading several, copying it, illustrating it, and answering some questions about it); it will let them focus on and enjoy a few genres of literature; and it will give them another opportunity to give a presentation to the class.  January assignments will be shared during February, and so on.

Spelling - We will be starting the long vowel sounds when we return to school in January.  Our first sound is long a. Words 1-15 are list words, 16-20 are bonus words.

1.     make

2.     came

3.     take

4.     name

5.     gave

6.     place

7.     skate

8.     snake

9.     face

10.   cage

11.  when

12.  shall

13.  walk

14.  children

15.  family

16.  new            

Science - We categorized the pictures of animals the children brought in last week.  We reviewed some of the traits of each kind of animal. We visited Ms. Whalen's classroom again because she had the traveling Desert Sonoran Sea Aquarium there.  It was very interesting for the class, and they got to have some hands-on with several kinds of sea specimens.

OTHER - We had the privilege of attending of attending some special performances this week.  We saw some ballet dances performed by the Kimberly Lewis production of "Nutcracker"; we attended the seventh grade performance of A Christmas Carol; and, of course, we were in our own performance!

 THIS AND THAT

Mass - I want to let you know in advance that our class will be hosting the school-wide Mass on February 13th.  I will fill you in with more details later.

MONEY - We will be starting our unit on money soon, so each child will need to have $3.00 in coins in the following amounts:$1.00 in quarters, $1.00 in dimes, $.50 in nickels, and $.50 in pennies. 

They should be in a plastic frosting container, if you have one.  If you don't, send in the money in a ziplock baggie.  We have some extra containers at school.  If you have any extras, they will be welcomed.  I prefer the frosting containers so that we have the same items on everyone's desktops. 

Supplies - Ask your child if he or she needs any supply replacements, such as markers, dry erase markers, crayons, erasers, etc.  

Adopt-A-Family - Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Adopt-A-Family project.  A special thanks goes to Mrs. Flynn for coordinating it, and to Mrs. Dippre, Mrs. Ehmann, and Mrs. Cardellini, who served as our interpreter, for delivering the items to our adopted family.  A photo of their children, along with our own Jordan and Sparkles, is posted on our class website.  

Class Christmas Program and Party - Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for our class Christmas program.  Although we were not able to give it the time I would have liked to have to prepare for it, I think the children gave a very nice performance.  I also want to thank the parents who were able to help with the class Christmas party.  It went very smoothly, and the children seemed to enjoy it.  I didn't know we had so many future American Idols in the group!

Special Show and Tell:  We will have a special holiday Show and Tell on Friday, January 9.  Everyone may bring in an item to share about their vacations, or Christmas, etc.  We will follow the same Show and Tell procedures as usual.  This will be a one-chance only day.  We will resume the regular Show and Tell schedule the following week.

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.  Author unknown.

Yours in Christ,

Carol Perkins

cperkins@sjbosco.org    480-219-4850 Ext. 1019

PERKINS PRESS
August 29, 2008

 
"If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."
- St. Francis of Assisi

STAR STUDENT  - This week's Star Student was Alexa. Her favorite food is noodles, she likes dogs, and she likes Junie B. Jones books.  Alexa's favorite part of school is recess, and wishes she could have a fish and another American Girl doll.  Alexa is good at riding bikes, and she admires her mother.  She read the class a book called There Was A Bold Woman.

BIRTHDAYS - There were no birthdays in our classroom this week.  The whole school helped Fr. Gary celebrate his birthday at Mass on Friday.

SPECIAL INTENTIONS - Please remember Gracie's grandfather and Jordan's great-grandmother in your prayers.

DIOCESAN CURRICULUM

RELIGION -We learned that God is our Creator, and He made us in His image.  He made the world and everything in it.  We drew pictures of our favorite things that God made.

MATH - We found all the facts that add to seven, and learned about the commutative property of addition (or, as they say in our books, we "turned the train around."  If you add 2+3=5, you can also add 3+2=5).  

LANGUAGE ARTS - 

We reviewed more of the alphabet - letters I to P - this week.  When working with the sounds, we are thinking of how the sounds feel as we make them (eg – “b”and “P” are noisy and quiet “lip poppers”).  We read and enjoyed more alphabet poetry, more folk tales (Anansi and the Tiger, The Porridge Pot), and we wrote some Labor Day stories. I wrote a little book called If A Monster for my daughter, and after reading it to the class, the children wrote what they would do if they encountered a monster.  We made it into a class book, which the children are enjoying reading. For English, we worked on identifying the naming  and action parts of a sentence. 

HANDWRITING -  We worked on these letters, which all begin the same way: letters c, o, a, d, g, and q.  When forming these letters, the pencil should not be picked up.  As you watch your child practice his/her handwriting, please refer to the D'Nealian handout I gave you the other evening.
SCIENCE - We are continuing with our study about the human body, nutrition, and the food pyramid. We checked the amount of grease in our snacks the other day by letting them rest on paper napkins for a while before eating them.  Then we held the napkins up to the light to see how much grease was left on them.  We are listening to the book Inside Ralphie - a Magic School Bus book.

SOCIAL STUDIES -We talked about what families do in the country and in cities.  For Labor Day, we discussed what kinds of jobs would be useful if we had to start our own town, and which would be fun.  The children all chose a useful and a fun job.  We talked about what families do in the country and cities. They also wrote about what their jobs are at home, and what the consequences would be if they did not perform them.  

                              This and That:

Birthday of Mary – Next Monday, September 8th, is the feast of the birth of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  If you would like to send in a flower with your child on Monday, we will place them in the vase near Mary, and then say the rosary. 

TEDDY BEAR DAY - Teddy Bear Day is September 9th.  If your child would like to bring in a stuffed Teddy Bear (not an action figure or other  non-plush toy), he or she may do so.  I am asking that the bears be no larger than a "Build-a-Bear" size, and that they follow the rules of the classroom (they will have to sit in a time out for a little while if they do flips, somersaults, and other behaviors that are distracting to me or the students).  We have done this in the past, and the bears are usually very well-behaved.  A couple have had a short "time out," but were then perfect for the rest of the day.

ART DRAWING PADS - Mrs. Mahoney has asked that each child has a drawing pad at school for art class.  She said that last year's partially used ones would be fine to use.

APPLES - Would you please send in an apple some time in the next week?  It can be red, yellow, or green.  They will be shared by the class in many different ways over the next couple of weeks.  We will do taste tests, make healthy snacks, and do other interesting things with them.

 Scholastic Newspaper – Along with listening to and reading a variety of stories, the children really enjoy reading non-fiction material.  Each year we order the Scholastic Newspaper.  There are four a month, and they cover a variety of topics all year long.  We have ordered them again, and the cost is only $4.60 a student.  You can either send in cash or a check made out to Carol Perkins.  I will pay the bill when I have collected all of the money.  After we read the newspapers in class, your children will take them home.  Ask them to read them to you.  You will notice the text becomes more difficult as the year goes on.

Parent Volunteers - If you are interested in helping in the classroom, at home, or in the classroom, please return the volunteer forms that were included in the orange folder on Curriculum Night.  I will use these forms to contact interested parents about meeting to discuss plans for the parties.  Hopefully, we will have a parent who is interested in coordinating the classroom volunteers.  This person would contact the parents and set up a schedule for in-classroom help.  I usually have parent volunteers helping at center time, Mondays through Thursdays.  I will be holding a "training" class for the parents who want to help in the classroom pretty soon.

• tennis balls (can be used ones) for the bottoms of our chairs
• hamster food
• hamster bedding
• on Curriculum Night I had walnut shell halves on my wish list - please do NOT send any in.  A parent reminded me that even the empty shells could be harmful around children with tree nut allergies.

THANK YOU TO:

-Mrs. Nolan for some Hermit crab supplies

-Mrs. Flynn, Mrs. Lenz, Mrs. Gregg, and Mrs. Flatley for work they have done for the class at home.

SNACKS - EVERY CHILD NEEDS TO HAVE A SNACK EVERY DAY.  

HOMEWORK FOR PARENTS:  If you haven't already done so, would you please write a short essay about your child?  Just jot down a few things about your child that you think I should know.  There may be things that your child is particularly sensitive to, there may be a learning style that works best for him or her, or a family situation, a health history, or some other information that might be pertinent to your child's ease and comfort in school.  Any information you share will be kept confidential. You may also tell me how special your child is, too!

Curriculum Night -It was good to see many of you on Curriculum Night.  After hearing me talk so much, you now probably understand why my newsletters are so long!

So, here's a little bit more!

At St. John Bosco, we have learning expectations that are the desired behaviors of our eighth graders as they are promoted to high school.  We begin working on these behaviors in Pre-K, and continue all the way through.  They are expectations we might even have of ourselves as adults.  One way to check on some of the SLE's is to ask your first grader the following questions:

First Grade Student Learning Expectations:  LASER

Are you:

  Are you telling me this because you want to get the person IN trouble, or because you want to get them OUT of trouble?

Take care, have a good week,and call or email me if you have any questions or concerns.

Yours in Christ,

Carol Perkins

cperkins(at)sjbosco.org

480-219-4850 X1019

 ************************************************************************************************