The wreath's symbolism of the Advent (coming) of Light into the world is clear. The gradual lighting of the four candles, one on each Sunday of the Advent season, combined with the liturgical colors of the candles (purple is the penitential color used during Advent and Lent; rose is a liturgical color used only on Gaudete Sunday in Advent and Laetare Sunday in Lent) help to symbolize not only our expectation and hope in Our Savior's first coming into the world, but also in his Second Coming as Judge at the end of the world. Our books will be assembled in the order of: HOPE, PEACE, JOY, LOVE.
The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming into the world and the anticipation of his second coming to judge the living and the dead. As we "light" each of our candles in our lap books, we will read stories, watch videos, write and create special representations for HOPE, PEACE, JOY, LOVE. Our Advent lap books will come home on December 18th. I hope it becomes a beautiful keepsake to be enjoyed year after year.
'Tis the season for all things bright and beautiful, and first grade at St. Mary's school is FULL of special activities and events. Please mark your calendar for the following important dates!
1) TOMORROW! 12/4 - Holiday Bazaar - Please send money in the shopping envelope provided last week if you would like your child to shop at our holiday bazaar tomorrow. We will be shopping at 9:30AM in the Main Hall if you would like to join us for the fun - just sign in at the front office. *It's also crazy sock day tomorrow! Your child may wear any fun socks they'd like tomorrow. :)
2) This Thursday 12/6 - Field Trip for Shrek the Musical at the Marriott Lincolnshire -Please pack a regular snack and lunch; we will field trip in the morning and eat lunch upon our return. Just a heads-up for those ordering hot lunch: The Quest website says 1st & 2nd grade field trip on Wednesday (this is wrong!). Please check the status of your hot lunch order.
3) Friday 12/14 - 1st and 2nd Grade Advent Musical at 1:30PM in Church - Come watch the first and second graders perform the annual Advent Musical. Your child will need to wear dressy black and white outfits (traditional "choir colors") unless they are assigned a part that requires a costume. I will email parents directly with instructions for these students.
4) Tuesday 12/18 during lunch - Cocoa and Cookie Sale - Students in grades 1-8 may buy cocoa and cookies during their lunch. Every item will be sold for $1 each.
5) Wednesday 12/19 - 1st Grade Christmas Party - If you would like to contribute to our holiday fun, please CLICK HERE. We will join our 7th grade Mass Mates to watch the Polar Express together, snack on popcorn and hot chocolate, and make a jingle bell keepsake. Principal. Strutzel has asked us NOT to wear PJs on this day; instead, it will be a Christmas Top Day - Red, green shirts, sweatshirts or Christmas themed shirts on top, uniform on the bottom. Students may bring pillows and blankets for the movie.
We will be reading tons of wonderful literature this month; there's so much to enjoy right now! As we prepare our hearts for Advent, we'll reflect on The Sparkle Box story, where a little boy learns about giving, kindness, and love. Students will write about living this story in their own Advent journeys. We've written a poem about preparing our hearts for Jesus and colored a quilt to cover the baby Jesus. We have already read fiction and non-fiction stories about reindeer and completed a "directed draw" on Rudolph. These are all hanging in the hall! We are also learning about Elves and learned how to write letters when we drafted a letter to Santa. We'll continue our letter writing skills with our class "furry friend" - Scruffy the Dog. St. Andrew, St. Nicholas, St. San Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and St. Lucia will round out our saint studies this month. We'll also learn about the Legend of the Poinsettia.
This week first graders take the Unit 2 assessment in reading and the Unit 4 assessment in math; in addition, we have moved on to Unit 3 - Lesson 11 in reading and Unit 5 in math. We'll dive in to base-10 blocks, greater than/less than, turn around facts and fact families (which we practice daily with Rocket Math, too!), +0 and +1. Hopefully we'll be ready to take our Unit 5 assessment prior to Christmas break.
I would like to wish each of you an Advent filled with quiet anticipation. If Christ is going to come again into our hearts, there must be repentance. Without repentance, our hearts will be so full of wordly things that there will be 'no room in the inn' for Christ to be born again. Our joy is a joy of anticipation...As Edward Hays so beautifully says, "Take time to be aware that in the very midst of our busy preparations for the celebration of Christ's birth in ancient Bethlehem, Christ is reborn in the Bethlehem of our homes and daily lives. Take time, slow down, be still, be awake to the Divine Mystery that looks so common and so ordinary yet is wondrously present."
