Growing in God's Love: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a joyful and relaxing Christmas break. I want to extend a sincere THANK YOU to all of you for the generous and lovely Christmas gifts! Truly, I am grateful for your generosity and thoughtfulness! I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful snowmen handprint ornaments and "Gift of Jesus" cards that your child worked so hard on. They were so excited to give them to you. :)

The kids were very happy to be back at school last Thursday and Friday, and they worked super hard getting back into the routine of school. They had a great time chatting with each other and swapping stories at snack time. We read The Night Before New Year's Eve and sequenced the events of the story; we also drew a picture of our own family celebration of New Year's. We also read Squirrel's New Year Resolution and how squirrel resolved to help people. We learned the meaning of the words RESOLUTION and RESOLVED, and the students wrote about their own 2019 New Year's resolutions (these are hanging in the hallway!).

Students also took their Journeys Reading pretest for spelling on Lesson 12, and both pretests and word lists were sent home on Friday. We'll be back in the guided reading schedule this week, so be sure to check RED folders for nightly reading assignments. If you'd like a refresher on RED folder reading, re-read this letter from the beginning of the year. SIX FLAGS READ TO SUCCEED also came home in the RED folders Friday. Your child can simply record their reading minutes each night to earn a FREE TICKET to Six Flags Great America! All Six Flags logs are due February 22nd.

During the month of January we will hit the ground running in science, learning about the science of snowflakes and snow as well as our unit on animal adaptations, biomimicry, and hibernation. Animal adaptations will continue through the rest of the year as we compile information in our science journals about different animals and their adaptations. We'll extend this in spring when we go back to our learning on plants and apply biomicry to plant life. This month we'll also learn about the science of sound and polar animals.

In social studies, we'll learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and complete a study using BIG words. In religion, we'll study the parables of Jesus and have a special day of "Parable Theater" with our Mass Mates. We'll also prepare for Catholic Schools Week happening Sunday, January 27th through Friday, February 1st. Please mark your calendars to attend the 11:30AM Mass on Sunday, January 27th and have your child(ren) wear their school uniform. #representSMS Afterwards, there will be an open house in the school from 1:00-3:00 PM for all current and prospective students and families.

In Math, we are back into our groove with Rocket Math. Please remember that you can download the Rocket Math app or subscribe to the Rocket Math online game. The students have been incredibly engaged with their number scrolls - a "fast finisher" activity where they can count as high as they want by writing their numbers, beginning at 1. We have some students into the 2000s - WAY TO GO! Below are a few pictures of number scrolls that are getting taller than the students. :) There's also a few fun pics of playing less than/greater than.

On February 1st we will celebrate the 100th day of school! More information will be sent home this week via your child's GO binder as there are several at-home projects to complete for special school activities. It's truly an amazing day that the students thoroughly enjoy!

Until next time, I leave you with my favorite find of the new year: