Learn About Lower Elementary

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
100-Day Students
By Sarah Schott
Sports Editor
  
            The students in Pre-K have been enjoying the year so far. Most of the students have learned how to write their names. The others have been practicing very hard and been doing very well. They have been learning about when to use capital and lowercase letters. The students have also been using electronics to practice writing as well. They have worked with apps as well as websites. Some websites they used were Starfall.com and Frogstreet.com.
            This second quarter has been an adventure for the students. They have made sandwiches for the homeless, and for some of them it was their first time to make a sandwich. For Thanksgiving, the students learned about Native Americans and Pilgrims. They also talked about what it was like to be at the first Thanksgiving dinner. For Halloween, the students talked about All Saints Day, and the teachers read a parable about pumpkins, and how to let their light shine. For Christmas, the students made Advent wreaths. They learned that it’s not all about the presents, but also about Jesus’ birthday.
              The students have a very important celebration coming up. It is going to be their 100 ^th day of school. They will get 100 things and glue them on to a graph. A couple weeks ago were their first time to attend Mass at the school. Unfortunately, the field trip to Dewberry Farm was canceled, and the teachers are looking for a date to reschedule it .The Pre-Ker’s have had a very important and interesting quarter!
   







Kindergartners perform their annual Christmas Nativity play.

Kind Kindergartners
By Beatriz Eade
News Editor
 
             This past quarter has been extremely busy for the Kindergartners and their teachers. During Halloween, the students made pumpkins and cats. They also dressed up in their Halloween costumes. The Saints Parade also took place during the month of November. For the parade, students dressed up as their chosen saint and walked around the gym at the beginning of Mass. After Mass, the students went back to the classrooms and presented three facts about the saint they chose. The students also all sang a song together.
            During November and Thanksgiving, the students made a cornucopia, Native American feather hats, scarecrows, and a turkey. The turkey project was their main Thanksgiving project. The students disguised a turkey to keep it from getting eaten at Thanksgiving. They dressed their turkey in a costume to disguise them. The students also made centerpieces for their Thanksgiving dinner at home.
            The students went on their first field trip to the Oil Ranch. At the Oil Ranch, they milked a cow, rode on a train ride, rode on ponies, went into a maze, went on a hayride, did some team work activities, and rode on a school bus to the ranch. They had so much fun!
            For Grandparents’ Day, the students drew a picture of their grandparents. They also sang God Bless America and decorated a card that shows how much the students love their grandparents.
            The Kindergartners had many things planned for Christmas and Advent. Every year the Kindergarten students perform The Nativity Play. The play director Mrs. McCurry helped the students learn their lines and dances. They also made Christmas trees and Advent wreaths.
            The Kindergarten students have had a great quarter and are ready for the next one.
 
Festive First Graders
By Liam Walker
News Editor
 
            The first graders have kicked off the festive mood of the second quarter with fun Grandparents’ Day activities. They had an amazing performance in the gym in front of all the grandparents, where they sang the song A Great Big God and danced to it. During Halloween, the students created their own stories about what they would dress up as on Halloween night. The other students would read a different first grader’s story and guess who wrote it. They also created skeletons out of paper and paper plates to learn about the bones of the body.
             During Thanksgiving, the students expressed what they were grateful for in a writing assignment. Also, in their social studies classes they learned about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, where the Native Americans invited the Pilgrims to a feast.
For Advent, the students made Advent wreathes and packets about Advent. They discussed the meaning of Advent and symbols for Advent. For Christmas, the first graders created St. Nick puppets. They also learned about Jesus’ birth and the true meaning of Christmas.
                 When it comes to school work, the first graders have been achieving a lot. In math, the students were learning about fractions and probability, while in science, they learned about habitats, environments, and they discussed hibernation for an upcoming project. In religion, the first graders discussed Mary being the mother of Jesus, the story of the first Christmas, and learned the Hail Mary prayer. In social studies, the students learned the difference between needs and wants, and they also discussed services and goods. Later in January, the students will learn about the symbols of America.
In language arts, reading, and spelling, the first graders learned about long vowel patterns, verb tenses, and capitalization.
               When the first grade teachers give out homework, they sometimes use new sorts of technology. They give the students reading assignments on ThinkCentral for reading class. They also give the first graders websites that they can go on to study for science and social studies tests. The students can also read decodable stories online.
With all the new things that the first graders are learning, they will definitely be ready for the third quarter, and the following quarter after that. They are also learning many life skills which will help them in second grade and other grades ahead of them.
  
Asking For Forgiveness
  By Emily Colgan
Photo Editor
 
            During the second quarter, the second grade students were very active. In religion, they learned the Our Father, the Act of Contrition, the liturgical calendar, Advent preparation, and Reconciliation. In math, they worked on number patterns, cardinal numbers, and adding and subtracting using regrouping. In science, they studied the water cycle and states of matter. In all of their classes, they use technology. They use computers, IXL, the Mimio board, BrainPop, ThinkCentral, and religion websites.
            They worked on heritage, history, the government, especially Presidents, and they completed a project on their grandparents in social studies. In language, they learned about writing how-to stories, using vocabulary words correctly, writing letters, and writing spooky stories.
            The students studied for tests by using pretests, reviews, BrainPop, homework, Quizmo, and studying at home. For Advent, they created a project where they made a Nativity scene in their classroom for their peers to see. For Grandparents’ Day, they interviewed their grandparents and made a timeline of their life.
            They have been working very hard on their Reconciliation preparations, especially by memorizing the Act of Contrition. The second graders had a great second quarter!