Loving Lower Elementary

The Future Generation
By Beatriz Eade
News Editor
 
           The third quarter started off with Catholic School’s Week where the whole school celebrated Catholic schools. During this week, the Kindergartners enjoyed the many activities SJPII hosted, however they enjoyed the Talent Show the most. Although they didn’t all participate in the relay races, the students cheered on their teams, which were either was navy, burgundy, or gray.  
            During Groundhog Day, the Kindergartners made puppets and learned information from magazines. They also learned new songs, watched a YouTube video to see if the groundhog saw his shadow, read three different books about Groundhog Day, and sang the Groundhog Day song in the hallway.
            On Valentine’s Day, the children created Valentine’s Day bags with their family. They made colorful cards for their family, brought in Valentine cards for the class, and made heart necklaces. For Mrs. Weido’s bulletin board, the students in her class painted hearts.
For Mardi Gras, the students made masks and learned the meaning of Mardi Gras. The Saints Families picnic also went well this year at SJPII! The Saints Families met up on the playground, field, or pavilion. There, they ate their lunch and received a piece of King Cake with their family. “I really liked the King Cake,” said Anthony Almoosa, who is in Ms. Weido’s class.
During Lent, the children learned that Jesus died for us. They also learned that they should do good deeds of charity and forgive each other. The students applied what they learned in class and at home every day. The students then wrote down what they were giving up for Lent as well as making a prayer pocket.
                  School is not all fun and games! In math, the students finished learning about coins and coin values. In science, the students learned about the planet Earth, water landforms, living things, and nonliving things. The students are also starting to read chapter books and learning about long vowels.
                 This quarter has been a great learning experience for all the students in Kindergarten.
 
Leprechauns, Bluebonnets, and Mass
By Taylor Schababerle
Layout and Design Editor
 
            This past quarter the Pre-Kers have gone to Mass more often and they sat quietly and listened to the priest talk. They were very reverent and enthusiastic during their favorite part, the Alleluia. The day before the Lent Mass was the Saints Family Picnic. The Pre-Kers attended that, and they loved it. They also talked about the three colors of Mardi Gras, purple, green, and yellow. Then they made masks out of feathers in the three colors.
            When 100 days of school came around, the Pre-Kers had an action action-packed day. They counted to one hundred and brought in 100 small things. They weighed them against someone else’s and guessed which one would weigh more. Then they made a graph of one hundred by 10s and put 100 things on it. During center time they worked on counting and their A, B, C’s. They also have learned using science, puzzles, art, the iPads, and Legos.
            For Lent, they talked about how Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. The Pre-Kers also discussed what they were going to give up for Lent. The teachers told the story of Walter the Baker and the pretzel. The students learned that the pretzel represents the Trinity.
            One of the Pre-Kers’ biggest traditions is the Leprechaun Party. While the students were at Mass, the leprechauns came and decorated their three classrooms. There was glitter, shamrocks, confetti, and gold coins all over their rooms.
            For Go Texan Day, they made bluebonnets and horses. The bluebonnets were made out of the student’s fingerprints, and the horses were made out of paper and brads. They colored them and the teachers attached the legs, head, and tail with brads. The Pre-Kers had a fun-filled third quarter!   
 
 
Learning about electrical currents is part of science in first grade.

First Grade Fanatics
By Liam Walker
News Editor
 
            The first graders have been working hard all year, but the third quarter was definitely the most productive and beneficial quarter so far. The students kicked it off by celebrating Ash Wednesday. They learned all about the day, how significant it is, and received their ashes along with the whole school.
            Then came Valentine’s Day, where the students created candy grams for other students. In addition, they learned all about St. Valentine and the origin of the day itself. Also, the first graders celebrated Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday, with their Saints Families. They had a picnic outside, received King Cake, and wore colorful beads to school.
            The students have also been doing lots of new things in their classes. In math, they discussed time and money, learning the different measurements of both. In science, the first graders learned about energy, heat, light, and sound. They talked about vowel blends and scientific spellings in language arts, spelling, and reading. While in religion, the students learned about angels, and even memorized the Guardian Angel prayer. In social studies, the students learned all about the state of Texas. They created a Go Texan project and learned the Texan song Deep in the Heart of Texas.
            The next quarter is also going to be very big for the first graders. They are going to act out our school’s traditional Pope Play. The students will also take part in a poetry project, where they will memorize any poem they want, then present it to the class while dressing up in an outfit that ties in with their poem. Another big thing happening in the fourth quarter is their field trip to the Arboretum. Here the students will walk through and learn about many different environments.
            All in all, this quarter has been a fantastic learning experience for the first graders! They discovered many new topics and had lots of fun activities. If the fourth quarter is this good, then these students will have the best school year yet.
 
Stepping Into Rhythm
By Andrew Thampoe
Technology Editor
  
            The third quarter has started, and the second graders are very used to the routine that they follow.
            In math, the second graders worked with fractions, and they reviewed addition and subtraction concepts. In language arts, the students transitioned from adjectives to adverbs. They worked on past and future tense verbs. They will soon start to write short stories and paragraphs. They read a story about St. Valentine to learn about the history of Valentine’s Day.
            In social studies with Mrs. Campo, the students learned about economics. They learned about the concepts of supply and demand, as well as budgets. Also, they made their own personalized business cards. In science, the students learned about types of minerals and rocks, and they studied the layers of the earth. In their religion class, they learned about the Ten Commandments and about the parts of the Mass. 
            Lent has started, and the second graders made their resolutions for Lent. The students prepared for their First Reconciliation and their First Holy Eucharist. They learned the Act of Contrition, and our chaplain, Fr. Scott Blick, will be helping the second graders with their confessions in April. Also coming up, the second graders are making decade rosaries for a mission.
            The IOWA and CogAT tests are coming up, and the students in second grade prepared for the tests. They learned about informational text as well as reading comprehension. They received packets with passages and questions. They read the passage, highlighted the important information, and then answered the questions that pertained to the passage.
            The technology in the second grade classrooms has allowed the students to use the online textbooks to practice math and reading skills and also to play educational games. They use the computers for BrainPop, ThinkCentral, and IXL. The teachers also used their Mimio Boards to teach the whole class using interactive projection.
            The second graders were “stepping into rhythm” in the third quarter.