DECEMBER NEWSLETTER CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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1 NEWSLETTER DECEMBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS Dec Thanksgiving Break NO SCHOOL Dec School resumes Dec. 3 & BOOKMOBILE Dec Class Mass 1 st grade :00 Advisory Board meeting Dec Interim Reports go home Dec. 6, 13 & Words from the Heart broadcast on WTNS at 7:08 a.m. ** Dec. 6 (5 th & 6 th grades), Dec. 13, 20 (5 th grade) Dec. 10 1:00 Penance Service grades 3-6 Dec :00 Parish Council Dec Class Mass 3 rd grade Dec :00 & 7:00 Christmas Program Dec :00 Early Dismissal.... Christmas Parties Jan School resumes

2 CLASSROOM NEWS PRESCHOOL PRE-KINDERGARTEN Tt Hh Yy Nn Preschool has been very busy this month with new letters, songs, and colors. The children have been working on the letter H, T, Y, and N. Each week the students have a song to go along with the letter to help them remember the sound and work with letter recognition. It is a new curriculum that we have started using this year. The students and teachers seem to really enjoy it. Many parents have commented on how much the kids sing the songs in the car.not sure if this is a compliment or not. In any case, it seems to be doing its job with a bang! The students were extra excited this month to host a Thanksgiving feast in our gym. We sang songs, offered the blessing for the meal and even learned some sign language. The teachers, our fantastic helpers, and the students want to say a big thank you to all who attended. November always seems to pass through like a fast moving freight train and no matter how hard we try it disappears before we know it. We would like to take a min to stop and say thank you to all the people who make this possible for us to run such a fantastic program for your children. There are so many on a daily basis that we are afraid to miss any, but here are the ones we especially count on: Mrs. Christine Laudrach, Mrs. Tara Starcher, Mrs. Laurel Lauvray (who constantly puts up with could you please., Mrs. Stenner who is a constant support of all that we do, and each one of the families of our students. Our deepest sympathy goes out to the Alvarez family on the loss of Jayden. He was a shining light in our hallways and will be sadly missed!

3 KINDERGARTEN Qq Cc Gg This past month Kindergarten has been super busy! We learned to read, write and recognize the letters Qq, Cc and Gg. We worked on writing them neatly in handwriting, along with investigating their sounds. We brainstormed words that began with those sounds and we practiced writing them on the SmartBoard. The children love using the technology in the classroom. We also reviewed all of the letters we have learned so far this year. In math we worked on reading, writing and counting with the numbers 6,7,8,9, and 10. Next month we will be learning about comparing and ordering numbers from 0-10, one more and fewer, two more and fewer and ordering numbers using a number line. In writing we continue to explore using pictures and words to express our stories. Reading is always a fun time. The students enjoy going to the bookmobile and picking out books to read in the classroom. We do many read-a-loud times during the week and talk about what is happening and making predictions. In our social studies booklets this past month, we talked about pilgrims and turkeys! The students got to make their own I m Thankful for turkey which will be hung outside our classroom. We are all excited about the holiday season coming up! FIRST GRADE The first grade is preparing for Christmas in religion by learning about the season of Advent. We are discussing the importance of Jesus birth and ways that we can get ready for this special holiday. Students are talking about ways they can help others in need and how they can be more helpful at home. We are also talking about the joy of the Christmas season. I have challenged the children to put others needs before their own, so plan to give them an opportunity to do something for a family member, neighbor or other children this Christmas. Names are available on the Salvation Army tree in our church. It is a good opportunity for them to shop for others who are not as fortunate. This is also a good opportunity to teach them to appreciate and be thankful for what they have.

4 In math class we are continuing to work on learning how to add and subtract. Remember that games are a fantastic way for them to work with numbers and understand the relationship numbers have with each other and make a great Christmas gift. Christmas break is a good time to practice and perfect the reading skills that they have been learning. Students should read daily over break to ensure that they maintain or even improve their skills. It is also a good time to have a little peace & quiet during this busy time. SECOND GRADE As the school knows, our classmate, Jayden Prilaman, passed away November 12 after returning home from his trip to Disney World. We are sad for the family members and for ourselves, but we know Jayden has returned home to God where he no longer has pain. May he rest in peace. The second grade continues its preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We will learn the prayer of contrition by heart, saying we re sorry for our wrong choices and we will try harder in the future to avoid temptation. March 15, 2014 will be the day for the reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In reading, nature is the theme we are now studying as we explore stories about camping, parks and places in nature like ponds and woods. This is a high interest level for second graders. Reading non-fiction books on nature strengthen the students ability to use new vocabulary and context to learn about the world around them. Another high interest in second grade is weather and how it changes the earth. There is some worry along with the fascination in the students of the extreme weather conditions. Our safety drills help to give assurance that we have ways to stay as safe as possible. Talking about what you would do at home would give further reassurance. In math, we just finished with mental strategies to do addition and subtraction mentally. We use the hundreds chart to add on or subtract by counting back tens and ones. Now we start with adding two digit numbers that use regrouping. We will use concrete objects to show why we regroup or carry ten to the next place value column. Many children learn the mechanics of putting the one into the next column, but don t really understand why. Knowing WHY we regroup is key to future success in math. The Holey Cards are helping the students learn their basic addition facts by heart.

5 GRADES 3-6: SOCIAL STUDIES AND RELIGION Thank you to all those who were saving cans for Mrs. Andrews and the fourth grade. Your generosity is greatly appreciated! I would like to commend the fifth and sixth graders for sharing their gifts and talents on All Saints Day with our parish community as they served as servers, lectors, ushers and gift bearers. It was truly a celebration of the Communion of Saints. In religion classes the sixth graders continue with stories of faith. The sixth grade was learning about piety and prayer. They met Joseph of the Old Testament and read about his devotion and trust in God. Then we discovered how Joseph of the New Testament trusted in God. We learned about a special kind of prayer found in the Bible known as a canticle as we prayed the Magnificat. Fifth grade learned that Sacramentals that Catholics use are signs of God s Love. We understand that Sacramentals help us to stay close to God. We identified ways of using Sacramentals in our lives. Fourth grade learned about the seven sacraments and their how they were important to our covenant with God. We focused on the first three Commandments that help us to love God. We are currently connecting the Ten Commandments to the Lord s Prayer. Third grade discovered how Jesus taught us to pray. Jesus calls us to call God Our Father. We now know that prayer is a necessary part of our life. We learned the four kinds of prayers. We prayed the Our Father as we reviewed the message of the Gospel. In the subject of social studies, the classes have been learning from our Studies Weekly series newspapers that follow the common core standards for each grade s curriculum. Each Studies Weekly focuses on a scope and sequence appropriate for each grade level. Sixth grade focuses on World History and some of our topics for the past four issues have been: the ancient Egyptian architecture, African Kingdoms such as Kush, Ghana, Mali and Songhai, the ancient Israelites, and finally to ancient Greece with its geography as well as its civilization. Fifth grade s focus has changed to what we now call the New World which includes the USA, Canada, and Latin America. Fifth grade s topics for their issues were: the indigenous people in the New World, colonization of the New World by the Europeans, a timeline of important events for the United States and Canada. Fourth grade s focus is on Ohio. Fourth graders learned about the Archaic Indians, the Woodland Indians, the Late Prehistoric Indians, and the cultures of the Shawnee and Miami Indians of Ohio. Third grade s focus is on our community and other communities around Ohio. Third grade learned about: how communication changed throughout Ohio s history, how early settlers changed the Ohio environment, contributions and history of a number of cultural groups, and the different types of democracy.

6 LANGUAGE ARTS We have been very busy in language arts class with lots of reading and writing. The third and fourth graders are reading books about family traditions, and the children have been sharing those traditions celebrated in their own families. The book, The Keeping Quilt, is a personal narrative by Patricia Polacco. The author tells the story of her family s quilt which was made in Russia and handed down through generations. Each third grader brought in his/her baby quilt or blanket and shared its story. Then they wrote their own quilt story, describing when and by whom it was made. They told if it were handmade or machine sewn. Sophia summed it all up when she said, Everyone s quilt was made with love! Fourth graders have read Tanya s Reunion, a story describing how a family gathers at the old homestead, bringing not only food, but also family memories that were once a part of the original homestead. These included quilts, blacksmithing items, and even a wedding broom from the time of slavery when couples were not allowed to marry. They jumped the broom to symbolize entering their new life as married in the eyes of God and of their family. Each item held its own story. The students were invited to write a story of an item that is significant to their own family. Gathering for Thanksgiving may present an opportunity to talk with other family members and discuss how various items are important to your own family and have been handed down through generations. Perhaps you have a keepsake that you hope your child will give to his or her child someday. The fifth and sixth graders have begun a unit on mysteries. They wrote their own mystery story, so if you haven t read your student s narrative, Be prepared to be scared! They incorporated lots of dialogue, bringing more realism to their writing. The students are learning more about the mechanics of our language as they identify complex sentences and their independent and subordinate clauses and use quotation marks and other punctuation correctly. They ve read about Amelia Earhart and explored various theories surrounding her disappearance. Discuss with them what you have heard about this famous aviator. More mysteries that lie ahead include what happened to the dinosaurs and the Roman city of Pompeii. Just a reminder that Interim Reports will be December 6. By that date your child should have reached at least 50% of his goal for Accelerated Reader. Please be aware that recent reports also show the book level goal based on your child s ability. May this time of Thanksgiving and Advent serve as a reminder to us all of our blessings from God. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! II Corinthians 9:15.

7 SCIENCE AND MATH I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with family and friends. By now the 5 th and 6 th grade students should be working on their Science Fair research reports. Remember to keep track of your sources on the bibliography worksheet. We will use this to create our Bibliographies! The holidays also give students time to complete their experiment. Don t wait until the last minute! If something goes wrong, you won t have time to fix it. The fourth grade will be working to come up with a question for our class Science Fair Project. If you have any ideas that you would like us to consider, write them down and bring them in! We ll talk about them and then pick one as a group. In math both the 3 rd and 4 th grades are working to master multiplication. Knowing those math facts is a must! We are going to be playing some games with multiplication facts, so practice at home so you can help your team win! The 5 th grade is exploring decimals and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide them. The 6 th grade is working on mastering all aspects of fractions. They are also relating them to decimals and division problems. Have a wonderful Christmas holiday everyone! SAVE, SAVE, SAVE: Thank you to all of you who save Campbell s Soup labels and the General Mills Box Top for Education coupons. Your support is greatly appreciated! Some reminders: Please do not send in the entire label. The company will not accept them anymore. Campbell s will only accept the UPC code (include the scholar holding the pencil, also). General Mills will accept only those box tops that have been cut on the dotted line. Your help with this matter will be greatly appreciated, since this is a monumental task when we receive the volume of labels and box tops that we do. Please drop them off in the school office or in the box at the back of the church. Here is an example of what we need:

8 PTO: PTO would like to express great gratitude to the Alverson family for all of their hard work on our Tuscan Dinner this month!! We appreciate all that they do for our school and our kiddos!!! We are gearing up for our raffle ticket sales as a fundraiser for our school. Thank you so much to Austin and Amy Berry who so graciously take on this large feat. Make sure you get out and sell those tickets!!! December 19 will be the students Christmas program. On the door as you exit the gym please look for a Christmas tree or other decoration with your child s teacher s name on it. This is our way to say thank you to the teachers by getting them something on their wish list! No meeting in December.watch for the January date. Hope to see you there!!!!! Heather Stewart, President CAN DAYS: 1/10, 3/7, 5/2 WEBSITE: Please remember to visit our school website, for our monthly newsletter, lunch menu, etc. The first page of our newsletter has listed all the important dates and information for the month. ADOPT A STUDENT: Would you like to help pay a student s tuition? We need your help! Yearly tuition for a Catholic student is $2600 or $217 a month. A non-catholic student pays $3000 a year or $250 a month. If you are able to help with any portion of this cost, or you would like to just make a donation, please make your check out to Sacred Heart School and drop it off at the school office, mail it to 39 Burt Avenue, or put it in the collection basket and label it Adopt a Student. We really appreciate your help! We will keep you all in our prayers as we continue to provide a quality Catholic education for the children of our parish and Coshocton County.

9 Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you JUMP ROPE CLUB: The Jump Rope club meets on Thursdays from 3-4p.m. in the school gym. Any Sacred Heart student is welcome to attend. The club is lead by Sophia Kobel, who graduated from Sacred Heart last year. Sophia participated in a jump rope club in New Philadelphia and decided to start her own club here at Sacred Heart. The cost is $10 per month, due the first week of the month. If it would be easier, you may pay for the year, $90. You do not need to know how to jump rope to participate, we will teach you. All students are encouraged to participate in this fun and healthy activity! If you have any questions, contact Mrs. Kobel at school, or Sophia may be reached on Thursdays at the school. Sacred Heart sixth-grader Grace Gottwalt and other members of the jump rope club move down Main Street. The Magic on Main Street parade was held Friday night in Coshocton. The event put on by the Coshocton Towne Center Association, featured around 100 floats and groups marching along Main Street.

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11 The Prayer to Sacred Heart O Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of eternal life, Your Heart glows with complete love. You are my refuge and my hope. Most adorable and loving Savior, consume my heart with the fire of Your love. Pour down on my soul those graces that flow from Your loving heart. Let my heart be united with Yours. Let my will be conformed to Yours in all things. May Your will be the rule of all my desires and actions. Amen Sacred Heart School provides an education founded in the Catholic Faith. The entire school community strives to educate the whole child, developing caring, responsible, and contributing members of the church and society.