South Boston Catholic Academy

For the past three weeks preschool children have been visiting a variety of different farms[via the internet]. We are learning about how farmers work so hard to give us all kinds of foods and clothing.We visited a dairy farm and watch the farmer milk his cows;we saw pigs and pigletts ;the chicken house and even counted as a worker collected the eggs.The children also were very excited to see a sheep farm ; we even watched a sheep sheering.It’s certainly alot of work being a farmer. Last week our theme was the four food groups. We talked about were we get our dairies. The children  all remembered their visit to the dairy farm and could say were dairy foods like eggs, butter,milk,yogurt,ice cream etc. come from. As for meats that was a little harder for them to recall. Fruits were easy ;they all knew were fruits come from and how we get them.Our last group, the grain group, was the hardest . Most of the children when asked were do we get grain answered from cows[ you can tell they are city kids] We watched a great video about how grain is grown and harvested. We even saw how the grain is made into flour[it's just so interesting] This week is about the air and pollution .Please ask them about a trick with a bottle and water. We are having a great time discovering our world and all it’s BLESSINGS. Believe me the greatest blessings  of all are your children!

 Computer Lab — A reminder to the school community – adopt good security practices. Never give your passwords to anyone else – not even your friends. Strong passwords help protect you, your computer, your files and your privacy.                                                                   

                That being said, and in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, file this under Computer Lab humor:

During a recent password audit at the Bank of Ireland it was found that Paddy O’Toole was using the following password:“MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofyBerlin When asked why he had such a long password he replied: “I was told it had to be at least 8 characters long and include one capital!”

Students in 3B learned about homelessness and why as Catholics we are called to help!  Students organized a 100 Calorie Pack drive for the hopeFound shelter in Jamaica Plain.  Thank you to all who donated snacks!  The residents of the shelter are now able to receive a snack when they sign in to the shelter.

A special thank you to Elizabeth Condron, volunteer coordinator at the shelter, for coming and answering our questions about homelessness.  Students learned many things, but the most common fact was that homeless people have jobs and that not everyone who IS homeless LOOKS homeless!

In 2A, we have successfully started our unit on dinosaurs. The students pretended like they were paleontologists and made imprints into Play Dough of different types of objects! We have begun our study on fossils and life long ago! Everyone is very excited about this dinosaur unit! We are planning on visiting the Museum of Science before April Vacation for a Dinosaur/Fossil scavenger hunt!

Students will have Standardized Testing the week of March 22-26. Please be sure they get enough sleep and eat a good breakfast! There will be no homework that week,  however,  I will be sending home the Reading Log for them to complete each night!

Thank you for all you help and support with the students for double digit adding and subtracting with Regrouping! I think they really get the hang of it, which is amazing. I have already begun to revisit money, as I realize it was a tricky subject for students.

Upcoming Dates:

March 10- Book Orders due, Report Cards go home

March 12- Spelling Test, St. Patty’s Day Party

March 17- EVACUATION DAY- NO SCHOOL

March 18- TAG DAY

March 22-26- Standardized Testing

Thanks! Ms. Johnson

A few reminders:

Grades close on Friday, March 5, 2010.  It is also a half day dismissal is at Noon.

Report cards will be distributed on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

Grade 4 Math News:

The fourth graders have been working on long division it is a very hard concept to understand but everyone has been working very hard.  The fourth graders have also been working on understanding factors as well as prime and composite numbers.  A chapter test will take place on Friday, March 5, 2010. 

Grade 4 Science:

In science the students are learning about inverterbrates as well as verterbrates.  For some students this is a review but, for other students they are very excited to learn about the different phylums of each group.  

As always if you need to contact me please email me or call the school. 

Have a great week!

Mrs. Reilly

e.reilly@sbcatholicacademy.org

A few reminders:

Grades close on Friday, March 5, 2010. That day is also a half day, dismissal at Noon time. 

Report Cards will be distributed on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

Math and Science News: Grade 5

The 5th grade is moving right along in Math and Science.  Grade 5 is working on understanding basic Geometry skills.  This week the students will be working on understanding how to measure acute and obtuse angles as well as practicing how to use a protractor.  Other topics the 5th graders are working on in math are understanding different types of triangles and polygons.  We will be working on this topic for the next week or so with a quiz on Understanding Geometry on Tuesday, March 9, 2010. 

Grade 5 Science:

Students in grade 5 are understanding the states of matter as well as understanding: What’s inside Matter?, What are elements?, What are Compounds? and an introduction into the Periodic Table.  I hope to be working on a few experiments that go along with the following science topics.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

e.reilly@sbcatholicacademy.org

Mrs. Reilly

This week students in grade five are researching and writing mini-presidential biographies.  Using AutoShapes in Microsoft Word these biographies will be placed inside an Oval shape in keeping with the informal name for the President’s office in the West Wing of the White House.   Ever since the presidency of Richard Nixon, the term Oval Office has even been used to refer to the president himself as in “the order came directly from the Oval Office.”  Since the White House Oval Office is a working office, public visitors to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. are not allowed access.  However, by taking advantage of technology, students in grade five will take a “virtual tour” of the office using the Internet.

                        The children in Grade 1B celebrated their 100th Day last week. They made 100 day badges, worked in small groups with 100 pattern blocks and created masterpieces, learned a 100th Day poem, worked on 100 piece puzzles and interviewed 100 people about hot chocolate. Some children even have 100 books recorded on their “Read  At Home Reading Logs!” A special thanks goes out to the children in Grade 1B for a Super Job these past 100 Days!

Everyone who has visited the art room this week is raving about the mural being created in mosaics by grade 6.  Students are creating a beautiful art object.  In grade 8 students have been working on  an op art project in the style of Victor Varsarely. Grade 7 students arranged two still life set-ups and are developing their drawing skills.  In grade 3 students are finishing up on their Yackey-Yack puppets while grade 4 is using plaster to make faux fossils this week.  Check out www.artsonia.com to view pictures of our students finished art work.

In progress sea serpent mosaic by grade 6.