Preschool - Mrs. Malone, Ms. Onkka
It’s winter! Ask your child to name an animal that hibernates. During January we have been talking about animals in the winter, winter weather and penguins. Did you know that there are 17 different species of penguins? Our themes have provided us with lots of opportunities for fun art projects. Students’ fine motor skills are really coming along! We will end the month talking about the ocean and looking forward to celebrating Catholic Schools Week. Catholic Schools Week offers us the opportunity to say “Thank you” for supporting preschool at St. Vincent de Paul School!
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Kindergarten - Mrs. Guinan, Mrs. Millar, Mrs. Vaughan
Our students have had their eyes on the skies this month! We've been learning about weather and different tools that are used to measure the weather. In math, we are practicing addition and subtraction problems.
With Ash Wednesday soon approaching, we will be preparing the students for Lent by discussing ways to following in Jesus' footsteps such as encouraging them to make sacrifices and making more time for prayer.
The students are very excited for Catholic Schools Week and all the fun activities planned for next week. They especially look forward to eating lunch on Wednesday with their parents!
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First Grade - Mrs. Kleffman, Mrs. Nigrin, Ms. Hermsen
Happy Catholic School Week! Thank you so much for making the decision to send your child to St. Vincent de Paul. We feel so privileged to be able to spend our days with your children.
We've blasted off with Rocket math this quarter! Please continue to review math facts with your child, as this is beneficial to their success with math fluency. Our unit on time and money will also be coming up. This is traditionally a more difficult skill for 1st graders, so if you have extra time, it's not too soon to begin reviewing these skills at home.
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Second Grade - Ms. Hargens, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Truscott
Thank you for attending the First Eucharist retreat. Ask your child to show you how to receive Jesus, and remind them how precious it is to receive Him. We will be working in the Blessed books at school, as well as sending them home for you and your child to work through certain chapters. We will let students know what chapter to be working through and when we will send the books home. Please keep the 2nd graders in your prayers as we continue to prepare for Holy Communion.
We will celebrate Valentine’s Day on Tuesday, February 13th. Your child may start bringing Valentines on Monday, February 12th, in a bag with their name clearly labeled on the outside. We ask that your child not write classmates' names on individual Valentines, but please make sure they sign their name! They will pass out Valentines on the 13th.
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Third Grade - Ms. Ruelas, Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Schofield
The third quarter has begun! The students are developing into independent learners as the year progresses.
Brrrrr! Cold weather is upon us. Even though it is chilly, the students enjoy getting outside. Please send your child/children with a winter coat, hat, and gloves. Boots may be worn when there is snow on the ground.
All basic multiplication and division facts 0-10 have been introduced and practiced. To help retain this knowledge, the students will continue to use XtraMath and Mastering Math Facts programs the remainder of the school year.
We are gearing up for Catholic Schools Week and looking forward to celebrating in many fun ways. We are so blessed here at St. Vincent de Paul School!!!
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Fourth Grade - Mrs. Madison, Mrs. Thede, Mrs. Caito
In social studies classes in January, students learned all about the Oregon Trail and the hardships along the way. They discussed which animal they would have bought: mule, horse or oxen?? How would they spend their money when they were preparing to make the journey? They had a great time contemplating these decisions and even got to play the original Oregon Trail video game!
Happy New Year! It is wonderful having the students back after the extra long Christmas break. In science class, we have been exploring the different parts of a plant and their functions. Students enjoyed observing different flower parts, cones, and spores under a microscope.
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Fifth Grade - Ms. Salerno, Mrs. Jones, Ms. Stec
The 5th graders have been working on a pronouns unit in English. We will put these skills to use in our writing. We are consistently improving our editing skills with daily oral language practice. Students have begun studying about our nation’s government, and completed their 50 state geography test before Christmas break. We will move on to learning the state capitals for the third quarter. The students are also continuing on in their first unit of biology, having investigated how energy and matter move through organisms and the ecosystem. Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped with the classroom Christmas parties. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
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Sixth Grade - Mrs. Wane, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Guinotte
English - Students have the first half of the Verb unit and are starting to explore punctuation. Gone are the days of one or two sentences to edit. Students are now looking at paragraphs and catching the various errors that writers can make.
Literature - Students are finishing a poetry unit in which they have been writing a variety of different poems that include imagery, rhyme, simile, and other figurative language. Students will begin their next novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the last week of January. This novel usually prompts great class discussions. Be sure to ask your child about the novel.
Math - Students just finished the integers unit where they practiced completing various operations with both positive and negative numbers. We also focused heavily on order of operations, as this is a skill that will carry over into our remaining chapters. We are now starting our unit on everyone's favorite topic--fractions! We have started with the basics of fractions and will continue onto adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Students will then apply this knowledge to decimals and percentages.
Science - Students will focus on identifying minerals and their uses and how minerals are mined. Students will mine for chocolate chips to see how mining affects the Earth.
Religion - Students will focus on the meaning of each part of Mass, the order of Mass and what the priests wear at Mass.
Social Studies - Right before Christmas break, we wrapped up on unit on Ancient Egypt where the students created their own pyramids! Next up is our unit on Ancient India.
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English - Mr Leever
7th and 8th grade English—Students have been studying types of pronouns with an emphasis on using subject, object, and reflexive pronouns correctly.
For our next writing assignments students will write an informative essay. The focus will be on Introductions, thesis statements, conclusions and incorporating strong transitions in the body paragraph topic sentences.
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Science - Ms. Kolberg
7th graders
Seventh graders are working on differentiating between the types of diffusion. We have been in the lab using orbees and eggs without shells to actually view this process first hand. We also are working on photosynthesis and will start cellular respiration in the next few weeks. We are also hoping that our seeds we planted will start growing!
8th graders
Eighth graders have been working on identifying elements, compounds and mixtures. Our first task was to separate a mixture of sand, salt, seeds and iron. We will soon start on identifying chemical reactions - but don’t worry, we won’t blow up the lab!
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Math - Mr. Polacek
Factoring is leading the way in February for the Algebra classes. The classes will be finishing up the very challenging chapter sometime this month. Next up for the Algebra classes, we will be jumping to Chapter 10 for graphing and solving Quadratics. The methods used there will be completing the square, square roots, and the quadratic formula. They should be able to sing it to you by the end of the month!
The Pre-Algebra classes have another big Algebra chapter looming after a review of Probability. It will be writing and solving inequalities and should be having them write out lots of work by the end of the month. The 7th grade Math class is finishing up Probability and will start a long journey into the angles, curves and shapes of Geometry.
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Religion - Mr. Dunn
Seventh-grade students are studying Christ in the New Testament, exploring the Gospels and the Letters of Paul. Students are reminded to continue to work on their Sponsor, Saint, and Service packets.
Eighth-grade students are analyzing Christ in the Liturgy with a focus on the Sacraments. Emphasis will be placed on the Sacrament of Confirmation as they prepare to be Confirmed.
Maranatha!
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Literature - Mrs. Fosbender
The eighth-grade literature students have started to read, “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. Some of the strategies the students will be working with this novel is note-taking through journaling, research, and developing their own 3D Utopia Society.
Seventh-grade literature students will also be working on note-taking through journaling. Students will be learning the different kinds of poetry. Each student will create their poems and make it into a “Book of Poetry.
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Social Studies - Mrs. Sullivan
The 7th graders recently finished up an exploration of Europe. They used guided notes to learn about Europe, its history, location, physical geography, the countries and capitals, etc. Next, they will be working on a study of Africa which will include specific country research as well as an end-of-chapter project.
The 8th graders just finished working on their Archdiocese History Hall of Fame project. The students chose a person to be inducted into the “History Hall of Fame”. They wrote a 2-4 page research paper, created a project, and gave a presentation to the class. Next up will be studies of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
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Art - Mr. Pflaum
Kindergarten: The students are working on an acrylic winter painting.
First-grade: The first-graders are creating a Picasso-inspired snowman illustration.
Second-grade: The second grade students are using watercolors.
Third-grade: The students are making paintings based upon abstract artist, Sean Sculley.
Fourth-grade: The fourth-graders have been introduced to contemporary artist, Grant Haffner.
Fifth-grade: The students are learning about observational drawing.
Sixth-grade: The sixth-graders are creating a half-n-half drawing.
Seventh-grade: The students are continuing with their printmaking project.
Eighth-grade: The eighth-graders have been introduced to the Holocaust Memory Project.
Samples of student work can be viewed on the SVdP art instagram gallery: https://www.instagram.com/svdpmrpflaumart/
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Computer - Mrs. Kuhr
Kindergarten & 1st Grade - We had our first chance this year to get onto codeSpark. This is a great site we visit up to second grade. It is full of puzzles where students have to use coding skills to move their Foo around obstacles.
2nd Grade - Students are going to start to create their own games in codeSpark. There is a tutorial that will walk them through creating and coding a game.
3rd Grade - Students are finishing their first coding project in Scratch. They were introduced to Scratch and created a program where they had to code a dance party. We will be starting our Google Earth project next. They will find letters to their name in Google Earth, take a screenshot, and add the photos to a Google Drawing to create their name.
4th Grade - Students are finishing their first Scratch coding project of the year by creating a maze game. They learned different ways to move sprites and animate them.
5th Grade - Students have already started coding their Interactive State Presentation Game. They will code a platform game. Once the player sprite touches a prize information about their state is given.
6th Grade - Students are starting their Scratch coding project where they coded an avoid-the-obstacles-style game. This is always fun to code and fun to see how they make this game their own.
7th Grade - Students are starting computer class coding their own Flappy Bird-style game in Scratch. This project will combine elements they learned in 6th grade in Scratch and animation in Wick Editor.
YEARBOOK - We are looking for photos to add to our yearbook. Please send photos to kuhra@svdp-school.org. Thank you.
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Educational Strategists - Mrs. Heavey, Mrs. Price, Ms. Bousquet
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Guidance - Mrs. Skudlarek
Happy New Year! All guidance classes set a resolution this month! We discussed that a resolution is something that you are going to do or change. In kindergarten, first, and second grade we read the story, Squirrel's New Year's Resolution. They brainstormed ideas for their own resolution. Many examples that were shared included helping others, being more kind and practicing more with reading. They were so excited to write about this resolution and share with others. In third grade we read, The Night Before New Year's. Students brainstormed their ideas for a good resolution. A few of their examples were eating more vegetables, reading more, and less screen time! We will check back in on these resolutions in a few weeks to see how everyone is doing. In fourth and fifth grade we read The Most Magnificent Thing. In the story the character sets out to build a side cart for her dog to ride on when she is on her scooter. After failing multiple times, she takes a walk to think through what needs to be changed. We discussed the important of setting a goal and understanding that it will take time and will not happen in one day. The sixth, seventh and eighth grade students also set a resolution. These students are thinking more critically and shared examples such as organization, consistently completing homework on time, listening better at home and school and getting along with siblings. I love the work I get to do with students each day and their examples of ways they would like to make small changes reminds me how lucky we are to have such great kids at SVdP.
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HAL - Mrs. Miller
January has been another productive month in HAL math. The 4th and 5th grade classes both tackled computation with fractions. The 6th grade pre-algebra class finished up a long unit on solving equations, and now they will move onto solving inequalities. Algebra students just completed their unit on factoring polynomials and will begin radical expressions next. In the junior high HAL literature classes, the students continue to work on their novel projects. The 8th graders are writing a color poem and creating their own utopias for their book The Giver. The 7th graders are learning to master a 2-minute mystery as we read The Westing Game. The novel has been a challenging one to follow.
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Media Center - Mrs. Kaiser
t’s a busy time in the library! Students in grade K and 1 are focusing on illustrators and how each one has their own style. Grade 2 is starting to use the digital card catalog. Grade 3 is reviewing genres while Grade 4 uses Little Bits Science kits to build a working art machine. Grade 5 is learning about circuits and will build a greeting card with a working circuit. Grade 8 will be working on media literacy: how to evaluate a source and be wise consumers of online information.
Thank you to the following students and their families for donating a book to the library in honor of their birthday: Madelyn Schmit, Andrew Stillmock, Caroline Stillmock, Cooper Conrady, Jake Armbruster, Tilly Janulewick, Julia Luetkenhaus, McKenzie McMillan, Colin Horgan, Libby Nielsen, Hayden Audino, Lydia Peters, Porter Pyle and Augustus Schroen.
Thank you also to the Sands family for their donation of books for our library and Holy Name school.
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Music - Mrs. LeMense P - 5
The 1st and 2nd Graders are going to get wet!!
For our February 29th program we’re going to out to sea!
Find your floats and flippers!! We’re going to use props!!
5th Graders are going to begin ukuleles in the next week!
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Music - Mrs. Goodwin 6 - 8
A great start to the semester here in middle school music!
In sixth grade we began a unit on the elements of music. Students are learning about real life scenarios where these terms are used to give them an appreciation for the music they listen to.
Our seventh graders began a small unit on composition. We’ve learned and applied both written and digital composition. It has been great to see your students excited about making music!
The eighth graders began a valuable unit on music history. We began in ancient times and will go through the early 20th century to see the evolution of music and how the church impacted western music.
Our musical is well under way with rehearsals consisting of speaking, acting, and dancing. We even have several students helping out with making sets and props, moving props on stage, and helping with costumes! The students have been working very hard and we hope you will come see the production on March 21st at 6:00pm in the school gym.
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PE - Mrs. Conry
The 7th & 8th graders began the SNAG® program, which stands for “Starting New at Golf.” It is a FUN game that is EASY to learn and can be played ANYWHERE. SNAG™ contains all the basic elements of golf but in a modified form. Falling somewhere between miniature golf and regulation golf, SNAG allows for full shots, pitching, chipping, and putting. Its design makes it both safe and portable, allowing instruction, practice, and play to take place both inside and outside.
The students ended the unit with an assessment to see how much they learned. It was fun and a lifelong sport they they can play for many years to come.
I would like to thank all the volunteers for taking time out of their busy schedules to help with this unit. I certainly enjoyed their help and I know the students did too.
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PE - Mr. Boone
Rolling into the new year didn’t get off to the start that we had hoped for with all of the snow days. However we proceeded ahead. All grades K-6 worked on their gymnastics and parkour skills. The students worked on their balance and strength, jumping and landing skills, as well as using weight transfer. Moves such as a tripod, front scale, shoulder stands, tuck jumps, heel clicks, forward rolls, log rolls, and partner/small group balance challenges were covered. During the parkour session, the students learned to balance on objects, land correctly from higher heights, and how to vault over objects. The latter half to he unit is typically the favorite of everyone because they are able to express themselves freely through and obstacle course using the skills that we covered.
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Spanish 2nd-4th - Mrs. McDermott
Students in 4th grade Spanish are learning the four seasons in Spanish: el otoño (Fall), el invierno (Winter), la primavera (Spring), and el verano (Summer). They are also practicing the months of the year by reciting what months occur in each season. Soon we will be talking about the weather in each month and season.
Students in 3rd grade Spanish are learning the names of over 35 animals. They will be discussing what animal they like and dislike using “Me gusta” and “No me gusta”. They will draw and write about these animals, describing them with a color and some other adjectives
Studens in 2nd grade Spanish are learning the names of family members. They are also learning how to identify feminine and masculine words. Most feminine words end with the letter "a" and have the article "la" (the) before the word. Most masculine words end with the letter "o" and have the article "el" (the) before the word.
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Spanish 5th-8th - Mrs. Singh
¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Happy New Year!
Spanish students in grades 5-8 have discussed New Year traditions in Spain…including the custom of eating 12 grapes as the clock strikes midnight on New Years Eve. In Spanish, New Years Eve is called “Nochevieja”…literally meaning “the old night”.
Instead of making one resolution for the year, students wrote a goal / resolution for each of the 12 months and decorated a picture of 12 grapes…each grade has their goal written in Spanish.
We are practicing using online dictionaries and knowing the difference between using an online dictionary and an online translator.
5th- Fifth grade students will finish the picture of their 12 grapes this week. Next, they will complete their slideshow of famous Spanish speakers and watch the entire class presentation.
6th - Sixth grade students started a project to report about the weather in a Spanish speaking country before Winter break. They researched the capital of the country and one other city in the country. They had to convert temperature information from Farenheit to Celcius. In January they will complete their presentations and present them to the class.
7th- Seventh grade students finished a foods unit studying breakfast foods. Their culminating activity for the unit is to create a breakfast menu for a Spanish speaking country. They included the prices in the currency of their country and wrote the conversion of $1 to the currency of their country.
They also included a dish that is typical in their country.
Next, we will continue to study foods and include foods for lunch and dinner.
8th- Eighth grade students made beautiful “Copos de Nieve” / snowflakes that were decorated with the conjugations of Christmas themed verbs.
We have been studying present tense verb conjugations. Starting in second semester, we will use present tense verb conjugations, then add a second verb in the infinitive form to talk about future activities. We will also review our past vocabulary of sports and hobbies by learning the places we go to play sports / do hobbies.
¡Gracias
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