Growing in faith...Welcome!!
Please visit weekly and select tabs at the top of the page for our latest news, information, photos, and to see what your child is learning. Looking forward to a GREAT year! Calendar: Mar. 29-Apr. 6--No School, Spring Break Apr. 9--Return to school Apr. 9-12--Book Fair in PC Apr. 10--First Communion Parent Meeting, 7 pm in PC Apr. 12-- Field Trip to Carlyle Lake Conservation Center Apr. 15--Confirmation, 3 pm Rehearsal, 5 pm Mass at St. Peter Cathedral Apr. 20--Field Trip Apr. 27--Field Day May 1--May Crowning, 8:15 am Liturgy in the Church School Masses led by 5th Grade: (Readings, Petitions, Introductions will be given out to students the week before our class is assigned to lead the school mass. If your child has one of these roles, please help him/her practice pronouncing words clearly, confidently, over-enunciating if needed. Thank you for your efforts and support!) Sept. 6--Greeters: Andrew, Ian, Cale, Jorie Introduction: Jack Lector: Claire Petitions: Sam, Lily Gift Bearers: Charlie, Cammy Oct. 11--Greeters: Mateo, Braden, Cailyn, Patton Introduction: Claire Lector: Isaac Prayer Petitions: Jeremy, Lauren Gift Bearers: Avery, Cale Cantors: Bella, Brooke Nov. 15--Greeters: Aidan, Eddie, Sam, Patton Introduction: Cailyn Lector: Patrick Prayer Petitions: Cammy, Jack Gift Bearers: Lily, Jorie Cantors: Brooke, Bella Nov. 21--Cantors: Emelia, Claire Nov. 29--Cantors: Isaac (and Evan, 6th grade) Dec. 13--Cantors: Lauren (and Catherine, 6th grade) Jan. 10--Greeters: Jeremy, Charlie, Isaac, Aidan Introduction: Avery Lector: Lauren Prayer Petitions: Cailyn and Emelia Gift Bearers: Mateo and Andrew Cantors: Brooke and Bella Feb. 21--Greeters: Eddie, Braden, Avery, and Patton Introduction: Patrick Lector: Brooke Prayer Petitions: Lily and Sam Gift Bearers: Jorie and Eddie Cantors: Claire and Emelia Feb 28--Cantors: Isaac (and Evan, 6th grade) Mar. 14--Cantors: Lauren (and Catherine, 6th grade) Mar. 21--Cantors: Brooke and Bella Mar. 28--Cantors: Emelia and Claire Apr. 11--Cantors: Isaac and (and Evan, 6th grade) Apr. 25--Cantors: Lauren (and Catherine, 6th grade) May 2--Cantors: ?? May 9--Greeters: Ian, Joseph, Lauren, Jorie Introduction: Cammy Lector: Jack Prayer Petitions: Claire, Cale Gift Bearers: Isaac, Charlie Cantors: Brooke and Bella May 16--Cantors: Emelia and Claire May 23--Cantors: Isaac (and Evan, 6th grade) MONTHLY NOTES: AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER: A little bit of crazy, but a whole lot of fun! We have just begun... This month I will get to know the class. We met a couple of times in the Parish Center by the statue of St. Teresa getting to know names and faces, and then, visited the church the first week of school, while I frantically worked to complete the newly cleared out classroom space that had just become available when school started! I started the year setting the tone with what I hope will provide some structure for the year: Sacred Space, Covenant, Liturgical Roles, Listening to God thru Scripture and Mass experiences, Prayer, and our religion books. We discussed sacred space--what we saw in the church and how to make our own. What should go into it. What should not be in it. And, how we should behave to keep it a sacred space! I tried to incorporate as many of the items they mentioned as possible into our new space before they first entered: Mary, plants, a cross, candles, Jesus... They did a great job listing ideas for a sacred space. Please consider creating one at home with your child, if you do not yet have such a prayerful space in your home. Covenant: Rather than a list of rules to follow, we discussed what a covenant is--an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment--and made one with one another regarding how we will exist together in our sacred space. (See what they came up with on the Behavior Plan page of this site) An assignment--"What I Want to Learn About Religion": Each student wrote down their questions--Great questions! And, though it would probably take 10 years to cover them all well, we will tackle as many as we can this year! When we lead mass: we discussed what it means to be a liturgical minister at mass and how to do each role professionally. The main goal of a liturgical minister is to lead the assembly more deeply into prayer. No matter what role you have, this is the main goal. So, our actions must be intentional and not rushed, our words must be clear. The job of the Lector (not "reader") is to proclaim the Word of God!--not to "read." Reading is what we do with our face down in our books. Lectoring is what we do at an ambo where we proclaim God's Word clearly so that all can hear. See above for the dates that 5th grade is assigned to lead the school mass. Please join us! USCCB.org: I taught the class how to go to this website for all happenings and resource documents in the Catholic faith. It is the site of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. You can find current articles and new documents, and many informational links for learning about the Catholic faith. It is worth exploring when you have some free time. (Click on Links above for its direct link and others). But, this website also has a calendar on the home page. When clicking any date on that calendar, you can see the scripture readings for that day. In this way, you and your child can see the upcoming Sunday readings or your child can see the readings for any Wednesday school mass. On Wednesdays after Mass, we only have about 20 minutes of class time left, so we will use that time to reflect on the readings from mass using the process described below. Lectio Divina: Lectio Divina are Latin words meaning Divine Reading. It is a practice of Catholics in which we reflect on God's Word in the following steps. Lectio (Reading)—What does the text say that everyone should understand? Meditatio (Meditate)—What does the text say to me, today, and to my life? Oratio (Pray)—What can I say to the Lord in response to His Word? Contemplatio (Contemplate)—What conversion (change) of mind, heart, and life is the Lord asking of me? Actio (Act)—How can I make my life a gift to others? I taught the students this reflection at first with the reading of Jesus telling the story of the shepherd and the sheep, and saying that he is the Good Shepherd, John 10:1-5,14-16. Some of them had some great reflections on this scripture passage. I hope we will have more opportunities to practice Lectio Divina after masses on Wednesdays during the year. Religion Journals: I provided all students with their own small notebook to be used as a religion journal. In this notebook they can write their experiences of Lectio Divina or reflect on their experience at Mass. The hope is that we grow in our desire and ability to hear God's voice and what God might be trying to say to us today through his Holy Word or through our experience of communal prayer over at the church. I review their journal entries periodically. Journal entries receive up to 10 points at the end of each quarter. Religion Binders: I have also provided each student with a one inch binder to collect their religion papers and notes in. The binders can mostly remain in the room, but can be taken home to study for assessments or to complete assignments as needed. It is my hope that each student will have a collection of useful materials by the end of the year that they can return to in the future as they continue to grow in their faith. How to look up a Scripture passage in the Bible: When attempting to give an assignment in our online books, I asked who knew how to look up a verse in the Bible. Only about 4 hands went up. So instead of the assignment, I first taught all of us how to look up Scripture in the Bible. By the grace of God, 20 NABRE Bibles were donated to the school and we now have them to use in class! I am working on ordering 5 more. Please have a Bible at home for your child to use. For Catholics, please have a New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) or a New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). The NABRE is the version used at Catholic Masses. For families of other faiths, please have a Bible used by your faith for your child to refer to. Thank you! 5th Grade Religion Books: When attempting to give an assignment in a chapter in our online Sadlier Religion books, I discovered a few things. One was that, because it is not a downloadable e-book, we have to rely on the internet to work in our books. The internet is slow some days, the students have different browsers on their iPads which work at different efficiencies, some had forgotten their passwords. We literally could not be on the same page at the same time! This was a frustrating few days of wrestling with the online books. I talked to the Sadlier rep at the teacher's convention and asked about them creating a downloadable e-book like other publishers have. He said they may have one in a couple of years. Let's hope. OCTOBER: In this month of the Rosary, we will be praying a decade of the rosary after each Wed. School Mass. Please join us! On Thursday, Oct. 12, we will have a visit from 5 wonderful ladies who are members of the Rosary Group at St. Peter's Cathedral. They visit schools and PSR sessions and bring all the materials needed to teach children to make their own rosaries. We are very blessed that they offered to come to us!! Check our photos page to see our rosaries in progress! On Friday, Oct. 13, we will take part in a Living Rosary at the church at 8:30 am. Please join us and see our photos page for pictures. Also, this month we will begin to learn about many saints in order to be ready for the Feast of All Saints Day on Nov. 1st. In their "What I Want to Learn..." assignment, many of the students asked about the saints and the process of becoming a saint. We will begin to answer these questions during the months of Oct. and Nov. Our Images of Jesus: An extra credit assignment was given in which each student could create their own image of Jesus. They could draw, paint, use color pencil, oil pastels, chalk pastels, cut paper for a mosaic, use clay, or whatever medium they wanted to use. And, they were asked to write a line or two to describe the image they chose. We had drawings, clay figures, pipe cleaner creations, and stables constructed out of popsicle sticks and paper! Points ranging from 5 (Thanks for the extra effort), to 20 (You did an extraordinary job showing much time and effort) were awarded. Pictures of each will soon be on this website photos link. Many thanks to Mr. Birdsong for deciding the points earned! Images of Jesus will be on display in the hallway after the saints project is completed. NOVEMBER: We completed our Saintly Sensations project and offered it for other classes to experience. Students worked in groups of 2-3 to research a saint. Then, they created a written report and and oral presentation of the saint, including a box containing an item representing the saints life. The 7th grade visited on Thursday and 6th grade visited on Friday. Visitors listened to the oral presentations and then could reach inside the box to feel an item representing the saint. The students did a great job. Mr. Birdsong also experienced all of the presentations on Thursday and was impressed with their works. I hope to have a chance to load photos onto the site soon. Second Week: Students worked in groups to research the steps required to become a saint and each group created a poster of their findings On Wednesday, we attended mass and then needed to discuss (again) the great importance of needing to be respectful to God by participating by singing, praying, and not talking or disrupting others during Mass. Most students in class are very good at this and others have already begun to improve, while others are still struggling to remain quiet at Mass. As I helped distribute the Eucharist, they were watched by Mr. Birdsong, who then asked me to discuss Mass behavior expectations with them. Before Thanksgiving break, we finished a video clip about the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta called "The Story Behind Mother Teresa's Saree." You may watch it here http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/04/europe/mother-teresa-canonization/index.html and we reviewed a study guide on the Stages for Becoming a Saint We discussed the miracles that were attributed to St. Pope John XXIII, St. Pope John Paul II, and St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta and viewed websites and video clips about them. You may view them here: "Saint Pope John Paul II" http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.phpsaint_id=6996 "The Miracle that led John Paul II to sainthood" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqowyn5zwV8 "SaintJohnXXIII "http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.phpsaint_id=7305 "Mother Teresa is now Saint Teresa" http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/04/europe/mother-teresa-canonization/index.html We led Mass in the gym on Nov 15th, and then wrote Mass reflections in their religion journals. Our student leaders did an excellent job in their roles during Mass. Third week: On Monday we made Grandparent(Special Friend) Prayer Refrigerator Magnets that were handed out to grandparents and special friends on Tuesday. Tuesday was a wonderful day with all of the Grandparents and special friends visiting. It was very nice to meet so many of your family members and friends. I took lots of family pictures and hope to get those added to the website soon. There are collages of pictures on the wall in the hallway outside of our room, also. And, the students' Images of Jesus are on display there, too, until they want to take them home. I hope all of your family visitors had a great time here last week and that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! Final Week: We reviewed the study guide on the Process of Becoming a Saint and we studied for the quiz by participating in Quizlet Live on their ipads. This interactive study game randomly groups the students into groups of three or four and asks each of them questions from the study set. The groups work to be the fastest to answer and win the round. They love this activity. After several rounds of this, I had them stay in their final groups to write down everything they could think of about what they know about the Liturgical Year, which will be our next topic. Honestly, they came up with less information than I thought they would, so we will need to work on this topic through next week. I will be passing out the current Church liturgical calendar and the new one for next year, so that we can compare them and learn how to read them. I will be asking them to take them home and explain to you how the calendar works and have a parent sign the 2017 calendar once you understand it. On Wed, we attended Mass and then had quiet, individual time to make entries in our Mass Journals and study for Thursday's quiz. |
PARENT NOTES:
Homework: None! Have a Great Summer!!! It has been a joy and an adventure leading your children in Religion this year. May God bless them and your families with a wonderful summer break and blessed 6th grade year. May: In these last few days we discussed Chapters 23-24, covering Vocations and the Sacrament of Holy Orders. We watched a video on the priesthood "Fisher's of Men. " You may view it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGxWD9Yq73s We celebrated Pentecost as the birthday of the Church by singing Happy Birthday to the Church and eating cake!! Students are bringing home their Religion Journals and Binders this week. Please be sure to take some time to look through them with them and appreciate the works they did this year. Many of their projects are packed into the binder. Previously this month, we discussed Chapter 25, The Sacrament of Matrimony We finished making our own Roman Missals with all the parts of the Mass. No class last Wednesday due to the Althoff picnic Chapter 11 WS was completed in class. There was not any test on Chapter 11. Instead, students created their own Roman Missal with all of the parts of the Mass. We finished the Eucharist test and then discussed Chapter 11-The parts of the Mass. Great job by our leaders at Mass! -Held in the gym due to the morning rain. ***This is, perhaps, the most important teaching of the school year.*** We discussed the Eucharist by demonstration with grapes and wheat. We reviewed that discussion and their understanding of it. The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of the Christian faith--that from which everything comes and toward which everything aims. From the hard work of the human hand come the wheat of the fields and the grapes of the vines. From many wheat seeds, cracking open, and dying to their own selves, comes the one dough that makes the one Bread From many individual grapes pouring out their own selves comes the one Wine From many of our bodies dying to our own selves and pouring out our own selves comes the One Body!! The wheat and grapes of the bread and wine are a pure symbol of our sacrifices offered up to Christ for Him to take and offer as a perfect sacrifice of Himself to God the Father. When the bread and wine are carried forth during the presentation of the gifts, our very lives with our struggles, pains, sorrows, joys, love, talents, and everything we have are also placed on the altar at the Mass. And, as the bread and wine are consecrated, and their very substance is changed, and they become the Body and Blood of Christ, our lives are also consecrated, made holy, and we leave Mass having our own substance changed, as well. We become the One Body and then, we are commissioned to go forth and bring about God's Kingdom. This is why we go to Mass. This is not something we can do alone in our homes as we pray privately. This is why we come together. We need one another to become the One Body and Christ's needs us for God to become "all in all," for God's Kingdom to Come. May God's Kingdom come. May His will be done. May we cooperate with God's grace, and make the choices in our lives that bring about God's Kingdom. Students watched videos on Eucharist and completed a worksheet. You can watch them by googling Busted Halo Eucharist 201: What We Believe and Busted Halo Eucharist 101: How We Receive We completed Chapter 10 and homework. No class the first Wed in May due to Mass and Virtue Awards. April: We completed lessons and testing on the Sacrament of Confirmation With a demonstration of adding chocolate syrup (grace) to white milk (us), we talked about how Confirmation completes the grace received at Baptism, and how they need to cooperate with the gifts of the Holy Spirit (stir it up) to use the gifts God gives them. They are not gifts to just sit idly in our souls (like chocolate at the bottom of the glass), but gifts to be shared and used out in the world. We also organized missing homework assignments, late homework, and ones that had no names and/or were incomplete. Please remind your children that we are not at the end of the year yet, and support and encourage them to remain focused. Many grades have been dropping. They need to remain vigilant and continue to focus on school. There is still much work to be done in classes before the actual end of the year. Thank you for your support. The students did a group exercise looking at Bishop Braxton's requirements for Confirmation Candidates in this diocese. Students got to think about what they feel is essential for candidates to know and to do before being considered ready to receive this Sacrament that completes our initiation into the Church. After Easter Break, we were finally able to discuss Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil and their experiences of those Masses. We read the blessing of the Easter candle and received a handout on the significance of each of the symbols. We also talked briefly about a Seder Meal and received a handout with all of the foods served there that symbolize the Passover meal rituals of the Jewish people. We discussed the Sacrament of Confirmation in Chapters 8 and 9 and completed worksheets on both chapters. We did not have class after Mass on Apr 11 We did not have class April 12 due to their field trip. Apr 13, we watched a video on the Sacrament of Confirmation. It can be found at https://bustedhalo.com/video/confirmation-why-were-confirmed During class, we filled in a short worksheet on the video. Before Easter break, an Easter egg hunt was scheduled for after Mass. Who knew?! With limited time left for our class session, the students wanted to discuss Monsignor's homily. Many of his teachings were the same as what we just learned about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the students noticed this. Peter denied he knew Jesus, but this was a case of fear, human weakness, and bad choices with no previous intent to deceive Jesus. Judas intentionally, knowingly betrayed Jesus and, in the end, lost all hope for himself, not believing in a forgiving God. Jesus forgave Peter who told him he loved him three times. Msgr David compared this to the difference between mortal and venial sin, and he asked if we thought Jesus would have forgiven Judas if he had gone to Jesus and asked. We agreed that he would have, but Judas did not attempt any reconciliation. Peter, on the other hand, felt great sorrow and was contrite. Ultimately, despite his weaknesses, he was given the gifts of the Holy Spirit and was entrusted with the responsibility of being the first leader of the Church. We did not have time before break to discuss the blessing of the new Easter (Paschal) Candle that will take place at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night, nor could we talk about what a Seder Meal is. So, I will attempt to started with these topics when we returned from break, while we are still in the Easter Season. The handouts were added to their religion binders. I hope the students were able to experience as much of the Holy Triduum, our three holiest days of the year, as possible for your schedules. The Mass of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday with the washing of the feet, and the service on Good Friday with the veneration of the cross at the hour of Jesus' death are very powerful experiences of our faith beliefs and our traditions. And, the Easter Vigil Mass, when the new fire, the new Paschal Candle, and the new waters are blessed is considered the mother of all masses. These Masses are longer than our usual Sunday masses but, they are packed with our rich Catholic traditions and only happen once a year. I hope you all had a blessed Holy Week! March: We reviewed Chapters 15-18 about the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick and took a test on the material. We attended Mass on Wednesdays. We reflected on an Examination of Conscience in order to prepare for the Reconciliation Service held on Monday. Those who are Catholic went to the Sacrament of Reconciliation after the service. Those who are not read in the cafeteria. Non-Catholics still reflected on the Examination of Conscience as a spiritual reflection exercise for self-growth. We completed the Unit One review worksheet, going over the terms we have learned this year. (Due to the frequent time-consuming need to hunt down missing assignments, we are doing more in-class assignments.) We took the test on the Sacrament of Baptism. We discussed the National Student "Walk-out" and how we must instead keep order at our school to keep all of them safe. So, as Catholics at a Catholic school, we respond with prayer. We prayed a decade of the rosary after Mass on Wed, and we have had prayer intentions for the school shooting in Florida at our Masses ever since it happened. We also talked about a need to "Walk-Up" instead of "Walk-Out" which is an encouragement to walk up to our classmates who sit alone, eat alone, work alone, or feel alone and begin a conversation with him or her, and also challenge others to do the same, in order to help someone who feels alienated start to feel included. We finished going over the Rite of Baptism Book. We explored the Baptism Rite prayers and promises and symbols as they are found in Chapter 5 of our Religion Book and completed the worksheets. We completed reviewing Chapter 4 and the worksheet handed out. Wednesday we did not have class due to Mass and a school-wide art project Last week, we discussed the readings from Mass and how their messages apply to the students. They wrote in their journals. Then, we read and reflected on the Scripture passage of the Samaritan Woman at the Well (John 4:5-42), Jesus' encounter with her, how the "living water" that Jesus talks about are actually the waters of Baptism, and why this is so important for us. February: We discussed the Sacrament of Baptism. We completed a worksheet on the video found at www.bustedhalo.com/video/baptism Due to Catholic Schools Week and events before that, I did not have the students regularly during this month. We got back to somewhat of a normal schedule last week. This month, students each created a Sacrament Poster listing all the Sacraments with Scripture Notations and symbols for each. They also worked on group projects with each group creating one large poster for one Sacrament. Individual and Group posters were hung in halls for Open House and remain on display. Students also each created an accordion style mini-book of all the Sacraments and Symbols. We completed a chapter and other materials giving an Overview of the Sacraments, and they took their test. January: Sacraments--Ch 3. Study Packets were turned in We had no class after Mass last week due to a school art project We had half of a class session due to a Camp Ondessonk Presentation We did not have class on the half day with group pictures in the morning After the Monday holiday, we continued to study sacraments in general, their types and symbols. I hope everyone had a blessed holiday break MANY THANKS!! to those of you who donated gift items to the children at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital for our Advent Service Project. Mrs. Klaus and I delivered about 80 gift bags to the hospital on the Wed before Christmas. Thanks so much! We had a short time to discuss the Feast of the Epiphany and the meaning of the three gifts brought by the magi: Gold for a king who is King of all the universe, frankincense for worshiping him as God, and myrrh to anoint him as our Savior who died for our sins and brings us New Life. Then, we celebrated the Epiphany Prayer Service in the gym. Many thanks to Cammy, Lauren, and Claire, our three magi, who did a fantastic job teaching grades K-4 about Epiphany, the three wise men, the gifts, and the blessing of the homes. Please used the blessed chalk and the prayer card that is coming home to bless your homes. 5th grade led Mass on Wed Jan. 10 at 8:15 am. We had an Epiphany Prayer Service with a blessing of the school at 9:30 am in the gym. Please join us! Congratulations!! to those who earned the opportunity to be our 3 Magi during the Epiphany Prayer Service this Friday at 9:30 am in the gymnasium...Mateo, Cammy and Claire!! with Lauren as an alternate Half of the class submitted reports and received extra credit. Congratulations to all of them on their extra efforts, and especially to Mateo, Cammy, and Claire for submitting work that truly stood out. During our Epiphany Prayer Service, they dressed in Wise Men costumes bearing the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. After the Prayer Service, they accompanied me to classrooms as we explained the prayer of blessing of the homes and marked each doorway with the symbol of the blessing prayer. Home blessing cards were sent home with each student. Please use the blessed chalk and instructions and the blessing prayer to bless your home over the weekend in celebration of Epiphany. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and is the last day of the Christmas season. THE THREE WISE MEN: I explained to everyone how 3 of our 5th graders could earn a chance to be one of the three magi at our Epiphany Blessing of the School prayer service on Friday, Jan. 5th at 9:30 in the gym. They will need to submit a short report on one of the three magi, Caspar, Melchior or Balthazar. Whichever three students (male or female) submit the best 3 reports will get to dress up as the three wise men and go room to room blessing each classroom and answering questions about who they are to the younger grades. All wise men reports will receive extra credit. Some students are choosing to do a report for extra credit, even though they do not want to participate as one of the magi. This is a great idea, and I encourage doing extra credit any time it is offered. DECEMBER: In early December we attended the Advent Penance Service and received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Students should keep their bi-fold pamphlet with the steps for going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Act of Contrition prayer, and a Children's Examination of Conscience. We will be use them again for the Lenten Penance Service next year and also, when we focus on the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the spring. As a preparation for confessions, I asked them all to spend some time in prayer and quiet reflection on the questions given in the examination of conscience. I asked non-Catholic students to also reflect on these questions. They were all asked to consider ways they may have gotten off-track, away from God's ways, and how they could get back on-track, becoming closer in relationship to God. This is part of our Advent preparations, preparing our hearts to celebrate the coming of God's greatest gift, Jesus. My thanks to Patrick and Claire who did a great job as Readers at the Advent Penance Service! Before Christmas break, we took a test on the Liturgical Year. We have talked about St. Nicholas, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and the liturgical year. We reviewed the Liturgical calendar by responding to questions. Those with correct answers got to add a piece of clothing to the snowman in an activity on our online Advent calendar shown on the Smartboard. (He's looking pretty spiffy! --very silly, but kind of spiffy) Wednesday, Dec. 6, they had mass and then worked on their monthly art project, so we did not have religion class. After their quiz, I handed out the 2017 Liturgical Calendar. We learned how it is different than our civil calendar and how to find the Liturgical seasons, interpret the liturgical colors, and find the days of the week and month. We also talked about how there is a three year cycle to the Liturgical calendar: Year A, Year B, and Year C and that the Gospel readings for the Mass are different each year. Year A has Gospels from Matthew, Year B from Mark, and Year C from Luke. We just finished Year A and began Year B on the First Sunday of Advent, Dec. 3rd. We talked about their experiences of teaching the liturgical calendar to a parent. We went to the gym for the Blessing of the School Advent Wreath ceremony with Msgr. Darin. Advent: Earlier last month, when I asked what the first day of the Liturgical year is, no one could answer!! I told them we will have a New Year's party if they can figure it out. It is, of course, the First Sunday of Advent, which was on Dec. 3rd this year. Please consider having an Advent wreath on a table somewhere in your home. I also sent home an Advent Calendar booklet for Dec 1-24. Please read each day's window together as a family. I worked with Mr. Birdsong and Mrs. Klaus to create several Advent activities that will be going on in the school over the next couple of weeks. The Advent activity schedule and Advent Service Project flyer were sent out in the EWE last week. Donations to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital are due in by Monday. Thank you! Please have a Bible at home for your child to use. For Catholics, please have a New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) or a New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). The NABRE is the version used at Catholic Masses. For families of other faiths, please have a Bible used by your faith for your child to refer to. Thank you! 5th Grade Religion Books: User names and passwords are given out by Mrs. Pehle, the computer teacher, at the beginning of the year. Students need to log on to www.sadlierconnect.com and enter their user name and password. Currently, Sadlier's religion books are online books that require connection to the internet. Some days the internet is slow, and it works better with some browsers than others. If possible, please download Google Chrome as a browser to be used on your child's iPad. This browser seems to work the fastest with our school internet. Meanwhile, please pray that one day soon we will have high quality, efficient, user-friendly textbook resources for our religious education. www.Quizlet.com is a website that teachers can use to assist students in learning words and their meanings. In order to review for assessments, I will frequently refer students to the activities and games on this website to learn vocabulary terms throughout the year. Students may also download the Quizlet app for quick access. Once on the website, use the search bar and type in mrsjeniferlohmann for my latest study sets. Grades: I work with each individual or group of children (or adults) starting with where they are, and then, grow from there. If any fundamentals are needed, we will cover them before moving on. Being able to find a passage in the Bible is essential, for instance, and if this ability is absent, moving forward in the textbook has to wait. The most important goal for me in faith formation is that each person grows in his/her relationship with God, and comes to know Jesus and his teachings, growing closer to him. This is something for which I strive to create a safe, sacred, fruitful environment. This is something I strive to facilitate, and yet, try to stay out of God's way and the works of the Holy Spirit! This is something that I can get a glimpse of with each person, as we work, pray, learn, reflect, discuss, and share together. As long as a student is being respectful to God, and to others, and is putting forth one's best effort to grow in his/her relationship with God and one another, and to complete the assignments, a student will do well in this class. Being respectful to God and others includes praying reverently as a group, and participating respectfully at Mass. It is not respectful to God or one another when a student talks without being called upon, acts silly or makes jokes during our prayer time together, or talks and doesn't participate by praying and singing at Mass. These behaviors are addressed directly with each student, as needed. Grades will be based on participation points, journal reflections, reflection questions, assignments, activity pages, project participation and completion, reports, assessments, and/or other activities as assigned in order to experience the subjects being presented. Please contact me at any time with questions and ideas. It is a blessing to be given this opportunity to work with your children this year, and I am grateful and thankful to God for landing me here with all of you! |