Weekly News

Dear Families, April 19, 2024

Your children did a fabulous job for the Mass today! They were well spoken as well as processed excellently for the Procession of Species to celebrate Earth Day. I was very proud of them! Thank you to Julia Gage for helping with the rehearsal yesterday and the Mass today!

We had a WONDERFUL time at the Mt. Baker Theater field trip for the rendition of Frindle! Our discussion afterwards was fabulous as well. About half the students liked the book better and half liked the play better. It was a great critical-thinking discussion, comparing the two forms of art! Your children are amazing! Thank you to all the chaperones and a VERY special thank you to the unanimous donor for all the tickets!

The second to the last book report due on April 25th. Last Friday, students were given a list of options for the project book report in their Friday Folder. They are to choose one of these options with you this weekend so that plans are made! Most students have told me which project they are doing. Please check in with your child to confirm and support them in this endeavor!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians rehearsed and worked on preparing for our Mass for Earth Day.
Language – Fourth grade readers finished reading Frindle as well as we went to the play! We are writing a five-paragraph essay about our pets! For spelling, we focused on prefixes of re-(meaning “again”), pre-(meaning “before”) and un-(meaning “not”).
Math – Mathematicians are learning about geometry this week.
Science – Scientists are researching Mt. St. Helens and other volcanoes.

Friday, April 26 – Mass and talent show – dress uniform

Wednesday – May 1 May Crowning – Bring flowers in on April 30th for it!

Thursday, May 2 – Fun Run – Bring in sponsorships!

Tuesday & Thursday, May 7 & 9 – First week of MAP testing

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students completed their travel project.  Then, we reviewed numbers and began telling time in Spanish.

Art – WA529 Art Contest for a Chance to Boost Your Education Funds!

Students will create artwork reflecting their dream job, providing a glimpse into their aspirations. This project offers them the opportunity to submit their creations to an art contest with enticing rewards:

• Grand Prize: $529 in a GET or DreamAhead 529 education savings account for the lucky winner.
• Additional Rewards: Three schools with the highest participation rates (relative to their enrollment) will each receive a $500 Amazon gift card for their school library!

I’ll be guiding the students in developing their creative ideas, while Maggie Kim will be responsible for communicating with parents about how to submit their artwork.

Dear Families, April 12, 2024

Happy Spring! We are on full throttle with the many things we are learning to the research and projects we are working on! It’s an exciting time of the year! We started this week with celebrating Easter with our Pre-K buddies! Thank you Libby Stark for doing the work behind this!

The second to the last book report due at the end of this month: April 25th. Students have been given a list of options for the project book report. They are to choose one of these options with you this weekend so that plans are made!

Next Thursday is our field trip to Mt. Baker Theater to watch the play: “Frindle.” Currently we are reading the book for our literature. Students are enjoying learning how words are created and put into the dictionary. Many parents have signed up. We have enough tickets for all of us, thank you to an anonymous donor! If you did sign up, you will be receiving an email shortly with the procedures and protocols to chaperoning.

Next Friday is our Mass which will be Earth Day celebrations. We are preparing for them as I write! Please come and celebrate Mass with us! It is the last one we will be planning for the year.

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians celebrated Easter and are planning our Earth Day Mass.
Language – Fourth grade readers are reading Frindle, a book about a boy making up a new word! We are writing a five-paragraph essay about our pets! For spelling, we focused on irregular plural nouns.
Math – Mathematicians finished chapter 9 about decimals and took a test on Thursday. Next week: Geometry
Science – Scientists learned about the solar eclipse and are researching Mt. St. Helens and other volcanoes.

Tuesday, April 16 – Class pictures – dress uniform

Friday, April 19 – Our Mass – dress uniform

Friday, April 26 – Mass and talent show – dress uniform

Specialists

Art – The students will create a fantastical scene of a city in space that is surrounded by looming planets in the background and a harsh terrain in the foreground.

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students “packed” a suitcase for a trip to a Spanish-speaking country by using their research on weather and things to go in their country. They wrote in Spanish about each item in their suitcase.

Dear Families, March 22, 2024

We are moving from fractions into decimals this week in math. The students are making connections from one to another, as you have seen in their homework this week. They are seeing the patterns! They also did some problem solving in pairs then evaluating each other’s work to see how they can explain their thinking more clearly. Parent helpers are invaluable for these kinds of lessons!

We also had fun on Pi Day with our scientists and mathematicians!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians solidified the Ten Commandments and worked on an artistic version of them!
Language – Fourth grade readers are reading Shiloh, a book about a family living in West Virginia. We are finishing up with writing summaries and moving to five paragraph essays. This week we finished planning it to work next week with writing it. For spelling, we focused on homophones.
Math – Mathematicians finished the chapter about multiplying fractions and took a test on them. They are beginning a unit on decimals.
Social Studies – We are diving into Native American in Washington asking the essential question: “How did God’s Creation affect Native peoples of Washington?”

Thursday, March 28 – Holy Thursday

Friday, March 29 – Good Friday Retreat Day – early release

April 1-5 – Spring Break

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students chose a Spanish-speaking country and researched its geography and weather. Students also created a “passport” and designed a stamp for their country.

Dear Families, March 15, 2024

We had fun with our St. Patrick’s Day or Green Day. We were the mischievous leprechauns for our Pre-K buddies! We LOVED playing the big kids’ part! We also had another reader’s theater this week as well as lots of writing!

We also had fun on Pi Day with our scientists and mathematicians!

There is just one more opening for Pebbles Weekend Fun!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians learned about the Prophet Moses and how God made a covenant with him to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land. We had fun memorizing the Ten Commandments!
Language – Fourth grade readers are reading Shiloh, a book about a family living in West Virginia. For spelling, we focused on words ending with comparatives (-er) and superlatives (-est). We also are honing in on our summarizing non-fiction by finding “Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How” and then using those to write a good solid paragraph. Finally, we worked hard on writing our book reports on Seesaw!
Math – Mathematicians are learning how multiply fractions. There are many steps to remember!
Social Studies – We are diving into Native American in Washington asking the essential question: “How did God’s Creation affect Native peoples of Washington?”

Friday, March 22 – Mass – dress uniform!

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students watched videos from each Spanish speaking country and took notes on what they’d learned. Using this information, students will choose one country to research more in depth next week.

Dear Families, March 8, 2024

Fractions, Fractions, Fractions! We had a lot of fun working with fractions this week, especially on Thursday! Mrs. Gage came in and helped us make refrigerator cookies that we used a lot of measuring with fractions. We enjoyed those cookies for lunch on Thursday. Thank you, Mrs. Gage!

Book reports are going to be written this time. We will write it in class. However, students need to be done with their books as they walk in the door on Thursday, March 14th.

Helping during Math times are here! I have added dates through the end of the year.

There is just one more opening for Pebbles Weekend Fun!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians learned and discussed God, the Father.
Language – Fourth grade readers are reading Shiloh, a book about a family living in West Virginia. For spelling, we focused on words ending with-er or -or. We also are honing in on our summarizing non-fiction by finding “Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How” and then using those to write a good solid paragraph.
Math – Mathematicians are learning about the concepts of adding and subtracting with like denominators as well as converting fractions from improper fractions to mixed numbers and back. Lots of number fun!
Social Studies – We are beginning a unit diving into Native American in Washington asking the essential question: “How did God’s Creation affect Native peoples of Washington?”

Sunday, March 10 – Daylight Savings Time!

Thursday, March 14 – Written book reports to be written in class. All students MUST have their books finished reading by that morning!

Friday, March 15 – Mass – dress uniform!

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students discussed clothing for different types of weather. We also played a game of “guess who” by using clothing and color vocabulary to ask questions.

Art – We are studying a “Picture of the Day” which is: Lady with an Ermine (Cecilia Gallerani), by Leonardo da Vinci. The students have a small talk about art appreciation and how to observe and describe artworks using their senses.

Dear Families, March 1, 2024

We had a lot of fun the last few days! First, students presented their biome posters this week. They learned a lot about each of their biomes. If you’re in the school, the posters are hanging up outside our classroom. They worked hard on them, which is evident! Second, they performed the reader’s theater of chapter 5 of our literature book: Shiloh. They loved it, and it was fun to watch. If interested, I posted them on the class’s Facebook account. Third, we had a celebration day today for the reward. Students got to read in tents at the end of the day today!

Next Friday, February 8th is a Teacher Work Day. However, the first half of the day is set aside for parents who would like to have an optional conference with me. I have only six slots available. If you would like to sign up, please hit this link to let me know. I maybe sending out the link to you if you are someone I would like to talk with as well.

Book reports are going to be written this time. We will write it in class. However, students need to be done with their books as they walk in the door on Thursday, March 7th.

The yellow permission slip is in the Friday Folder today for the Mt. Baker Theater in April. Please return by Monday. Please let me know if you can chaperone too!

Helping during Math times are here!

There is just one more opening for Pebbles Weekend Fun!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians created our own Stations of the Cross. We also went to reconciliation with Fr. Moore and Fr. Dave.
Language – Fourth grade readers are reading Shiloh, a book about a family living in West Virginia. For spelling, we focused on words ending with -le and -en.
Math – Mathematicians are learning about the concepts of adding and subtracting with like denominators as well as converting fractions from improper fractions to mixed numbers and back. Lots of number fun!
Science – Scientists finished their biome poster and presented.

Saturday, March 3 – School Auction! I hope to see you there!

Thursday, March 7 – Written book reports to be written in class. All students MUST have their books finished reading by that morning!

Friday, March 8 – Teacher work day – No school – Optional conferences for me in the morning. Six slots are available. Please hit this link to let me know if you would like one.

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students read and matched short clothing descriptions to pictures of people. Then, students wrote their own clothing descriptions including colors and numbers.

Art – We are studying a “Picture of the Day” which is: Lady with an Ermine (Cecilia Gallerani), by Leonardo da Vinci. The students have a small talk about art appreciation and how to observe and describe artworks using their senses.

Dear Families, February 23, 2024

Happy Lent! We are diving into this new Liturgical season with exploring various ways to pray the Stations of the Cross this week. We prayed with an online version and then we went to the church to pray it at our Stations of the Cross on Thursday. Next week, we will be creating our own stations to show throughout the school.

We got to celebrate the 100th Day of School with our Pre-K buddies. We made crowns with our buddies to celebrate 100!

Thank you to our wonderful room parents, Mr. and Mrs. Stark and Mrs. Robinson, along with our wonderful students, we are making Easter eggs for the auction. They are eggs that have been blown empty by Mr. Stark. The Mrs. Stark have helped the students decorate the eggs and Mrs. Robinson is putting the display together, all for the “Growing Great Kids” Auction set for next Saturday, March 3rd. Please bid on it!

Helping during Math times are here!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians learned and prayed the Stations of the Cross.
Language – Fourth grade readers are reading Shiloh, a book about a family living in West Virginia. For spelling, we focused on words ending with -le and why their words have a short vowel sound.
Math – Mathematicians are learning about the concepts of adding and subtracting with like denominators.
Science – Scientists are researching and creating a poster about various biomes throughout the world.

Friday, March 1 – Mass day – Dress uniform

Saturday, March 3 – School Auction! I hope to see you there!

Friday, March 8 – Teacher work day – No school

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, we practiced clothing vocabulary. Students draw a person dressed for each season and labeled their clothing.

Dear Families, February 9, 2024

It is nice to have a full week to dive into good academics this week! In science, we have been learning different vocabulary words for biomes/ecosystems in our world. We are going to be using those new learnings as students have picked a biome to deep dive into to teach the rest of the class. They have been paired up to make a poster identifying how the vocabulary is portrayed in each of their interested ecosystem. For instance, they are researching the “biotic” and “abiotic” things in the chosen ecosystem and how the interact with each other. If you ask them, I trust they will remember what that vocabulary is! 🙂

We had so much fun with our buddies this week, making a Valentine’s Day art project with them!

In the Friday Folder, student are going to receive a “National Parks Pass.” Thanks to one of our fourth grade parents, Julia Gage, she organized getting the pass free for all fourth graders in our class! Go and enjoy a national park! There are many in our state! Here is a link to find them out!

New dates for helping during Math times are here!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians learned more about God the Father and how we are created in God’s image and likeness. We discussed how we need to continue to be focused on developing our virtues. We also discussed “rethinking” from our Second Step program, analyzing how that could help in our own lives. Finally, we spent time in adoration on Wednesday.
Language – Fourth grade readers began reading Shiloh which is our next book about a family living in West Virginia. For spelling, we focused on words with soft g (/j/) words. Students also presented their book reports this week.
Math – Mathematicians worked equivalent fractions, both multiplying the numerator and the denominator. We also worked on simplifying fractions by dividing the numerator and denominator.
Science – We picked a biome to deep dive into learning and then teaching others.

Tuesday, February 13 – Celebrate Valentine’s Day. Red, pink and white dress up day!

Wednesday, February 14 – Ash Wednesday – Dress uniform – Mass at 12:30

Friday, February 16 – Teacher development day – No school.

Monday-Tuesday, February 19-20 – President’s Day and mid-winter break – No School

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students showed their knowledge of weather vocabulary by completing a mini-project. Some students made a crossword puzzle, others created a short book, and others conducted a survey of weather preferences. 

Art – In art, this week we focused on “The Great Wave” with Lines and Watercolor. Students explored the famous Japanese painting “The Great Wave” by Katsushika Hokusai. They are learning about the different parts of the painting and how it’s designed. Then, they are using what they’ve learned to create their own wave scenes with simple lines and watercolor. They are adding their own special touches to make their pictures unique.

Dear Families, February 2, 2024

Wow! What a week! We had lots of fun with celebrating our families, celebrating the community and celebrating the students! Thank you for all of the love sent on Monday for celebrating us teachers! Today we celebrated an alumni from the 1950s after Mass today!

Students are invited to wear their uniform to Assumption this weekend to honor Catholic Schools Week. There will be an Open House that day too! Please come and invite anyone interested in Assumption Catholic School! from 11:30-1:30! I will be here then!

Also, here is a link for the Weekends with Pebbles Sign up!

New dates for helping during Math times are here!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians are diving into “I believe in God, the Father, creator of Heaven and earth…” We also celebrated Catholic Schools Week.
Language – Fourth grade readers learned about West Virginia which is the setting of Shiloh, the next class book we are diving into starting this week. We learned abou the author, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. In spelling, we focused on words with qu words.
Math – Mathematicians worked equivalent fractions, both multiplying the numerator and the denominator. We also worked on simplifying fractions by dividing the numerator and denominator.
Science – We are learning about biomes: biotic, abiotic, consumers, producers and decomposers.

Social Studies – Students researched West Virginia.

Sunday, February 4 – Catholic Schools Week celebrated at Assumption. Wear your dress uniforms!

Sunday, February 4 – Open House for Assumption Catholic Schools 11:30-1:30 Invite anyone interested in our wonderful school!

Thursday, February 7 – Book Talk – 3-5 objects in a bag to tell about the book read.

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students showed their knowledge of weather vocabulary by completing a mini-project. Some students made a crossword puzzle, others created a short book, and others conducted a survey of weather preferences. 

 

Dear Families, January 26, 2024

Half of the year is over! I have been and will be continuing to work on report cards this weekend. Because of that, there is no Friday Folder coming home today. It will be sent home on Tuesday instead. I need time to go over each students’ material so I can comment on the most recent work your children have produced.

This week was busy! Students presented their Washington Region they had worked collaboratively. They also created a “Pet Care Magazine” that they are very proud of!

We are excited to honor our parents on Tuesday! You are invited to have lunch with your children! Recess is at 11:30 and lunch is at noo-12:30. See you then!

Students are invited to wear their uniform to the Parishes that are not at Assumption this weekend to honor Catholic Schools Week. February 4th will be the day that Assumption Parish has students in uniforms. There will be an Open House that day too! Please come and invite anyone interested in Assumption Catholic School! from 11:30-1:30! I will be here then!

Also, here is a link for the Weekends with Pebbles Sign up!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians compared the Apostles’ Creed to the Nicene Creed and learned about their history. We had great discussions as to what is the Holy Trinity this week. Finally, the saint we are learning about is St. Catherine of Alexandria.
Language – Fourth grade readers worked hard on researching and then making a Pet Care Magazine for language this week. We are also beginning a series of reading and writing non-fiction texts and writing a good paragraph to summarize it. In spelling, we focused on words with silent consonants.
Math – Mathematicians worked on factors of using divisibility rules in order to learn about prime and composites. We also learned about multiples.
Science – We are starting a unit on biomes.

Social Studies – Students researched the regions of Washington, created and presented a Power Point on that region.

Monday, January 29 – No School – Report Card writing for teachers

Sunday, January 28-Sunday, February 4 – Catholic Schools Week

Tuesday, January 30 – Catholic Schools Week celebration of Parents! Come to lunch at noon! We would love to see you!

Sunday, February 4 – Open House for Assumption Catholic Schools 11:30-1:30 Invite anyone interested in our wonderful school!

Thursday, February 7 – Book Talk – 3-5 objects in a bag to tell about the book read.

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, we continued to practice weather and season vocabulary. We listened for words like “nieve” (snow) while watching a video about a snowman, and played a drawing game to see if we could guess each other’s weather word!

Art – Exploring Human Proportions through Skiing Characters -Students will learn about human proportions by using basic shapes to create characters engaged in skiing activities. Students will practice drawing and refining their characters to demonstrate an understanding of human body proportions. 

Music – This week in music we are singing and moving to the song Clock Round and analyzing the rhythms in the song. WE are learning about Johann Sebastian Bach and the time period in which he was alive as well as listening to and analyzing Brandenburg Concert No. 3  by Bach.