Month: April 2024

Dear Families, April 26, 2024

This week, we began our “Family Life” curriculum. We have skipped the first four chapters because those lessons are covered in our other religion curriculum. So we started on Unit 3, Lesson 5 on page 33 and read as a class through page 44. Words such as conception, unborn baby, puberty, preteen, teenagers, growth, healthy habits, and marital love came up while we were reading. The terms are general in the book with very few specifics. However, in fifth grade, the lessons will go into details. The books were sent home today in your child’s Friday Folders. I invite you and your child to go over it together and answer questions they might have and introduce more details that we did not cover in fourth grade. If you have not begun any discussions like this, this is a time in which would be natural to begin. I have emphasized to your children sometimes uncomfortable conversations with parents is really important to develop that relationship before teen years. Please let me know if you need assistance or need some questions answered. Thank you to Valkyrie Rosetta and her mom (from Michael and Matthew’s family) for coming in so we could see her development at five months old. We also got to see my granddaughter, Clara, and her mom, to see a one years old’s development. Please do not write in the books and send them back on Monday morning please!

Many students presented their book reports yesterday and today. They will continue on Monday!

Academics

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians learned about Family Life. We had great discussions of growing older and various stages of God’s gift of Life!
Language and Social Studies – Fourth grade readers are reading about Native Americans in Washington. For spelling, we focused on the suffixes of -er.
Math – Mathematicians are learning about geometry this week.
Science – Scientists presented information about Mt. St. Helens and other volcanoes.

Tuesday, April 30 – Bring flowers for the May Crowning for May 1st!

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

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

Friday, May 3 – Mass – dress uniform

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

Specialists

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, students practiced telling time. Students read and listened to times in Spanish, which they translated to English.

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.