Dear 4B Parents,
I hope you all had a nice weekend–the sun was a welcome addition. We have a busy week ahead with our 
Valentine Party (Tuesday), Ash Wednesday and the start of the Winter Break on Friday.
Tuesday is free dress/Valentine theme. Students may wear pink, white, red. No face paint or hair dye. Thank you to our room mom, Jennifer Chastain, and all the parents that are helping our with our Valentine’s Day party.
Wednesday we begin the season of Lent with the Ash Wednesday service at 8:35. Perfect uniform is required. Lent is a time when we are compelled to ask forgiveness for our sins and change our lives for the better. The ashes we receive are a sign that we are ready to change our lives. We will be focusing on three types of sacrifice and practices during Lent that will help us grow in our faith: prayer, fasting from excess and unkind actions, and good works or almsgiving. During Lent the students will be reading special Lenten prayers and Bible readings for the season. In class on Wednesday we will be reflecting on our plans for Lent. You may want to talk with and help your child think about what they would like to focus on this Lenten season. This will help prepare them for Wednesday. As a school we will be participating in several service related activities to share our gifts with those less fortunate. All students will come home with a Rice Bowl on Wednesday.
BROWN BAG FRIDAYS FOR ST. MARTIN de PORRES MEN’S SHELTER will begin next Friday the 23rd. Every year, as part of our Lenten Outreach, Holy Rosary School has provided lunches to the men at St. Martin de Porres shelter. During Lent,students are asked to bring a lunch or two during the and a toiletry item on designated Fridays during Lent. These lunches can be kept cold, so perishable food is fine.
The extra item for Feb. 23 – disposable razors/shaving cream (sample size)
**If you are interested in driving a few students to deliver the lunches one Friday in Lent, please contact Jennifer Hazzard in the school office.
Religion: Along with our preparation for Lent, the students will be learning about the Sacraments. Last week all students filled out a study sheet for the Sacraments that should be in their filer and can also be accessed under the Religion tab above. The students will need to be able to name each Sacrament and place them in the correct category. Perfect spelling is not required, but students will receive extra credit in spelling if they are able to spell the sacraments corretly. This test will take place on Friday, February 23rd.
Reading/LA: Our reading focus continues to be on biographies and the traits that make people successful. The students will be doing a writing project in class related to biographies as well. As part of the “mini-bio” writing project the students will get a chance to practice selecting important information and speaking in front of the class which will aid in their preparation for their large biography project. Our story from our anthology this week is about Sacagawea, which ties in perfectly with our Social Studies lessons.
Spelling: The spelling list for Lesson 20 was sent out last Friday. This test will be this Thursday the 15th.
Oral Biography: Students need to have their biography choice selected and approved by this Thrusday. 
Approval includes the selection of an appropriate book. Once the students have their biographies approved the next step is to read—and take notes. I will be talking with the students about time management suggestions for this big project in class this week. To begin, students might want to have a pad of sticky notes to mark pages/passages that they would like to include in their reports. They can then come back to these pages later and take down specific notes. Students should write a little reminder on the sticky note as to what they wanted to remember on that page. As they read they should focus on the facts of their subject’s life—of course—but also look for fun stories or anecdotes to include in their presentations. Students should write out more detailed notes after each chaper or section in their books, while the information is fresh. The presentations should be both informative and fun! As students read, organizing their notes in chronological order will help them when the move on to writing their presentations.
Remember, presentations will be made from March 22-29. At this point students should be putting most of their effort into reading and learning all they can about their chosen person and writing notes following each chapter. Books should be read more than once if at all possible.
Math: As mentioned, our math this week will include work with area, perimeter and volume as related to our Valentine boxes. Our classwork will also focus on mastering the multiplication algorithm for larger numbers. I will be working with smaller groups to provide added support and challenge based on our classwork from last week. Look for math homework Wednesday, and Thursday this week practicing this skill.
Science: We are moving forward in our unit on the Earth. Last week we looked at minerals and this week we are adding rocks. The students will look at the three types of rocks and how they are formed. We will end the week looking at the rock cycle and each student will practice by taking one rock through the cycle.
Social Studies: We will be working our way over the Rocky Mountains this week with the help of the Shoshone horses that Sacagawea helped the Corps acquire. Students should be reviewing for their Rivers and Lakes of the US test. This test will take place on Thursday, March 1st. All students should have study sheets in their filers. You can also access them here. Students can take advantage of an online practice site here.
- There will be a spelling test this Thursday the 15th. Words were sent out last Friday for Lesson 20. There will not be a spelling test next week due to the winter break.
- As a little Valentine treat there will be no homework on Tuesday.
- Look for math homework Wednesday and Thursday.
- Review the Seven Sacraments
- Review SS Rivers and Lakes
- Oral Biography selections due Thursday and reading/note taking
Have a Wonderful Winter Break!